Tag Archives: CBS Corporate Business Solutions reviews

Employee Incentives: Health Insurance

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The current and continuing increases in medical costs can be a major issue for many Americans, especially when they require medical treatment.

Group health insurance plans are offered by an employer of a member organization. Members of the plan usually receive coverage at a lower cost because the risk to the insurer is spread across multiple members.

Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), businesses with 50 or more full-time employees must provide health insurance to full-time employees and dependents under the age of 26 or pay a fee.

Employers with fewer employees might also choose to have a plan as part of an Employee Incentive Scheme.

Approximately 50% of Americans with health insurance coverage gained this through group plans provided by their employer. However, many of them have little idea how their plan works.

Group health insurance provides many benefits, but when your insurance plan is tied directly to your employment, you will usually lose this cover if you change jobs. In 2017, 22% of uninsured Americans reported losing their health insurance due to job loss or change in employment status.

The 2002 movie John Q, starring Denzel Washington, is an example of one of the traps of employer-provided health insurance. In the movie, due to a downturn in business, his employer changed health providers to save money, and when John’s hours were reduced temporarily, he became classified as a part-time employee.

This resulted in him and his family no longer having full cover. When his son suffered a significant medical event requiring ongoing treatment. The plan in place when he began employment would have covered everything, but the new cheaper plan and his temporary part-time employment status meant only some of the initial medical costs were covered, and none of the major costs would follow.

Benefits of Group Health Insurance

Many employers provide supplemental health plans, which include dental coverage, vision, and pharmacy coverage, either separately or as a bundle.

The main benefit is lower premiums. A 2018 study found the average premium cost per individual in a group health insurance plan was $41/month cheaper than an individual plan. The same study discovered small group health plans had an average deductible of more than $1,300 less than individual plans.

Family members and dependents can be added to group plans at an additional cost to members. These assists families with sole providers, or where other family members don’t have group health insurance with their employer.

Group health insurance plans provide numerous tax benefits to both the employer and employee. Employers’ costs are tax-deductible, and employees’ premiums are made before tax, reducing their total taxable income.

Smaller businesses may also qualify for the small business health care tax credit.

Who can get Group Health Insurance?

To be eligible for an employer’s group health insurance, an employee must be on payroll and the employer must pay payroll taxes. Independent contractors, retirees, and seasonal or temporary employees are not eligible. If you take unpaid leave, you may be ineligible for group coverage until you return to work.

Make sure you know what cover you are entitled to if you work less than full-time hours, even if only for a temporary period.

Coverage must also be offered to an employee’s spouse and dependent children until age 26, though some employers may increase the age, provided children are still dependents. Unmarried partners of the same or opposite sex, may also be eligible for the same cover as their spouses.

Without a doubt, job seekers favor employers with a group health insurance plan, but it is important to fully understand what the plan covers and any changes.

Check out http://www.cbs-cbs.com as a starting point for advice on how a group health insurance plan could be a great fit for your business as part of an employee incentive scheme.

Is Your Business Maximizing the Power of Mobile Devices?

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A 2020 study found that on average, workers waste 8 hours/week on non-work activities, mostly on their mobile devices.

Now calculate the average hourly pay of your business, multiply that by eight, then multiply that answer by fifty-two and you get the money your business is paying each staff member each year to do nothing on company time.

Now multiply that number by the number of employees – and don’t forget to include yourself – and you get the dollar figure your business is wasting each year on unproductive time. Most of it is wasted checking personal emails and social media on mobile phones.

So, what should you do? Ban phones in the workplace, and fire people caught receiving personal calls?

You might have to fire yourself!

And does that calculation tell the whole story about mobile phone use in the workplace?

Of course, there are workplaces where a “no mobile phone” policy makes complete sense. For example, factories and worksites where workers may be around dangerous equipment or need to all be working at a fast pace all the time. Or medical operating theatres where the environment must be distraction-free as well as spotlessly clean.

But for some businesses, banning mobile devices may be causing fewer problems and lost productivity than you think. Making mobile devices MORE available in the workplace could improve productivity.

Make sure you are sitting down because the facts you are about to read may just blow your mind!

