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When Decreasing Employee Benefits Can Be Necessary

“Reducing and/or freezing pay and benefits is never an easy topic of conversation, but from time to time it can become necessary, especially as the cost of health insurance continues to rise,” says Jannenga. “If you’ve explored all other options to increase revenue without cutting employee benefits and determine that you must proceed, then be transparent, open and honest.”

Jannenga shares costs with her employees, including facts such as how much their health insurance has gone up for the year during an open enrollment benefit workshop they hold for employees each year.

“We have the vendors providing the benefits introduce the new options and discuss strategies for maximizing use. We announce the workshop via a number of channels, including the all-hands stand-up, team meetings, email newsletters and office posters,” she says. “Our HR team also attends each session in order to ensure they fully understand the information and are able to answer questions employees may have throughout the year.”

Encouraging Employee Buy-In

While employees understand the importance of putting the customer first, that concept can be hard for them to swallow when their benefits and/or pay have been reduced, believes Mark Goulston, author of Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone. He runs a mentor program for entrepreneurs who want to be more influential business leaders.

“It can be difficult to expect employees to help customers/clients/users to have an ‘abundant’ experience when the employees are coming from scarcity,” he says. “This is especially true when employees feel that top executives are paid so much more than them and are even given pay raises and benefits in the face of poor performance.”

To help successfully present a decrease in employee benefits, Goulston suggests approaching the conversation in the following manner:

“Tell each employee that you’re all in this together. […] Not only may you not be able to give them more benefits and higher pay, you may need to cut both,” says Goulston. “At the same time, you’d like and need their help in getting through this period and still keeping morale up.”

In order to maintain a positive attitude in the office, Goulston suggests asking employees to take the benefits, pay and perks they thought they were going to receive out of the equation and tell you what would need to be different in your company and their position in order for them to say that they thoroughly enjoy their jobs. They may bring up something that you do have control over at this point, such as a change in work hours.

Embrace Conscious Leadership

“People are a company’s best asset, and the way we treat our employees has a direct impact on the success of our businesses and the satisfaction of our customers,” says Jannenga. “The key to running a successful business is embracing conscious leadership. Get employees to buy in to your overall mission and purpose with as much passion and fervor as you do. When employees become stakeholders in your vision and that vision stays steady, it serves as an anchor to keep everyone on board, even during times of change.”

Sharing Good News about Employee Benefits

Of course, telling your workers that you’re able to pay them more and offer additional employee benefits and perks can be a positive conversation that everyone may want to have.

“When delivering good news to employees, also be transparent, open and honest,” says Jannenga. “Your team has earned this increase together, and it should be an honor to be able to offer them more, so be sure to thank them for their hard work, dedication and vision. Your sincere enjoyment at being able to reward their successes will go a long way. After all, your business wouldn’t be what it is without them.”

Read more articles on hiring & HR.

Photo: iStock

JANUARY 05, 2017Credit card chip readers may have led to fraud reduction for brick-and-mortar businesses, but hackers have found a new way to cause trouble. Thieves no longer able to hack in-person transactions have turned to online fraud using e-commerce and other card-not-present transactions.

“With the advent of the CHIP and PIN across the EU, physical imprints of stolen card information became useless for European criminals and hackers over the past few years,” says breach prevention expert Gary Miliefsky, CEO of SnoopWall, Inc. “Now, with CHIP enabled cards becoming a requirement across the U.S., we see the same results.

“Cybercrime has shifted to the weak underbelly of network security, e-commerce, mobile commerce and online transactions,” he continues. “This is creating a growing wave in online cybercrime across America.”

Fraudsters are migrating to e-commerce, agrees Vinodh Poyyapakkam, head of risk policy and consulting at WePay, an integrated payments platform. “With this significant change in the in-store payments landscape making in-store payments secure, fraudsters are rapidly migrating to e-commerce to monetize stolen financial and identity information.

“Although large breaches reach the news, those are just the tip of the iceberg, says Miliefsky. “Most cyber criminals want to attack smaller to medium-size (SME) enterprises in waves, in order to stay off the radar of EUROPOL, INTERPOL and the FBI. By refocusing their efforts on the SMEs, they’ve made small and medium-sized businesses the new target, which means business owners should be vigilant.”

Steps to Protect Your Business From Online Fraud

While a firewall and antivirus protections are necessary, they aren’t focused on today’s threats, Miliefsky warns.

“It’s time to get vigilant and get one step ahead of the next threat so that you won’t become a victim or a statistic,” he says. “It will also be much easier for you to get cyber insurance protection at a low cost if you can document that you’ve been taking these steps.”

Employ best practices.

“Use strong encryption at all times, perform daily backups and have the server(s) tested frequently for vulnerabilities,” says Miliefsky.

Secure all computer touchpoints.

“In your intranet and your office, make sure the computers are secure and that you’re using some form of breach prevention—also known as Network Access Control or NAC—to avoid having the cleaning company or some guest or rogue employee accessing the PII (Personally identifiable information) to steal it and sell it,” says Miliefsky.

“Ensure that you segment the data and segment the network so that only the right people can gain access to the data,” he continues. “You can do this with multi-factor authentication, stronger password requirements and virtual LANs (VLANs).”

Beware of spear phishing.

“Most attacks against online shopping experiences start with a spear phishing attack targeting you or one of your C-level employees,” says Miliefsky. “Unknowing employees open an email attachment and they get infected with something called a remote access Trojan (RAT) or worse yet, Ransomware. These are very dangerous to your business, so more frequent employee training and tools to stop or block spear phishing are a must-have in today’s cyber business world.”

Employ the latest online fraud prevention techniques.

“Use cutting-edge tools to identify out-of-pattern transactions and have them either manually reviewed by a risk agent or declined automatically in case of confirmed fraud,” says Poyyapakkam. “Businesses can also look at suspicious IP addresses and devices from where the payments originate to identify and mitigate fraudulent payments. Also maintain a database of information on bad payers and confirmed fraudsters.”

Consider legitimate customers.

“Maintain the delicate balance between rejecting fraudsters and approving trustworthy customers,” says Debbie Cates, CMO at Emailage, a company that provides fraud solutions. “When you stop a fraudster, that’s a one-time loss prevented, but every time you deny a loyal customer or send the person to manual review, you risk losing lifetime value.”To mitigate online fraud without turning away legitimate customers, Poyyapakkam advises using a trusted payment processor that employs state-of-the-art, advanced risk technologies.

Read more articles on e-commerce.

Photo: iStock

JANUARY 04, 2017As we head into a new year, a question that may be on the minds of many business owners is where to concentrate their marketing efforts. With the dizzying array of possibilities, it can seem difficult to sift through the different marketing trends.

To help improve your marketing plans, several experts offer their predictions of where marketing is headed in 2017.

1. Digital marketing is expected to grow exponentially.

Overall, the move to digital may increase at a faster pace than ever before, believes Dushyant Sukhija, a former Cisco executive and author of The Cisco Way.“As business owners navigate the inevitable and highly disruptive transition to the new digital service economy,” Sukhija says, “they’ll find it necessary to accelerate their digitization efforts to protect their footprint in the global marketplace.”

John Rizzo, co-founder of Vaetas, an interactive video platform for businesses, agrees. “It will be a good idea for companies to take digital marketing more seriously and transition how they view their businesses on the internet,” Rizzo says. “It’s time to move from viewing the internet as an extension of traditional marketing methods.”In the digital marketing realm, an up-and-coming major player is Over-The-Top Advertising (OTT), which refers to video ads on streaming services like Hulu.

“With a growing number of U.S. households using some type of streaming service, there is great potential, because the platforms that offer advertising often require the user to watch the full ad before programing will resume,” says Lauren Davenport, CEO of The Symphony Agency, a marketing and branding strategy agency. “Combine this and the ability to hyper-target your audience, and OTT is set to make a big splash in the coming year.”

