Year-end tax planning for small business owners can be stressful. However, developing a smart plan doesn’t necessarily have to be overwhelming. In fact, small business tax planning helps you protect your business, prepare for the future and save money come tax time.

If you own a small business, you want to optimize your revenue and minimize your expenses and tax liabilities. Unfortunately, not everyone is well-versed in the strategies and available tools, resulting in paying far more than is needed. Take advantage of some small business tax planning strategies and tax tips for small business owners.

Smart Tax Planning Strategies For Business Owners in 2021

According to statistics, there are a total of 33.2 million businesses in the U.S. accounting for 99.9% of all private establishments. f you’re a small business owner, there are specific planning considerations in preparing to pay your taxes. Here are some steps you can do to make tax season a little stressful:

• Strategically evaluate your choice of business entity – There are several options for a business structure: sole proprietor, partnership, limited liability company, or different types of corporations. Each business entity impacts taxation in terms of income and deductions.

You may want to discuss with a tax professional to help you determine the best business entity type for you, including some small business and LLC tax planning strategies.

• Strategize end-of-year spending – Increasing your expenditures in the current year is one of the most common strategies to reduce your tax burden. Some experts also suggest deferring taxable income until the next calendar year to minimize your taxes.
• Take Advantage of New Tax Rules – Small businesses have several tax-cutting opportunities resulting from new tax laws for small businesses in 2020 to support the recovering economy due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are some of the rules you should review:
  • New Temporary Exception for Meals Expense Deduction Limit in 2021 and 2022
  • Relaxed NOL Limits
  • Excess Business Losses
  • Employee Retention Credit under the CARES Act
  • Higher Deductibility for Charitable Contributions (Cash)

On top of these strategies, there are still some business tax tips in 2021 and tax planning for small business owners to help you prepare for what lies ahead.

Knowing How You’re Going to Pay Your Taxes

Small business owners are asked to make quarterly tax payments because the U.S. uses a pay-as-you-go tax system. Unlike employees, they don’t have an automatic system where taxes are paid ahead through payroll deductions. Failing to make quarterly tax payments can result in penalties.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) gives several options for business owners to make 2021 quarterly estimated tax payments:

• Crediting 2020 tax return overpayment to your 2021 estimated tax
• Sending in the paper vouchers for IRS 2021 Form 1040-ES
• Online payment using the link for IRS Direct Pay
• Through electronic funds withdrawal with the TY 2020 e-filled return

Planning Your Business for Quarterly Tax Payments

Making tax payments four times a year may not be the most fun way to spend your time. However, in the end, paying your business taxes quarterly can ease the burden of your tax duties:

• Determine your tax bracket. Your tax bracket is determined through your income and filing status, whether single, married filing separately, married filing jointly, or head of a household. Once selected, it tells you how much you should pay.
• Determine deductions and tax credits. Apart from the standard deductions,  there are also itemized deductions for which you can qualify. Filing these itemized deductions, such as business expenses, can be worth the extra forms and your time.

You may want to consult with your tax professional to know what you’re eligible to deduct.

• Add self-employment taxes. The self-employment tax rate for 2021 is 15.3%, which is the sum of Social Security tax (12.4%) and Medicare tax (2.9%) on net earnings.
• Finally, calculate your taxable income, liabilities, and estimated quarterly tax payments. Once everything has been considered, you can determine your final taxable income, liabilities, and taxes due.

As mentioned, calculating your quarterly tax payments accurately is essential to prevent underpayment penalties. However, it may be challenging to estimate tax liabilities, especially if you have an irregular income.

Thus, the IRS offers the ‘Safe Harbor’ method of accounting to help taxpayers suffering from complicated tax calculations. You can use any of these tax relief methods to avoid underpayment penalties:

• You pay 90% of the tax you owe for 2021 (current year) in four installments;
• You pay 100% of the tax liability for the previous tax year (2020);
• If adjusted gross income is greater than $150,000 (married couple) and $75,000 (singles), you pay 110% of the tax shown on the tax return for the previous year (2020).

Each state may have tax rules that differ from federal regulations, so you need to make sure you are following the tax system in your state.

Tax Loopholes For Small Business To Include In Your Planning

A tax loophole, by definition, is a provision allowing taxpayers to reduce tax liabilities. Here are some of the tax loopholes for small businesses or tax avoidance strategies for small business owners:

• Carried Interest Loophole
• Mortgage Interest Deduction on Second Homes
• Deductible IRA Contributions
• The Home-Sale Exclusion
• The Saver’s Tax Credit
• Earned Income Tax Credit
• Small Business Retirement Plan Tax Credit

These are just some of the tax avoidance strategies, and there are still more. Generally, tax loopholes are legal, but tax evasion isn’t. However, you can avoid paying taxes through these loopholes, and your tax preparer can help you with the process.

New Tax Laws To Consider When Planning

Tax laws are constantly changing, which also require dynamic tax planning strategies for companies. As part of proper small business tax planning, a smart taxpayer needs to understand what has been changed and what’s new from the previous tax year.

For the 2021 tax year, there are several tax law changes and updates that taxpayers should know about:

• The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021
• Adjustments for inflation
• Planned tax increases for 2021
• Deductions and credits phaseout adjustments
• Planned changes to the alternative minimum tax
• Changes to retirement plan distributions
• CARES Act provisions that expired in 2020

Important 2021 Tax Filing Deadlines

The due dates for the quarterly estimated tax payments are the same each year:

• January 15 – for the 4th quarter of the previous year
• April 15 – for the 1st Quarter (January – March)
• May 17 – for the individual tax returns and last day to make 2020 IRA contribution
• June 15 – for the 2nd Quarter (April – May)
• September 15 – for the 3rd Quarter (June – August)
• October 15 – extended due date of individual tax returns
• January 15 (the following year) – for the 4th Quarter (September – December)

If the day is a weekend or a holiday, the due date is moved to the next weekday.

Wrapping Up

While these small business tax planning strategies are all helpful, some may not apply to your situation. Before making any significant decision,  you may want to consult with a tax professional to discuss small business financials and tax planning strategies and help create a new tax plan for a small business like yours.

In general, all these strategies can help you understand more about how your business can minimize taxes.

Share with me how your preparing your tax strategy. Use #TaxPlanning on  Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

The content in this blog is to be used as informational purposes only.  Always consult with a tax professional when it comes to how and when to file your taxes.  

