Unknown's avatar

Protect Your Business on All Fronts Now, You’ll Thank Yourself Later

by

Unfortunately, businesses always have been and always will be prime targets for criminals. Whether these be criminals that break into premises in the hope of finding and stealing goods. Or whether it be online criminals, such as hackers, that seek to steal valuable information via technology. There are criminals just waiting to prey on all businesses — both the young startups and the mature market leaders — everywhere. So, no matter what stage of its life your business is at, it’s now time to protect it and make it as secure as can be. If you don’t, then you will more than likely end up regretting the decision not to. Below are a few areas that you should target, and a few ways to make them secure.

Image source

 

 

Change your locks

 

Changing your locks as soon you move your business into a new working premises is a must. It is must because, quite frankly, you can’t know for sure who has a set of keys for the current locks. The old occupants may seem like nice people, but can you really trust them not to use their keys to sneak into your new premises as soon as you’ve moved your valuable goods into it? And even if the old occupants have no such desires, who knows who they may have given access to the keys before. And who’s to say that these people won’t have had a spare pair of keys cut? You can never know who has access to the keys that unlock your building, and you can never know what they plan to do with them. So, whatever safety procedures you do put in place, remember that rekeying your business is must.

 

 

Strengthen your doors

 

Changing your locks strengthens your doors in a sense that it stops alien bodies unlocking them at will — but changing your locks doesn’t do the whole job. No, in the venture of securing your business’s property, you must be willing to have your doors strengthened as much as they can be. By doing so you will be doing all you can to thwart potential burglars and stop them from gaining access to the inside of your building. Make sure to check out these simple yet effective techniques when it comes to strengthening your doors.

 

 

Backup your files

 

Burglary doesn’t just occur in the physical realm of your workplace, however. No, it has the potential to take place on your technology too. In this day and age, hackers and the hacking they do is rife — this was evidenced earlier this year by the WannaCry hacking that made an international impact. There is no way to stop these hackers from trying to hack you as they are very skilled at concealing themselves and hiding their identity. You can, however, stop them from actually infiltrating your business’s technology by installing the very best antivirus and anti-hacker software. Better still, you should invest in backup disaster recovery. What this kind of software will do is offer you a solution when it comes to recovering any data that has been hacked. Also, it will offer you great ransomware protection; this will mean you won’t ever have to be forced to yield to the financial demands set upon you by hackers.

 

 

Not protecting your business on all fronts is a mistake that can land it and you in huge trouble. So, don’t be that business that loses everything just because they were too lazy to put safety procedures in place!

Contributed Post.

If you like what you’ve read here, please let others know of this post, blog, and site.

And thanks for reading!  🙂

Unknown's avatar

Squeezing A Career Out Of A Work Life

by

Link

 

A lot of people don’t really start thinking about how their current life is affecting their career until they’re already well and truly in a routine at work. Then, the trouble becomes that they might be kept so busy by that work life that it becomes hard to see their career. But you can still find the next step if you can’t see past all that paperwork.

See what your employer can offer

Perhaps you might like the industry you’re in. You just want a bit of progression or even a lateral move. If that’s the case, talk to your employer or your boss. Ask them about what other positions are opening, to keep you in mind, and see what kind of training or career development they have on offer. You need to be able to identify when your current job is getting into a rut and your bosses simply don’t care about investing in you. Otherwise, you might be stuck there waiting years for the golden opportunity that just isn’t coming.

Find education on your own terms

If they’re not offering anything at work, then what can you do? You can begin by getting an idea of a direction you want to move in. From there, it’s all about getting the education and training that can make the move real. In a busy schedule, most traditional options simply won’t fit with your schedule. But thanks to the internet, education on your schedule is becoming more and more freely available. You can find the pace that works with your job, whether it’s night classes from home or a weekly digest at the end of the week. There are few career-relevant skills that can’t be taught online anymore.

