Thirty-six percent (36%) of small businesses have an SEO strategy, and 38% more plan to invest in SEO in the future, according to a new survey from Clutch, the leadings B2B research, ratings, and reviews company.

Social media marketing (63%) and mobile-friendly websites (54%) are the most common SEO activities small businesses spend time and money on.

Having a mobile-friendly website can help small businesses rank in search results, especially because of Google's mobile-first index.

Clutch's data shows that as more small businesses invest in SEO, choosing which SEO efforts to prioritize will remain a challenge.

Small Businesses Invest in Content Marketing for SEO

Nearly half of small businesses (48%) invest in content marketing for SEO. Content marketing helps small businesses attract potential customers and guide them through their purchasing journey.

The quality and clarity of online content is important as optimizing websites for voice search becomes a priority for small businesses.

Clutch found that only 21% of small businesses invest in voice search optimization for SEO. 

Other SEO activities small business pursue include keyword research (51%) and link building (28%).

Small Businesses Depend on In-House Staff for SEO

Small businesses rely on in-house employees (54%) for SEO nearly twice as much as they hire an SEO agency (28%).

In-house staff are less expensive than an SEO agency and offer small businesses more control over their SEO strategies.

"In-house offers more control over planning, content creation, and budgeting," said Jaykishan Panchal, who manages SEO strategy for digital marketing agency E2M. "The in-house SEO team probably has the best understanding of the brand voice, company culture, and availability of resources."

Internal employees may lack the expertise of SEO agencies, however.

Small Businesses Use Website Traffic & Leads to Measure SEO Success

The top two SEO metrics small businesses track are website traffic (25%) and leads and conversions (19%). Small businesses value these metrics over backlinks (14%) and keyword rankings (13%).

Tracking website traffic and leads and conversions demonstrates that small businesses tend to invest in SEO to generate revenue. These metrics, though, don't fully capture SEO success.

More Small Businesses Turning to PPC Advertising to Achieve Search Visibility

Sixty percent (60%) of small businesses with an SEO strategy also invest in PPC advertising. An additional 17% of small businesses plan to invest in PPC in 2019.

PPC advertising guarantees placement at the top of search engine results pages, which helps earn clicks and impressions. These immediate returns appeal to small businesses with limited budgets.

Clutch's 2019 Small Business SEO Survey included 529 small business owners and managers in the U.S.

Read the full report here: https://clutch.co/seo-firms/resources/small-business-seo-2019.

For questions about the survey, a comment on the findings, or an introduction to the industry experts included in the report, contact Grayson Kemper at [email protected].

Small business owners often don’t understand the full cost of the money they are borrowing, reports US News. Understanding APR and factor rates can prevent you from taking out a loan that your business can’t afford.

Read the article on US News

According to Fox Business, unemployment remains low so small businesses are having a harder time finding employees, however, small businesses can be more flexible in their hiring practices than larger companies.

Read the article on Fox Business

During the ‘good times’ small businesses can take steps to prepare for the ‘bad times’, reports Newsday. Keeping control of costs and always checking to ensure your products align with the wants/needs of the market is a good place to start.

Read the article on Newsday

As a start-up, you are pulled in many directions, and all seem equally important. From developing your customer base to fulfilling promises of goods / services, you must jump in fast and keep the momentum going. So, at first, you focus on generating business, but very soon, you must devote time to your finances.

A Steep Learning Curve

A business degree is unnecessary to become an entrepreneur, but it would help to possess some financial acumen to avoid costly pitfalls. To stay profitable, start-ups should be mindful to prepare for and overcome the following accounting challenges that confront small businesses:

1. Poor Bookkeeping Habits. Start-ups that experience financial struggles often lack a good system to track income or neglect to balance their accounts. Find the right software or spread sheet template to record transactions to accurately balance your books, or if feasible, hire a bookkeeper. It’s important to find a method, stick with it, and continually review your books.

2. No Accounting Analysis. Entrepreneurs who fail to interpret their finances will ultimately fail to thrive. Bookkeeping alone won’t monitor growth and success. Knowing what your balance sheet and income statement mean is the key to understanding the direction a business is headed. So, start-ups need input from an accountant or at least some online research into how to analyze the books.