2. Personalized marketing may take center stage.

“A less intrusive, more intuitive buyer’s journey is on the horizon,” says Raghav Mathur, VP of product, strategy and marketing with G/O Digital Marketing agency. “Consumers have wised up to the sales pitch and have easy access to reviews and price comparisons. As a result, updates in retargeting and ad segmentation over the last year have made digital marketing a hyper-personalized experience. We’re going to see much more of that in 2017.”Shortcuts when it comes to marketing may not be sufficient anymore, believes Justin Gray, CEO and marketing expert for LeadMD, a marketing automation services provider.

“The marketing ‘hack’ will die in 2017,” Gray predicts. “Good enough is no longer good enough. Personalization and true engagement measurement will take the lead. 2016 taught us that buyers are no longer willing to give their attention up so readily, which is why we are seeing such a rise in hyper-personalization through strategies such as ABM—account-based marketing,” he says.

“In the coming year, we’ll see brands become even more dramatically attuned to the needs and priorities of the end consumer and increasingly shape their product offerings around rising lifestyle trends,” says Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Influence Central.  Personalizing outreach to connect with prospects and customers may help generate sales, agrees Rizzo. “For instance,” he says, “businesses will transition from just generating an email list and sending standard email blasts to building an audience segmented by interest.”

3. Expert content may become the norm.

Building trust with potential customers, which can help lead to sales and eventual customer loyalty, may be one of the marketing trends that sticks in 2017. This can occur through the development of expert content.

“Companies will begin establishing an online branded foundation to build trust with potential customers while simultaneously building their online authority in their niche,” says Vito Santoro, SEO expert and co-founder of Vaetas.

“Building your brand and online authority and credibility are accomplished by strategically publishing expert high-value content to your social platforms that addresses the concerns of your customers,” he continues. “’Less content is more’ will become the new standard for effective content creation.”

4. Video content will be king.

“Whether it’s virtual/augmented reality, video social ads or live, creation and consumption of video will continue to boom in 2017,” believes Mathur. “Before getting carried away or overwhelmed by the abilities of these rising technologies, think strategically to make smart investments in video that will help your bottom line.

“This includes creating video content that supports the buyer’s journey through every phase, from discovery to conversion and after-purchase,” Mathur continues. “Providing customers with useful content well after their purchase is a tactful method to build customer loyalty and brand ambassadors.”

Sending video emails may begin to replace current text email messages, adds Santoro. “Facebook is fiercely competing in the online video space and is rewarding people who use Facebook Live to reach their audience. Similarly, Snapchat has experienced unprecedented growth and has become a primary marketing channel.”

Analyzing and monitoring visual and video content will be on the top of some business owners’ to-do lists, notes Todd Grossman, CEO of Talkwalker, a social data intelligence company.“It’s no secret that visual content, and especially video content, is taking over the internet,” Grossman says. “It’s easy to consume and entertaining. As this trend grows, business owners will need to be able to monitor and analyze the results of using video.”

5. Retro marketing tactics may be an added bonus.

Some of the most exciting and profitable campaigns in 2017 may incorporate “old” and “new” media, believes Noah Dyer, vice president of marketing strategies for On Advertising.“While there will be some great videos and online content, a few of the savviest marketers will look to capitalize on nostalgia by producing campaigns that also incorporate marketing strategies that have been around for decades—such as door hangers and promotional swag,” he says. “An example of such a campaign is Snapchat Spectacles, which launched with vending machine distribution earlier this year.”

6. Consumers will expect unprecedented digital speed.

As digital becomes the norm, customers may start demanding faster online speeds.

“People aren’t patient when they surf the internet,” says Davenport. “By the end of 2017, online marketing success will be impossible without having a website load speed less than two seconds.

“For small businesses, this means your website load time on both mobile and desktop will be critical to reaching customers online,” she continues. “The difficult part for business owners will be that increasing site speed is heavily dependent on back-end development. If your site wasn’t built for speed initially, it’s often more cost efficient to rebuild than trying to optimize slow code.”

If you want to discover how your website is performing, Davenport suggests using Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool. This shows you a 1 to 100 score for how Google is currently ranking your site’s speed. Davenport suggests shooting for a 60+ score for site success in 2017. Pingdom and GTmetrix can show you how many seconds it takes your site to load.

Speed can be important when it comes to connecting with potential customers via social media as well. “Real-time communication will be demanded by consumers, not just expected, with tools such as Facebook Messenger and other platforms grading businesses on their rate of response,” says Rizzo.

Read more articles on marketing & sales.

Photo: iStock

DECEMBER 28, 2016  Remember those gift cards you sold during the December buying frenzy? January is the key redemption month for gift cards, and your sales this month could be heavily impacted.

“The holiday buying season is not over,” says Brett Glass, CEO of Gift Card Impressions. Glass points out that “gift card sales in the U.S. are $130 billion, with about half of that figure occurring during the holidays. That means consumers received an estimated $65 billion in gift cards over the last few weeks, representing 14 percent of all gifts. Now is likely the time these gift cards will be redeemed.” The 2015 Gift Cards report from CEB  supports these numbers, with their projections for gift card transactions in 2015 coming close to $130 billion, and increasing to $160 billion by 2018.

If you’re like a lot of small-business owners, you may spend considerable effort on selling gift cards but not a lot of time thinking about gift card redemption. Yet Glass believes influencing and directing gift card use is just as important.

Benefits of Targeting Gift Card Holders

“January sales results are heavily impacted by gift card redemption,” Glass says. “The majority of these gift cards received during the holidays will be redeemed in the first 30 days of receipt. Since sales of gift cards don’t get officially reported until they’re redeemed, it’s important to your January sales figures to encourage consumers to spend those gift cards as soon as possible in order to record revenue in a timely manner.”

Gift cards can get customers back shopping during January, which can be a notoriously slow month for business. “Often, the consumers who still have money after the holiday season are those with gift cards,” Glass says. “They will come to shop, not because of advertisements, but because they have the equivalent of cash to spend. This can stimulate early spring merchandise sales that aren’t yet discounted, leading to more profitable sales. The gift cards also bring in new customers, and since consumers look at the gift cards as ‘free,’ they don’t mind spending a little more.”

Gift Card Redemption Drawbacks and Solutions

In some instances, January gift card redemption can deteriorate your profit margin, Glass notes. “If you carry items that will result in a desirable profit margin, the hope is that customers will redeem their gift cards on those items, but they may instead decide to purchase ‘happy hour’ products that bring you a low profit margin, such as those that are heavily discounted or even close-outs now that the holidays are over. This can negatively affect your bottom line.”

It is possible, however, to encourage customers to spend their gift cards on items that can bring in more profit.

“Consumers with gift cards want to be provided suggestions on the best ways to use them. These ideas serve as welcome reminders to use the cards and not misplace them,” Glass says. You can target gift card holders now to get them spending with posts on social media, emails and text campaigns with messages such as “time to use your gift cards” and “it’s gift card Tuesday.”

It’s also helpful to add extras to the incentives. “Offer free items for using gift cards on certain types of merchandise,” Glass says. “If you carry branded merchandise, be aware that ‘extra’ items added to gifts received over the holiday are great ways to get high-profit sales in January. Fashion accessories and cosmetics are a great added purchase for those who got clothing for the holidays. Working closely with vendor partners to create new ways to promote their brand as a great gift card item can deliver winning results for all.”

Gift Card Use Likely to Increase

Gift cards may become even more popular, believes Jason Dorsey, an expert in millennials’ buying habits and a researcher with The Center for Generational Kinetics, which found that gift card sales  in general continue to grow at an estimated 6 percent, while digital gift cards are growing at 50 percent.