Focus on yourself, not the job

It’s easy to let your job define you. It’s what you spend a lot of your day doing. But that can make it hard to focus on selling yourself and your career. Branding your own skills and what you have to offer any company is important. Most important is thinking about the skills and achievements you’ve accomplished at work. It might all seem very common and mundane to you, but phrased right on a resume, it can be a lot more impactful. You just have to make it attractive and relevant to other employers.

Don’t push yourself to the brink

Remember to breathe. If you’re having trouble handling the career search as well as your job, then you have to beware. If you’re always feeling tired, becoming late for work more often, or finding it hard to switch off at night, you might be sacrificing too much for your career. Take it easy. So long as you’re making progress, you’re not wasting time.

Don’t let yourself get caught in the spiral of your work life keeping you from a career. Take the steps, whether internally or externally, to transform your work life and to make yourself a much better fit for the career that you want not the job that you have.

Contributed Post.

If you like what you’ve read here, please let others know of this post, blog, and site.

And thanks for reading!  🙂

Unknown's avatar

Being There In Times Of Trouble

by

Whatever your role in life – brother, sister, father, mother, child, parent, friend or lover, you’ve got one key responsibility. You need to be there for the important people in your life through the highs – and through the lows. When money is tight, when they are sick, poorly or hurting, or when they are going through a rough patch in life – you need to be there for them through thick and thin and be the best friend, parent, or partner possible. The situations that we can all face are varied, so we’ll all get stuck in different mud throughout our lives – we don’t need to be an expert on all these situations, but preparing to be a helping hand in any situation that could occur will ensure you’re on hand to help, and be a good help at that.

 

One thing we must understand about offering help – or being on hand – is that people rarely ask for help. Some cultures don’t accept help at all. It might seem counterproductive, but sometimes you must do the right thing and find a way to help out without waiting for a request to be made to you. What can you do? Grabbing some supplies, walking their dog, feeding their fish – cooking them some nice dinner. There’s a lot of things that you can do for a friend that has a lot of impact, but are low effort. Not many people will come to you begging for help, but they might severely need your assistance. This can be a hard situation to judge, and it is deeply personal, so use your experience and knowledge of the person to know the right time to step in.

 

Sometimes you will need to perform quite serious actions to assist someone. Being there to help might mean speaking to a personal injury lawyer with the person in need, it might be assistance with legal matters like that. It could be health matters – you might need to attend appointments, or even drive the person there and back. It will differ on each situation, of course – but it goes without saying that sometimes, more serious forms of help are needed. This doesn’t mean the simple stuff can be left behind; it just means you’ll be required to do a lot more to be on hand and help. When someone needs help, their confidence might be shot – so you need to ensure you can step up to plate and be on hand to assist with serious matters.

 

Can financial matters be something you can help with? Certainly. However you must use your best judgment – whether the person in need means it or not – they can become dependant on financial aid. Ensure any financial help is limited and only in serious matters, because it could quickly drag you into a bad financial situation.

 

Regardless of the situation, the best thing you can do is simply be there. Be a light of guidance and a helping hand, and you’ll help someone get back on their feet in no time at all.

Contributed Post.

If you like what you’ve read here, please let others know of this post, blog, and site.

And thanks for reading!  🙂

Unknown's avatar

Road Rage: Dealing With It Safely

by

(image: flickr)

 

There is nothing better than driving on the open road, the beautiful scenery ahead and the wind in your hair. All seems fine until you notice the person in front is driving at ten miles an hour, or you see somebody talking on their cell phone. Suddenly your calm and serenity disappear, replaced by feelings of frustration as you angrily beep your horn at the other road user. Welcome to road rage, one of the biggest dangers on the road today.

Road rage is a curious thing. No matter how calm and friendly a person is in everyday life, once behind the wheel of the car, there can be a transformation of Jekyll and Hyde proportions. The smallest event can make a person angry, and if those feelings are not dealt with, what happens next could prove costly and life threatening.

It is likely you have experienced some form of road rage in your life. Whether you have found yourself shouting at other people from behind the wheel, or been the victim of somebody else’s wrath, it is important to protect yourself and the lives of others on the road.

