Running a blog as a business or a part of a business is no mean feat. It can take all day to get all the content you need or make the deliveries you need to a customer. Yet providing a good service or running a great blog is not all it will take to be a success. Especially if you’re employing people. Being a boss means having a lot of other responsibilities, too. So, how do you manage it all? We’ve put together some of the responsibilities or issues you’ll face and how to get them out the way so you can focus on business.
1. Appearances
It’s shallow, but the truth is that appearances and how we carry ourselves make a big difference in how people treat us when doing business. Whenever you meet someone, you need to make sure you look like a professional. Even if your business is entirely done online, you need to keep that same keenness for presentation. In how you speak to customers and partners to how you run internal communications. Make sure you know how to present yourself as someone competent and successful. Without it, people may be less inclined to believe your services are as excellent as they are.
2. Home comforts
If you’re working in an office, you need to do a good deal to ensure you and your employees are kept comfortable and healthy. The latter’s a necessity, the former is best advised if you want happy, motivated employees. If you’re working from home, you want to make the experience as painless as possible, too. From things like the right chairs to support your back for hours to having break spaces and snacks, provide comfort to your workspace. Without it, business will be a hard slog that you’re constantly looking for distraction from.
3. Security
As a blogger or someone who runs a business online, you should know just how accessible your data is. Without the right protections, you’re leaving all your business and financial data up in the air. If you’re involved in some kind of retail service, you’re also risking your customers. Once a small business compromises their customer’s financial details, all trust will disappear. Make sure your networks are secured and your sites are protected by some of the best online security. Outsourced virtual security have trained eyes always on your business and fix your vulnerabilities.
4. Back-up
It’s not just someone maliciously intruding on your data. There’s another major disaster that can shake up a growing business. That is the perils of losing all your hard-won data. In physical systems, this could be the result or a fire or flood. For virtual systems, anything that could destroy your hard drives could result in countless hours lost to nothing. Most people keep all their data digitally, so digital solutions are most apt. For example, using the Cloud could keep back-ups of all your data safe and accessible wherever you are.
5. Your finances
Most people are in business because they want to control how they make their living and do it doing something they’re passionate about. Passion is the most important thing, but the living you make is just as important to you. So you need to make sure that you’re ticking over fine, financially. Losing control of your finances means losing a sense of how well you’re doing and how long you can do it. Estimating and planning you cash flow can give you all the more data to work with going forward. Keep an eye on your finances so you’re not going ahead blindly.
6. Human resources
If you’re employing others, you’ll soon realise it’s not just as easy to give them work and let them on with it. There’s a whole spectrum of human concerns for your human resources. Not considering them can result in arguments and disasters down the line. Be considerate of both your company and your employees. Outsourcing HR for businesses can help you take care of all those elements without getting too in the way of your business. That gives you more time to focus on actually delivering the services you want and avoids workplace nastiness too.
7. Connectivity to employees
If you’re running a blog or online business, there’s a good chance that your employees might not be linked to you by geographical locations. This can have loads of benefits, with the idea that remote employees are less motivated being an outright myth. But you still need to make sure that you’re able to touch base with them and communicate fully. There are a lot of great tools to do just like that, like Google hangouts or project management software. Just ensure that communication is kept open. You don’t want errors popping up all over so let them know they’re free to contact you whenever they need something.
8. Connectivity to customers
Another important thing to consider is how well you connect to your customers. Social media is one aspect for doing just that but we’ll discuss that in the next point. If someone’s perusing your blog or the services you offer, how do you get in touch with them and give them a chance to have their say? You can use apps that allow you to talk directly to any visitors to your site. You can also allow Facebook comments so connecting and communicating is easier for anyone who uses the site.
9. An internet presence
If you want to succeed as an online business, you need to have some kind of internet presence. A blog is great for generating this, but it’s not the only way. A personal website or profile that gives an overview of what your ‘deal’ is can help establish you. Make sure you’re active on social media, as well. The more avenues you can afford to provide consistent, quality communication, the better. Take advantage of cross-promotion and joint campaigns with other bloggers, too. Presence is greatly expanded by the network you can use to build it.
Mark says
Hi,
Great post I must say, well every business must have certain important things which we must focus on and you shared all of them here.
Thanks