  • There are over 27.1 billion devices connected to the Internet – more than three devices for each person on the planet. [Cisco, 2021]
  • 22 billion people (66.6% of the global population) use a mobile device. [Datareportal, 2021]
  • 97% of Americans own a cellphone, with 85% owning smartphones and 53% own tablets. [Pew Center for Research, 2021]
  • More people use mobile to access the internet than a desktop. [Comscore, 2018]
  • 15% of American adults are “smartphone-only” internet users – they do not have home broadband. [Pew Center for Research, 2021]

What do those facts tell you? Mobile devices are here to stay, and their use is only increasing.

What about mobile devices at work?

Today’s employees rely heavily on mobile devices at work. Here is how employees are currently using their mobile devices in the workplace.

  • The average mobile worker works 240 hours a year longer than the general population. [iPass, 2017]
  • 84% of mobile workers have checked their smartphone in bed, while 72% admit to having checked their smartphone on the toilet. [iPass, 2017]
  • More than half of mobile workers say that a lack of Wi-Fi when working remotely would negatively impact their ability to do their job. [iPass, 2017]

Mobile productivity statistics

How are mobile devices affecting productivity in the workplace? This is what happens when employers give their workers mobile phones.

  • 75% of workers say their smartphones make them more productive. [Google, 2017]
  • 97% of the users say productivity apps are the most dominant kind of apps on their smartphones. [GoodFirms, 2019]
  • 82% of IT executives said smartphones are incredibly important to employee productivity. [Samsung/Oxford Economics, 2018]
  • 64% of leaders say technology investments have led to gains in productivity. [Celerity, 2020]
  • 53% of executives said apps improve business processes and increase productivity. [Apperian, 2016]

BYOD & mobile app statistics

Given the potential of mobile devices to increase productivity, businesses are asking employees to use their own devices at work and providing them with business apps.

  • Only 26% of U.S. companies provide employees with mobile phones — the lowest number for any country. [Steelcase, 2016]
  • 87% of companies expect their employees to use their devices for work purposes. [Syntonic, 2016]
  • 72% of companies have a bring your device (BYOD) policy. [Tenable, 2016]
  • 80% of IT executives said employees cannot do their jobs effectively without a mobile phone, and 75% said mobile devices are essential to workflows. [Samsung/Oxford Economics, 2018]
  • Businesses with BYOD policies pay employees a stipend of $30 to $50/month to use their mobile phones. [Samsung/Oxford Economics, 2018]

Mobile security statistics

With more employees accessing business data from personal mobile devices, security is becoming a major concern.

Without appropriate security software installed, personal mobile devices could easily expose businesses to threats from hackers and noncompliance with security mandates.

  • 67% of respondents reported that remote workers’ use of personal mobile devices negatively impacted their organization’s security. [Ponemon Institute/Keeper Security, 2020]
  • 55% of respondents say smartphones are their biggest security headache. [Ponemon Institute/Keeper Security, 2020]
  • Fifty-seven percent of technology executives worry about the security of non-managed devices. [Apperian, 2017]

If you need help maximizing productivity through the use of mobile devices suitable for your business, check out Corporate Business Solutions at http://www.cbs-cbs.com.

Identifying Bullying in the Workplace

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A 2008 poll on workplace bullying found that 75% of workers reported being affected either as the target or as a witness. More disturbing was a 2019 survey of 2081 workers with a staggering 94% claiming to have been bullied at work! More than half said they were bullied by their immediate boss.

Causes of bullying were reported to be aggressive emails (23%), co-workers negative gossip (20%), and someone yelling at them (18%).

Just because getting bullied seems to now be the norm does not make it right. There are plenty of businesses that respect their employees and have zero tolerance for bullying and other forms of harassment.

When management gets to hear of bullying claims, you can usually expect the claimant has been putting up with a negative environment for quite some time before taking this problem to the management level. Therefore, any bullying claims should be treated seriously and be fully investigated.

A workplace bully who management support by ignoring their behavior can cost a business thousands of dollars due to high staff turnover. Be aware that the bully is unlikely to admit there is anything wrong with their behavior and is even less likely to display it in front of management.

Here are six signs that bullying is occurring in your workplace.

Temper tantrums – shouting, name-calling, and other types of verbal abuse, undermining comments about co-workers, blaming others for mistakes but quick to take credit for any successes. When you observe the suspected bully do they interrupt the target, belittle them, make inappropriate comments or spread rumors and negative gossip?

Subtle signs of bullying – the bully may seem fine in your presence but behave in a much more sinister way to the target in private. Watch for unreasonable demands, sabotaging a subordinate, constant questioning, and generally making life more difficult than for others.

