Category: Business Insights

Thinking of starting your own business? Becoming an entrepreneur takes a lot more than just a great idea. You have to map out a plan of action, assemble the perfect team, and then you have to put in the work. It’s not easy to start your own business, but it is not impossible, either. The hardest part is deciding where to start. Check out these 5 tips for entrepreneurs before starting your journey.

Choose Something That You Care About

If there’s a problem that you have, solve it for yourself. If something didn’t work for you, then there are probably a lot of people out there that need your solution too. You create your own life and your own path. Following your heart and things you’re passionate about is the best path towards success because you won’t give up if you have a stake in it. Energy has a limit in monotonous work, but when you’re really passionate about something, it’s as if the energy comes out of nowhere and helps you to reach your goal. Satisfaction in life comes from going after what you want, after all.

Do The Research / Know Your Client

Do plenty of research before launching a new brand. It is especially important to understand what your client’s wants and needs are. Once you have launched, it is still very important to keep listening to the customer. If they don’t like something, listen to them. When they do like something about your product, listen then too. You always want to have the best product available, but you also need a solid customer base to sell that great product. Let your consumers know that they’re important by delivering the solutions they’ve asked for.

Surround Yourself With The Right People

Always grab opportunities to network with others. Finding a mentor or coach is very helpful when it comes to starting out as an entrepreneur. Along with researching tips like the ones found here, to hear advice straight from other successful entrepreneurs is very advantageous. If you know that you have cultivated a strong team, be kind to them. Show your appreciation every chance that you get. If there are some people who are falling behind, don’t be afraid to give them the opportunity to work somewhere else. This is your dream and you need the strongest team you can create by your side.

Know Your Finances

Being able to balance a budget is key to being successful. You can get yourself into a lot of financial trouble if balancing a checkbook is hard for you. A successful business turns out a profit; it is important to recognize key details that don’t work for your business and even more important to recognize the things that do work. Any cash flow problems need to be addressed immediately, always. Also, plan ahead with finances because you cannot expect to see returns immediately; making money takes time. A business does not become highly profitable right away, so be sure to map out a plan for repaying debts on time.

Don’t Give Up

Above all: keep hustling for your dream and never give up. If you fail, then you can always try again. Failure is never the last option. No matter what happens, as long as you keep your vision alive in your brain you can keep working on it in the physical world. Whenever you see something that seems to be an overnight success, it most likely took a lot longer than you think. If you’re willing to put in the work and keep chasing after those goals, then you’ve got what it takes to succeed. Keep persevering, because after hearing 100 people say “no,” you really only need one to say “yes.”

Getting to the level of success that you want as an entrepreneur will take time. It is important to never lose sight of your original vision and to never stop working towards your goals. These 5 tips, will hopefully help you cultivate your own path to success in your entrepreneurial business.

Growing a small business is no easy task, especially when most consumers trust names that have been around for a while. Luckily there are easy ways to make any business seem like a large corporation that has been around for years. If you’re looking to grow your small business right away but are unsure of how to do that, check out our 8 ways to Fake It Till You Make It.

Get a P.O. Box

If you’re working from home or a shared space, it is a good idea to use a P.O. Box for your business. It can be dangerous to give out your home address, so this separates your business life from your personal life. You will know that packages will always be safe when using a P.O. Box. There are other options than the USPS, too. UPS offers a street address, that way you can receive mail from anywhere – not just from the USPS.

Amp Up Your Website

Your website should look professional and always be up to date. If you want your business to be taken seriously then a quality website should be at the top of your to-do list. Luckily there are several platforms out there like WordPress, Squarespace and GoDaddy that can offer you your own domain name, hosting, and a premade theme for your site for just a few hundred dollars. If you’re on a budget, which you probably are if you are a small business, then using one of these sites is a great way to have an excellent website to showcase your products and stay in the green.

Get a Toll-Free Number With Extensions

Consider setting up a toll-free number that your consumers can easily reach you at. With a toll-free number from providers like Global Call Forwarding, you can add unlimited extensions. For example, “Press 1 for sales” and so on. The more extensions that you have set up, the bigger your business looks. Even if there is only one person working in each of these departments, and that person is you, it still gives off the perception that the consumer is dealing with a large business.