3. Ignoring Cash Flow. A new business owner who doesn’t understand that cash is king may get in trouble fast. Without a sense for cash flow, the numbers will be a confusing mess. For example, the books show income earned, but the account won’t receive cash until 30 days later. Properly maintained financial statements should distinguish between money due versus paid, or you won’t see an accurate picture of the business.

4. Too Much Debt. The adage, “It takes money to make money,” is popular because it’s true. New start-ups face steep expenses, and if entrepreneurs turn to credit cards, then it’s easy to get underwater. The challenge is to incur the right amount of debt to support your business without the debt becoming an overbearing liability. So, be conservative, watch interest rates, and look for alternative sources of debt like small business loans or an investor.

5. Inappropriate Resource Allocation. When you’re getting off the ground, it’s hard to manage your resources. Whether it’s time or materials, you have no base of comparison to guide you since everything is just starting up. How can you plan ahead? Instead of flailing in the dark, work with others who do have experience like a mentor or business coach. Get help to develop a solid strategy to follow so that you can allocate according to plan.

An Ounce Of Prevention

As an entrepreneur, if you stay mindful of the challenges you’ll face when starting your own business, then you’ll be better prepared to confront and overcome them. Much comes from finding the right resources and using proper tools. Also, many of the issues facing start-ups come as a surprise to the entrepreneur, but may be well-known to a seasoned small business owner, so learning before they arise might even mitigate those.

‘Tis the season as we are all recovering from the excesses of the Holidays. After weeks of giving and receiving and with the start of a new year, now is a good time to engage your organization in philanthropic goals if you haven’t done so already.

Companies that engage in philanthropic activities are more likely to see gains in their employee productivity and retention. For one reason, highly socially aware employees appreciate the chance to contribute to causes that matter, and another, most employees enjoy extra-curricular activities that elevate their work-days out of the ordinary. Overall, employees will experience greater work-place satisfaction that translates into higher rates of productivity and investment in their jobs.

In synch with work
A standard concern for management when it comes to activities outside the bounds of business is effects to the bottom line if employees aren’t plugged into their work 100% of the time. For most managers, reducing distractions is the goal, not handing out a big distraction on a plate like a day of volunteering. However, though it may seem like a step back at first blush, volunteering or charity work is really two steps forward in the company’s efforts to generate highly motivated employees.

Today’s workforce highly regards companies that care about the community. Most workers will double-down on their efforts to keep up on their workloads in order to participate in an activity, and many find themselves feeling better after giving back, channeling into their performance as they attain a higher level of satisfaction at work. So really, what goes around comes around; when you give employees a chance to participate in charity work or volunteering, they will produce better work, allowing you to gain an advantage in the market.

When you partner with the community, you develop a reputation as a vital community resource that affords your organization a higher level of prestige. The more you do, the more your reputation grows, and the more impact you have in the market. People will want to join your organization and others will want to work with you. It’s also a solid marketing strategy to develop name recognition because your name or logo really gets out there.

Take control
You control the parameters of the organization’s focus on giving back. Limit or expand the scope of effort you want to put toward philanthropy. From simply donating proceeds after a lunch-hour bake sale to sponsoring a local 5K charity run, you have plenty of options that require either low-level or high amounts of effort. In addition, you can also decide the extent that you want to create engagement. It’s up to you whether you offer an annual charity event, a quarterly activity, or a random opportunity throughout the year. Whichever and however you decide to participate, it’s to your organization’s benefit to get involved.

So, while you’re revving up the crew for a great fiscal year or new quarter, don’t forget to muster up volunteers for one or more charity events this year.

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) has recommended more than 30 changes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for the 2018 Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax, and its related instructions.

 

In its May 7 letter, the AICPA indicated the importance and urgency of each of its recommendations.  Eighteen of the 33 recommendations were ranked “high” for both importance and urgency.  They include:

·         Delete the terms and associated definitions from the Glossary in the Instructions to the Form 990 and in all parts of the form and related schedules that have changed under the tax law.The terms are “endowment,” “permanent (true) endowment,” “SFAS 116,” “SFAS 117,” “temporarily restricted endowment” and “FIN 48.”

·         Update the Glossary to define the terms used in Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2016-14, Presentation of Financial Statements of Not-for-Profit Entities, issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) as defined in the FASB Accounting Standards Codification Master Glossary.