Observe the behavior of the suspected victim – it may be easier to identify bullying from the change in behavior of the targeted victim. Are there sudden changes in their behavior? An employee who becomes increasingly withdrawn has increasing error rates or suffers stress-related illnesses and absences from work are displaying signs of being bullied.

Is an individual being isolated or left out of important communications? –  If a particular individual never copies a co-worker into emails or invites them to important meetings, there could be a problem. Other obvious signs include refusing to speak to the target and forgetting to return their messages.

Investigate any allegations of bullying immediately – sometimes you may not be aware that bullying is taking place until you are specifically informed. Remain neutral, ask the victim for physical evidence like emails and ask both for witnesses to any incidents.

Examine your organizational culture – competitive workplaces tend to ridicule underperformers and this kind of behavior can become normalized. Top management also has a direct influence on bullying. Are bullies being rewarded with promotions that encourage them to continue with their behavior, perhaps even taking it to greater extremes? If one bully has been allowed to operate for some time, others will likely copy their behavior.

For Corporate Business Solutions for issues like these, check out http://www.cbs-cbs.com/services/.

Managing Remote Employees

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Remote working has exploded since the Covid pandemic spread around the world and now almost 20% of the workforce has experienced working from home.

The benefits for employees include the flexibility to work around other commitments, times saved commuting to and from the workplace, improved health and wellbeing, and the ability to work from anywhere, meaning you don’t have to relocate to the location of the workplace.

Employers also see benefits. In many cases, productivity and performance have increased while overhead costs have decreased, they can access a wider talent pool, and they have experienced improvements in employee retention.

However, remote work is not without its challenges, these can include employees feeling isolated from their work colleagues, gaps in communication, difficulty staying motivated, distractions in the home, difficulties switching off from work, and managing the work team can be more difficult.

Supporting Remote Employees

Managers need to be aware that different employees will have different needs. They will need to adapt their strategies depending on the specific needs of each employee.

Regular check-ins provide accountability and also your availability to provide guidance. Remember to offer encouragement and emotional support. Keep a lookout for any changes in communication or work output that may indicate they are having difficulties.

When some employees are working remotely and others are 100% in the office, it is easy to exclude remote workers from team meetings and social events. Ensure they are included and remain part of any appropriate decision-making.

Keep your expectations of remote workers flexible. Unlike those working in the workplace, your remote workers don’t have to get everything done during work hours unless there is some specific deadline. If they are getting their work done, it doesn’t matter if their work schedule differs from normal office hours.

Be sure to create some rules of engagement. Ask your remote workers when and how they want to be contacted, and ensure they know how they can contact you and other team members.

Most importantly, encourage a sense of belonging. Creating team spirit can be more difficult when you don’t physically see some of your staff regularly. You will have to think of some innovative ways to create a feeling of mutual trust and respect for everyone in the team. Simple things like starting team meetings with a quiz or an icebreaker exercise help all team members get to know each other better and build team spirit.

Managing Remote Teams

When your entire team is working remotely you need to ensure the success, productivity, and efficiency of the entire team.

Set clear expectations so every team member knows what is expected of them. This includes clear communication expectations like where and how to communicate with each other and how quickly to respond to emails.

You will need to take each member’s different work schedules into account. You should set up a weekly reporting system so that you can monitor the completion of tasks to evaluate productivity and if any members are struggling with their workload. Make sure any time frames and deadlines are achievable.

To avoid any feelings of isolation, schedule group meetings at a time when everyone is available. Delegate responsibilities evenly across your team but based on who is best suited to each task.

Finally, ask for feedback. This will encourage them to speak out about things they don’t think are working or things they need support with. It can show them that you care and that their voice matters.

If your business is struggling with the management of remote workers Corporate Business Solutions Inc. can provide consulting services.

Identifying and Handling Difficult Employees

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While hiring procedures and employee standards of conduct should be of utmost importance in starting your business, no process is perfect. Employees who know the right words to say but act against company values can still slip through the cracks.

This doesn’t mean that they are hopeless, but you as the business owner need to know how to identify problems in the workplace before they become disastrous and figure out how to best discuss this with otherwise productive employees. This guide will help you to identify and solve problems with employees that might be dragging your production down.

Over-Confidence

Confident, independent employees that are also good team players are an invaluable addition to your firm. The problem arises when the confidence comes without humility where even high-performing members believe that they can do no wrong.