Therefore, consider the following advice that could prove life saving.


Controlling yourself


Road rage generally comes from feelings of stress. Driving can be pleasurable, but sometimes other drivers or pedestrians can aggravate the negative feelings we have circling through our unconsciousness. Therefore, you need to alleviate your stress by doing some of the following:

Listen to relaxing music that will calm your nerves.

If you know you need to be somewhere at a certain time, set off early, so you’re not stressed through being in a rush.

Think before you act. Another driver may annoy you, but should you beep your horn in anger or drive irresponsibly in vengeance, you could cause an accident and be at risk of having your license taken away from you.

Pull over to the side of the road and let yourself calm down.

Remember other people can be irresponsible, it’s a common fact of life. Accept it, take some deep breaths and carry on.



Protecting yourself

When it comes to others causing road rage against you, there is the need to look after yourself. Consider the following.

Purchase a dash cam that can record the actions of the driver. Should you be involved in an accident, the footage can support you should you hire the services of a car accident lawyer, and is invaluable when dealing with insurance companies.

It is important you don’t make matters worse by copying their action and fueling their anger further.

Avoid eye contact with an offending driver as you may make their behavior worse. Ignore them, and carry on with your journey.

If the car behind is tailgating you, let it pass. Once they are out of your way, you can continue safely.

Finally, be a safe driver. Should you drive responsibly, there is less reason for other drivers to get angry at you.

Contributed Post.

If you like what you’ve read here, please let others know of this post, blog, and site.

And thanks for reading!  🙂

Unknown's avatar

Business Owner – Know Your Business!

by

I’ve heard a saying which goes something like this: “To make a mistake, have an employee handle it, but, if you really want to have it screwed up, have a manager do it.”

Well, in some cases, if not many, this is true. And sometimes the owner knows even less, especially in a large company.

I’ve seen this first hand. I saw a small business recently, where the owner had to take over some duties from a few people who’d left the small business suddenly. The owner did a decent job overall, but clearly had forgotten some things and a low-level employee had to “re-show” him some of the ropes. So it turned out ok.

But, this shows how business owners, and big executives, need to know, or re-learn, as the case may be, as much of the workings of the business as possible, especially if the company is a small business.

Though it may be impossible for large company executives and CEO’s to know all or even most of the workings of their companies, large companies do have the luxury of having many employees, who at least have an idea of what should be done, so the chances are good that they will have people to come in and take over for suddenly missing employees.

But a small business doesn’t have that luxury. If they only have one counter person or warehouse person or parts person, and the owner hasn’t kept up or has considered himself or herself too busy to take even one day to check out the inner workings of the business, there could be a real problem if a key employee has to leave suddenly for whatever reason.

A business owner could find himself at the front counter when the regular counter person suddenly leaves. If that owner has forgotten the part numbers, or how to work the computer or billing system, or if it is a new one, completely different from that which he may have once used, what then?

And if the business is a fast food joint, it’s a good idea if there’s more than one person in the company who can cook in short order fashion. An empty kitchen serves no food and will have no customers.

 

 

 

 

 

If that owner has kept up, then chances are, things will go better until a replacement person is hired.

Also, a plus to the owner’s “visiting” all of the “areas” of the company from time to time may show that owner just how valuable his or her employees really are.

So, know your business to keep that business running, and may you have success!

If you like what you’ve read here, please let others know of this post, blog, and site.

And thanks for reading!  🙂

 

Unknown's avatar

The Unromantic Road Trip

by

In both film and book, life on the road is glorified as an iconic, life-affirming experience. Read any extract of Kerouac’s ‘On The Road’ to get an idea of how much he hailed the freedom of the driving experience. And, he’s not alone. Artists across the world have tried to capture the power of the open road. Is it any wonder, then, that a summer road trip is high on most people’s to-do list?
Many of us set out with high hopes that we’ll return changed too.