“From a generational standpoint, gift cards have never been more important,” Dorsey says. “Millennials love to shop online and provide gifts that are deliverable online. Gift cards give millennials tremendous flexibility. They can use them while shopping on their phone, while riding the subway or waiting for mom to make that awesome holiday meal. The easier merchants make it to purchase gift cards, the more millennials will buy them and talk about how great the experience was to their 5,000 Instagram followers.”

Read more articles about customer service.

A version of this article was originally published on December 25, 2015. 

Photo: iStock

DECEMBER 21, 2016 Are you competing for business this holiday season? If you’re thinking about offering holiday discounts, you’re in good company.

According to the American Express Holiday Growth Pulse, a survey of over 1,500 small- and middle-market business owners across a variety of industries, retailers feel a lot of pressure to discount. The study found that “small and middle-market retailers are putting a great deal of effort into making sure they see strong results. As retailers of any size look for ways to succeed, many feel they will need to offer sales and promotions. Sixty-four percent of small-business retailers and 88 percent of middle-market retailers think they will need to be more aggressive in sales and promotions in order to stand out.”

The study also discovered that 42 percent of small retailers, and 66 percent of middle market retailers will start offering holiday discounts earlier this year compared to last year.

Benefits of Offering Holiday Discounts

Holiday discounts can serve a variety of important purposes, notes Keren Kang, CEO of Native Commerce, a digital marketing and e-commerce company. “Discounts serve to drive sales for the busiest buying season of the year.”

Since the Great Recession, holiday shoppers now expect discounts, believes Ted Mayeda, co-owner of gardening store M & M Nursery and their online store, Fairy Garden Expert. “With discounts being offered by competitors, we find it necessary to offer some holiday sales and special offers. In addition to keeping us competitive, offering discounts gives us an ideal opportunity to thank our regular customers for their loyal patronage throughout the year.

”Discounting can also do double duty for your business. It helps clear out inventory to make room for new products for 2017, adds Kang. You can take advantage of this by discounting the products for which you have the largest remaining inventory and for those that feature new and improved versions for next season.

Choosing Holiday Discounts

Determining the best type of discount for your business takes analyzing the pros and cons of the various options. You may want to start thinking outside of the proverbial gift box.

“Sometimes, coupons and markdowns aren’t compelling enough for your business,” says Kang. “Think of unusual ways to make holiday discounts work for your business, such as guaranteed shipping, free shipping, gift wrap and bulk discounts.”

Here are a few holiday discount options you may want to consider:

Coupons. Coupons offer you a chance to give customers what can be seen as a valuable discount. And the coupon itself can be an advertisement for your business. Coupons can also offer you a great way to introduce new product lines, as well as clear out inventory before the New Year.

The key to coupons is using them strategically by paying careful attention to the expiration date. Instead of giving customers until December 24, you can inspire more urgency by having the discount expire a few days earlier. Coupons can also be an opportunity to build your email list. When customers download a coupon or coupon code, you can require that they enter their email addresses for your database.

Free shipping. Online customers gravitate toward free shipping. Offering to foot the bill for shipping may help increase conversion for your online store. Think carefully about your free shipping strategy. Consider a minimum order size for free shipping, which may help entice customers to buy more merchandise.

Percentage-based discount. If you are planning to discount much or all of your merchandise, you may want to consider offering a percentage-based discount.

Offering 10 to 25 percent off your entire inventory may help, as it encourages customers to spend. Encourage shoppers to buy sooner, rather than later, by reducing the discounts as the holidays approach. For instance, consider starting at 25 percent and work your way down to 10 percent.

Free gift. Customers like free, so a complimentary loss-leader gift can be a great way to get people to buy. This strategy also offers you a chance to clear your inventory of items that aren’t selling as well as you’d hoped. Depending on how much inventory you have, you can give a free gift for all purchases, or set a minimum order amount.

Informing Your Customers About Holiday Discounts

Letting your customers know about discounts is, of course, important. While you don’t want to hit them over the head, you do want to make sure they hear and see you over the many other offers circulating at this time of year.

“Email communication is the most non-intrusive, [targeted] way to introduce discounts,” says Kang. This also gives you a chance to offer customers additional special discounts. For instance, with a percentage-based discount campaign, you could offer your customers an additional 10 percent off or some other incentive that rewards them for their loyalty.

Social media is another good place to announce your discounts. “Consider social media boosts like Instagram and Facebook,” says Kang. “Just make sure your creatives are in line with each platform’s tendencies. For example, Instagram loves beautiful, non-stock imaged photos that show vibrancy, interest and life.” And make sure that you have someone monitoring the social media discount campaign so that customer questions are answered quickly.

When Not to Offer Holiday Discounts

Think carefully about your long-term strategy before discounting items during the holidays. If you’re positioning yourself as a high-end brand, it’s generally not advisable to discount a wide variety of products. You may just want to discount a handful of items that you wish to clear from your inventory. Or you may even find that your marketing strategy requires that you don’t discount at all.

Read more articles on marketing & sales.

Photo: iStock

DECEMBER 15, 2016 With a new year quickly approaching and potential changes on the horizon, it’s not uncommon for business owners to look ahead and wonder what the coming months will bring. If you plan on making some changes to your business in 2017, new territory may seem daunting.

While the unknown can cause uneasiness, at the same time it can be thrilling. After all, there can be a sense of excitement at what lies around the next bend. The truth is, great business ideas can come from forging into unfamiliar surroundings and scenarios.

“Rather than seeing the world as it is, successful business owners see the world as it could be and create opportunity by stepping into the space that isn’t yet created,” says Greg Head, CEO of Greg Head Consulting, which advises business owners on navigating the challenges of company growth. “They essentially make it up and then make it obvious for the rest of the world.”

The Benefits of Exploring Unknown Territory

“We naturally crave certainty, but that doesn’t exist in a competitive marketplace,” says strategic consultant Tom Panaggio, author of The Risk Advantage. “As a business leader, you must keep your business moving forward, and there is no way you can foretell the future, so everything is an unknown. At the same time, it’s important to remember that there’s a direct correlation between risk and opportunity. Those business leaders who recognize this fact are the ones who enjoy long-term success.”

The unknown can be scary to business owners, but it can also open up endless possibilities, agrees Jon Sebastiani, founder of KRAVE Jerky. Sebastiani speaks from personal experience: He sold KRAVE and then launched Sonoma Brands, a consumer products incubator and venture fund.“The newness of the unknown can spark creativity and open up opportunities beyond what you could ever imagine,” he says. “When I founded KRAVE, people viewed jerky as a gas station snack, and the category was sleepy. Through embracing the unknown, we embarked on the jerky renaissance by elevating the snack and targeting new, previously untapped audiences. Now at Sonoma Brands, we offer the same insight to the brands in our portfolio.”

Tips for Making the Most of Uncharted Territory

As you navigate the journey into the unknown over the coming months and year, keep the following strategies in mind.

Manage growth. “One of the most important decisions an owner faces is maintaining the size and quality of the company while seeking the growth found in new opportunities,” says Alexander Joyce, president and CEO of ReJoyce Financial LLC, a full-service retirement income planning firm. “A successful company has a well-defined plan for growth that recognizes the uncertainties of the future and proposes proactive responses to potential situations.”Stay confident and keep your higher purpose at the forefront. “When embarking on a project with many unknown variables, it’s essential to stay positive and not second-guess yourself,” says Sebastiani. “As you move into the unknown, many decisions need to be made, and you’ll require a firm hold of your company’s core beliefs and mission to make them.”

Don’t be afraid of change. “Avoid allowing fear to compromise your leadership,” advises Panaggio. “Stay steadfast in your resolve to face the unknown with enthusiasm and a positive attitude, even if you are as frightened as a child in a haunted house. Don’t show it.”

Involve your team. “Employees are one of the best assets of a successful company,” says Joyce. “Share the company’s plans and allow their input, which is likely to provide you with viable suggestions along the way.”