These crew members can be especially difficult when they can keep other employees quiet due to their high performance, but that makes it especially important to address the issue. As the business owner, you need to remain calm while discussing the problem.

These individuals can turn into great leaders if they have the intelligence and maturity to realize how they are affecting your firm and what they can do to improve.

Refusal of Responsibility

If a team member constantly has a non-personal reason for every point you mention in a performance review, that is an issue. Responsible team members will admit to their mistakes but be aware and confident enough to admit when something is out of their control.

While these employees can be irritating it is important to hear their side of the story, conveying patience and diligence. Sometimes those who are constantly complaining might feel unseen or unheard. Certain employees might have complaints that are unfounded or unreasonable, but that doesn’t mean that all are to be dismissed.

Workers who cannot provide a reason for their gripes might not be mature enough for your workforce, but others might have insight into how things could do be run better or how your team could get more operational support. Don’t just write them off as a complainer, but their attitudes should be tempered if it’s detrimental to morale.

Lack of Communication

Some businesses require constant socialization, especially in a high-volume or high-stress environment. Workers that are not suited to this kind of work should be identified and ruled out in the hiring process, but it is not always so simple.

Employees who suddenly go dark or stop offering reports despite a good history should be met with. An individual’s work-life balance could be disrupted and that needs to be discussed. Some employees are hesitant to speak about family or financial difficulties to separate the office from home.

While this is an admirable attitude, it can be damaging to both the worker and the company. Sudden changes in work ethic are often the result of emotional difficulties, and employers should always check in with their workers.

Giving an overworked or overstressed employee time off or a lighter workload can improve team cohesion and employee retention as they know you care for their overall well-being. Letting your workers know that you see them as more than a non-feeling resource is never a bad decision.

Personal difficulties with workers often stem from temporary hardships or inner issues that they’ve never had to address. As the business owner, you can be the one who can turn those perceived flaws into advantages for both parties. Always discuss potential issues with your employees before you move to immediate criticism.

No matter how you want to improve your workforce, Corporate Business Solutions can help arrange the best scenario for both your business and your employees.

How to Hire for Remote Positions

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Hiring is always a tricky topic for even the most experienced corporations and hiring departments but trying to put together a team that will usually work from outside of the office can introduce an entirely different set of issues. 

Luckily, the evolving work environment has allowed hiring managers to adapt alongside employment trends, so firms can save on office space by hiring remotely and ensuring that their workers are dependable and efficient. 

Avoid Unnecessary Applicants 

Subjecting both your staff and potential hires to rounds and rounds of virtual interviews can prove to be a very inefficient process. Making sure that your job posting provides all requirements and responsibilities but also avoids any sort of filler content can save both parties a great deal of time. 

Remove any irrelevant content about local lifestyle as you may be hiring internationally for a remote department. Tend towards bullet points and clear lists so that every applicant can be clear on what will be required of them and determine whether they can meet the challenge.

 Use Open-Ended Questions 

Learning how an applicant thinks is always an important part of the hiring process, but this can be far more useful when you don’t have a chance to meet him or her face to face. Preparing a template for your hiring managers ensures quality control of the hiring process, but it also helps to make sure you are learning the right things about your potential hires. 

Asking people how they would deal with a disastrous meeting or resolving conflicts in the workplace is far more important than making sure that they have a certain amount of experience with a given network system or coding language. Knowledge can be taught, but wisdom and experience cannot. 

Plan Interviews in Bulk

 While it can be daunting, planning a few days of back-to-back interviews can be the most efficient approach. Most remote positions will attract plenty of applicants due to the lack of travel for interviews and widespread internet access. 

This frequent contact with hiring candidates will make comparisons easier and you can meet with your team to trade notes at the end of each interview block. Without rigorous notetaking, it can be difficult to remember faces or voices over virtual or phone interviews. 

If you and your hiring personnel can handle to high-volume, planning blocks of interviews can be good to ensure that you never forget a candidate that stands out amongst all the others, so good workers don’t get lost in the shuffle. 

Give Them a Tour 

Just because an employee is working remotely doesn’t mean that they’re not a part of the team. Taking a candidate on a tour of your office space over some sort of visual-telecommunications app can give them an idea of your work philosophy and make them feel a more personal connection with you and other employees.