·         Update the trigger question for Schedule D to reflect the changed classification of net assets under FASB ASC 958, while still recognizing that the focus of the question is on reporting for donor restricted and board designated or quasi-endowments.

·         Align the trigger questions in Form 990, Part IV and Part X so that they agree with the definition of “interested parties” in the Schedule L instructions.

·         Update the net assets or fund balances portion of the balance sheet to reflect ASU 2016-14.

·         Update the question and instructions related to the Office of Management and Budget/Uniform Guidance rules, and update the instructions to reflect the new single audit threshold of $750,000.

·         Update the instructions for Schedule I, Part II, Line 1 so they are consistent with the instructions for the trigger question in Form 990, Part IV, Line 21.

Attorney Barry Kaufman has a simple suggestion for small business owners who want to avoid having once-valued customers become late and non-paying ones. “Have good communication with customers or clients to forestall payment issues,” says the Jacksonville, Florida-based lawyer who has been in collections 18 years.

 

Keeping the lines of communication open isn’t Kaufman’s only tip. He also suggests business owners “clearly set out the goals and expectations for the job so everything is clear.”

It is never a picnic for a business owner when customers are delinquent in paying their bills. Successful Business News spoke with collection experts about what business owners can try to do to prevent accounts receivable from going unpaid, and suggestions for next steps if those attempts fail.

Top tips for preventing delinquencies 

Kaufman has other suggestions for business owners seeking to avoid having to engage in collection efforts against late or non-paying customers.

He cites a “good invoice” as imperative for smooth transactions.

But just what makes an invoice ‘good?’ 

“The invoice should be specific, well-written, legible and itemized (providing a) description of the work to be done,” he says. 

Not only does that ensure all parties understand what is expected of them to satisfy the terms of the contract, providing a collection attorney with such thorough documentation is of monumental assistance if an account goes unpaid. 

Melissa Youngman, a solo practitioner in commercial collections near Orlando, offers additional suggestions. She advises small business owners “to be vigilant” when it comes to enforcing terms of an invoice. It’s also prudent to create a paper trail documenting a transaction, she says. 

Account receivable blues 

Attorney Yale Levy, the namesake of Levy & Associates, LLP, a busy creditor’s rights firm in Columbus, says just because a customer’s payment is late doesn’t mean litigation will be the only way to collect. When a payment is tardy, he suggests contacting the errant customer about the past-due account via phone or letter. The ideal goal is to resolve the delinquent account while salvaging the professional relationship. 

If that approach doesn’t produce a satisfactory result, it might be time to hire a collections agency or creditor’s rights lawyer. The big difference between the two is that agencies can only send collection letters or call debtors to inquire about the account. While a lawyer can provide those services, too, they can also do something agencies cannot: file a lawsuit against the entity or the person in court. 

Oftentimes, when a delinquent customer is contacted by a collections organization inquiring about a debt, they realize how determined the creditor is to get their money. “It shows you’re serious and that gets people to pay,” says Levy, also president of the National Creditors Bar Association. 

Collection efforts 

If phone calls, letters and other legal methods of attempting to collect the debt don’t work, it might be time to sue. Unfortunately, the legal system is time-consuming, expensive and intimidating to non-lawyers. 

Furthermore, every state maintains its own set of laws governing collections, so it is important to familiarize oneself with them to handle the matter pro se (without a lawyer). In fact, some states do not allow pro se lawsuits to be filed for collections if a company is incorporated. 

It’s one thing to successfully secure a judgment against someone who owes money to your business, and yet another to actually collect the funds. 

Although the laws regarding them vary state to state, several remedies are available to creditors to collect a judgment. They include bank attachments, wage garnishments, liens and executions. 

State laws also dictate how much a plaintiff may garnish from a defendant’s paycheck and how often. Jurisdictional statutes also regulate how a creditor can be awarded funds from a debtor’s bank account and how they may place a lien on personal or real property. 

In addition to wage garnishments, liens and other remedies, there is another method for recovering past due funds: after a judgment is rendered, selling it to a third party so they try to collect on it for themselves. 

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Tami Kamin Meyer is an Ohio attorney and writer.

Running a business is similar to taking a family vacation. To be successful, both require meticulous planning, clearly defined roles for everyone involved, and a predetermined destination.

