When looking to cut your costs, one of the best places to start looking is at your printing. While paper documents were once incredibly important for businesses (they still serve a function), no one can deny that they take up a considerable amount of space in the workplace, as well as take up precious assets that could be better spent elsewhere. What’s the best way to minimize the resources you spend on printing?
The Internet is a critical tool in your business’ toolbox, so it needs to be fast, reliable, and stable. What kinds of factors go into ensuring that you get the best, most reliable Internet connection? Find out in today’s blog.
If your mouse moves slowly, so does the rest of your computing experience. If you change a couple of settings, you might find that your mouse speed and sensitivity can make a mountain of change for your productivity. Here’s how you can adjust these settings in Windows 10 or 11.
While we—for reasons that should be obvious—tend to focus our attention on preventing and avoiding cybersecurity breaches, it is important that we address how your business responds to a successful breach attempt. Let’s go over how to create a data breach response plan.
Business ROI, or return on investment, is a tool used to measure the profitability of your business based on your various costs and the profits generated by these investments. The performance of the business ROI can also have an assortment of implications on the different aspects of your business.
A positive ROI indicates that an investment has delivered welcome profits. But it's more than just a metric used to monitor the feasibility of your business investments. By maintaining a solid ROI, you are also creating positive effects on your total cost of ownership, R & D, job security, business continuity, and many more.
The primary function of a business ROI is to provide a means to measure the success of your business per investment made. It lets you gauge how well or how poorly you are doing, letting you know which to keep and which to drop. For instance, an investment with a decidedly positive business ROI is worth keeping, while you should avoid an investment that shows a negative ROI at all costs. It also lets you compare different profitable assets to find the best choices.
The total cost of ownership, or TCO, is the sum of the purchase price and the operating costs of an asset over its lifetime. As your ROI grows, your total cost of ownership on your various assets also increases.
The more your business earns, the more accessible resources become. Once you can set up your business plans and strategies to generate a good business ROI, you will have started a dependable cycle of profits that will provide you with funds for research and development.
Thorough planning is crucial each time you make any kind of investment. Study the feasibility of each business investment to increase the chances of getting a good business ROI. There will always be a risk because you never really know if an investment will give you good returns or not, but with careful thought and planning, you can stick to those investments that are more likely to generate positive results.
One of the contributing factors to excellent business returns is the performance of its workforce. If your employees are delivering results, there won't be any reason for you to downsize or shuffle your workforce. Thus, a higher business ROI increases the job security of your employees and may even give them better benefits and perks.
In any industry, it is among the primary goals of a business to have a competitive advantage over its rivals. Maintaining a good return on investment gives you an advantage and makes you more attractive to potential clients when compared to your competitors. These days, potential clients and customers don't just look at the product or service you offer. They also examine the internal components of your business, which is why having a favorable business ROI will be an advantage.
Exerting considerable focus and effort towards improving your business ROI is very worthwhile because, as you can see, it can affect several areas of your business. Improving your returns does not only mean getting higher revenue. It also has a lot of positive implications for your business, your employees, and your clients.
One way of ensuring that you get a good business ROI from your investments is by working with a trusted managed service provider. Your MSP can provide multiple tools and strategies to keep you on track to achieving your goals and generating profits.
For some extra help, we have prepared a comprehensive on-demand webinar that clearly illustrates what could happen to your business if you do not have a managed service provider by your side, as well as the multiple negative impacts this can have on your employees and your clients.
If you want to learn more about how an MSP can help improve your business ROI, contact us and we will be happy to discuss how our services can help boost your returns and your overall business performance.
It doesn’t matter where your business is located; whether it’s a tornado that rolls through your city, a structural fire that renders your office uninhabitable, or a freak snowstorm that brings down power lines or grinds travel to a halt, you’ll want to be ready for it all. We’ll go over what kinds of solutions your business can implement to ensure that no disaster, be it natural or artificial, like a cyberattack, puts a stop to your operations.
If you aren’t versed in business technology, finding the right solutions can be challenging to say the least. Technology should make your life easier, not more difficult. With so many options at your fingertips, we thought it would be helpful to share a couple of tips to help you get started with deploying the right technology solutions for your organization. Here are three tips to help you make the best, most educated decisions about the technology for your business.
When starting a business, it is only natural for the business owner to dream of success and growth for their new venture. But having a dream is not enough. There also needs to be a strategic business plan to ensure that the business will thrive. Unfortunately, many small business owners have the mindset that planning is only for large companies. Some of them don't think that learning business planning skills is necessary. They don't realize that planning for growth is one of the most important things you should do for your business. Here are five tips to help you build your business plan.
From the moment you start your business, and every day after, there will be decisions to make, both big and small. Often, you will make these decisions on the spur of the moment, without the opportunity to sit down and carefully examine the pros and cons of each one. If you do not plan for this, it's easy to make the wrong choices. This mistake is especially true if your business is expanding by adding new locations or hiring more employees. But if you have a solid business plan geared towards growth, it will guide you in making wise decisions every time.
