Author: Adam_Admin

It is a tall order to ask for a business owner to manage everything alone, much less lead their business into success. This is why many successful businesses are born from partnerships.

Partnerships can be advantageous to business owners looking to balance their complementary talents and personalities. Sharing the experience of running a business can make the whole process more enjoyable, especially with a partner who is liked and respected.

However, partnerships are not without their disadvantages. Disagreements are bound to happen over time so it is important to formally structure the relationship. To ensure business success and the longevity of your relationship, there are a few important steps to take when laying out the groundwork for your partnership.

Sort out the basics with your partner first
Be sure to cover issues such as:

• Business ownership division. Who owns what percent?
• Decision-making processes. How are business decisions made? Who has final authority? How are disagreements settled?
• Partnership responsibilities. What are each partner’s responsibilities? How much time and money will each partner contribute? Can partners work in other positions at the same time?
• Partnership breakdowns. What happens when a partner wants to sell? What happens when a partner dies or becomes disabled? What happens if you want to bring on an additional partner?

Draw up a written partnership agreement
Solidify all the key issues that you have discussed in a legally binding contract. This is to ensure that parties involved are held accountable to the agreed-upon terms of your partnership. Also make sure that contract is drafted with professional legal advice and assistance.

Choose an appropriate business structure
Discuss with an accountant what legal form your partnership should take. This is important to determine your level of involvement in a partnership. For example, a simple partnership does not provide protection for any party’s personal assets.

Consider a buy-sell agreement
A buy-sell agreement acts as an insurance policy for partnerships in the event that a partner dies or becomes disabled, wants to sell their share of the business, or leaves the business. Buy-sell agreements can resolve disputes or differing goals by transferring business ownership and reducing the risk of business failure after a partner leaves. Always seek professional advice before drafting a buy-sell agreement to ensure all situations are covered and the contract is neither too advantageous or disadvantageous for one party.

As businesses are looking to bring their employees back into work, it is important to ensure that your workstyle practices allow you to seamlessly integrate into working from the office. Try adopting these changes to make your transition into the office space easier.

Structure your daily routine
Working in an office space structures your day, and this is an important feature to bring into your work day even when you’re working from home. Create a work-based routine that will work for you at home and at the office. For example, you may find that using the first hour of the day to respond to emails and enquiries, and using the later part of the day for meetings works best for you. It is important to stick to that routine as best as you can to then provide yourself some structure when you go back into the office.

Prepare for distractions
Without the common distractions that an office space comes with, employees may find that they are more productive at home. Consider incorporating collaboration meetings and calls into your work day when working from home. Brainstorming sessions and daily stand-ins can be great ways to reintroduce socialisation with your colleagues to make social interactions productive and less distracting. Consider setting boundaries if you feel that you need to reserve portions of your day for important tasks, and let your colleagues know so they don’t distract you.

Maintain stability
Working from home has left employees with a lot more free time during the day, allowing them to pick up new hobbies and interests. These are activities that may have been a source of relaxation when working from home so try to continue indulging in these activities once you transition back into working from office. Upskilling for personal fulfilment can be rewarding and even contribute to better mental health and wellbeing.

COVID has prompted businesses to go digital, making cyberattacks an easy job for scammers. Small businesses are especially at risk because of the lack of resources to purchase high security tools and software. Consider using the following strategies to avoid each type of risk to give your business the extra protection it needs.

Avoiding Phishing

Employees may receive emails that invite users to click on links attached to them. These emails can often mimic a casual interaction with a client or business partner, or even your electricity or telephone company. The most effective way to prevent phishing is to be more vigilant with responding to emails. Most organisations do not require personal information like bank details or date of birth over an email, and requests for these should raise a red flag. Checking email addresses for subtle misspells, pop-up messages and invoices for products you never purchased are common tactics to get you to interact with the link.

Anti-virus software

A traditional antivirus software can fail to pick up on newer forms of malicious codes that are used to steal passwords and your personal account information. Consider regularly updating your antivirus software to ensure that all firewalls are up (across all the computers used in your business). It can also be crucial to update your operating system and continually back up your folders and drives to make sure that you are able to access your information in case of data loss.