“Not having a clear vision and specific goals is a proven way to ensure you’ll never achieve them,” says John Collopy, author of the book The Reward of Knowing (www.johncollopy.com). “That’s why articulating your vision is a critical first step toward success—to give yourself something to aspire to besides some general idea of ‘making it.’”

Collopy knows a thing or two about having a vision and then setting goals to make the vision a reality.  He is the owner and broker of RE/MAX Results and its subsequent 38 offices across Minnesota and Wisconsin. Setting goals in his personal life helped him overcome his addiction to alcohol. Now he is dedicated to helping others find the right steps to achieve their dreams, but he says there can be many roadblocks.

“Having an unclear vision can also make it difficult to stay motivated and passionate about your work,” says Collopy. “Identifying a clear vision and set of goals can keep us going through tough times, and give us energy when we want to give up. That’s because, even when you’re in a rough patch, you know you’re working toward something.”

In contrast, a vague, half-formed vision may leave you feeling lost and powerless, he says.
 

“Eventually, you may even give up entirely,” Collopy says. “You may decide that, based on your record of failure, success just isn’t in the cards for you. And that’s the saddest result of failing to articulate your vision.”  

Collopy has the following tips for those who are ready to set goals to achieve their vision:

• Be specific and realistic. Be specific about your goals, and the steps you need to take to reach them. “If you don’t, be ready to deal with challenges now and in the future,” Collopy says. Also make your goals attainable but not too easy. You want to have pride when it is accomplished. If you set the bar too high, you may get discouraged.  And if you set it too low, you will not feel a great sense of accomplishment. 
   
• Make goals measurable. Any good goal that is worthy of your time should be measurable so even if you don’t make it, you can measure your progress.  It will be easier to measure your goals if they are clear goals that are attainable, relevant and time-based.
   
• Write it down and tell someone. Write down your vision, make copies and leave those copies where you will routinely see them – on your refrigerator, in your car, on your dresser, in the bathroom. “This will remind you about your vision throughout the day and keep you on task,” Collopy says. In addition, the more people you tell about your vision and your goals, the better.  They will encourage you because the next time they see you, he says, they will probably ask you about your progress.  
   

“Once you have attained your goal, take some time to celebrate your victory with your team,” Collopy says. “Even if the goal wasn’t a team goal, invite others that work with you or for you to share in your accomplishment.”

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John Collopy, author of the book The Reward of Knowing, is the owner and broker of RE/MAX Results and its subsequent 38 offices across Minnesota and Wisconsin.  With annual sales of more than $5.3 billion, RE/MAX Results is now one of the largest RE/MAX franchises in the world.  Collopy lives in Minnesota with his wife and children.

The first few weeks of January are filled with optimism as gym memberships soar and all those New Year’s resolutions have yet to be tarnished.  When it comes to financial goals for the New Year, people should reach high but it is important that the goals really are attainable.

“Setting unrealistic annual financial goals is a recipe for failure,” says Kathy Longo, a financial professional and author of Flourish Financially  – Values, Transitions, and Big Conversations(www.flourishwealthmanagement.com). “At the same time, you want to stretch and do things you haven’t tried before if you want to break out of the financial box you are in.”

Longo says when people establish unrealistic goals, these are the common mistakes:

Setting goals too aggressive for your lifestyle. If you make a commitment to spend less money, but you have not created a specific plan of action to make it happen, she says the goal is doomed to failure.  “Making a New Year’s resolution to save money by eating out only once a week probably doesn’t work for a family with a lot of after-school commitments for their children,” Longo says.  Likewise, a professional who travels frequently or people who haven’t prepared all of their own meals in the past may find this goal too much to do on a daily, consistent basis.

Setting unrealistic goals to track spending. It may sound like a great idea to track your spending, but Longo says it’s important to find a realistic solution for accomplishing that.  She says the key is to find a system that works for you without overcommitting to tracking every penny, since that can become overwhelming.  Some people work best with an Excel spreadsheet or money-tracking notebook.  She also recommends exploring tracking tools like Quicken or an app like mint.com.