 This can also give applicants a sense of your firm’s capabilities, who they can report various things to, and introduce themselves to fellow workers. Small touches can make workers feel valued and close to one another, even if they are on other continents!

 Hiring is never an easy process. The birth of remote work has come with its benefits and drawbacks. Entrepreneurs can now save on real estate, but they must be even more diligent when filling remote positions.

 Planning job postings to be direct and clear can help cut down on obviously unqualified applicants. Designing interview questions to gauge workers’ personalities and values over binary knowledge can help make up for the lack of physical contact. 

Planning interviews in a compact time frame can make remembering exceptional candidates easier. Finally, giving a virtual tour of your office helps to increase a sense of camaraderie and ensures potential hires that your firm is very much a team despite physical distance. 

No matter what advice you may need in your hiring process, CBS-CBS.com can help you in all aspects in finding the best employee to serve your company!

 

 

 

 

 

How to Increase Employee Retention

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A running truism in entrepreneurial circles is that “one great employee is worth ten bad workers”. A key to success in business is making sure that you attract, identify, and hire the best workers possible, but the challenge doesn’t stop there.

Owners need to provide a situation where the best people happily return to work for years. Employee retention is just as important as the hiring process and here’s how you can make sure that you organize and keep the best team possible at your firm.

Perfect Your Onboarding Program

Ensuring that your new hires are getting off on the right foot is crucial to making sure that everyone knows what to expect and how to operate in a new workspace. Many fresh workers are understandably nervous upon starting with a new firm, so it’s paramount to make their onboarding to your staff as friendly and clear as possible.

Letting employees know what their responsibilities are and what resources they can access can set the tone from day one. No one wants to lose a good worker to cold feet because they were unclear or alarmed by a hostile or vague orientation process. This is especially important for hiring to fill a remote position.

Make Sure That Your Compensation Is Competitive

Never forget that your workers are generally looking to pay their bills. Business owners need to constantly monitor their competitors to be sure that they are offering competitive wages as well as benefits packages when applicable.

Even the most passionate worker can be forced to leave if your offerings don’t keep up with market trends. Don’t miss out on exemplary employees because your company hasn’t updated its compensation or benefits packages.

Provide Constant Feedback

The ritual of annual performance reviews is going the way of the dinosaur, and this is a good thing. Quarterly reviews can be a great way to let your employees know that you acknowledge and care about their production. Furthermore, it can be a great way to discuss your employees’ goals and have them thinking about their future within your company.

This relies on your ability to make performance reviews a welcome experience. You and your team members should be excited to discuss their work and everything that the future might have in store. Don’t make promises that you can’t keep, but don’t make employee reviews feel like being called into an interrogation.

Acknowledge Work-Life Balance

Your employees need to be seen. This means noting that they are not just cogs in the workings of your business, but that they have dreams and ambitions outside of the workplace. Doctors and emergency personnel may have periods where they have to be on-call for several days, but this doesn’t mean they don’t have other obligations.

Likewise, programmers and journalists may have to participate in a “crunch” to meet certain deadlines, but managers should acknowledge that this can’t be a constant in the workplace. Demonstrate how proud you are of your workers for meeting certain milestones or periods of chaotic business with a long weekend.

Anything that lets your crew know that you are aware when they are going the extra mile can go a long way to ensuring their continued enthusiasm and loyalty to your firm.

Hiring practices and employee retention policies are ultimately two sides of the same coin. It is expensive to filter out the best candidates and then train them up in your company.

Doing all you can to keep your team happy and healthy pays dividends in not only your hiring department but also bolster your reputation as an entrepreneur those other talented individuals want to work for. Corporate Business Solutions Reviews can help you in every step of your mission to find and keep the right people in your firm.

Qualities of a Great Employee

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Identifying high-value job candidates and employees is a crucial aspect of any business. If you are a wise entrepreneur, then you will have put considerable care into your hiring protocols and hold frequent performance reviews along with clear guidelines.  

This guide can help you and your hiring managers better identify the intangible aspects of individuals that can be a great resource to your firm. 

Appreciate Ambition

 While it may not always show up in his or her work metrics, look for employees and candidates that demonstrate a growth mindset. People with this worldview are looking to constantly improve themselves, be it in or out of the workplace.

 Appreciate those who talk about their hobbies and passions with a desire to learn and improve, as this almost always crosses into their attitude at work.

 An ambitious worker can always be taught, while a capable but unwilling employee can be a drag on both the productivity and morality of all those around them.