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are essential in all types of businesses. If you get good at using SOP in business, then it will provide guidance for what to do within all company processes. 

SOPs can help with methods of operation, work-group responsibilities, safety measures, and operating guidelines for any given process. 

In this article, you’ll learn everything you need to know about Standard Operating Procedures and how SOP in business can produce positive results for your company.

What Is a Standard Operating Procedure?

A Standard Operating Procedure is a documented procedure that a company or organization follows to function consistently. Any how-to document or checklist can fall under the procedure category. 

Examples of using an SOP include:

• Operating a website
• Planning a new building project
• Developing a training class

Using Standard Operating Procedures inside your company guides employees about what gets done in any given situation. This is not only efficient but makes for more consistent results. 

How Standard Operating Procedures Can Improve a Business

As Gino Wickman talks about in his Traction book, a Standard Operating Procedure helps maintain the consistency of your company’s performance. Creating systems in this manner help companies plan, coordinate, and communicate better within the organization.

You should design Standard Operating Procedures to increase productivity, reduce equipment and material waste, improve compliance with government regulations, reduce liability, or encourage employee morale. 

In addition, Standard Operating Procedures often help employees learn new skills since they follow the same steps each time they perform their job. Implementing systems in business can reduce employee errors by providing clarity of expectations and reducing the risk of ambiguities that lead to misunderstandings.

Standard Operating Procedures can also improve profitability by increasing efficiencies in how employees work together within the company. 

How Do You Build Systems In Your Business?

Start the SOP process by determining where you need business systems installed. Once you identify which parts of your company need an SOP in business, use these steps to create systems that encourage business growth.

Identify What Your Standard Process Is

Identify the steps a person must take to complete the task you’re creating the SOP for. Make a list of these steps so that anyone using them can easily accomplish the stated goal.

Test Your Standard Operating Procedures 

It’s important to test the new SOP before implementing it into your company’s workflow. Test Standard Operating Procedures by using people who aren’t familiar with them. Gauge whether they can accomplish the process without any issues. 

Set Up an Audit Process to Detect Problems 

After you test SOP systems, set up an audit process that determines if your SOPs remain successful. This way, you can refine the steps as necessary to increase their effectiveness.

Converting Frequent Tasks Into Procedures

A perfect use-case for SOPs is to use them for any tasks that you or employees do over and over. Business system examples might include the sales process, how onboarding works, how to work on billing, creating content, and other such business tasks.

For instance, you might create SOPs for onboarding new clients. Create a list of steps that everyone involved with the onboarding process must do. It might look like this:

• The sales team passes the sale to the product team
• The point-of-contact person enters new client into the company dashboard
• An email goes out to the client to set up an onboarding call
• Point-of-contact conducts the onboarding call
• Point-of-contact passes client to the product fulfillment team

Many other tasks will typically need to get documented during a process like this. However, it should give you an idea about how to start working on your business in a more structured manner. 

Is This Task Necessary Enough to Add to Your SOP?

The key to using SOP in business is deciding which task should make it into each SOP document. 

Let’s say you’re creating an SOP for writing a blog post. One step you’re going to include is keyword research. Ask yourself which tasks are necessary and which tasks to leave out. 

You’ll most likely include a task such as “Research long-tail keywords around the topic keyword.” You might not list anything to do with which keyword research tool to use if you’re sure everyone on the team already knows that you use it. 

Creating SOPs for All Positions in Your Business

Use Standard Operating Procedures for all major areas of your company. This might include sales, scheduling, email marketing, coaching, product development, and refunds.

What Is SOP format?

Use the basic SOP format to list the tasks for each system. There isn’t one set format to use. However, you might include the following information in your SOP documents. 

• SOP document ID number
• Title
• Issue date
• Revision date
• Current status
• Author
• Type of system (email, refunds, or sales)
• Definition of terms used in the document

After listing all of the above, you’ll then lay out the step-by-step procedure for completing the system. If a person follows each step, they should end up finishing the task easily. 

Their result should end up the same as any other person who needs to jump in and complete it. 

The Benefits of Having Systems & Processes in Your Business

Using SOP in business so that everything runs through processes and systems provides several benefits to the company.

• Standardizes common tasks and gets them out of the way so  employees can stop thinking about every detail
• Promotes consistency in your company’s day-to-day operations
• Saves time and money by reducing errors and omissions
• Eliminates confusing redundancies
• Enhances relationships with customers 
• Makes it easier to delegate tasks
• Insulates you against costly mistakes when key players are sick or on vacation
• Helps you scale your business more easily 
• Allows you to train new staff members faster 
• Eliminates employee frustration, which leads to happier teams

Conclusion

Using SOP guidelines helps your company run smoother by establishing a way to execute common tasks. Standardizing processes makes the process of planning for your business success that much easier to do and predict.

Motivation is one of the most crucial aspects of an employee’s day-to-day life. Without it, employees won’t put effort into work that you hope they do. 

They could even leave your company as they look for a better opportunity. 

This article will explore how to motivate employees and show them that leadership cares about them on both a personal and business level. 

The Benefits of Motivating Employees in Your Business

Your company will realize many benefits after getting good at employee motivation. Let’s discuss three main advantages to becoming good in this area.

Increased Employee Productivity

Employee productivity is one of the biggest benefits of having motivated employees. Since most people want to perform well, your people will put more effort into their tasks when feeling motivated. 

They’ll produce better work, they’ll find ways to get the work done more efficiently, and they’ll be happier throughout the day. 

Employee Turnover Rates Decreases

Turnover rate is one of the biggest costs to your business. It takes time to train new employees, make sure they’re working as they should, and ensure a smooth transition into the company. 

When you work on motivating employees and increasing productivity, your employees will become happier within their roles. Your turnover rate should then decrease dramatically. 

Improved Collaboration and Teamwork

If you get good at motivating employees as a leader, you’ll discover that it helps improve collaboration and teamwork.

10 Fun Ways to Motivate Employees

Here are 10 ways to motivate employees while keeping the company atmosphere fun and creative.

Let Employees Decide Their KPIs

Do you want to learn how to motivate employees as a manager? Let them determine what success means for their team. Morale and motivation go up when your people feel ownership over KPIs and have clear business goals.  