Securing your network

An unsecure network can cause a variety of security issues, including essentially granting access to anyone who wishes to join your network. Setting up a wireless network usually comes with a default password, and it is important to ensure that this password is changed. For heightened security, consider using multiple networks that separate guests, staff and contractors, for example, to complicate security breaches for hackers. It can be a great idea to use tools that generate random passwords to improve encryption across all your networks.

Multi/two-factor authentication

A growingly popular method of improving security is to use two different sources to identify the user trying to log into their accounts. This typically involves a combination of two types of verification like pins, passwords, fingerprints or a card. While criminals may have stolen one of these proofs, it can be harder to obtain your second proof of identity when being prompted to verify.

Studies have shown that while only 9% of individuals have a diagnosed anxiety disorder, 40% experience ongoing stress or anxiety in their daily lives. For many, work can be the source of constant stress.

Signs that you may be feeling anxious at work include excessive or irrational worrying, sweating, increased heart rate, feeling jittery, or tiredness and fatigue.These symptoms can not only make it difficult to focus and excel at work, but can also reduce job satisfaction, affect your relationship with coworkers and managers, and lead you to turn down work opportunities. This is why it is important to make the effort to manage work-based anxiety so that you can get the most out of your experience at work.

The first step is to acknowledge your work-based anxiety. If you have been feeling anxious at work for months or years, it may almost seem like it is a part of the job. However, this is often not the case. Talking to your coworkers or supervisors about how you’re feeling can be helpful to clarify how others in similar roles are managing their stresses and to identify whether you might be putting unnecessary pressure on yourself. Being mindful of your work anxiety instead of ignoring it can also help you identify what is causing it. From there, you can prioritise tasks or situations that might reduce your anxiety.

Overworking and overthinking is a common source of work-based anxiety. Taking breaks when you feel too busy can seem counterintuitive, however, working for long stretches of time without a break can decrease your ability to properly focus. Allowing yourself to take a break and eat adequate meals throughout the day can refresh your mind and make it easier to concentrate when you return to work.

Another factor that can worsen work anxiety is feeling tired and fatigued. Poor quality sleep can also significantly impact your ability to perform well and make you more susceptible to stress and moodiness, which can contribute to feelings of anxiousness at work.

Individuals who feel like their work stress is no longer manageable should consider working together with coworkers and managers to develop strategies to tackle this stress.

Acquiring new customers can often be simpler than retaining existing customers. However, loyal customers give your business a higher chance of succeeding.

Unhappy customers stop doing business with you, negatively affecting your business’ growth. The rate at which your business is losing customers is called churn rate. It can be crucial to address this churn rate to keep it from lowering your revenue and profits.

Consider using the following strategies to reduce churn and improve your customer loyalty.

Analyse churn causes

This is a simple but important step in understanding why your customers are leaving your business. A high churn rate can be explained by a variety of causes including being offered better value elsewhere or simply low levels of connection to your brand. Consider talking to customers who have not returned to understand why they cut ties. This can act as a double-whammy from not only finding out the reason, but also in then showing customers that your business cares about losing them. This can be through phone calls, emails, website and live chat interactions or even social media.

Accessible information

You may find that your customers are having trouble with the functionality of your website or your product. Consider providing free information, training, video tutorials and product demos that are easily accessible to your customer. This can make your product more user-friendly and help customers feel more comfortable – which can be the key to retaining them.

Categorise your customers

Some customers are more likely to leave than others, and need to be categorised into an “at-risk” segment. These are the customers who may have asked for a quote or more information, and were not given direct answers. These can prompt customers to lose interest in the business, so proactive communication with the ‘at-risk’ segment is crucial in retaining them.

Improve customer engagement

Customers wanting to contact you should have minimal trouble accessing your website or contact details. It can be beneficial to ensure that there are no broken links within your website, and that your address and contact information is updated. You may also want to consider setting up a live chat or a mobile app for your business to improve response rate with your customers. This makes it easier for customers to interact with your brand and purchase your products – which can give you the competitive edge.

Having exclusive promotions and offers can help inspire customers to purchase your products, but consistent communication efforts and implementing changes that address the root causes for leaving is key to keeping your new customers happy and onboard longer.