 Ambition can also be infectious, as growth-minded workers are usually positive people and can motivate the rest of your firm to improve themselves.

 Search for Cooperative Independence 

Going with ambition, eager workers are often quick to learn their jobs so that they can perform without excessive supervision, but this should not be confused with isolation. Any successful team needs to strike a balance between autonomy and communication with the rest of their department. This will depend largely on an individual’s role within a firm, but the concept remains the same.

Don’t confuse constantly needing assistance with being a good teammate. Good employees should be willing to ask for help when necessary, but they should never want to be a drag on production. A good crew should want to give back as much as they can while learning how to handle their role.

Hire Humility 

Much like maintaining harmony between independence and being a good team member, you need to find the proper balance between ambition and humility. High-performing but arrogant employees can quickly rise to become toxic leaders that poison your business. 

Seek ambition, not arrogance. Positive but ambitious employees grow precisely because they are humble to admit that they aren’t perfect and can always be doing better. Surrounding your employees (and also yourself) with these personalities will always result in good outcomes no matter what your company provides. 

This can be especially difficult as many candidates know the right words to say in an interview but don’t always do the right thing in their actual work. This is partially why the traditional annual performance review is going away in favor of more frequent evaluations.

Curate Confidence 

Humility does not mean meekness. Find employees that are growth-minded but confident in their current abilities. These workers are often innovative, take calculated risks, and don’t require constant assurance and supervision that they are doing their work properly. 

Candidates that are demure or too quick to agree during the interview process might become well-meaning employees, but their constant need for advice or comfort might not work well in your business model. A lack of confidence can even be disastrous in fast-paced, high-stress, or even dangerous work environments. Encourage your workers, but avoid those who need coddling. 

No interview or performance evaluation protocol will ever be perfect, and this is mostly because work culture and employee production can’t always be broken down into concrete numbers. Intangibles can make or break a seemingly stable business model. 

Never forget to pay attention to the social or soft skills of your employees/potential hires. If you’re interviewing a candidate that is unproven technically but demonstrates the previous qualities, then you might have found a diamond in the rough. 

For all other company culture or hiring advice, Corporate Business Solutions Consultants can make sure that your entire staff is happy and productive. 

Top Mistakes Small Business Make

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Entrepreneurs either fail because they lack the methods, systems and controls for their business model, or they lack to ambition to go entirely in on their project.
Sometimes avoiding the wrong decision is just as important as choosing the right path.

Poor Planning

All of the ambition and care in the world is only as good as the plan to implement it. Hall of Fame UCLA basketball coach John Wooden said, “Failing to plan is planning to fail” is certainly on point for entrepreneurs. With the speed of today’s market, it’s more important now than ever that your business model is mapped out and ready to commit to a fast-paced market.

Create a Business Plan That is System-Dependent Rather Than People-Dependent

Most entrepreneurs begin their business because of a skill they have to produce a product or service.  However, it’s not their lack of expertise in creating a product or delivering a service that causes businesses to fail.  Rather, it’s the lack of systems to manage and run the business that becomes the weak link for the business owner.

Does the business have a cash management system that can accurately predict the cash needs of the business 13 weeks into the future so there is time to plan for unexpected shortfalls in cash flow to meet all financial obligations?

Does the business owner have a modern management dashboard which allows him to see all the critical variables and business metrics to make informed decisions based on the numbers rather than simply relying on his gut feel for what he should do?

Being Too Rigid with a Business Model

Flexibility might be just as important as planning out your initial designs for launching your entrepreneurial project. The speed of the business world means not only ensuring that you have a solid vision of what you are trying to accomplish with your small business, but you need to be able to adapt depending on the product or service that you are trying to provide.

This can vary extensively depending on your business model. Maybe your service would be better for your customer by operating outside of a brick-and-mortar setting.

You might want to consider moving your culinary dreams to a food truck instead of a permanent location. Your consulting firm might be better served by going entirely remote. Maybe your employee pool could shrink or grow depending on operational cost and demand for your product/service.

The point is to never get too rigid in your business planning. Always be ready to flow like water around any potential obstacles in your entrepreneurial endeavors.

Sloppy Financial Records

No matter how much you love your business, it can’t get anywhere without proper funding. Either carefully handling your accounting in-house or outsourcing it to a third-party firm can save business owners a mountain of headaches down the road.