Gamify the Process

Gamifying the bonus structure works wonders when you’re unsure about how to motivate employees. Try allowing for rewards throughout the week or month that come with some sort of prize. 

Prizes might range from earning an hour of browsing Facebook or getting a ticket to an upcoming event. Gamifying is one of the most fun ways to motivate employees. 

Encourage Healthy Competition

If you want to learn how to motivate employees to work harder, then set up a competition between teams. Each team will bond and work that much harder to gain bragging rights.  

Let the Team Give “Shout-Outs” to Team Members

Rather than just praising an employee yourself, let the rest of the team praise them. Ask employees to give shout-outs to those people they saw do something great last week. 

Let Employees Pick the Team Meeting Location

When employees are looking forward to a team meeting, it makes the entire process easier. Let them choose a location that they’re excited about. Everyone will get more out of the conversation. 

Encourage Everyone to Acknowledge Others Publicly

Use software like Basecamp to create projects and hold the team together. Then, encourage the team to publicly acknowledge each time they see another team member do something great or help another person. Watch how motivated everyone gets to see their name in lights inside the Campfire.

Promote Fun Rewards and Recognition Events

Do you truly want to know how to motivate employees for better performance? Use fun rewards and recognition events. Go beyond the above suggestions and hold monthly recognition and reward events to keep employees striving to receive those monthly validation prompts. 

Introduce Stretch Goals

Stretch goals are a great way for employees to feel motivated. It also shows that you have confidence in their abilities. 

Introduce an Employee of the Month Program

Add extra pizazz to the monthly rewards and recognition event by adding an employee of the month program. 

This is a great ​​solution when you don’t know how to motivate employees during COVID. Watch which employees stand out as they strive to find some sort of comfort throughout these difficult times. 

Provide Team Members With Perks on Their Birthdays

Birthdays are a great time to let employees feel appreciated at work. You could provide an extra paid day off or a round of drinks with their team. It will remind them that they’re valued, and it helps create an environment where people want to come back every morning. 

How to Motivate Employees Without Money

Let’s dive into how to motivate employees without adding more into your monthly payroll budget. 

Plan Out a Fair Workload Distribution to Prevent Burnout

If an employee is feeling burned out, they’re not going to give their best at work each day. Plan out a fair workload distribution for your employees. Make sure nobody feels like they’re working more than others because this breeds resentment.

Provide Employees With the Tools They Need to Get Their Work Done

Employees who don’t have access to the proper tools will find that they struggle throughout their workday. 

You can increase employee performance by providing them with the right work tools and software. If they need a better computer, laptop, or other device to get their work done, you should provide it for them. 

Improve the Relationship Between Supervisor and Employee

The relationship between a supervisor and an employee can lead to increased employee performance. 

From providing feedback to having one-on-one meetings, your employees will see that you care about their opinions. A key part of this is teaching your managers ​​how to communicate with employees.

It’s the Responsibility of Business Leaders to Focus on Employee Motivation

You can’t expect your employees to become the motivated people you want them to be magically. Instead, you must take responsibility for learning how to motivate employees more effectively.

Remember that your staff can make or break your customer experience. All it takes is one or two disgruntled employees to start a cascading avalanche of unhappy customers.

Even if you only select 5 ways to motivate employees that you’ve learned here, it will make a big difference on your team and your customers. 

Employee Motivation Will Get Them to Work Harder & Smarter

Once your focus on motivation takes hold, you’ll see that employees start to work more intelligently within their roles. They’ll begin to work harder and take more pride in their work. In turn, this will help them become the employees you want to have on your team.

People become motivated when they feel appreciated and respected by those around them. When you show those who work with you that you value their efforts, they’ll try harder to please you. 

Conclusion

By definition, leadership includes responsibility. Take that responsibility seriously as you continue to learn how to motivate employees. Learn more by using these how to motivate employees scholarly articles. 

If you provide caring and honest motivation to your team, you’ll watch your people blossom into a creative team that makes your company better as new ideas continue to enter the picture.

Which entrepreneur doesn’t fantasize about starting a business and see it venture to something big without any mishaps?

While this is a great vision, most business owners have one stumbling block: money. In fact, according to SBA (Small Business Administration) in a 2020 report, small business owners borrowed $645 Billion to help support their businesses.

When the need for money exceeds the cash-at-hand, many areas are negatively impacted, and you need a plan B. Here is the good news; there are many financial solutions that you can opt for to help you evade the financial hitches caused by inadequate funds.

Here are some of the best financing solutions that you can approach.

The Different Types of Small Business Financing Solutions

You can never run short of small business financing options for businesses. However, each has different policies, and not all of them are perfect for your business’s financial needs. Take time to understand the types of financing for business and it will help you pick the best. They include:

SBA Loans

SBA is a loan program ideal for business owners who want a low-cost government loan. Additionally, they are recommendable if you have a good credit score and you need a long-term loan.

Unfortunately, they have many qualifications and take a long time to process. The loan can take about three months after you apply, meaning they are not a solution if you need urgent financial assistance.

Term Loans

Term loans are loans where you receive a large amount upfront and repay it with interest over time. They are the best business loans if you need a large amount of money for reasons such as business expansion.

To get these loans, you need to have a good credit score and a well-established business. Term loans may have higher costs when compared to other loans such as bank loans. Additionally, you may require collateral or a personal guarantee to get these loans.

Invoice Financing/AR Financing

Invoice financing, which is also called accounts receivable financing, involves getting advances from your lending companies. They give a quick cash advance of about 85% of your invoice.

When you receive your payment, you get the remaining percentage minus the weekly charges from the invoice financing company.

This is the best financing solution that can help avoid inconveniences caused by late payment from a customer. Additionally, the lender checks the customer’s repayment behavior and not yours, meaning that a poor credit score cannot affect you.

Business Credit Cards

Business credit cards work like personal credit cards but are designed only for use by the business. They have lower interest rates than personal credit cards.

To get these credit cards, you and the company ought to have a good credit score. They will be situation-savers when you need a small amount within a short time.

Business Requirements for Alternative Financing Options

Alternative financing options are all other non-bank options through which you can get a loan. Unlike banks, these do not have a lot of requirements to help you get the loan. Additionally, the requirements differ based on the alternative financing option that you choose.