Add LLC To Your Business Name

This will take a bit of an investment on your part, but in the end will be worth it. With an LLC you can keep your business separated from your personal life. If your business goes into debt it won’t affect your personal assets. An LLC turns your small business into a corporation and it requires a separate tax return from your personal taxes. Plus, it is a lot easier to register as an LLC than an S-Corporation or C-Corporation.

Buy Virtual Phone Numbers in Multiple Locations

Consumers are more likely to trust local businesses. If a potential customer finds that they will be able to reach your business from their local area code, they will be more likely to want to do business with you. If you do not have the means to expand your business to other states or countries you can always claim a virtual presence by using VoIP. This is especially helpful if you already have several customers in a different country or state. Businesses make their money from loyal customers and if you are easily able to stay in contact with them by providing them with a no-fee telephone number they are more likely to stay loyal.

Focus On Social Media

Growing your social media presence is a great way to find new customers and market for free. Small businesses should stay focused on social media since it is a great way to stay in contact with consumers, too. Figure out which social media site will be the best for your particular business and invest time into your page. Restaurants benefit from using Instagram because they can show off pictures of their beautiful food or their lively scene to about 2.3 billion active users. Many businesses also benefit from paying influencers to advertise their products to their thousands or millions of followers. If you are not sure how to go about managing your social media, hire someone to do it for you. There are many marketing companies that specialize in social media, or you can find a freelancer if you want something more personal. If you are trying to grow your social media on your own, then there are several websites that make it simple to follow up on social media statistics, like followers and growth. These sites will usually have the ability to post content for you on a continuous basis, too. That way you can load up on content at one time and the site will post it each day or at different intervals in the day.

Set Up A Separate Business Email

No one is going to take you seriously if your email address ends in @yahoo.com or @gmail.com. Creating an email address with your business’ name looks more professional and will be better for your brand since your business’ name will be constantly displayed in your customers’ inboxes. There are plenty of email providers to choose from and they all have very great features for a low price.

Invest Time and Money Into Good Marketing

If you want your small business to become a big business then you should model your company after them. Large corporations spend a huge amount of their budget on good marketing. You probably won’t be able to spend millions or billions on marketing when you’re just starting out, but investing a chunk of your profits into consistent marketing is a great avenue for creating more revenue. Not only will your products or services get seen by more people, your products and services will be advertised in a professional manner. Plan out your budget and choose marketing strategies that are right for your particular business. If you’re not selling Doritos then you don’t need a 60-second commercial spot during the Super Bowl. However, you may benefit from a direct mail campaign.

Remember that winning in business means being able to compete with the competition. Making it appear that your business is bigger than it actually is is not unethical if you know that your product or service is good. In order to compete sometimes, you gotta fake it till you make it.

There are over 2 billion smartphone users in the world, and the projected number only gets higher every year. This little phone that we carry around every single day connects us to our family, friends, the news, and addictive games like Candy Crush. It can be hard for everyday smartphone users to take their eyes off of the little screen while doing menial tasks like watching TV, sitting down to dinner, and crossing the street. We’re multi-taskers, right? Sure we know that texting while driving is dangerous, but did you know that texting while walking can result in terrible injuries, too?

Texting on the Street

In one particular video, an anchor on ABC News calls texting and walking an epidemic. ABC News also claims that over 1,000 people were sent to the emergency room in 2008 due to texting while walking-related injuries. During this video, ABC shows some funny videos of people walking into street poles, however, they urge their viewers to take texting and walking more seriously. During their “man on the street” interview with a police chief from Fort Lee, New Jersey, he cites that the city has had “25 people hit by cars” due to paying too much attention to their phones rather than their surroundings. In order to lower these numbers, the police officers around Fort Lee have doubled down on jaywalking violations. Someone caught crossing the street while on their phone could get a ticket for as much as $85.

This might seem a bit steep of a price to pay, but it’s definitely cheaper than an overnight in the emergency room. The video ends with the ABC anchor informing her viewers through a held back fit of laughter that the city of London has actually padded street posts so people do not get injured when they run into them. It might be funny to her, but it’s probably not as funny to the previously mentioned 1,000 people that were sent to the ER.