Now, we don’t want to rain on your road-trip parade. No one can deny that life on the road can open your eyes to a new way of being. There is, after all, something meditative about driving. But, there’s also no denying that many return from road trips disappointed. In truth, life on the road just isn’t as amazing as some would have us believe. That’s not to say you won’t enjoy your time. But, it might help to lower your expectations before you head off. For example, here are some downsides you might not have considered.

THE COST

Many of us opt for a close to home road trip because we assume it’ll be cheaper than going abroad. If that’s your motivation, prepare to be disappointed. For one, you’ll need a complete check on your vehicle before you set off. To avoid breakdowns, you’ll need a complete oil change and a full tank. If you want to cut costs, something like these oil change deals will help. But, you’ll still have to part with some cash to get your vehicle up to standard.

That’s not the only cost, either. You’ll also need to consider where you’ll sleep. Depending on how long you’re away for, those motel costs will add up. And, while sleeping in the car may seem glamorous, you’ll soon change your mind after one night. Might be worth taking a tent with you!

THE RISK OF GETTING LOST

Image Source

 

We may have sat nav nowadays, but it’s still possible you’ll get lost. Nothing kills that sense of adventure quite like not knowing where you are. This can be particularly stressful if you have certain places to be or bookings in hotels along the way. If you’re tempted to head off with little planning, don’t do it. Plan your route as extensively as possible before you go. And, make sure to take a map along with you. Sometimes, the old fashioned ways are best.

WHAT ABOUT THE BEAUTY?

Image Source

 

And, don’t be surprised if the roads are lacking in that beauty you’ve been expecting. There’s no denying that there are some beautiful roads out there, but most are uninspiring. If you’re traveling across states, the chances are you’ll be driving long, gray strips with nothing going for them. If beautiful drives are what you’re after, you may want to opt instead for the longer country routes. Or, you could accept the lack of beauty, and stop off at pretty places along the way.

Contributed Post.

If you like what you’ve read here, please let others know of this post, blog, and site.

And thanks for reading!  🙂

Unknown's avatar

These Business Mistakes Could Get You in Huge Trouble

by

Everyone makes mistakes, but some are bigger than others. There are mistakes that might make you stumble, although you ultimately learn and grow from them in the end. Then there are those mistakes that are so big, you might learn a lesson, but it’s a bit too late. When you run a business, there are some incredibly unfortunate mistakes you could make. If you’re not careful, some of them could get you in big trouble. You could find yourself on the wrong side of the law, even if you never meant to be, or you could find your business’s reputation in ruins. Avoid making these big business mistakes, and you can protect yourself and your company.

By Pixabay

Being Lax on Health and Safety

Your employees need to be safe while doing their jobs. Also, any members of the public who could be at risk when on or near your business premises also need to be protected. You could be in huge trouble if someone becomes ill or is injured because you neglected your responsibilities as a business owner. Having a solid strategy for dealing with health and safety is vital. You can see more from fallprotectoinpros.com, where you can learn about preventing falls, one of the leading types of workplace accident. You should also make sure you have worker’s compensation protection and public liability insurance.

By Creative Commons Images

Failing to Treat Employees Fairly

Treating your employees fairly can involve a number of factors, starting with your hiring practices. You need to follow the law in regards to equality, from asking the right interview questions to making hiring decisions. You also need to consider factors such as fair pay and minimum wage, creating a safe and equal work environment, and offering benefits to employees. Having an HR department makes it a lot easier to stay on top of these things and ensure your business is operating legally.

Getting Your Finances Wrong

Money keeps your business running, and getting the numbers right is essential for its survival. It’s not just important for good business, though. You also need to make sure your finances are correct so that you stay on the right side of the law. For example, filing your taxes requires you to make sure you’re careful about your numbers. Using an accountant is best practice if you want to report your income and expenditure as accurately as possible. Find out the benefits of using an accountant at kashflow.com.

By The Blue Diamond Gallery

Failing to Check Intellectual Property Ownership

You’re releasing a new product, or perhaps naming your business or product. Have you checked patents, trademarks, and other intellectual property registers? If you haven’t, you could soon find that someone who has registered their intellectual property isn’t happy about you using a design, a name or a slogan that belongs to them. Checking to make sure you’re not using something you shouldn’t be can be tough, but you can get help from a professional service or lawyer.