To help you know what you need, ask questions such as how do small business loans work, and their answers will help you prepare the requirements.

The Benefits of Alternative Financing Solutions

Some of the reasons why alternative financing solutions are better than traditional banking loans are:

i. Approval, Even on Bad Credit – While banks insist on good credit, it is not a must-have in most alternative financing solutions.

ii. Unsecured Loans – You don’t need collateral to secure your loan to get the best financing solution.

iii. Rapid Approval – You can get the loan even within hours after you send in your application.

iv. Short Payback Period – You pay back within a short time, thus reducing debts and financial pressure on the business.

Where to Find Business Financing Advisors to Help

When thinking of how to get a small business loan, it is not easy to select the best choice among the many available. Your best bet is to get a financial advisor for advice on choosing the best financing option. Some of the ways to find an advisor are such as:

• Through existing advisors
• Recommendations from friends and other business persons
• Through the National Association of Personal Financial Advice
• Accredited Financial Counselor Website
• By conducting online searches in different search engines

How to Apply and Get Offers

• Choose your loan type – you can choose the best financing solution based on the amount you intend to borrow and the use of the loan.
• Complete the loan application – after you narrow down to your ideal financing option, gather what is needed and apply.
• Make your case – prove to the business loan lender why your business is worth the loan.
• Wait for approval – ask the lender how long you need to wait before receiving the loan and wait.

Get a Financial Solution for Your Business!

Don’t wait to see the effort you have put in your business go down the drain due to financial hurdles. Instead, please choose any of the above financing options for businesses and use it as a bridge over this troubled water of finances.

Consulting a financial advisor will also help ensure that you don’t get a financing solution that ends up causing more harm than good.

Share with me how you found the best financing solution for your business. Use #FinancingSolution on  Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram. 

If you’ve been in your business or career for a long time, you might be feeling bored or burnt out. It happens to most people who have been working at one thing for a long time. Or, maybe it hasn’t been all that long, but something just isn’t clicking.

If you’re finding yourself stuck in a rut, now might be the time for a change. Let’s talk about when it’s time to start exploring new business opportunities.

​​Change Isn’t Always a Bad Thing

Maybe you feel the need for a change, but fear is stopping you. Will you be able to transition to something new? Can you get new clients to your new business? Do you have a unique business idea?

These are all good questions to keep in mind when considering your small business opportunities. But they shouldn’t stop you from taking steps forward.

Change can mean fresh ideas, new territories, and a new and bigger business. Change is how you grow and also improve your work. Be cautious, yes, but don’t stop growth.

Remember, change doesn’t need to happen overnight. You can transition out of a current niche and into a new one slowly as you gain confidence and new leads.

Tips On Finding New Business Opportunities

Exploring new business opportunities can be daunting, especially if you know you want something new, but you’re unsure about what direction you want to go.

Do your research. Find those sexy new business ideas by spotting the hottest trends in the area you’re most interested in. For example, given the current pandemic, most people are looking for small business opportunities from home, but starting a business in this climate, or expanding upon an existing business, can be challenging.

Observe your ideal customer. You may not know exactly what you want but you might know who you want to work with. If there’s a customer you know you want, you can partially build your business around that concept. Find out what they like, as well as what problems they need solving. Then, become the company that can provide those solutions better than anyone else.

Transitioning to a New Niche in Your Business

You don’t have to throw out everything. If you have good people on board, you should retrain your staff for your new niche. If you’re a solo operation, consider hiring someone with skills or experience you don’t have to help you grow. The money spent on hiring and training will be made back as you grow. A good staff is the key to a growing business.

Phase out the old business while building the new niche. Don’t just drop your business off the face of the Earth. Finish old projects while taking on others in your new niche. This way you still have work and cash flow while you’re transitioning.

Let go of old clients. At some point, if your business is completely changing, you’re going to have to cut ties. Firing a good client isn’t anyone’s idea of a fun time, but you’re going to have to do it as you grow. If they keep you on work outside your niche, how can you concentrate on your new business venture?

On that note, don’t burn bridges. You may not be able to work with all your old clients if you no longer offer the services they need, but you should stay in touch. Just because you can’t help them doesn’t mean they can’t help you.

Networking is necessary to grow a business and they might know someone who needs your new service. A glowing referral from a previous client is invaluable in building your reputation in your new niche.

Adding a New Niche to Your Business

Business opportunities in 2021 are going to look different from those in the past. Sometimes it’s not about changing completely, but growing with the times.

Adding a new niche is a little different than fully transitioning. If your new niche is related to what you currently do, there’s no reason to completely change your business structure.

If you’re in an area affected by remote working, then you should make it clear your business can handle this new reality. If, for example, you can find a way to more efficiently run your small business with remote tools, promote yourself as an expert on that. This is an example of finding a niche currently un- or under-addressed and filling it.

Adding a new niche to your business doesn’t have to mean a huge overhaul. Rather, it can be more about growing what you already have. So, you can keep your team and your old clients as you’re adding new services instead of dropping old ones. Change your messaging and marketing strategies to make sure people know your business covers your new niche.

Always Continue To Grow

When changing your niche it’s important to always be looking for new growth opportunities. You’re in new waters and you may need to make quick changes the more you learn.

Pay attention to new trends and change strategies accordingly. Hire new people who have experience in areas where you have none. And, most importantly, don’t be afraid to keep changing.

A steady business can be safe for a while. But in the digital world, an online business that’s stagnant is one that’s not going to be around for much longer. People will move on to the next new thing extremely quickly. Online business opportunities are rapidly changing: Make sure you can keep up.

New Opportunities Can Lead to More Success

Starting a new business venture can be frightening. But, not doing it can be worse if your current business is slowing down, or you’re slowing down because you’re disinterested.

If you’re coming out of a business that’s served you well, then you already have all the tools you need to enter a new niche. Whatever you did the first time is still going to work for you. Make sure you know what else you need to do.

Don’t be afraid to change course. Just make sure you’re observant of trends, well-informed, and well-staffed. With the right tools, change is possible!

Employee mental health is directly tied to the success and livelihood of your business. Leaving mental health in the workplace unaddressed and stigmatized at any time is a quick way to cripple your company and the human beings who dedicate their time to it.

Let’s look at some ways you can provide support and accommodation for employees in a changing and modern world.

