Until more recently, having the right technology strategies in place were not considered a top priority for businesses to operate effectively. However, as threats to data grow more and more, it can be difficult to understand why spending on proper, and secure, technology is paramount to success. Many small business owners wonder to this day, “are these solutions really necessary….”?
Whether a business has 200 employees or 20, they should be taking their business strategies seriously and their security plans should look relatively similar. Some of the more basic essentials are the following:
Online Payment Strategies
When it comes to priorities, it’s likely that “collecting payment” ranks pretty high in your business strategies. Having a secure online payment strategy eliminates the time it takes to have your accounts up to date, all but eliminating the need for “collection” calls to clients from your accounting or sales team.
It may also finally be time to tell your clients that you are no longer accepting checks as a form of payment for – monthly, or reoccurring services. This helps reduce stress from you and your client’s relationship as there should never (or rarely) be any payments outstanding that may impact the relationship, or either party’s reputation.
Communication
The right technology solutions can help your team keep clear communications with each other, whether it’s a project management system, secure email accounts, or an internal chat interface.
We are amazed at how often we see our clients save time on their daily tasks, projects and meetings – that is, once we are able to help them implement a communication solution that’s right for their way of doing business. Mitigating miscommunication helps cut down on missing KPI’s, back-and-forth email threads and simple human errors, which can cause your business to fail at meeting service requirements and impacting your reputation long-term (both with clients and staff).
Cloud Computing
It can be exhausting to consider what technologies and applications to use for your business. We meet many business owners who, due to uncertainty, are in constant “decision limbo” and have been using outdated technology for years due to their inability to make a choice and move forward.
Our approach with clients is not about selling our own specific product, rather it’s about finding out what the client’s success criteria is and what tools are able to provide those.
Backup & Business Continuity
If you’ve read our articles before, you know that the best insurance policy for your business is a backup & business continuity plan. In this day and age of cybersecurity (or lack thereof) you cannot run a business today without having a backup copy of your data available to you. We work with our clients to establish their tolerance for data loss and ensure their backup systems are in place and reliable, meeting their objectives in the case of any emergency.
Each ActiveCo client understands the nature of their backup, the frequency of their backup and is able to leave their business with peace of mind that in the event of an event, they have that insurance plan in place, being managed and executed with a technology partner who understand what actions to take (including, surprise, proper communication!).
There are so many factors to consider when scaling your small business that we’ve only scratched the surface here today, but the ability to provide your service to your clients with the trust that your technology is working for you and not against you makes a huge difference.
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