You don’t want your business to be finished before you can really get started. Avoid these massive mistakes, and your company can live to see another day.

Contributed Post.

If you like what you’ve read here, please let others know of this post, blog, and site.

And thanks for reading!  🙂

Unknown's avatar

Make Yourself More Employable By Adding These Skills To Your Resume

by

It’s not so much that there are no jobs available; it’s that people don’t have the skills needed to do the jobs to the required capability. These days, it’s no longer enough just to do one thing well: in a world that’s increasingly competitive, you need to show that you can go above and beyond what the person next to you is capable of. Below, we take at five skills that’ll enhance your resume and make you more employable: not just for today, but in the years to come, too.

Source: Pexels.com

Understanding What Your Looking At

The world is moving at a pretty fast pace; you may have noticed. That means that what’s relevant today might be relevant in six months or a year from now. As such, companies are always looking for workers who can spot the next great trend, as it helps them to stay ahead of their competition. This mostly revolves around big data. There’s more data at a company’s disposal than ever before; but of course, data alone isn’t very useful: it’s how the data is interpreted that matters. If you can understand the bigger picture alongside your core duties, you’ll be in a strong position moving forward.

Organising Teams

There’s going to be a lot of challenges facing the world in the next few decades, and these problems won’t be solved by individual efforts: they’ll be solved by teams across many disciplines, working together to find solutions to a whole host of issues. It could be housing, architecture, climate change; you name it. As such, those people who have industry-specific management skills will be in demand. Take a look at studying for an engineering management masters online, and you’ll have the necessary attributes to be an important player in a whole host of fields in the future. Big problems need many players, and they’ll all need organising!

Flexibility

An open mind that can adapt and respond to new situations is a skill that’s increasingly in demand in the corporate world. Things can change pretty quickly in this day and age, and having people who are agile enough to respond to a changing market is important for any company. This is less about one having one specific skill as it is about having a range of skills that show you’re open to learning.

Communication

The vast majority of the business world is about communication, even if that is dressed up as sales, marketing, social media nous, and so on. If you have the ability to communicate in some mediums and to people from different demographics, you’ll always be in demand. In a world that’s talking more and more, it’s never been a more useful attribute to have.

Creativity

Every big company is looking to the future, and every small company should be. Show yourself to be able to think outside the box and come up with new ideas on how you can take the company forward, and you’ll be making yourself very attractive to employers.

Contributed Post.

If you like what you’ve read here, please let others know of this post, blog, and site.

And thanks for reading!  🙂

Unknown's avatar

Why Driving Drowsy Is Just as Bad as Driving Drunk

by

We’ve probably all heard about driving drunk. Your reactions are a lot slower, you feel more inclined to take risks, and you simply can’t focus if you try to drive while under the influence of alcohol. Not only that, but you’re likely to be caught by the authorities and be fined as well as given a criminal record. If you want to avoid this at all costs, then you simply stop drinking and control your alcohol intake. We all know it’s a bad thing that you shouldn’t do, but did you know that driving while tired is actually just as dangerous?

Image Credit

 

Think about your drowsy self

 

When you’re sleepy, what happens? The first thing that you’ll notice is that your eyes become heavy and they may occasionally shut. As a driver, your most important tool is your pair of eyes. Without them, you can’t see anything in front of you. You won’t be able to spot the red light, you won’t see the oncoming truck, and you won’t see that cyclist that’s losing control of his bike and swerving into you. The last thing you want is to get on the phone to a car accident personal injury attorney during your morning commute, so why would you want to drive drowsy again?