Mental Health in the Workplace in 2021

Not only are your employees responsible for keeping your business running efficiently, but they’re people who are under your care and supervision. They might be adults, but they deserve a safe and comfortable environment to work in.

Employee Mental Health Statistics

Mental health in employees has taken a nosedive since 2020, and in 2021, a report from Mental Health America shows that 9/10 employees experience decreased mental health and stress directly from their job.

Of that total, only 5% of employees said they even felt comfortable expressing mental health issues to management. Most workplaces don’t show much support for mental health in a time where it’s more important than ever.

People spend more time at their jobs than at home, which is troubling if they’re constantly miserable and looking for a job elsewhere. Their mental health affects how they work with each other, their productivity, and their interactions with your valued customers.

How the Pandemic Affects Employee Mental Health

COVID-19 has left many people isolated, sick, or fearful of becoming ill. There was an unprecedented loss of employment that upheaved entire lives all across the country. People were left without knowing where their lives would go and if it would ever be the same.

The pandemic has caused a sharp rise in depression and anxiety. Some of these were already present but magnified exponentially so. A more open online presence of people talking about their mental health has made it normal to talk about your mental health.

The pandemic has created a lot of loss, but it also allowed us to be more empathetic with one another. We understand what others are going through and can show support in our personal and professional lives. Employee mental health during Covid-19 is essential to acknowledge for this reason.

Mental Wellness for Yourself and Your Team

You wouldn’t force an employee into a position where they have to walk a lot if they broke their leg. The same goes for mental illness. The tricky part is, because of stigma, many people have to walk on a broken leg mentally, no matter what.

There needs to be an environment in the workplace where employees can feel comfortable addressing what’s hurting and holding them back. If they had a physical injury, the goal would be to get them healthy again to come back to work.

There are multiple ways you can start the process of creating a mental health-inclusive workplace.

Address Your Own Mental Health

A manager’s transparency and accountability let your employees know they are safe to speak about their own health. Managing a business in these times can be stressful and take its toll on all of us.

Learn the Signs

Take the time to learn about the most common mental illnesses and the side effects they give people. Pay attention to your employees and how they act. Sometimes substance abuse happens because of an untreated mental illness.

Send Out Weekly Emails

Many people don’t know that they aren’t alone in the struggle. Send a weekly check-in email with information on the company’s resources and employee mental health programs. This way, employees can have access to links and critical information.

Check on Employees Individually

At the end of the day, you know how your employees tend to act at work. It means a lot when someone shows interest and care, pushing beyond a simple “Hi, how’re you?” This can also mean sending out a mental health email to employees.

Creating Employee Benefits for Mental Health

Snapping your fingers won’t make problems disappear, but hard work and genuine consideration for the well-being of your employees go a long way. They’re people with lives and stressors, many of which are money.

Here are some of the benefits you can consider for helping keep people mentally healthy and productive while on the job.

Cover Mental Health in an Insurance Policy

Simply covering mental health for an employee can change their life for the better. Insurance is difficult and expensive, and many have to choose between paying rent and helping their crippling depression.

Offer Mental Health Days

Sick days are offered, so why not allow an employee to rest and recharge with a mental health day? The culture of shaming and guilting someone over taking time to recover rather than work keeps people from ever resting at all.

Managing and supporting mental health at work means allowing your employees to recover and rest when needed.

Pay a Living Wage

Living is expensive and stressful in modern times. Simply having enough money to feed themselves and their family will reduce stress exponentially. Employees are more willing to work if they know the job they’re working will take care of them.

Conduct Anonymous Surveys on Where to Improve

One of the best ways to know where your company lacks is to have your employees submit reviews, concerns, and ideas for improvement through a questionnaire.

Final Thoughts

If you’re wondering how to support employees during the pandemic and outside of it, taking care of your employees should be your top priority. This care means addressing and helping them through problems you can’t always visually see.

Your employees will have a better disposition and life quality if you’re being open and transparent, fighting stigma, and offering better benefits and pay.

Take a look at your business and see where you can improve your employees’ work experience by helping their mental health in these trying times.

You almost bought that salad for lunch from a drive-thru, but then you realized you have groceries at home to make a salad. You needed to buy sugar, and you chose the brand with better packaging even though it was thirty cents more.

These are both examples of customer buying behaviors, and we are constantly doing them. We make buying decisions several times a day, every day, and we often don’t even realize it.

But this customer buying behavior is a big part of us and who we are as a consumer-and paying attention to this information can offer a huge boom to your branding.

From the business side of things, understanding your customers’ buying behaviors can help you build a customer journey that matches them, aligns with what they want, and creates a better experience for them.

Ultimately, this puts more dollars in your pocket when you’re able to cater intimately to what your buyers wants and needs.

In this article, I’ll explain customer buying behavior and why it matters so much to brands. I’ll also share tips on how to learn better from your customers and modify your service to align with their needs.

Ultimately helping you build a better customer journey based on the factors that influence customer buying behavior.

What is a Customer Buying Behavior?

Customer buying behavior is the study of consumers and the processes they rely on to select, consume, and dispose of various services and products. It takes into account all of their responses, whether emotional, behavioral, or mental.

Customer buying behavior is a conglomeration of many different fields of study, including biology, psychology, economics, and even chemistry.

Some of the fundamental characteristics of consumer behavior include:

• Bargaining
• Measuring value vs. price
• Brand-consciousness
• Changing patterns of consumption due to education or increased standard of living
• The shifting role of women in buying decisions
• The power of complaining

Tips on How You Can Learn from Your Customers

The importance of consumer behavior in marketing cannot be undermined.

Marketing is, essentially, the art of understanding the consumer and convincing them that your product or service is the right solution for them at that time. And if you don’t understand who they are and how they make decisions, how can you provide them with the “right” solution for them?

The first step to improve your marketing strategy through customer buying behavior is to learn from your customers.

How do you do that?

1. Let them speak. You can’t listen or learn if you’re the one talking, so make sure your reps remain silent while the customer speaks.

2. Stay patient. It can be frustrating working with a new customer or an unhappy one, but without patience, you won’t be able to understand where they are coming from to learn how you can improve.

3. Engage on their preferred channels. You’ll get the most information if you listen to where they already spend their time. Social media and chatbot conversations are two great examples of where the younger millennials and Gen Z spend their time and engage with customer service.