Setting your annual budget without consulting your spouse. In many households, one spouse handles paying the bills and keeping the family on track financially.  But when it comes to setting the annual budget, Longo says both spouses should be included regardless of who writes all the checks.  For example, deciding to eliminate a family trip or dropping a gym membership may look good on paper.  However, it’s possible the family trip is a highlight of the year for your spouse and dropping the gym membership might conflict with your spouse’s health-oriented New Year’s resolution.  All interested parties should discuss the annual budget (and it can be a great teaching tool for older children to be involved as well).

Setting overly aggressive debt reduction. Longo frequently cautions clients against setting aggressive goals to pay down debt or aspire to save a huge amount of money in the New Year.  Although reducing debt or increasing savings should be part of an annual budget, the goals once again should be realistic.  Longo says she encourages her clients to maintain flexibility in their goals so they can live for today while also saving for the future.

“The reality of today and aspirations for the future don’t have to be mutually exclusive,” Longo says.  “Just remember to set goals that, with a little work and sacrifice, really can be reached.”

About Kathy Longo, CFP®, CAP®, CDFA

Kathy Longo, author of Flourish Financially  – Values, Transitions, and Big Conversations, is founder and president of  Flourish Wealth Management (www.flourishwealthmanagement.com). For more than 25 years, she has served her clients with extensive knowledge and wisdom as a wealth manager, financial planner, firm manager and business owner.  Her many awards include being named one of the top 50 Women in Wealth Management by Wealth Manager Magazine. She has been a wealth manager for 25 years and has held wealth management positions at such firms as Accredited Investors, Family Financial Strategies, American Express Trust Company, KPMG, Deloitte & Touche and CCP Financial Planning. She lives in Minneapolis with her husband and three children.

Every time you or I buy so much as a hamburger we probably create data in a computer somewhere that reveals what kind of burger we prefer, if we add pickles and onions, and whether we purchase fries with it. And, from a marketing standpoint, that’s extraordinarily advantageous.

After all, marketers have always relied on data to help make decisions. But never in history have they had the kind of data they do today, providing enormous amounts of information about both existing customers and potential ones.

But a big question many marketers must ask these days is this: Who really  controls that data and, in effect, influences any decisions that are made as a result of what the data is – or isn’t – telling you.

Too often, the answer isn’t the marketing director, the marketing department or anyone else inside the business. Many companies instead rely on an outside agency – sometimes multiple agencies – to gather data, compile it and report on it. And while that’s not bad in and of itself, there are reasons to be careful when you’re in such a relationship. Numbers can be massaged to reflect a particular bias, whether on purpose or by accident. That third-party agency, for example, could provide you your data in a narrative form that leads you in a particular direction – a direction that’s opposite of where you need to go.

Even a slight bias could color what the net takeaway is for you. You would have all this extraordinary data, yet you could end up interpreting it in absolutely the wrong way, which could be worse than not having it at all.

So, while some of these outside agencies can be useful to you, ultimately you want to be the one who directs the big-picture perspective, and you want to decide what the takeaway from the data is when all is said and done.

That’s why the best solution is usually to take your data in-house. That way it’s your company’s data, gathered by your company and put to use by your company in the way you see fit. Certainly, when using data you want to be able to define specifically what your goal is. 

If, for some reason, you can’t or don’t want to do that, you should at least reshape your relationship with whatever agency is handling that service for you so that you have more direct control over the data.

In today’s world, relying on data can’t be regarded as an add-on to the marketing process any more than technology can be. Data is what empowers you and your department, giving you the information you should have to be flexible and fast.

Of course, not all data is created equal – or is equally effective, which is another reason that the more control you have, the better the results will be. Yes, we have more data at our disposal than ever before, but that can confuse as much as it illuminates. Actually deriving meaningful insights from data and then converting that into action is easier said than done.

But when you define specifically what your goal is and what type of data you will need to help you accomplish that goal, then it becomes a whole lot easier for you – or your IT teammates – to zero in on the data you need in that humongous haystack of data.

It’s also important to remember that data should never be an afterthought in whatever it is your working on. People often think of data as the end part, but data covers the beginning, middle and end. It’s not just what’s in a spreadsheet. It affects core aspects of your business, impacting how you organize and how you lead.

If you’re a marketing director, to steer your department through today’s heady opportunities and daunting challenges, you must own your data so you can lead and direct everything that the data influences.