 

Another effect of being sleepy is that you’re fatigued. Even if you are able to keep your eyes open, your entire body becomes slow and you won’t be able to pay attention to anything around you—including the road. You essentially become a dangerous threat on the road that is both unpredictable and unavoidable. This is exactly the same as what you’d feel if you tried to drive while under the influence. Unfortunately, there is no quick way to tell if someone is drowsy. To determine if a driver is drunk or not, police often use a test to check for alcohol in someone’s breath. Unless the driver has heavy eyes and is falling asleep, then there’s really no way to tell if someone is tired or not. It’s also hard to determine if someone was tired or not at a crash scene, making it even more difficult to identify.

 

Signs that you’re tired

 

So we’ve already gone through two symptoms of drowsiness: heavy eyes and fatigue. However, there are some more subtle signs that you should keep in mind as well. If you’re frequently blink while you drive, then it could be an indication that your eyes are starting to become heavy. If you find yourself daydreaming a lot as well, then it could be because your mind isn’t focusing very well and you’re losing track of what you’re doing. Yawning is also a common indication of drowsiness.

 

If you find yourself suffering any of those above symptoms, then take a moment to relax. Stop your car as soon as possible in a safe place and take a brief nap. It’s better to arrive at your destination in once piece a little later than schedule than not arrive at all. Driving while drunk and sleepy carry the same risks and symptoms, so the next time you want to force yourself into work while sleepy, consider drinking a couple more cups of coffee and taking a brief nap before you get in the car.

Contributed Post.

If you like what you’ve read here, please let others know of this post, blog, and site.

And thanks for reading!  🙂

Unknown's avatar

Threats to Your Small Business That Will Prevent It From Gaining Success

by

Small business owners all over the world have one thing in common: a dream. They wish that in the future, their small business will grow from the humble beginnings of a startup and reach international recognition. They dream that their business will have thousands of employees, hundreds of office locations and a product to be reckoned with. Sadly, those dreams will quickly be stamped out by these following issues if they aren’t taken seriously enough. From fraudster employees to copycats, here are the threats you need to look out for as you’re running your business.

Photo Source

 

Lack of Continuity

 

When your business suffers an accident, such as being burned down in a fire or when your internet connection goes down, you need to have a continuity plan. In short, this is essentially a backup plan that you engage when something goes wrong. For instance, if you work exclusively in the cloud, then you’re technically immune to any kind of hardware failures, but you won’t be able to work without an internet connection. On the contrary, if most of your work is stored on physical mediums at work, then an office fire or flood could destroy the hardware and it will forever be lost. The best solution is to mix both mediums and hatch a continuity plan.

 

Fraudulent Employees

 

When employees commit fraud, there are no second chances. You need to terminate their contract and replace them as soon as possible. Luckily, there are services like MCC4Tax that will prevent your company from suffering the consequences of something like tax evasion that was committed by a fraudulent employee and not by you. Fraudulent employees could also mean employees that pretend to be something they aren’t. A good example of this is when an employee claims to know certain skills and does a half-arsed job when asked to work. Get rid of these types as soon as possible and ensure that your recruitment process combs through every bit of history your new recruits have.

 

Spreading Resources Correctly

 

One of the biggest decisions a business owner has to make is the choice between diversification and specialisation. One one hand, diversification helps you reach a wider audience, but specialisation helps you build a loyal fan base. The decision to diversify or specialise ultimate comes down to you as the business owner, but it’s worth analysing the advantages and disadvantages of both in your situation. For instance, if your main product is a smartphone, then diversifying it to have a large screen model might spread your production resources too thinly because there isn’t enough demand to make it worthwhile. On the contrary, specialising your current product and creating an updated version might alienate new potential buyers because you have a niche in the market.

 

Copyright Disputes

 

Lastly, let’s not forget about copyright disputes. If a copycat is trying to mimic your product, then you need to hire a lawyer as soon as possible and send a cease and desist letter. If they don’t respond, then take legal action and shut them down. Copyright disputes also work the other way, however. For example, if you’re randomly stealing images from the internet to use on your website, then you might have a nasty surprise when someone claims you’re using their work without their permission, and this could result in expensive image copyright fines that could set your business back.

Contributed Post.

If you like what you’ve read here, please let others know of this post, blog, and site.

And thanks for reading!  🙂