4. Practice active listening. This means repeating the issue back to the customer to ensure you’re understanding it correctly from their perspective before you try to address it further.

5. Pay attention to the person, too. Each person should be dealt with uniquely, so paying attention and noticing how they react and what emotional state they are in can provide highly valuable tactical information.

Modify Your Products or Service to Align With Your Customers Behavior

If your customer buying behaviors aren’t what you want them to be (i.e., you’re not seeing the sales you expect), then it might be time to listen and make some changes to better align your services and products with your customer behavior and decision making.

For example, you may need to optimize your pricing to keep up with changes in brand expectations over time. While your product may have been high-value at one point in time-perhaps while it was trending-it might not be as highly sought-after a year or two down the line.

Being able to see that your product should get a lower price point will remove the price barrier that’s holding customers back and allow you to generate more revenue.

You may also decide to change aspects about the product or service itself, such as adjusting the packaging due to a design flaw that frustrated customers or adding a new feature that you hear a lot of feedback about.

Being agile, flexible, and willing to make these changes is a key part of long-term company success.

Build a Customer Journey That Matches Your Customer Behavior

It’s not just the product and the price that you should consider when using customer behavior data to shape your business offerings. You should also take into account the customer experience you’re creating for everyone that buys your products or services.

You may learn that your marketing emails aren’t nurturing your list in the right ways, creating a change in your email campaigns that instead focus on exclusive offerings and sales.

Another example might be developing relationships with more retail stores rather than focusing solely on e-commerce if you learn that customers are frustrated by not being able to test the products in person before buying.

As long as you’re listening closely, you’ll be able to identify the experiential changes your brand needs to make.

Factors That Influence Customer Buying Behavior

So, what drives customers to make the decisions they do?

The primary factors influencing consumer behavior are:

• Marketing campaigns-yes, their effectiveness matters
• Economic conditions-a healthy economy makes consumers more confident
• Personal values-morals, priorities, and preferences
• Group influence-peer pressure from colleagues, classmates, family, and friends
• Purchasing power-how much money consumers have to spend

Using Customer Buying Behavior Data for the Good of Your Business

With the capabilities to gather data around customer buying behavior, there’s a wealth of knowledge you can access to improve both your products or services and your customer journey.

By listening closely, understanding why people make the decisions they do, and developing insights based on customer feedback and behavior, you’ll be able to create a tailored experience for your customers.

What are you waiting for? Boost your sales by tapping into the power of customer buying behaviors, and improve your business’s revenue and success.

Almost everyone is using search engines like Google multiple times throughout the day. Yet you’d probably be surprised to learn how many businesses don’t add to or claim their Business Profiles on Google. Further, for those business owners who are taking advantage of Google My Business, many aren’t using appropriate keywords to reach their ideal clients or customers.

Why is it important for people to find your business on Google?

It’s simple: Those customers or clients who need your products and services must be able to find you. As you know, there are countless competitors out there, so it’s up to you to help them locate your business–and then distinguish your services from all the others. You can fulfill these goals through top-notch search engine optimization (SEO).

Google remains the most popular search engine by far: together with its subsidiary, YouTube, it receives more than 90% of all internet searches. Approximately 3.5 billion Google searches are taking place every day. With Google My Business, you’ll be able to use local SEO to drive new customers and clients to your business, link directly to your website, provide a map to your location, and enable them to call you directly from your Google listing.

Research has shown that approximately 50% of potential new customers visit businesses the same day they conducted local searches, e.g., “hairdresser near me.” Further, if your contact information isn’t current or inconsistent between Google and other search engines, eight in 10 consumers lose trust in your business. Therefore, once you’ve claimed your Google My Business profile, keep your listed contact information current and consistent across all your search engine listings, business website, and social media channels.

What are the negatives if you don’t have a Google My Business account?

If you don’t claim your Google My Business account, you have zero control over the information that appears in your Business Profile. This means that if consumers locate your Business Profile on Google but you haven’t established a Google My Business account, your profile may contain inaccuracies. Also, note the following:

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• Your Business Profile may have a subheading that says “Add Missing Information,” such as “Add business hours” and “Add a website.” It may also say, “Be the first to ask a question” or “Be the first to leave a review.” These are all big red flags that may give potential customers the impression that you’re not taking care of your business. Most will immediately move on and go directly to your competitors.
• Your profile may simply list a generic industry for your business, rather than a specific business description that you’ve crafted, along with providing your town or city and state (key for local business searches).
• You won’t have the opportunity to respond to any Google reviews you may receive on your Business Profile. This can be disastrous, particularly with negative reviews, since you won’t be able to manage your online reputation. Further, reviews influence buying choices and are a key Google ranking factor, so being able to manage your reviews on Google is an absolute must.
• Google determines the position of Business Profiles in search results based on quality. Therefore, if you don’t have a Google My Business account, you’ll lose out on the ability to use SEO to reach potential customers with relevant keyword searches that can help you rank above your competitors on a search engine results page (SERP).

How do you create a Google My Business listing to get on Google Maps?

The good news is that you can easily create a free Google Business Profile that will help consumers locate you on both Google Search and Google Maps. You’ll have the ability to personalize your profile with the following:

• your business’ contact information
• link to your website
• description of your services or products
• photos of the outside and inside of your business
• photos that highlight your offerings
• frequent customer questions and answers
• a “Reviews from the web” section where customers can review your products or services–and importantly, where you can respond to both positive and negative reviews in a manner that may ultimately serve to enhance your online reputation
• special offers

To create your Google My Business listing, you’ll first need to have a free Google account that gives you access to Gmail, Google Drive, Google Docs, and more Google applications. If you’re currently using Gmail, you already have the necessary free Google account. Many business owners have two free Google accounts, one for personal use and the second for business purposes.

Your Business Profile is the free listing that appears when you conduct a Google Search or a search of Google Maps. A Google My Business account is the free account that you’ll need to create to claim your Business Profile, where you’ll receive access to a dashboard to manage, customize, and enhance your Business Profile.

What are the specific steps to create a Google My Business account?

First, ensure that you have a Google Account for your business. If you don’t, simply go to accounts.google.com/, click on “Create an account,” and select “To manage my business.” Then complete the required information.