Having a budget plan is essential to keep your business expenses under control. Along with business growth, there will also be a lot of unexpected costs. An efficient budget helps ensure you have sufficient cash flow to keep the business going with the right balance between income and expenses, despite the adjustments you must make. You can’t just go into a business without a clear idea of where your funds are going. Therefore, business planning for cost and budget should consider your present situation and several possible future scenarios.
Running a business involves the use of different software that requires licenses. Failure to comply with the terms and restrictions of the license can have dire consequences. Therefore, it is crucial to have a plan for software licensing before you purchase any. Most software that businesses use these days is expensive, and that is why you need to budget for it from the beginning and decide which ones you need for your business. This way, you won't have to purchase unnecessary platforms that you won't end up using.
Change is not only inevitable in business but is a sign of growth. When you take on new personnel and expand locations, this will lead to significant changes in your business structure. Without a well-laid-out plan, you can easily get lost amidst all these changes. But if you can implement effective business planning strategies for managing whatever changes might come your way, unexpected events will not catch you off guard. Instead, you will make a seamless transition into the new phase of your business.
Technology changes quickly. When running a business, you need to be prepared to implement frequent upgrades and updates to your IT infrastructure. Getting left behind by your rivals in the industry will have a negative effect on your business, so you must focus a considerable amount of your business planning on infrastructure changes.
Nobody knows your business and its objectives better than you do. However, there will be times when you will need expert advice, particularly in areas that are not part of your core competencies. IT, for instance, or financial and legal matters. When you partner with a dependable managed service provider, you will gain an advantage, especially if you have ambitious plans for growing your business. As a managed service provider, we have all the tools and the knowledge for business planning to facilitate a continuous and organized shift toward whatever new direction you are planning for your business. If you want to learn more, please contact us so we can discuss with you the many ways that we can be of service to your business. To find out more about why planning business growth matters, watch this on-demand webinar where Crystal demonstrates the various ways of how a professional MSP take your business to a whole new level of success. 
Your company’s email is one of its most important pieces of technology, and since that is true for nearly every business, it is unfortunately one of the most utilized attack vectors used by cybercriminals. Most businesses don’t understand just how vulnerable they are if their email isn’t properly secured and do their best to keep their employees trained on how to spot potential scams.
If you’re the one in your office known for taking spectacularly detailed notes, then you’ll find no greater productivity tool than a note-taking app. There are dozens of options on the market today that can help you make the most of your note-taking experience, as well as the integrations that they can provide.
Some industries require more compliance than others, as they deal with sensitive data on a regular basis. In efforts to protect this data, governments and agencies have implemented laws, regulations, and other requirements to ensure businesses remain compliant with this expectation.
Business budgeting is a very important part of running a business, regardless of whether you are a startup or an established company operating for years. Creating a budget is not a problem for most business owners. The challenge is sticking to the budget as the business grows and the spending expands.
If you are like many owners of small and medium-sized businesses, you probably focus on the services and products you need when making a projection of your business expenses, which is what you should do. However, do you also consider the hidden costs of all these services and products? Are you even aware that many vendors today charge these hidden costs to unsuspecting business owners?
If you don't regularly assess your purchases for these hidden costs, there's a good chance that you are spending far more than you should be. You might go over your allotted budget. This mistake can have implications for your business.
To bring down spending, many companies resort to the solution of laying employees off, believing that a smaller payroll can help the business get back on track financially. Unfortunately, cutting down on your workforce will increase the load of your remaining staff, which can then lead to stress, job dissatisfaction, and reduced performance.
Loans are a quick fix for any financial problem, but they can have heavy long-term consequences. If you get a loan with high repayment terms, it might eventually lead to even greater financial problems for your business.
As hidden costs eat away at your business funds, you and your employees will naturally try to curb the spending. In doing so, you will inadvertently take people away from the jobs that you hired them to do. Your employees' focus will need to be split between their actual duties and trying to solve the problems with business budgeting. The result of this would be much lower productivity.
Besides the blatant overcharging of some vendors, there are a few other sources of hidden costs that all business owners should know.
Most business startups run on borrowed funds. If you have taken out a loan to help you establish your business, you need to include the interest on this loan in your business budget. You will also need to be very responsible for repaying such loans on time. Otherwise, the interest cost will increase and might take a heavy toll on your business funds.
In business budgeting, many new business owners make the mistake of accounting only for their employees’ salaries. They do not consider the employees’ benefits, which they will also need to grant.
No business owner expects to pay legal fees because no one wants to be involved in a lawsuit. But if these problems happen, you need to allocate funds for this in your budget.
If you were an employee in the past, your company automatically deducted taxes from your salary. Now that you are a business owner, you will still need to pay taxes, and you will have to compute these on your own. If you forget to consider this in your business budgeting, you might be short on funds, and could even have problems with the IRS.