This is important for both tax purposes along with making sure that your financial situation is above board when trying to finance or sell your small business.

It can be easy to forget about monetary details while you try to grow your empire, but many entrepreneurs have found themselves in a mess of paperwork after years of neglecting their monetary records.

Failure to Track Customer Behavior

Tracking customer trends is vital to your ability to meet demands no matter your small business’s goal. Buyers are flocking to social media and the digital marketplace no more than ever. There are very few industries that would not benefit from establishing a digital footprint.

Modern society has reached a point where even elderly clients are constantly engaging in e-commerce, so taking to social media is no longer the cutting-edge form of engagement it once was. Stay on top of the customer trends in your industry to make sure that your marketing strategy is never losing ground.

There are just as many ways to plan a successful business as there are to launch a model that is destined to fail. As the business owner, you have the most power over how your ambitions play out. This can be intimidating, but it can also be very empowering.

No matter what aspect of your business you want to improve or what pitfall you want to avoid Corporate Business Solutions is ready to help you at any time!

Best Point of Sale Systems for Every Business

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Having a reliable, efficient point-of-sale (POS) system can save your small business many headaches down the road. A POS system is ultimately a hardware/software combination that digitally tracks individual sales and overall sales reports, making data accumulation easier than ever and keeping track of your business exchanges all in one place.

Some software comes free of charge, but other packages can cost a few hundred dollars a month. That’s why your business needs to select the right system to maximize efficiency and minimize monthly business costs based upon your business model and POS requirements.

No matter what type of business you run, this POS review can help every entrepreneur select the system that will find the right balance.

Square

Square is an excellent choice for a POS system no matter the size or niche of your small business. It’s a cloud-based system, so you can receive and track payments anywhere. Originating as a mobile system, you can easily track your business even when giving exercise classes in a local park.

Square has expanded from its original roots, but that doesn’t mean the platform has forgotten its origins. Not to be left behind in the marketplace, Square has begun offering more grounded hardware for brick-and-mortar establishments, meaning that you won’t have to bring your phone along to accept payments at your start-up cafe or corner retail store.

Square offers a paid option for its services, and the Square Plus version offers profit margin reporting and 24/7 phone support. For growing businesses with multiple employees, this might be a worthy expense for only $60 per month.

Toast

Toast is one of the market leaders in restaurant POS systems. Toast can accommodate entrepreneurs who want to accept orders both through a hardware system in the store, to applications that customers can download and order through in the comfort of their own home.

Toast can both process and distribute funds, but there will be a management fee taken off of your revenue. Toast’s integrated system can easily pay for itself in convenience, as its hardware can also be linked to your kitchen’s order display, meaning that orders will be seamlessly transferred from your server/customer interface to the sous chef’s exposition station.

After purchasing the basic hardware, Toast offers its software, 24/7 customer service, and general analytics for free. The “Essentials” and “Growth” subscription plans start at $165 and $272 per month, respectively. The premium packages offer several benefits including gift card processing and mobile-application hosting for customers, meaning that your POS capabilities can expand within Toast as your business grows. You’ll never have to jump around from different POS providers if you go with Toast!

Shopify

Just as Toast is made specifically for restaurants, Shopify is designed for retail. It is praised for its ease of use and convenient setup process.

With a range of plans from “Shopify Lite” to the “Advanced” option, retailers can pay anywhere from $9 to $299 per month depending on their needs. Regardless of which subscription option you choose, Shopify is known for its accessibility for even the most technologically inexperienced.

Shopify also offers an application for online retailers that can use it as a stand-alone service or sync their online shopping with their brick-and-mortar setups, so entrepreneurs can easily sync their Shopify online store with the POS service.

Both the software and hardware are available on both Apple and Android products, so there is no barrier to entry depending on the platform you side with.

Shopify serves as an easily accessible register that you can use on a tablet for more professional appearances or a smartphone for the sake of mobility. This information can then be immediately updated to Shopify’s accounting services.

Store registry can be tracked by providing each employee a unique PIN, tracking sales made, hours worked and orders logged. All of these features make Shopify a great all-in-one solution for retailers who want to operate entirely online or want to open a small to medium-sized business that employs a handful of workers.

Whatever your business model entails, you can rest assured that there is a POS system out there for you. No matter your ambitions, know that Corporate Business Solutions Consultants can always offer advice with your entrepreneurial goals.