Engage your employees as you forge into uncharted territory, agrees Panaggio. “If you empower your people to help with the planning and implementation of change, there will be greater buy-in and less fear about the unknown for everyone.”

Learn from successes and failures. View both the wins and the losses of the journey as opportunities to learn and grow. You can analyze the situations you mastered and those you didn’t for clues as to how to succeed in the future.

Read more articles on planning for growth.

Photo: iStock

DECEMBER 14, 2016  Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, plan to donate 99 percent of their Facebook shares during their lifetime. The couple’s charitable gift is a sizable one not easily matched by many, but it brings to the forefront how businesses of all sizes have the power to make a difference.“Small-business owners do not need to give 99 percent of their revenue like Zuckerberg to make an impact on humanity,” says Allison Maslan, CEO of Allison Maslan International and author of, Blast Off! The Surefire Success Plan to Launch Your Dreams into Reality. “We may not be able to give as much as Zuckerberg, but every bit counts.”

Charitable giving by small business is often the primary revenue of many local and even national-based charities, reports Kaitlin Hayes Reimann, co-founder of uBack, an app that makes donating to nonprofit organizations more accessible. “A small business may not be able to give millions, but it doesn’t take that much to make an impact. We’re working with several charities right now that are trying to fill gaps of $5,000, $10,000 and $20,000. These amounts, though small in comparison, have significant impact on these charities and the communities they serve.”

Benefits to Charitable Donations

When deciding if your business can donate to charities this season, it pays to consider the many benefits to giving.

“In addition to tax benefits, giving back to humanity is the right thing to do,” believes motivational speaker Terrell Fletcher, a former NFL player. “Charitable donations build goodwill in communities. When your business gives to the less fortunate, it makes the statement to your customers that they mean more than mere dollar signs. This shared responsibility builds a bond between business and community that will strengthen your position and build trust in your intentions.”

For small businesses, there are numerous benefits to giving, adds Hayes Reimann. “While the financial benefits are clear and tangible, it is the intangible, positive outcomes that motivate a small-business owner to support the local community, and this includes increased employee morale. Employees are happier and more positively engaged with their employers when they support charities they care about. There’s also a real sense of community that develops when a small business is tied to charitable giving. It creates engagement beyond the corporate walls.”

Giving back is not only smiled upon, it can greatly improve the bottom line, notes Maslan. “We live in a time of conscious capitalism,” she says. “By attracting loyal customers who believe in the same mission, small-business owners can quickly build a following. When supporting the community, they look like angels in the eyes of their customers, who want to buy from a business that shares their high values. Supporting a cause that aligns with the spirit of your business not only helps the charity, it creates abundance for your business as well.”

Charitable Giving Ideas

A little brainstorming can help produce myriad ways to donate. In addition to volunteering time alongside your employees to help local charities, consider hosting a clothing or food drive at your office. Look around your own company for those in need, suggests Hayes Reimann.

“We know of one small business that learned of an employee who was sleeping in her car, so they got her an apartment,” she says. “Another was walking five miles to work without transportation. They created a daily driver schedule to help him get to work.”

Cross-promotion between your small business and a nonprofit can also work really well, as it has between the nonprofit animal rescue organization, Kitty Bungalow Charm School for Wayward Cats, and the pet lifestyle boutique, Pussy & Pooch.

Look for a symbiotic partnership that fits, advises Janene Zakrajsek, owner of Pussy & Pooch. “It’s always possible to give, even if it’s volunteered time or cross-promotion in creative ways. In our niche, it’s especially easy to work with animal welfare groups in a win-win, synergistic way, because we connect the dots between animal lovers in the community. We think of charitable donations as a local marketing expense rather than a write-off, because the goal is to increase reach. At the same time, giving feels good and is the right thing to do.”

Read more articles about customer engagement.

A version of this article was originally published on December 10, 2015. 

Photo: iStock

DECEMBER 09, 2016Social media entrepreneur Mark Zuckerberg made history by embarking on a two-month long paternity leave

. When he announced his intention to spend uninterrupted time with his baby, many applauded his decision.“It is courageous of Zuckerberg to lead by example and set the precedent that no job is more important than being a parent,” says Nick Haase, CEO and co-founder of mobile marketing platform Loot! “Even more impressive is the buy-in and support he has had from the business community and even Wall Street.”

Zuckerberg’s unconventional decision was surprising, adds Piyush Jain, CEO of SIMpalm

. “I have never seen a male CEO take paternity leave for that long before. He is a trendsetter sending out a message to businesses that fathers should spend more time with their newborns.”

Paternity (and Even Maternity) Leave Unusual

“In today’s constantly connected business world, it’s very unusual for someone in a position of leadership to take time off to vacation, let alone an extended leave for family time,” says Heidi Hanna, CEO and founder of Synergy

and author of Stressaholic: 5 Steps to Transform Your Relationship with Stress. “Here in the U.S., we are among the worst when it comes to not using vacation time, and even when we do leave the office, our mental energy often stays with work.”Paternity leave still has a long way to go before mainstream acceptance, Haase agrees. “Progressive paternity leave laws are in place in Europe, and they’ve shown great developmental benefits to the children and families. While I’m not in favor of a paternity law, I hope companies will appreciate the importance of adopting policies that progressive tech companies like Facebook and Google have adopted.”

Benefits of Paternity Leave

Paternity leave for employees that allows for both parents to care for a newborn diminishes the chronic stress that can occur if one parent is at work worrying about what is going on at home, Hanna believes.

“Having a newborn in the house is known for causing sleep and energy deprivation for both parents, which can wear on health and performance,” says Hanna. “Paternity leave allows employees to recover from the stress of being new parents, because even good stress can cause a negative response when we don’t have enough recovery. Employees are also grateful for the opportunity, which can increase engagement, loyalty and even future performance.”

Ryan Shortill, founder and CEO of Positive Adventures

, took paternity leave and says, “One of our core values at the company is family first. I love my family and wanted to be available and a solid support to my wife. This kind of support allows pure bonding with the new child and helps foster stronger family bonds. I have my whole life to work and only a short time to be with my young children. I was unwilling to accept possible regret. I do recognize that my choice was in the minority and that I had the option when so many of our nation’s fathers do not.”

Incorporating Paternity Leave

Offering paternity leave to employees can, of course, be easier said than done when you’re running a small business on a tight budget and within a limited infrastructure. “Paternity leave isn’t as taxing to big corporations as it is to small businesses,” Haase says. “Small businesses are put in very tough positions regarding leave, as each employee is likely a vital cog to operations. It’s because of these challenges that I feel the issue should be left to corporations, rather than made into law.”

Ideally, every father could take one to two months off, but if you can only afford to give employees a week or two, then you should do so, Haase suggests. “If time off isn’t possible, consider flexible work hours, work from home and even small, congratulatory bonuses to new parents to help alleviate the stress that comes with a new child. Any gesture honoring the fact that they’re new parents goes a long way toward creating happy employees.”

Jain agrees. “Small businesses may find it difficult to give paternity leave from a financial or day-to-day operation perspective, and finding replacement help can also be difficult, especially if your business is specialized,” he says. “If a small business grants an extended paternity leave, that means taking a big cut in business. When business owners and managers take a creative approach, however, they can find solutions, such as having other employees fill in for the employee on leave. A leave exchange could be created among employees.”

The financial costs of offering employees even a short paternity leave may likely save you money in the long run, Hanna claims. “There may be a financial cost of paying someone to fill in temporarily, but the reality is that when most people have such significant change at home, even when they’re able to physically be in the office, their performance may suffer. Without adequate recovery, this may lead to chronic stress or burnout, which could diminish performance and ultimately cost the organization more over time.”

Read more articles about benefits.

A version of this article was originally published on December 3, 2015. 

