Four Ways to Upgrade Your Business
Building a business can be one of the most rewarding experiences of an entrepreneur’s career. It’s also the most challenging. Even if you think your management strategies account for every conceivable need, there will always be something that comes up that you may not have planned for. Below are four such areas that often go overlooked by even the most forward-thinking owners.
1. Pentesting Services
Nothing is more critical to the safety of your business than a strong cybersecurity framework. Given that an estimated 30,000 websites are hacked each day, it can happen to anyone. Although you may have invested in top-notch ransomware, do not overlook pentesting services. What is it? Pentesting (also known as penetration testing) is a process by which ethical hackers conduct attacks on your security infrastructure to determine its vulnerabilities.
Many small businesses make the mistake of thinking hackers only target large corporations. The truth is that three in every five data breaches occur in smaller companies. What’s worse? The SEC reports that 50 percent of hacked small businesses go under within six months. Adding pentesting services will go a long way toward preventing what could be a deadly attack.
2. ESG Practices
Each year, more and more consumers are becoming socially aware and green-minded. Companies that fail to implement ESG (environmental, social and governance) practices risk losing market share to more progressive firms. That said, it’s imperative for entrepreneurs to develop a sustainability plan.
An effective one will encompass reduced energy usage, environmentally sound waste management, as well as a public commitment to the climate change fight. The passion you demonstrate for causes your customers care about will pay dividends over the long term.
3. Blog Marketing
Whether your business is building houses or baking cakes, you have a target audience that needs to hear from you. In a competitive marketplace, it’s not enough to deliver great products and services.
Customers have options, so make sure your lines of communication with them are always open. A regularly maintained blog is a great way to deliver updates about new offerings, as well as information that might be useful to your clientele.
Assign the management of your blog to a staffer with great writing skills and the organizational expertise to plan a 12-month content calendar.
4. Employee Evaluation
You may think you employ the best team ever assembled, but strong hiring practices are sometimes not enough. Few businesses achieve consistent results without an equally strong employee evaluation system.
However, the traditional approach of assessing your staff via annual reviews is increasingly seen as ineffective. In fact, Accenture found that 90 percent of human resource officers say the process doesn’t yield accurate information.
What is taking its place? An assessment philosophy that prioritizes open communication and continuous feedback. What growth-minded organizations are learning is that employees value ongoing discussions so that they know what areas they need to improve upon to advance their careers.
These are just a few of the many things a business owner should look into. Whether you’re a new or established company, a top-to-bottom assessment of your policies and practices will reap benefits.