Staying within your budget can be a tough challenge with all the hidden expenses some vendors charge. To ensure that you do not spend more than you need to, you can use this business hidden expense calculator. This tool will reveal which services or products come with extra charges that you don't need to pay. Once you are aware of these costs, you can plan your spending more efficiently and start saving valuable funds for your business. If you have any other questions, please contact us any time.
With many people continuing to work remotely to some extent, it would be irresponsible not to acknowledge that remote work can introduce a level of risk to an organization’s cybersecurity. This makes it all the more important that this security is locked down. Let’s discuss the concept behind zero-trust security, and why it is becoming the benchmark that organizations of all sizes should meet.
Video conferencing has become a popular way for businesses and their team members to communicate, with many platforms rising up to meet this demand. This growth begs the question, however, of how one goes about picking the best one for their organization’s needs. We’ve put together a few features that should be present in any option you consider for you to keep in mind.
With businesses handling operations in different ways, their employees must adapt to the circumstances handed to them. Some companies have begun to experiment with the status quo and are for the first time realizing the value that can come from allowing staff to work remotely. We’d like to discuss some of the ways your team might rely on technology to make remote collaboration effective and how you can optimize your experience with these collaborative platforms.
A lot of companies are making large technology investments, in fact, if you are here now, you are probably thinking about making such an investment for your own business. One problem that growing companies have is identifying and investing in the right technology. Today, we thought we would give you a couple of tips on how to go about making technology investment decisions that will be the most advantageous for your business.
Doing business in this digital era comes with many advantages, thanks to the developments brought about by new technology. But this same technology also brings a new breed of threats that could have negative implications, from minor inconveniences to serious security risks.
You can install an antivirus program and take safety precautions to protect your business. This precaution is for anyone who wants to stay protected from viruses and other digital threats. However, the online environment is rife with potential threats that easily penetrate basic anti-malware programs.
Just think about it. How many email advertisements have you received in your inbox this month alone? Probably dozens, right? You don't even need to open these emails, but if you accidentally click on even one of them, it will expose your system to other online threats and compromise the security of your business.
Of course, the scenario we mentioned above is just a very mild example. Hackers these days are remarkably creative and aggressive in their strategies. Some hackers will steal your valuable data and destroy your business with just a few clicks, especially if you do not have a proper IT security system.
If you do not defend your business with a reliable security system, you put your entire organization at risk and give cybercriminals an open invitation to infiltrate your network. Here are some potential problems you might face if you don't invest in proper IT security for businesses.
While your employees are online, they can unintentionally pick up malware from the websites they visit or the links they click on. These malicious programs can easily attach themselves to your system and infect it.
With information stored digitally, it is easy for hackers to steal personal and financial information, either for selling to others or for personal use. If your system is weakly protected, your employees might suddenly find themselves locked out of their workstations or discover that hackers have wiped their bank accounts clean.
Viruses, worms, Trojans, and other malware can cause damage that causes your website to go down. You might recover with the help of an IT professional, but the hours or even minutes you have lost while you were offline can cause a massive loss of revenue for your business. Some malicious programs can have long-lasting implications that can drastically pull down the performance of your business.
Certain viruses can attack even the most powerful servers. Even if you don’t fall victim to cyberattacks, the gradual deterioration of your computers' speed and performance will significantly reduce the productivity of your employees. This issue can lead to a decline in their job satisfaction and cause problems for your business.
An easy yet effective preventive solution to all these problems is to implement the right strategies for your IT security. Work closely with your IT provider or a managed service provider who specializes in IT security for businesses to get the best results.
The solution will begin with a comprehensive IT security audit where your MSP will thoroughly assess your IT infrastructure and check for vulnerabilities in your network. After this, they will create a custom security solution that fits your business requirements perfectly.
In our on-demand webinar, we discuss how we can help improve the IT security of your business. Click here to register for the webinar, where you will also discover the many ways that a managed service provider can positively impact your business. Or, if you have any other questions, please contact us any time.
With so many wireless networks available to connect to, it’s no surprise that wireless security is a cornerstone of working while on the go. We thought it would be helpful to have a list of best practices to help ensure your wireless networks, and the devices connecting to them, are as secure as possible.
In many places, businesses have been operating in a manner that is closer to “business as usual” than “pandemic-altered”. This doesn’t mean the pandemic is over, but a lot of businesses are now able to make decisions as they were before the pandemic. This is a good thing, but there is one aspect of business that doesn’t seem to be normalizing: the supply chain. Let’s take a look at why supply chain issues persist and what you can do about them.
Many businesses were very suddenly introduced to the capabilities of modern collaboration tools, as… circumstances forced them to either go remote or cease operations for an unknown amount of time. However, while collaboration tools were suddenly a requisite for work, could these tools now be responsible for isolating your team members from one another?
Learn more about what CoreTech can do for your business.
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