Photo: iStock

DECEMBER 07, 2016If you have plans to reward your employees with holiday bonuses this year, you won’t be alone. According to the American Express Holiday Growth Pulse¹, a survey of 1,502 small- and middle-market business owners across a variety of industries, 80 percent of small businesses and 87 percent of middle market companies plan to give employees bonuses this year.

“As businesses across a variety of industries anticipate a successful holiday season, the time is ripe to offer holiday bonuses to employees, when possible,” says Nicole Smartt, vice president of Star Staffing

and author of From Receptionist to Boss. “Bonuses are a tangible way to show appreciation for the hard work done all year.”On the surface, holiday bonuses seem like an ideal way to say thank you and inspire dedication in your employees. But are bonuses the best motivator? Considering the benefits and drawbacks may help you decide if bonuses are right for your company.

The Benefits of Holiday Bonuses

“Holiday bonuses are a tangible way to show care and concern for employees and their families,” says Shannon Esau, director of accounts and education for Rhonda Allison Cosmeceuticals

. The company uses a performance-based reward system that results in bonuses. “We strongly feel that holiday bonuses are an important part of our culture as a company, as a reward and celebration for all of the committed and dedicated work over the year.”

Year-end bonuses can bring definite benefits, agrees business coach Becky A Davis

. “Holiday bonuses are a great way to share how much you value your employees and their contributions to the company metrics,” Davis says. “Bonuses give you a means to help the team to hit company targets and increase morale. When you’ve worked hard and [met] goals, it feels great to be rewarded.”Holiday bonuses can also come at an ideal time of year when employees have giving at the top of their minds, adds Colin Duetta, CEO and co-founder of xocial

, an online community that connects people and organizations with causes they care about and gives them a platform for taking action. “Recognition is a great way to keep employees engaged, and recognition that comes from the top is the most memorable.”

The Drawbacks of Holiday Bonuses

But offering bonuses to employees can have drawbacks as well. One of the biggest ones is cost. Even if you are doling out modest bonuses, they can add up quickly. Jealousy and resentment can also sprout up between employees if the bonus amounts vary.

“Bonuses can also create expectations of future holiday bonuses, which may or may not be possible in coming years based on the revenue [and] income of the company,” says Jill Schiaparelli, CEO of InteloMed

, which offers medicial professionals real-time analytics on patients. “That can be especially challenging for businesses.”Expectations regarding bonuses can be one of the biggest drawbacks to offering them, agrees Phil Shawe, co-CEO and founder of TransPerfect

, a language translation service provider. “Once a bonus becomes expected, it ceases to become a motivator, and may become viewed as an entitlement.”Daniel Rieger, co-founder and managing partner of At Your Service Hospitality Group

, agrees. “Employees can come to expect bonuses simply for being employed. This creates a lot of animosity from co-workers of employees who don’t deserve to get paid the amount of the holiday bonus they are expecting.”Giving bonuses without backing them up with performance can create lazy, entitled employees, shares Davis. She believes in giving bonuses based on performance, commitment and results.

“I had a client who gave bonuses every year, even when the company had a bad year,” she shares. “When the company decided to change tactics and give bonuses based on performance and commitment, all of the employees were upset and angry, because they were used to getting free money, even if it hurt the company’s bottom line.”

How Much of a Bonus Should You Give?

While there is no exact science to determining how much to give for bonuses, there are some rules of thumb.

Smartt of Star Staffing suggests examining company revenue from the first 10 months of the year. “If it’s been a good year, offer what you can, without breaking the bank,” she says. “Some businesses give a flat dollar amount to each employee, which varies by industry and profitability, with amounts ranging from $50 to $5,000; the median being $300. Use generosity in moderation, though. Being too generous in a good year can make for an embarrassing downgrade later.”

And Esau of Rhonda Allison Cosmeceuticals recommends only giving bonuses to employees who have been with the company for six months or more. She also advises giving an equivalent of about 10 percent of annual income.

When No Bonus Is Best

When your company has a slow year, you may want to consider foregoing holiday bonuses.

“If the company isn’t hitting its numbers, it doesn’t make much sense to reward people for poor results, and everyone should feel responsible,” says Matthew Bird, CEO of on-demand media and news communications company 1800pr

. “Sometimes money isn’t the best kind of bonus, anyway. Constructive feedback and encouragement is sometimes the greatest gift you can give employees.”If you can’t afford a bonus of substance, Smartt suggests not giving one at all. “A cheap gift can send the message that employees aren’t valued,” she explains. “If your company is forced to offer no bonuses due to a bad year, be sure to communicate that fact to employees and assure them bonuses will be offered when and if possible. Non-cash gifts or other perks during the holidays can be a good alternative when cash gifts aren’t feasible. They might include extra time off or flexible hours.”

When you aren’t able to give bonuses after you’ve been doing so in the past, you may get some backlash, Davis adds. “Expect employees to be upset with you and talk negatively about it in the break room. Some employees will focus on the good, but not all.”

If financial rewards don’t fit your current situation, then come up with a holiday recognition program that does, suggests Duetta of xocial.

“Get creative,” he says. “If something feels like it took some thought, it will have greater impact than simply receiving an impersonal check or—even worse—an automatic bank deposit. In lieu of a monetary bonus, an organization with a strong corporate social responsibility program could give employees paid opportunities to volunteer or run a social campaign over the holiday season.”

Read more articles on hiring & HR.

Photo: iStock

¹ Survey Methodology
The American Express Holiday Growth Pulse is based on a nationally representative sample of 1,000 U.S. small business owners/managers, defined for the purposes of this survey as companies with fewer than 100 employees and annual revenues of $250,000 or greater, and 502 middle market companies, defined for the purposes of this survey as companies ranging in size from $10 million to $1 billion in annual revenues. The anonymous survey was conducted online among financial decision makers, owners and managers October 4-16, 2016. The survey has a margin of error of +/- 3.1% at the 95% level of confidence for the small business sample of 1000 and a margin of error of +/- 4.4% at the 95% level of confidence for the sample of 502 middle market companies. Sub-samples of small business and middle market retailers have higher error rates.

NOVEMBER 29, 2016Checking email throughout the day may seem like the best way to deal with potential Information Age overload. While some small businesses may view multitasking by responding to electronic messages 24/7 as a positive, others can consider constant electronic mental downloading a detriment.

“There’s no doubt that many employees have become tethered to their electronic devices. Constantly interrupting our work to do something—anything else—disrupts our flow,” says Phil Simon

, author of Message Not Received: Why Business Communication Is Broken and How to Fix It. “Great work comes from concentrated effort, not from snippets in between incessant emails and meetings.”

How Email Can Hamper Productivity

On the surface, checking email throughout the day seems like an excellent way to stay on top and productive, but the opposite actually occurs, notes Karen Leland, founder of the Sterling Marketing Group

and author of Time Management In an Instant: Sixty Ways to Make the Most of Your Day.“You’re hard at work on that top priority project when you get a sudden, uncontrollable desire to check your email,” Leland says. “Ten minutes later, you’re back to work on the project, but your former focus is gone. The essential problem with checking email throughout the day is that it amounts to a huge amount of self-interruption and multitasking, which impedes performance.”

Checking email repeatedly blocks something that you wouldn’t at first think of as a bad thing, adds Josh Davis

, author of Two Awesome Hours: Science-Based Strategies to Harness Your Best Time and Get Your Most Important Work Done. “We tend to check email at exactly the points when a little mind-wandering could profitably happen,” he says. “During mind-wandering, even for just a few minutes, a host of non-conscious processes occur that help you creatively solve complex problems, plan for the future and hold out for better choices. Constant email checking and the resulting required decisions drain your mental energy. The more we make decisions throughout the day, the harder we find it to muster the neural resources for further decision-making.”