As discussed above, Google Business Profiles can exist on their own without Google My Business accounts. You’ll want to search to determine whether there is already a Google Business Profile for your business. The chances are that your Business Profile already exists since it simply serves as a location on Google Maps that any individual or computer can add.

Accordingly, go to Google Maps, and search for your business name. If you locate your business name with an address on Google Maps, your Business Profile already exists.

If your business doesn’t come up in your search, you’ll see “Google Maps can’t find [Your Business Name]. Should this place be on Google Maps?” You’ll have the option to click on “Add a missing place” and will then be prompted to fill in a dialog box called “Add a Place” with the following information:

• Business name
• Business category
• Address

However, do not do so here since you still need to set up your Google My Business account. Follow these steps to set up your Google My Business account:

• Log into your standard Business Google Account (not your personal Google account).
• Go to google.com/business, and select “Manage now.”
• Enter the information that Google requests, including business name, address, phone number, website, and category. You’ll have the option to claim your business in the same dialog box.

Once you claim your Business Profile and connect it with your Google My Business account, your dashboard will make additional fields accessible so that you can begin to customize your Business Profile.

Connecting your Google My Business account with your Google Business Profile

Last, you’ll need to verify your business with Google to connect your Google My Business and Business Profile accounts:

1. Search for your Business Profile on Google Search, and your Business Profile should appear on the right side.
2. Click on the “Own this business” option, which will take you to a screen headed with “Manage this business so you can reply to reviews, update info, and more.”
3. Click on “Manage now” and go through the prompts to claim your Business Profile. As you’re doing so, ensure that you’re logged in with your standard Google Business account.
4. If you created the Google Business Profile, you might be able to validate your business immediately. However, if you didn’t create the Business Profile, Google will send you a 5-digit verification code through snail mail, text, or email that you’ll need to enter into your Google Business dashboard.

Once you enter your verification code, you’ll obtain full ownership of your Google Business Profile and can take the necessary steps to achieve the following:

• update contact information
• provide details of your business that distinguish you from your competitors
• manage customer or client reviews
• respond to reviews 
• take proactive steps on your website and social media platforms to encourage your customers to leave reviews
• choose robust keywords for SEO that will drive local traffic to your site

Importantly, remember to visit and update your Google Business Profile often to keep it current and relevant and ensure that it stands out from the rest.

Google Analytics and Core Web Vitals

Now that you’ve listed your business on Google My Business and own your Google Business Profile, you can also use several additional Google applications. For example, Google Analytics provides the necessary tools to track, extract, and evaluate informational data, including which keywords are most successfully driving your site traffic, where visitors accessed your site, how long they stayed and more.

In May of this year, Google also introduced its “Core Web Vitals” report, with the goal of fixing poor user experiences on your website. The report shows how your website’s pages perform based on real-world-experience metrics, such as how quickly a page loads, stabilizes and becomes interactive. Essentially, such reporting will help you assess the user’s (and potential future customer’s) experience when visiting your site to learn about your products and services, enabling you to take additional measures to improve your ranking in Google searches.

Contact Google My Business Help to obtain further information about Google My Business and additional steps you can take to enhance your Google Business Profile and increase your local business traffic.

Regardless of the size of your business, it would be best if you prioritized cybersecurity. The last thing you want is to experience a data breach or hack, which is why providing employee cybersecurity training is so important.

Starting a business amid the COVID-19 pandemic can be difficult, but that doesn’t mean you should skimp on cybersecurity. Making sure all of your employees understand cybersecurity and have access to free cybersecurity awareness training materials will help keep them and your customers safe. Fortunately, as you will see, training employees in reliable security practices is easy and free.

The Dangers of Cybersecurity for Your Small Business

Many small business owners think hackers won’t target them because their businesses are too small. However, that is a grave mistake, as hackers will target any business, especially if it has weak cybersecurity protocols.

Malware and viruses can infect your computers and steal important company information, such as bank account details, employee information, and even customer details. The last thing you want is for your customer data to get leaked, evaporating any trust you worked so hard to build.

Another common threat is ransomware, which is a type of malware that takes over your computer system. Hackers then demand you pay a ransom, usually in Bitcoin, for them to give you back control.

Cybersecurity training for staff can help employees understand the importance of using robust antivirus software and how to avoid phishing attempts and malware when browsing online.

Protect Your Employees’ Sensitive Information

Protecting your employees’ sensitive information helps shield them and you. Hackers who gain access to employee information, such as birth dates, Social Security numbers, and even credit card information, can use that data to steal money, blackmail employees, and more.

It would be best if you protect your software and your hardware. Secure your network, but also protect your physical laptops so nobody can steal them. Of course, when it comes to employee data, your staffers will also need to be careful they are not entering their data on a phishing site or otherwise exposing it.

Online cybersecurity awareness training for employees can help your staff spot harmful websites and provide awareness about things not to do, such as entering passwords on an open Wi-Fi network.

Protect Your Company’s Sensitive Information

There are several types of sensitive information you need to safeguard. We already talked about employee data, but it goes beyond that. You need to take stock of all the data you store and categorize it as sensitive information or not.

For example, do you store customer credit card details? That is an example of highly sensitive information. In general, you should treat any customer data with the utmost care.

Some ways to protect sensitive information include:

• Using a firewall to protect yourself against hacking attempts
• Installing a VPN (virtual private network) on your computers or otherwise encrypting your network data
• Installing antivirus and antimalware software on your computers (make sure they monitor and scan for viruses and malware periodically)
• Making sure all software and hardware you use are updated regularly
• Requiring multi-factor authentication for employee and customer accounts
• Using secure passwords that contain random letters (uppercase and lowercase), numbers, and symbols
• Not reusing passwords
• Monitoring government updates to learn about new data privacy rules or guidelines
• Providing free cyber training for employees

One thing that can help keep your information safe is limiting who has access to what information. If an employee leaves your company (especially if they are fired), make sure to delete their accounts immediately. If you can’t delete an account, change the password right away.

How to Train Employees on Cybersecurity

You can’t expect your employees to be cybersecurity experts until you train them. Remember, your employees can make or break the customer experience, and the same is true when it comes to protecting customer data.

