If your business is feeling overwhelmed by phone calls, hiring an answering service, virtual receptionist, or call center can alleviate problems and improve customer and employee satisfaction. Although chatbots and text can help with some customer needs such as appointment-setting and bill-paying, the need for human voice communication is critical to the success of any business.

Low production costs equal a higher margin – something that any business savvy company strives for. To do this they often turn to questionable suppliers or opt for inferior material. Other times they elect to buy supplies in bulk – as many suppliers offer a discount the more of the same item that is purchased all at once.  While Amazon, and E-bay are popular e-commerce destinations for bulk supplies – Alibaba, a Chinese B2B online commerce company that specializes in bulk shipments and cheap prices is becoming well known in the global community as the one-stop-shop for all B2B supplies. But with accusations of scam artists, wrong items, and delayed shipments it has left many companies wondering about the safety of Alibaba.

Running your own small business in this age of fierce competition has lots of responsibilities attached. This is even harder when everything is at its initial stages. As such, having some knowledge on how to effectively run operations may come in handy as it allows you to understand necessary aspects of business operations. Such knowledge will also enable you to make your business successful and turn you into a good manager. Below are six skills that can help you make your business better according to the Young Entrepreneurs Council.

Ambitious entrepreneurs often are determined to grow their businesses by expanding into new areas, adding new products, and increasing the size of their workforce. But growth comes with potential hazards, which is why one of the leading causes of business failure is overexpansion – growing too much too fast.