In addition to the decision fatigue from email, emotional exhaustion can creep in from dealing with excess electronic messaging, Davis believes. “Almost every email is associated with a social obligation—another person wants or needs something from you, and you can’t always come through, so you find it necessary to address these problems, which can be emotionally draining.”

Instituting an Email Ban

“If everyone knows there is an email moratorium, then there is no need to worry about the social obligations to respond quickly,” Davis says. “The length of the email ban for a specific small business will depend on the nature of the business. If your company requires a lot of writing or other individual creative work, you may want to have a day-long ban, while another company may find it most expedient to stop email for a couple of hours every day.”

Taking a break from email can be an eye-opening experience, Leland adds. “When you ban email for a day or week or even just a few hours, you can discover how much and how automatically you rely on it. A break from email use forces people to communicate face-to-face and by phone, which offers opportunities to forge stronger relationships.”

Improving Email Communication

Chances are, banning email for extended periods of time isn’t feasible in the operation of your small business, but there are steps you might take to improve the use of electronic messaging so that it supports productivity. Consider these tips:

• Stick to the facts. Remind employees to get to the point with emails and only include pertinent information.
• Encourage phone calls. “Institute a three-email rule,” Simon says. “After three emails, it’s time to talk. This discourages ineffective conversations via email, which serves as a valuable business function, but was never intended as a Swiss Army knife, because it doesn’t promote effective collaboration and discussion.”

Phone calls tend to be a highly productive alternative to email, agrees Davis. “Unless a paper trail is critical, there are social constructions in place that reduce the degree to which people are likely to waste each other’s time on nonsense when they actually talk. They will think just a little harder about their use of someone else’s time.”

• Batch email correspondence. To encourage productivity and allow employees to stick to their priorities, consider suggesting that they set aside certain times throughout the day to attend to email. “I find my most productive work times of the day are from 7 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., so I stay away from reading and answering emails at that time and do so during other less productive periods,” says Randy Nelson

  , who runs the coaching and consulting firm Gold Dolphins, LLC and is author of The Second Decision: the QUALIFIED entrepreneur.

Jason Womack

suggests setting up an “out of office” reply for 30 minutes a day and tending to top priorities at that time. “My auto reply announces that I will be working on a project during that time and to call me if it is urgent,” says the productivity coach and author of Your Best Just Got Better: Work Smarter, Think Bigger, Make More. “I check my inbox once the 30 minutes is up. When you do such short-burst focus sessions, in addition to improving performance, you look like a productivity superstar to your colleagues while sending the message to customers that you are able to prioritize your workflow, which proves they can trust you. This also gives your vendors the message that you’re busy and need them to be as efficient as possible.”

• Institute an email policy. “Spelling out for employees when and when not to use email helps greatly,” Leland says. “Two specific times when it’s not a good idea to use email are for time-sensitive issues and delicate or potentially inflammatory topics. More emotional conversations rely on body language and tone of voice to get messages across. Email lacks tone or has tone that can be easily misunderstood. If the topic is sensitive, it’s best addressed with an in-person or telephone response.”
• Wait. If a response to a message can wait an hour or two or even until your next in-person meeting, then wait, advises Womack. “Instead of emailing someone just to get it out of your head and into their system, avoid interrupting the person more than necessary.”

Being available should not be equated with being obligated, Leland adds. “Just because an email enters your inbox does not mean you are obligated to read it right away. You have a choice.”

Read more articles about productivity.

A version of this article was originally published on November 27, 2015. 

Photo: iStock

NOVEMBER 17, 2016Women’s Entrepreneurship Day

(November 19) gives women business owners everywhere a chance to reflect on the many strides women have made in recent years as entrepreneurs.As of 2016, it’s estimated that there are 11.3 million U.S. women-owned businesses employing nearly 9 million people, according to the 2016 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report, commissioned by and prepared for American Express OPEN by Womenable. These businesses are generating over $1.6 trillion in revenues. The number of women-owned firms has increased 45 percent since 2007.

“Women entrepreneurs are changing the face and landscape of the economy around the globe,” says Lisa Skeete Tatum, founder and CEO of Landit, a technology platform designed to increase the success and engagement of women in the workplace. “It’s important through events like Women’s Entrepreneurship Day that we celebrate and support this courageous network of women putting it all on the line to make a difference.”Angela Mader, founder of fitness lifestyle brand fitlosophy, agrees. “It’s [vital] that we celebrate [the] entrepreneurial achievements of women, not only to inspire other entrepreneurs, but to pave the way for the next generation. This isn’t about being better than men—or even being better than each other. It’s about being the best version of ourselves, not because we’re women, but because we are capable.”In honor of Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, a number of entrepreneurs share their views on what it means to be a woman business owner today.

Women Entrepreneurs Are Making Progress

“Women increasingly have a seat at the table by creating new businesses,” says Heather McDowell, founder and CEO of Tickle Water, a line of unsweetened sparkling water for children. “Women are listened to and respected more so than before. We’re often acknowledged for being superb at multitasking and having sharp intuition, which are qualities I believe make us stand out amongst our male counterparts. As a mompreneur, I am proud to have taken Tickle Water from concept to market in an industry that is still predominately male.”

Rebecca Ballard, owner of Maven Women, creates and sells fair trade women’s workwear. She believes that women entrepreneurs are destined to add more to the business landscape than financial returns.“Women by nature tend to be social entrepreneurs, and they are poised to be leaders of the future by naturally thinking about how the companies they create impact people and the planet,” says Ballard. “Many women business owners are dedicated to how the products they create improve the lives of those who use them, as well as the people who make them. At the same time, these women generously support one another.”

Mentorship amongst women entrepreneurs continues to grow, agrees Megan McEwan, co-founder of women’s clothing e-tailer Jane . “Women entrepreneurs have made impressive progress in the past several years,” she says, adding that mentorship has much to do with those gains. “Women are beginning to have other women mentors to guide them, which leads to greater confidence, less barrier to entry and overall greater success.”

Improving the World on Women’s Entrepreneurship Day and Beyond

In addition to focusing on building their businesses, many women business leaders are equally focused on making a difference, adds Tina Hay, CEO and founder of financial literacy multimedia company Napkin Finance. “The impact of having more women entrepreneurs is that many of the fastest-growing and most innovative ventures are not only led by women, but are also dedicated to social causes and missions.”“My desire to succeed is fueled by the fact that I am passionate about empowering children and women to reach their potential,” says Sharon Blumberg, president of CHOOZE Footwear, Apparel & Accessories. “Our company’s social cause is to invest profits in organizations that help women in poverty, so that they can succeed in being entrepreneurs.”

The Top Challenges Women Entrepreneurs Face

While times are more lucrative and productive for women business owners, they aren’t without their challenges, believes Anna Spektor, founder and CMO of Expert Webcas. “Some challenges are just stereotypes of women being a weaker gender, less efficient or less capable than men,” she says. “While other challenges are real and come with the territory of being a woman, such as juggling a career and family life.”Balancing family life and the demands of growing a company is often women entrepreneurs’ biggest challenge, agrees Michele Mehl, founder and CEO of portable exercise bike provider Excy. “Supportive husbands help for sure, but it’s also up to us women to keep ourselves healthy and to strike a balance so we can be great businesswomen, as well as great mothers, wives, friends, sisters and neighbors.”Access to financing is another hindrance women entrepreneurs face, believes Ballard. “Women receive just a portion of the available financing. The data shows that investing in women is a wise financial decision, but we need more investors to put that in action. We would benefit from more investing that particularly focuses on women—from women’s investing circles to traditional financing seeking women-owned businesses.”

Advice to Up-and-Coming Women Business Owners

While established women entrepreneurs all have their lists of dos and don’ts, their top advice aims at encouraging fellow women business owners to embrace self-confidence and seek support.