Training can help employees understand things such as:

• What makes a password secure
• How to use a VPN to secure their network
• How to protect their data if using a public computer or Wi-Fi network (such as when working at a cafe)
• How to use antivirus and antimalware software on desktops and smartphones
• The most secure type of 2FA and how to use it
• How to dispose of old computers and phones

Most importantly, team training can help employees work together to ensure the entire network is secure.

Where to Find Free Training For Employees

Let’s go over some of the best cybersecurity training for employees, including free government cybersecurity training. The following resources are all free.

• ESET: ESET is an antivirus company that provides free on-demand employee training for cybersecurity. It covers all the basics and more. ESET recommends your employees complete the course once a year to refresh their memories. The free course takes only 60 minutes. The paid course provides real-time gamification and exercises to help employees put best practices into action.
• FTC: The FTC provides several resources for small businesses concerned about private security. You can share those resources with your employees as well. In addition to the training materials, there are quizzes you can use to check if your employees truly understand what they learned.
• HHS: On this page, you can find courses from the Department of Health and Human Services on cybersecurity essentials, cybersecurity awareness, and phishing.
• NICCS: The National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies provides an extensive catalog with more than 6,000 training courses for cybersecurity professionals. Courses are available online (self-paced and with an instructor) and in person. There are many advanced courses available.

Final Thoughts

Making sure your employees are fully aware of cybersecurity risks at all times is critical. You can’t neglect cybersecurity, even if your team is small and your company doesn’t have many customers.

Over time, as you grow, your cybersecurity risks will increase as well, which is why you need to build a solid foundation and implement strict guidelines that will protect you in the future.

An organization is only successful if it understands how to communicate with its employees, customers, and vendors. Useful information helps people do their work better. Sharing thoughts and ideas help companies innovate. Providing value to customers is what keeps them coming back.

This article examines the importance of effective communication in business and what it looks like for your company. We also highlight tips on establishing better communication with your employees, customers, and vendor network.

What Does Effective Communication Really Mean?

The role of communication in business is to share information between internal team members and external stakeholders. When your business effectively communicates, everyone interacts in meaningful ways that support the mission and goals of the company. It means that each message will bring your company closer to a specific objective.

Yes, everyone has different methods of communicating. However, the best companies can convey critical information to all personality types. The main goal of effective communication is to keep team members knowledgeable, eliminate errors, and enhance company best practices.

Effective communication involves understanding the different flows of information too. There are four critical areas of communication that a strong organization can master:

• Communication from the bottom toward the top
• Communication from the top toward the bottom
• Lateral communication between employees who are on the same organizational level
• Communication to external parties like customers and vendors

When effective communication happens, people will feel inspired to do better work, live a happier life, and be motivated to execute the company mission.

Why is Effective Communication Important in Your Business?

The importance of communication in business organizations touches all internal and external stakeholders. There are several reasons why your company needs to improve its communication flows.

Boosts Employee Engagement

A company is only as good as its people. The importance of employee communication goes hand in hand with innovation. When team members share ideas and valuable information, it keeps them curious and engaged. Internal leaders have a responsibility to instill the need for communicating among the employees.

Elevates Productivity

Employees have different levels of experience and knowledge about specific subjects. If a team member does not know something, there is a good chance that another person in the organization has the answer. Instead of wasting time researching the answer online, internal communication allows team members to pass on knowledge to one another.

Increases Customer Retention and Satisfaction

When businesses communicate better, it means more happy customers. Customer-facing employees need to convey useful information to clients. If an organization lacks communication, these internal stakeholders will not have the required resources to boost satisfaction. Elevating the customer experience involves cross-departmental communication and synergy.

Stronger Company Culture

Effective communication in the workplace will play a key role in improving the culture. More communication means more transparency with employees. Team members will feel more inclined to speak up, which makes for a healthier atmosphere. When there is no communication, employee engagement will suffer, more employees will quit, and productivity will drop.

Tips to Communicate With Your Employees

Successful employee communication comes in many forms. Below are some tips and business communication examples that leadership can use to transform company culture.

Be Clear, Concise, and Sincere

Whether written or verbal communication, team members should avoid using fluff, technical jargon, and complex phrases. Everyone has different levels of knowledge within the organization, so this could cause confusion. It is best to communicate in simple terms and convey clear expectations.

Understand How Employees Communicate

Each organization has different audiences. Some people may learn through visual means, while others need to understand specific examples. Maybe some team members like bulleted lists in emails. Regardless of the personality type, effective communication starts with discovering how different team members digest information.

Follow Through With What You Say

Words mean nothing without the actions to back them up. When employees do what they say they will do, it builds trust among team members. The root of effective communication is trusting that the other person will follow through on what they say. If a leader promises to send feedback to the other employee by Friday, it needs to happen.

Prioritize Face-to-Face Interactions

Although more companies are transitioning to the remote working style, it is essential to emphasize face-to-face interactions.

When employees interface in this way, it allows for nonverbal cues to come into play. Without body language, over half of a message’s meaning is lost. If you sit in the same building, try to meet face-to-face. If you are remote, try your best to build in teleconferencing methods.

Opening the Line of Communication With Your Customers

• Accuracy – Delivering accurate information to customers is vital, which is why you must utilize internal resources and cross-functional departments to find the information you need.
• Patience – Keep your composure if someone calls in for a complaint, but also recognize that the quality of your response is more critical than the quickness of it.
• Be proactive – As you learn from past mistakes and customer inquiries, always have answers and services ready, such as an FAQ page on your website.
• Seek to understand – Avoid interjecting when your customers are talking, take the time to listen with all your patience, and put yourself in the customer’s shoes

Don’t Forget About Your Vendor Relationships

Any healthy relationship starts with effective communication, and that includes your vendors. When you interact with your vendors in a meaningful way, it will improve your overall business operations. As you communicate with your vendors, remember these critical behaviors:

• Be direct – Avoid technical jargon, stay honest, and communicate consistently.
• Ask meaningful questions – Your vendors have information about areas you do not, so be curious and inquire about the necessary information.
• Establish clear expectations – You will get the most out of your vendor network by being upfront with what you expect.
• Be timely in your response to emails and calls – Much like you would expect a timely response from someone else.

Wrap Up

As you can see, strong communication is the root of any successful venture. Effective communication keeps employees motivated and engaged. Sharing ideas with customers builds trust. Consistently interfacing with your vendors means better business relationships. If your company establishes a culture of healthy communication, great things will happen.