Texting and Walking Can Cost You

London and Fort Lee, New Jersey are not the only cities trying to combat the rise of texting while walking accidents. According to the New York Times, Honolulu is doing their best to combat their own wave of smartphone-related injuries. The new law which was passed in 2017 grants police officers the power to fine the people of Honolulu for looking at their smartphones when they cross the street. This law hopes to bring down the number of pedestrian deaths and injuries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYgTM1pPjKQ

Texting in Public Fails

In another video on YouTube titled “texting and walking fails compilation” several people, distracted by their cell phones, fall over different items they haven’t noticed or hit their heads on street posts. In one clip, a woman and a man are both walking on opposite ends of the street while texting on their cell phones. They meet in the middle and the man bumps the woman on accident, causing her to lose hold of her phone and she drops it on the concrete street. The phone splits off into two pieces and she chases after it. The man who bumped her looks up from his cell phone to see what happened as he continues walking away, casually. Not sure what’s worse in this situation; the fact that the man had zero regards for the woman’s damaged property, or the fact that he was too tuned into his phone to notice what happened to begin with.

The Action Continues

A few different clips from the same video show people falling into indoor fountains in malls and businesses. Another man falls into an outside shallow body of water as a family of ducks swims past him. One of the more terrifying clips in the 4-minute video shows a man confronted with a black bear as he blindly texts away on his phone before realizing what is in front of him. Once he sees the bear he immediately darts away in the other direction. However, the near bear attack is not the most terrifying part of this video compilation. The point of the video is that if you can’t text and walk then how can you be expected to text and drive? They urge this point forward with two additional clips of texting while driving car accidents. The first clip shows a man driving a truck and texting with his phone placed between his hands on the inside of the steering wheel. He is about to collide with the stopped traffic in front of him at high speeds, however, he manages to slow down slightly before the collision by slamming on his brakes at the last second. He is shown as being extremely disappointed in himself afterward, by banging on the steering wheel and putting his head down in shame. The next clip shows a young girl staring at her phone as she makes a turn and her car flips over. She hangs upside down in her overturned car thanks to her seatbelt.

These YouTube videos seem very entertaining to watch, but what about those who get seriously injured or hit by cars? Both groups, drivers or pedestrians, are equally at fault for distractingly texting or talking on their phones when they should be cognizant of their surroundings. We hear it all the time that “texting can wait.” But how many of us actually heed that warning? It’s unlikely that you haven’t engaged in texting while walking even if the act didn’t result in you falling into a mall fountain. The lessons of the video compilations ring true, distracted driving and walking can result in injury or death. As the injuries and deaths grow, more action will be taken by local police forces, raising the need for more consciousness on individuals walking around locked into the action on their phones.

Our modern culture demands the daily use of smartphones, but there are ways to be smarter about it. For example, when you are walking and using your phone it is important to stop and put your phone down at street lights. We learned from Sesame Street to “look both ways before crossing the street,” but we need to add “without your cell phone” to the old saying for it to work now. Keep your headphones low enough that you can still hear things going on around you. Try voice texting and download software that will read your texts out loud to you. The simplest solution is to walk to a safe area and proceed to use your phone there. If these solutions aren’t working for you, it might be time to look into smartphone addiction rehab.

In recent days, compliance regulations and requirements for traders and banks have been expanding dramatically due to leveraged technology and the need for accountability and higher standards. Due to these new regulations, Global Call Forwarding has increased our long-term call recording storage up to 6 years to enable easy access and a trustworthy platform for banks and Forex traders. As a result, these changes ensure that traders, banks, and contact centers are in full compliance with every new regulatory requirement.

Naturally, governments around the world have stepped in to increase regulations to combat ever-widening capabilities of corruption by forcing companies to expand their recordkeeping capabilities via audio. Because traders and bankers are now required to record and archive voice communications, Global Call Forwarding understands the need to have these recordings easily available on demand in the event a dispute should arise. Due to the highly sensitive nature of such calls, we offer the safest security standards. Our platform makes it simple to access and download calls kept in storage with the simplest navigation.