“Entrepreneurship requires that you take a leap of faith each day,” says Ballard. “You can’t be certain that your business will succeed, and there are constant roadblocks that cause the need to pivot. The financial uncertainty can also be overwhelming. Many women entrepreneurs struggle with doubting themselves and are their worst critics. The key is to be good to yourself and set realistic expectations.”

Your network is one of the most important assets you have, adds Skeete Tatum. “Build your own personal board of advisors—a dream team in your corner. Such a group should have a mentor, a sponsor, a connector, a point expert, a close friend and an executive coach.”

Maia Haag, co-founder and president of I See Me! personalized books, believes that we will see an increase in the number of women entrepreneurs as young women start to see other women who have done it. “When young women see other women starting and running companies, they realize that this is not just a man’s game,” she says. “That realization shifts the conversation from ‘Can I do it?’ to ‘How should I do it?'”Mader finds that many aspiring entrepreneurs are often paralyzed by a fear of failure. “I’ll speak to would-be business owners, who have yet to take the leap of faith,” she says. “Any entrepreneur will tell you that you have to be willing to take that initial risk. Passion and perseverance are an unbeatable combination for success. When you realize that the only person you have to answer to is yourself, you’ll succeed as an entrepreneur.”

Authenticity can be a key to being successful, agrees Marti Wymer, founder and CEO of a Spoonful of Comfort, a comfort food delivery company. “I am thrilled by the number of women running successful companies, who are authentic to themselves. I think initiatives like Women’s Entrepreneurship Day that shed light on the success of female business owners gives aspiring entrepreneurs the confidence they need to start and run their own businesses.”Read more articles on leadership.

Photo: iStock

NOVEMBER 08, 2016 As we celebrate and honor the men and women who have served our country this Veterans Day, it’s also good to note how many of those former service members contribute to our nation’s small businesses.

Jim Cragg is one of these veteran business owners. An Army Reserve Lieutenant Colonel, Cragg is president and CEO of S.O.Tech/Special Operations Technologies Inc., which he founded more then 18 years ago. He also provides jobs to veterans through Green Vets Los Angeles, a nonprofit vocational rehabilitation program he started to provide job training and employment for returning veterans.

“Our program provides at-risk veterans with meaningful projects where they produce products that provide them with a sense of value in society,” he says. “Our products have a social meaning, like reusable cloth shopping bags and challenge bears for children, but at their base, they show veterans that they have a marketable skill that is valuable to our society—the society that they are struggling to rejoin.”

Cragg began helping veterans several years ago in response to the many challenges they face when returning to the workforce and to dispel the stereotypes regarding their ability to contribute to society.

How to Hire Veterans

“In Hollywood, the veteran is dramatized as the broken hero—the depressed isolationist or the abrasive drill sergeant—neither of whom a CEO would want to hire,” Cragg says. “We’ve worked to dispel this image and educate both the veteran and the potential hiring official about the leadership, accountability, presentation and hard work ethic that truly characterize the veteran worker. As a CEO, I’ve watched veterans inspire and motivate teams in our workplace using leadership skills they learned in the military.”

If you want to hire veterans at your company, here are some tips to consider:

• Create detailed job descriptions, and consider using military language when doing so. Be clear about the job responsibilities you’re seeking.
• Consider all types of hiring options, including part-time and full-time work, apprenticeships and intern work.
• Familiarize yourself with military occupational skills that might correlate with the job you’re seeking to fill.
• Ask applicants to share their military story, if possible, during interviews, so you can determine where their developed skills and experience would best fit in your company.
• Find qualified applicants. Cragg suggests looking for veterans at your nearest Veteran Affairs facility, as well as local government veterans affairs offices. In hiring, he works in conjunction with L.A. mayor Eric Garcetti’s Office of Veteran Affairs.

The Path of Entrepreneurship

Many veterans also return from duty and open their own business. This may work out well because of their dedication and work ethic, says Cragg, who coordinated the Veteran Small Business Conference at the Bob Hope Patriotic Hall in Los Angeles, which attracted 350 veterans—more than double the number of attendees he expected.

“Veterans are likely to start their own businesses, probably due to a combination of learned leadership, a sense of community duty and a calculated risk-taking skill set,” Cragg says.

If you’re a veteran interested in entrepreneurship, consider keeping the following steps in mind:

Seek guidance. A number of organizations exist to help veterans start their own businesses, including the SBA-sponsored Boots to Business. Other agencies, such as Green Vets Los Angeles, list resources.Review financing options. Specialized funding, including SBA loans, may be available to veterans.

Consider government contracting work. As a veteran, it may make sense to consider government funded work, as Uncle Sam can seek to fill a substantial amount of contracts using small-business owners.

Look to your passions. Your interests may be your best indicators as to what sort of business would be best for you to launch. Look to your military training and ask yourself how you’d like to make your mark in the world, then create business ideas that stem from those answers.

Harness your strengths. You’ll likely soon discover that, as a small-business owner, you can’t be everything to everyone, so consider focusing on your strengths and then look to outsourcing or hiring to fulfill other requirements of running the business. For instance, you might want to get assistance for accounting and payroll tasks or information technology.

Read more articles about leadership skills.

A version of this article was originally published on November 11, 2015.

Photo: iStock

NOVEMBER 04, 2016  As the tension of Election Day mounts across the nation, there’s a good chance that some of that emotion may spill over into the work environment. This may be a good time to remind employees of basic office etiquette should disagreements arise.

“Conflict is a fact of life, and it’s going to happen, whether we are comfortable with it or not,” says Mike Staver, author of the audio book and seminar How to Defuse Anger and Calm People Down. “Add politics or religion to the conversation and the heat and emotion only intensifies. The more personal the topic, the more emotional intensity is present.”Unique, individual perspectives may cause disagreements to occur, believes business consultant Debora McLaughlin, author of The Renegade Leader. “Values and past experiences drive our thoughts, feeling and actions. Today’s political field is a battleground deeply rooted in core values. Words such as trust, integrity and character have moved to the forefront of foreign policy, homeland security and taxes. When core values are violated, these emotions increase.”

How Poor Office Etiquette May Affect Productivity

While some discussion is to be expected, there is a point where conversations can become detrimental to the workplace.

“Because of our differing perspectives, disagreements are a part of being human. We see the world through our own unique lens, and most [business owners] understand the value of different perspectives, which result in innovative ideas and customer centric products or services,” says McLaughlin. “When politics spill into the workplace, however, that can affect performance, alliances and engagement. Because employees personalize their values, hearing another employee endorsing another candidate who does not project the same values can raise defensiveness.”

There’s a good reason why office etiquette discourages discussing politics, race and religion in the workplace, adds former clinical psychiatrist Mark Goulston, author of Talking to Crazy: How to Deal with the Irrational and Impossible People in Your Life. “People’s deep emotional connections to all of these topics often trigger individuals to become upset and make it difficult for them to stay focused on what they need to get done.”

4 Steps to Help Prevent and Diffuse Employee Disagreements

Business owners may want to take the lead when it comes to handling discord in the workplace and setting the example. These office etiquette tips can help minimize disagreements when they occur, and may help prevent them in the first place.