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Scott East, co-author of Cuttlefish Marketer: The Five Essential Traits of the Modern Marketer (www.cuttlefishmarketer.com) is CEO and Co-Founder of MSIGHTS, which provides cloud-based marketing data integration services to some of the world’s most sophisticated global advertisers. MSIGHTS services make marketers more efficient and successful by providing a single view of overall marketing performance with actionable insights on what works and what doesn’t. The MSIGHTS cloud-based platform automatically collects and reconciles disparate data, making it immediately available to fuel a wide variety of analytical and visualization tools.

According to a press release by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); as of July 2018 they had delivered more than 5,200 I-9 audit notices to companies in the United States. While ICE audit notifications are a bit different than tax audits, they should be taken just as serious. If your business gets audited by ICE are you prepared? This article explores what to expect if you do get served an ICE notification and how you can protect yourself before, during, and after an audit.

Pre-Audit
Yes, you read that right. There are a number of steps you can take to ensure your company is prepared in the wake of an audit. The first thing you should (prior to reading this article) is to check that you’re using the correct I-9 form. While this may seem trivial, companies have been penalized in the past for using outdated forms. 

Next, it’s important to speak to an attorney, preferably one who has experience with Form I-9 audits. If necessary, have him or her conduct an internal audit of your employees’ I-9 Forms. From there you can come up with a game plan with your attorney and your human resources department if you do get audited. One example is to speak to your employees about what the correct protocol is if ICE shows up at your establishment. It could also mean posting signs that state which areas are private and which are public (ICE is allowed to enter any public space but may only enter private spaces with a warrant or permission by the employer).

Initial Audit
Even if you take every precaution necessary, being investigated by ICE has caused many sleepless nights for employers across the country. ICE will start by serving you with a  “notice of inspection.” From there you have three days to hand in all of your employees’ I-9 forms. This could also include any former employees that have worked at your establishment within the past year.  While you do have the ability to hand in the forms instantly – DO NOT. Once ICE leaves your premises call your lawyer immediately. From here, your attorney can direct you on what to do. Likely, s/he will advise you to make copies of all of your I-9 forms and ensure none of the forms are missing.

In the best case scenario once you hand in the I-9 forms you will receive a “Notice of Inspection Results” or a “compliance letter” that will notify you that you are found to be in compliance. Congratulations! Let out a sigh of relief and pour yourself a stiff glass of whiskey.

Unfortunately, for many businesses they do not get off that easily and instead get served with one of five other notices which will more than likely end up with some type of penalty. For first time violators this could mean a fee between $548 to a maximum fee of $3,726.

The five other types of notices that companies could receive after handing in their I-9 forms include:

·         Notice of Suspect Documents – This notice advises the employer that an employee is unauthorized to work in the United States and penalizes him or her for employing them. An employer does have the chance to provide additional documentation if they believe this notice was sent in error.

·         Notice of Discrepancies – This notice warns the business that they have one or more employees in which ICE is unable to determine whether or not they are legally allowed to work in the United States. It is up to the employee to provide additional documentation.

·         Notice of Technical or Procedural Failures – This notice advises a company that they have one or more technical violations. The employer has ten business days to correct the violations or run the risk of receiving a more serious violation.

·         Warning Notice – This notice is given when violations are found, but are not serious enough to warrant a penalty.

·         Notice of Intent to Fine – This notice is to advise the employer that they will be issued a penalty for knowingly hiring a person who is not eligible to work in the United States. If you receive this notice you have 30 days to either reach a settlement with ICE or contest the notice by scheduling a hearing with the Office of the Chief Administrative Hearing Officer.

After the Audit
Depending on what notice you were served, the most important thing to do, is to learn from the audit and correct any mistakes or violations to ensure any future audits end with a Notice of Inspections Results.

If you’ve ever gone on vacation and returned feeling renewed, then you’ll understand the popularity of a small business retreat. The concept of leaving the office behind and bringing the team to an off-site, special destination follows the same vein as a vacation. A retreat offers the chance for a team to refresh and return to work in a better state of mind.

Unlike a 1:1 in your office or a conference center townhall, informal retreat meetings break the mold and give the team a chance work outside the confines of roles and titles. The more relaxed atmosphere of a retreat promotes better communication and team bonding, allowing your employees to let go of office politics and embrace a shared experience. Even with nothing in common at the workplace, everyone on the retreat can find common ground through the experience of the get-away.