Globally, call recording is becoming required across a multitude of industries for the purpose of record keeping. This is why long-term storage is such a necessary service. Consider the following examples:

• As of January 1, 2018, the markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has now required stockbrokers to compulsorily keep a record of orders placed by clients from January 1, 2018. This mandate includes phone recordings. This puts the burden of proof on the broker to produce documentation for trade disputes that may be unauthorized.
• As of August 31, 2017, the FDIC has ruled that banks and other financial institutions must keep recordings (and other documentation) of “suspicious activity” for 5 years from the date of filing a suspicious activity report (SAR).
• In Europe, under the General Data Protection Regulation, bankers and traders are required to keep recordings or face steep penalties as a consequence. For firms that don’t comply, they can be fined €10,000 per infraction. However, these fines can reach up to a staggering €20 million or 4% of a firm’s annual revenue.

Why Do You Need to Record Your Calls?

It’s obvious that brokers and bankers should take these new regulations seriously and record/ store their calls immediately. Here are a few reasons you should consider:

• The Price of Noncompliance: As mentioned before, the price of non-compliance can be high. If traders or banks don’t record their calls, they could potentially be hit with significant fines or potentially lose their license. Even for companies that are willing to roll the dice when it comes to avoiding potential audits, the risk of being unable to conduct business is a significant deterrent against not integrating call recording services into your business.
• Maintaining Your Public Image: In the Information Age, having records and proof is often an essential part of your business. Therefore, call recording needs to be at the forefront of your business strategy. Staying ahead of the curve, and in line with regulations can keep your business away from negative outcomes and any possible disasters that await unprepared banks and traders if they choose not to take the necessary precautions in long-term storage of their calls.
• Peace of Mind: Even without such regulations, call recording services are an excellent way to ensure that your business is accountable internally. Consider a few of the advantages, including the ability to verify suspicious activity from customers and the ability to ensure your employees maintain accountability for adhering to your company’s standards of ethics.

Quality of Recording Services Matters

Not all call recording services are created equal. Consider the ramifications of having lesser-quality recording services that cannot be trusted when you need them most.

Hypothetically, what would happen if you discover that some of your recorded calls aren’t audible or are missing? By the time that you discover these anomalies, your records may be, in fact, missing thousands of calls. Sometimes, stored calls need to be accessed immediately, and if you can’t trust the storage system, you may run into some serious trouble. By most standards of legislation, not having the recording document is the same as not having made the effort to record them in the first place.

And even if there is an attempt to find the information, many auditors request recorded calls typically within 60 days. With this short time frame, your company may not be able to respond quickly enough to avoid violating the law.

How Global Call Forwarding Can Help

No one wants to lose their license or be fined over a simple mistake. To avoid these possibilities, it is so important that you have a quality service provider that can help you store your calls and provide instant access when you need it. However, we cannot stress enough that this service needs to be top-notch. This is precisely why so many businesses rely on Global Call Forwarding, especially when it comes to call recording for Forex trading and international banks.

Global Call Forwarding’s easy to use technology ensures that all calls required to be recorded for legislation and regulatory purposes are recorded with high-quality content, and are not inaudible. To help Forex traders and banks to comply with these new requirements, we have increased our long-term call recording storage capacity to ensure absolute peace of mind.

In addition to the increase in Global Call Forwarding’s long-term call recording storage capabilities, our platform provides customers the ability to store calls for up to 6 years and access each recorded call with an easy-to-navigate user interface. With only a few clicks, recorded calls can be easily accessed for listening or downloading through a highly secure online control panel. Multiple levels of redundancy ensures safe and secure storage of recorded calls. Best of all, our customers can combine call recording and long-term storage with the ability to reach international markets by utilizing local and/ or toll free numbers available in over 140 countries on our network

Paid Vacation Days in the United States

The United States is the only developed country in the world where paid time off is not required.

Yes, you read that correctly. Though the average American takes off about ten days off per year, none of them are actually required by law. While The Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) does offer standard benefits such as basic wages and overtime pay, it does not entitle employees to paid time off. Not for vacations, not for holidays, and most disturbingly, not for those facing any illnesses.

