Category: Business Blog

If you are thinking about shipping and postage this year for your business there is one thing you might not have considered: outsourcing. Outsourcing your shipping is an incredibly useful idea for a business and it can be a great choice to make for smaller startups. Here are the reasons why you should outsource shipping this year.

Free up your time

Unless you want to spend your days scrolling through Parcel2Go looking for carriers, outsourcing is the best thing you can do for your business. You will be able to free up a huge chunk of your time to spend on more important parts of your business. It will allow you to be much more productive and give you the ability to grow the other areas of your business with the time you free up.

No need for a logistics team

One of the things which can really burn a hole in your pocket as a new business is the money you have to spend to hire an train a logistics team. Logistics is a hugely professional and complex part of a business so hiring the right people for the role can cost a huge amount of money. By outsourcing the service to another company, you will be able to save this money and put it towards either another part of your business or even into research for new products ands ranges which you can bring out in the future.

Great service

When you have a professional logistics team working on your behalf, you can be safe in the knowledge that your service will be great. When you hire an agency for logistics, they will be solely focussed on logistics and this means that you will benefit massively from the knowledge and expertise that they can provide. No one knows the field of logistics better than a company who does it all day every day!

Better security

By going with a professional agency who are experienced in the field, you will not only be able to be happier with the service they provide, but you will also be much more secure with the state of your products. When you send products away from your warehouse there is no way of knowing they will reach your customer intact. But by using a professional team who dedicate their time to your service, you will know that your products will reach the customer safely.

Productive

When you have a logistics team who are working in-house, they might also have other responsibilities to take on throughout the working week. This can mean that their time is divided a little and this can also mean that they aren’t as productive as you would like. By outsourcing, you will know that their sole purpose is to ship your items in the safest way. They will dedicate all of their time to the job and therefore will get more done in a shorter space of time. This gives you the peace of mind and ability to grow as a business.

Being the best employer you can be is so important because this is how you attract more interest in the company. To take your business forward and enjoy the best level of success you can, it is important to attract the best talent you can. The way to achieve this is to make sure you look after your employees properly and that you treat them well.

Too many businesses out there are not good at this, and they lose talent as a result. Take the time to figure out how you are going to be the best employer you can be because this is one of the best approaches to take in business management. Check out these 4 ideas that will help you achieve this more effectively.

1. Put Your Staff First

Most businesses out there will tell you that you need to put your customers first at all times, but this isn’t always the case. Often, it can be better to put your staff first, because they are the heartbeat of the business. If you want to be the best possible employer you can, then you need to make sure you put your employees first at all times, show them you value them, and have their best interests at heart as much as possible.

2. Offer Them Support

As an employer, it is important to offer your employees as much help and support as you can, and this sometimes means going above and beyond. It could be checking out Blooom reviews to learn about employer-sponsored retirement plans for your workers. It might be prioritizing healthcare in the company, or being more accommodating if they need to take time off. Basically just being there for them and showing them respect and forethought will have a big impact on their future, and on the employer-employee dynamic within the business.

3. Don’t Micromanage

Micromanaging is never a good idea, and this is the best way to alienate and aggravate your workers. People need to be trusted to get on with their jobs, and this is something you have to work on. If you are constantly micromanaging them, they will feel like you don’t trust them, and this will affect morale and performance. Trust your employees and let them get on with their jobs more effectively.

4. Incentivize

It is also important to make sure you incentivize employees and make them want to be a part of the business. This starts at a base level, and a great website might help attract potential new hires, along with a great marketing campaign. But, you also need to think about appropriate compensation, as well as healthcare, insurance, annual leave, and things like that. Try to make your company a more appealing place for people to want to work.

There are so many wonderful things you can do to be a better employer and draw more talent to the brand. The fact of the matter is, the more you do as a business owner, the more the company as a whole is going to benefit from it.

As a company owner, you work hard. You’ve likely poured your blood, sweat and tears into your venture and your entire life depends on its success. You’ve put in the work and established something that’s gone on to do well and that doesn’t come easy. So of course, the idea that someone could jeopardise this and steal it away from you is terrifying. Here’s how you can protect your assets.

Online

Online security is of the utmost importance to businesses, getting targeted by an online criminal could lead to the end of your venture. If your bank account is wiped you could be left bankrupt, or if customer data is stolen it could damage your reputation beyond repair. Most elements business are run online these days, so this is something to get right. One thing you can do is secure everything with very strong passwords, in so many cases businesses that are hacked, are done so using this method. Use a mixture of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and punctuation. It’s best to make your password expire regularly and changing it for a new one, the longer it remains the same, the longer a hacker has to guess it. You should also be careful about who knows the passwords. Stick to just one or two very trusted senior staff members only. Make sure your computers are protected by firewalls and regularly scanned for malware. Using an SQL system to store data online, as opposed to on physical computers and disks can also be helpful and prevents criminals from accessing your data if the physical computer is stolen. You could find SQL training courses online to educate your team if you wanted to switch to this kind of system.

In The Workplace

Burglars don’t just break and enter into houses, many will target offices as they know there are lots of valuable items and also that no one is likely to be there after office hours. A good burglar alarm and CCTV are important, with lots of companies offering these kinds of security measures specifically for businesses. Use lockable window shutters every evening to secure your premises which will prevent burglars from breaking windows or prising them open with a crowbar and entering. Another thing to think about is if your business takes cash from customers or clients, it should be put away properly. In a locked safe that’s bolted down and hidden from site, with regular cash collections so you never have too much on the premises.  

Just In Case

Sometimes, despite your best efforts things can go wrong and your business can become a victim of crime. Make sure you are protected if this does happen. Business contents insurance means that if any physical items that are used for your business (such as computers and laptops, smartphones, printers etc) are taken, you will be reimbursed. You can also purchase insurances such as online identity theft insurances for companies. Work out what the best options are for you, and run some quotes.