Reap the Benefits of a Small Business Retreat

The benefits of a retreat appear in employees’ increased productivity. Like the advantage of a vacation, retreats are a break that lets employees relax so that they can come back with more energy. Also, taking their work to a new environment brings fresh perspective to the job and can inspire more contributions back at the office. Finally, retreats improve communication by opening channels between management and employees and developing informal networking between teams in ways that just aren’t possible at the office. The more relaxed retreat atmosphere fosters connections, even between those who may not normally interact, and improves communication overall.

Not Your Traditional Retreat

Though beneficial, there is a cautionary tale from the 2000s to be told about using retreats as rewards without value. Tradition saw executives splurge on retreats while employees watched from the sidelines as these lavish paid vacations catered to the top tier management. Back then, a retreat was a sign of executive largesse, excessive and reserved only for the C-Suite & Friends.

Value-Added Experience

Today, a retreat offers much more meaningful value to the business and pertains to all levels of employees. The ability to remove the team from distractions of the workplace is an opportunity to really focus on an initiative. If you do it right, you can use the time to focus on training, brainstorming, and team building in ways that the office just doesn’t allow; you have the space and atmosphere to shake employees from the routine and explore new ground.

Investment With Returns

There are costs to a retreat, but more than just the price of doing business, this expense is an investment. Spending the money to develop your employees only comes back to you in droves when the work gets done better and more efficiently by employees who feel valued and more committed.

March is the perfect time of year to schedule a retreat since you can take advantage of the quarter’s end and Spring Break season. Use the time to evaluate the years’ progress thus far and set goals as well as minimize the bite from budget with seasonal travel discounts and packages available.

No matter what industry you’re in, there’s always an unknown element when it comes to job security. The economy, who happens to be President, natural disasters, and a host of other life events could take a stable job and turn it on its head, or you may be one of the lucky few who enjoys a 30+ year run at the same organization. Yet with as much innovation as there is in today’s job market, it’s tough to say with certainty that we won’t all end up getting replaced by robots at some point in the future.

On a more serious note, however, it can be difficult to plan ahead if the foundation of your career is uncertain. While there are steps that people can take to help secure their future, it seems that the roadmap to success is always changing. According to a recent article in USA Today, it is possible to create your own destiny in the career world, and it’s as easy as taking two little steps.

Evaluate Your Employer

All too often, we think about changing jobs because of our dissatisfaction with our own position. Perhaps we want more money, different responsibilities, or our coworkers are flat out terrible to be around. But how regularly do people take a hard look at who’s running the show and try to predict where things are going? Probably not as often as is needed.

Whether you work for a small corporation or a multi-national group, try taking an objective look at the future. Are the people in charge innovative? Do they have the foresight to adapt to a changing marketplace? Will they survive and thrive, or will they fall by the wayside as other newer brands make them irrelevant? While you may not be able to control any of the factors that help to answer these questions, you can watch for red flags that may indicate it’s time to look for other opportunities.

Put Yourself First

Time and time again we hear that making yourself valuable is incredibly important in the workplace, but many people don’t really take this message to heart. No matter the industry, you should create a personal mission of always continuing your education. Being someone who is on the forefront of upcoming changes, new ways of doing things, and contributing to the vision of your organization puts you on the short list of getting a raise, promotion, and at the very least, not being the first one to get laid off.

Even more important is the time and energy you put into building your own reputation separate from your company. Online review platforms often associate you with the place you work, making it hard to create a name for yourself within your given industry. However, at Completed.com, you can put all of your networking skills to good use and develop a profile that demonstrates how valuable you really are.

If and when it comes time to make a change and you’re looking for another job opportunity, you can consider your Completed.com profile as an extended resume, highlighting qualities that will help you to stand out from the rest of the crowd. At the very least, it’s a tool that every career-minded individual can benefit from, even if their current corporation is on the path to success.

Young leaders typically go too far or not far enough. They are born to take chances but when the time comes, many retreat to what they have been told by elders or those with more experience.

There is something to be said for brash youth, its penchant for breaking the rules and coming at problems from an entirely different mindset.  But sometimes those rules are there for a reason, and going completely against what has been done before leads to a road to nowhere.