Instead, employers have the option to make individual contract agreements between themselves and their workers. However, this tends to be problematic for a number of reasons. For example, under this system, two employees with the same amount of job experience can still have an unequal amount of paid leave. This opens the door to favoritism or prejudice. More than that, many people will often avoid using their paid vacation out of fear of losing their job.

U.S. Federal employees have situations that prove to be a little better than the rest of the country. Depending on seniority, the government offers a standard amount of time for vacations and breaks. In addition to that, they are all given time off for ten federal holidays a year.

Americans have been proposing Congress mandate a solution to this dilemma for years, suggesting a minimum of at least two weeks. However, experts agree it’s just not likely that this will be resolved in the near future.

Paid Vacation Days in Other Countries

In contrast, every single country in the European Union, including Sweden, Italy, and France, have at least four mandatory weeks of paid vacation a year. There are differences based on individual government mandates. However, countries that rank the highest in terms of satisfaction are generally in these areas. Here is a breakdown of some of the other more successful ones:

New Zealand: 30 days off
Italy: 30 days off
Belgium: 30 days off (after they work for their employer for at least one year)
France: 31 days off
Spain: 34 days off
Germany: 34 days off
Portugal: 35 days off
Austria: 35 days off

Austria wins the prize for the most amount of time off, with 13 paid holidays and 22 paid vacation days. Additionally, if a person has at least 25 years job experience, they are entitled to more.

There are other ways international businesses are attempting to make improvements for workers. For instance, France has had a 35-hour workweek since the year 1999. Recently they have introduced new legislation that encourages employees to turn off their work phones and avoid emails during their time off.

Sweden is also considering shorter working days for their residents. It is reported that their 6 hour work days could make people happier and healthier than ever.

Finally, other countries desire to take parental leave more seriously. While the U.S. offers no mandatory parental leave, Denmark provides nursery care for all citizens so that mothers and fathers alike can have a better work-life balance. New parents are given one year of paid leave after they have a child, or if they have adopted a child. Finland has also made it a law that parents of smaller children are able to use subsidized child care centers.

Vacation Days Directly Linked to Productivity

So what is stopping the United States from adopting these same laws and ordinances for citizens? It could be that employers fear that time off equals more expenses they simply cannot afford. This is especially true for smaller enterprises and startups trying to compete with much larger organizations. Some offices would need to hire replacements or have employees work overtime to make up for that “lost” time. But hundreds of studies prove that workers are overall more productive with increased vacation time.

In a study by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) for Project: Time Off, HR managers believe that taking vacation time leads to greatly improved performance (75%) and better job satisfaction (78%). In other words, vacation gives a person the chance to “recharge their batteries” and mentally rest from their job. When they finally return to their desk, morale (and overall productivity) is improved.

Time away from an office setting also gives people a chance to tap into their creative side. This is especially important for those who frequently face complicated challenges at work. Rest can stimulate new ideas to solve old problems by helping individuals gain new clarity. It is an excellent way to refresh or renew motivation.

The Case For Businesses to Invest in Paid Vacations

It’s not just the employees who stand to gain from mandatory paid vacations in the United States. Organizations will also see long-term advantages. When they invest in time off for their workers, they see the results in terms of work quality after they return. Not only that, there are a lot of cost savings involved.

How does this work? Employees tend to feel more valued when offered a certain amount of time away from work. Organizations with happier workers will see less turnover. A high turnover rate incurs high costs. Every time you lose an employee, Human Resources must spend time with the process of interviews, onboarding, and training. This takes up not only time but also money. In fact, every time a business replaces a salaried employee, it actually costs them, on average, 6 to 9 months of that person’s salary. So even if that person was making only $40,000 per year, a business stands to lose at least $20,000 in resources.

When employees have the flexibility of paid vacation days, they are much less likely to “call in sick” at the last minute unexpectedly. They feel more empowered to take care of themselves and their personal needs in their own time.

Finally, paid time off gives employers a strategy to attract more experienced workers. For example, a company offering a standard three-week vacation will help you recruit the best and the brightest in the industry, especially if a competitor only offers ten days.