Before young leaders head out to conquer the world, Phuong Uyen Tran, author of Competing with Giants(https://www.thp.com.vn/en/) and deputy CEO of THP Beverage Group, Vietnam’s leading beverage company, says they should dig deeper into their beliefs, actions and goals in order to chart a successful path.

“Young leaders bring passion but sometimes it doesn’t make up for a lack of wisdom,”  Tran says. “Before they set sail, there are a few questions they need to ask themselves to increase their chances for success.”

Tran says the six questions are:

• What are your core beliefs?  To be successful, a young leader needs to be grounded in some fundamental beliefs. Understanding and writing down core beliefs will guide you through stormy times.
   
• What is the mission statement of your product or service? - The mission statement reflects every facet of the business: the range and nature of the products offered, pricing, quality, service, marketplace position, growth potential, use of technology, and your relationships with customers, employees, suppliers, competitors, and the community.
   
• Have you done your homework? - As a young leader, it is imperative that you  do plenty of research.  Older leaders can sometimes go by their gut feelings, but young leaders don’t have that luxury.  You need to be over-prepared before moving forward.
   
• Do you really believe in you product or service? Great leaders truly believe that whatever their product or service is, that it is the best option among all the competition.  If you don’t believe in your product, it is hard to lead your troops into battle.
   
• Are you ready to set sail or are you moored to the dock? - Sometimes you have to take chances. Are you ready to take risks and not be tied to what has always been done in the past?
   
• How will you handle success or failure?  One of two things usually happens - you will succeed or you will fail.  How will you handle success - are you ready to pull all the levers you need to get to the next level?  If you fail, how will you handle it?  Will you go into a depression and blame others, or will you learn from your mistakes?

Tran says young leaders can overcome many obstacles by taking some extra time to  ask themselves those questions.

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Phuong Uyen Tran, author of Competing with Giants (https://www.thp.com.vn/en/), is deputy CEO of the THP Beverage Group, a leading beverage company in Vietnam that was founded by her father. She is responsible for the company’s marketing, public relations, and CSR programs nationally and across Vietnam’s 63 provinces. She also leads THP’s international marketing programs across 16 countries where THP’s products are distributed including Canada and China.

As a small business owner, only you set the tone or appoint direction for the enterprise. Therefore, the onus to stay abreast of relevant business practices falls to you. You must learn as much as you can to stay ahead of the game.

Though it isn’t always possible to take a refresher course in business or to pursue your MBA, you can – and should—continue learning. Sometimes, it’s a matter of shifting your perspective and other times, it’s a matter of learning about a new method that will help your business.

Resources Aplenty

There are some great books available that can motivate, inspire, and teach you. Reading one or all these titles just might make a hill of difference when it comes to walking an easy path to success versus a rough trail full of hard-knocks.

Far from an exhaustive list, the following are entertaining and relevant business books that will give you fresh insights into management, strategy, and methods for running your business (sometimes, a kernel of knowledge turns into a whole new way to think, and these moments of revelation can become breakthroughs that take your business to the next level):

The Art Of War, by Sun Tzu. Not all business books are about business. In this ancient book written in the 6th Century B.C., you’ll find a treatise on human nature and conflict that will guide you through any meeting. The Art of War gives you timeless knowledge about practicing strategy to win that still matters and applies to the world at large but much more specifically to the business world of today.

The Goal, by Eliyahu M. Goldratt. An influential and timeless tome for the business world, this book delves into The Theory of Constraint and will change your thinking about the goal of your organization.

The Goal: A Business Graphic Novel, by Dwight Jon Zimmerman. The ultimate comic for a professional, this graphic novel brings the concepts of The Goal to life in story-form, demonstrating the management paradigm in a fresh, captivating format.

Switch, by Chip & Dan Heath. The one constant in life is change, yet it’s a struggle for most people to accept and react accordingly. What causes obstacles to change? How can you navigate change in your life but more importantly, in your business? Switch combines thought provoking tales with a step-by-step method for managing change in your organization and beyond.

An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything, by Chris Hadfield. As inspirational texts go, this one certainly provides new perspective beyond the 30,000-foot view! Lessons of life and work from Hadfield’s career translate to any situation, particularly for a small business owner who is attempting their own launch sequence to get a business off the ground.

Taking advantage of these resources will make the process of entrepreneurship easier. Gain wisdom from those who’ve gone before you, learned the ropes, and took notes so that you can follow suit.