1. Acknowledge the stressor. One way to diffuse trouble before it starts is to let employees know that you are aware of the controversy, whatever it is. For instance, in regards to the election, Goulston recommends telling employees: “This election has been one of the most disruptive and distracting campaigns in decades. As a result, it has caused many of us to get away from the important routines we follow at work. The sooner we get back to those the better. I’m not saying you don’t have the right to passionately support your POV, whatever it is, but the more you compartmentalize it so that it doesn’t negatively affect your work, the better.”
2. Encourage empathy. Developing empathy amongst employees can be an important step to encouraging polite and productive communication in the office. “Empathy is the ability to step into the shoes of others, be aware of their feelings and understand their needs, and in this presidential election, there seems to be no empathy taking place at all,” says DeLores Pressley, CEO of DeLores Pressley Worldwide. “Empathy requires listening, openness and understanding.”
3. Make expectations clear. When discussions and disagreements negatively affect productivity, you may want to draw the line, notes McLaughlin. “Remind employees it is okay to have differing opinions, but it is not acceptable for differences to impact performance. When relating, encourage employees to eliminate the words “I” and “you” from their vocabulary. Instead, couch them to refer to the topic at hand, such as the report needs to be completed; the deadline is nearing.”
4. Instruct employees to practice good office etiquette, and walk away from disagreements. “The most important thing to remind your employees of is that…there is no discussing an opposing opinion with individuals ‘in their passion,'” says negotiations expert Eldonna Lewis-Fernandez, author of Think Like a Negotiator. “You won’t get through to them and attempting to have a viable discussion in those circumstances will end up making you crazy. Encourage employees who find themselves in an altercation to leave emotion out by remaining calm, which may calm the other person. Changing the subject may also work. If those tactics don’t work, then suggest they walk away.”

Photos: iStock

OCTOBER 28, 2016  Think a baby monitor leading to a widespread cyberattack sounds more like a television show than real life? Think again. The recent cyberattack that prevented access to major sites, including Twitter, Netflix and Spotify, could be coming to a computer near you.The increasing sophistication of computer hackers and their methods means they are constantly taking new and different routes to attack computer networks.

“DDoS [Distributed Denial of Service] attacks have become more frequent. Due to the massively deployed secret botnets—malware running on computers all over the globe—hackers can release DDoS attacks against any target for a very low cost,” says cybersecurity expert Gary Miliefsky, CEO of SnoopWall. “Most new Internet of Things devices, from Smart TVs to baby monitors to your home wireless router, have weak operating systems, weak encryption and are easily infected with botnet code used en masse to perform these kinds of attacks.”

Cyberattacks Have Become More Sophisticated

“Hackers have learned that you don’t always have to attack directly to disrupt access to one or more e-commerce sites,” says Ronald Nutter, author of The Hackers are Coming…How to Safely Surf the Internet. “The recent attack involving Amazon and other sites involved an attack on a specific server providing DNS [Domain Name Server] resolution. The attack didn’t directly affect the servers providing the content, but it effectively accomplished the same result. Since the latest breach involved a DDoS type of attack, it presented an additional challenge, because the source of the attack was coming from multiple locations at the same time.”

The higher the profits, the more sophisticated hackers become, notes Nick Nascimento, founder of the IT services company, Sentage Systems. He is trained as a HIPAA Privacy and Security Expert.“The new world of cyber criminals is more organized and actually composed of big businesses and groups that work together as well or even better than any legitimate business,” says Nascimento. “Hacker tools have become much stronger and their resources have begun to match and in some cases exceed the resources we use to fight them. It is truly a race. Along with the Pros [out for financial gain], we have to deal with all the “one uppers,” who create and post their tool on the internet right along with full instruction and even hosting options.”

Cyberattacks Can Be Potentially Disastrous

“The recently launched [attack] caused unknown dollar damage,” says Nascimento. “I have personally seen a DDoS attack cost an online electronics retailer an estimated $126,000 in sales in just half a day as it crippled their online catalog. Our company specializes in protecting medical and financial information, which is undergoing pressure every day. A breach in these areas and the resulting fines and penalties can put a company out of business.”

Cyberattacks can be damaging for businesses on multiple levels, adds Eric Biderman, counsel for law firm Arent Fox LLP. “In addition to the cost and effort associated with identifying the cyberattack and managing the effects of it, the potential damage to the business’s reputation among customers and potential customers [is just as disruptive]. [They] may no longer feel confident that their personal information is safe with the business.”

4 Steps to Help Protect Your Company from Cyberattacks

As a business owner, you can be the first line of defense when it comes to protecting your company against cyberattacks. Consider the following steps to preventing hacks in the first place.

Adopt a company-wide security policy. Very few companies plan a defense against cyberattacks. This is a mistake, believes Nascimento. “Have a set of security measures to protect your data, such as in the area of verbal communication and confirmation. A majority of penetrations we see are emails that are opened by employees, who admit after the fact that they thought things looked a little strange, but they opened the suspect emails anyway, and it was too late. A protocol that requires employees to call one another to confirm if an email has been sent asking for sensitive information can prevent a hack.”

Secure and update. “In order to succeed, mass attacks require that millions of users fail to keep their machines and networks secure and updated,” says Nascimento. “Stop hackers in their tracks with regular deep scans for malware, viruses and rootkits.”

Be proactive. “Harden your network by removing vulnerabilities, patching your system and start using real-time backups and real-time encryption everywhere,” says Miliefsky. “If we were all to do this, breaches would fail to cause damage or steal valuable information. Also audit your devices for common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) and get a patch or reconfigure them to remove their holes before they become part of botnets. Look up your equipment on the U.S. government’s national vulnerability database  to see what holes the equipment might have and for instructions to fix any problems.”Purchase cyber-insurance. To protect your company from economic harm in the event a breach does occur, consider purchasing cyber-insurance, suggests James Westerlind, counsel with Arent Fox LLP.

“A good cyber policy would provide first-party coverage to fix the company’s system [if it was damaged], as well as cover the losses of profit caused by the company’s system becoming inoperable as a result of a DDoS attack.”

When choosing a cyber-insurance policy, Westerlind advises that business owners consider the self-insured retention, sub-limits and policy provisions that specify how long the service denial must occur and the percentage of network unavailability that must result for coverage to apply.

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Photo: iStock

The information contained in this article is for generalized informational and educational purposes only and is not designed to substitute for, or replace, a professional opinion about any particular business or situation or judgment about the risks or appropriateness of any financial or business strategy or approach for any specific business or situation. THIS ARTICLE IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL ADVICE. The views and opinions expressed in authored articles on OPEN Forum represent the opinion of their author and do not necessarily represent the views, opinions and/or judgments of American Express Company or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries or divisions (including, without limitation, American Express OPEN). American Express makes no representation as to, and is not responsible for, the accuracy, timeliness, completeness or reliability of any opinion, advice or statement made in this article.

OCTOBER 24, 2016  If you’ve built your small business from the ground up and now find yourself wearing so many hats that you can’t fit them all on your head, it may be time to hire a CEO.

“A CEO can manage the execution of the day-to-day tasks within your company, giving you time to work on pursuits such as sales and expanding your business,” says Piyush Jain, CEO of the mobile app developer SIMpalm

Benefits of Hiring a CEO

There may be several advantages to hiring a CEO, Jain believes.

“In addition to taking care of the day-to-day operations of the company, which gives you time to focus on the big picture, a new CEO can bring new management skills, insight and contacts to the table,” he says. “For instance, if you wish to expand the business and get work in a particular industry, hire a CEO who is well-versed in that particular industry, which brings those contacts and skills to your business.”

A new CEO can also inject fire into a business and engage employees who may have become lackluster. Alternate leadership can be objective about what isn’t working in the business, including employees, and use that insight to make changes that are good for the company.

Steps to Choosing a CEO

Vanderbloemen suggests the first step to choosing the ideal CEO for your small business should be to consult with a board or trusted group of business advisors about the timeline as to when you want to hire someone and the proposed compensation structure.

“Without a goal of when the organization wants the CEO on board, it’s easy for small-business owners to procrastinate or keep pushing the decision down on the priority list,” he says.

Vanderbloemen also recommends seeking outside assistance with the hiring process. “A transition from owner to CEO can be heated and emotional, and outside expertise like an executive search firm can help keep everyone on the right track toward a unified vision,” he says. “The board and small-business owner should also share the proposed timeline for hiring with key stakeholders and staff.”

A professional executive recruiter may be a good resource for choosing the best candidates, adds Lane Campbell, co-founder and CEO of June. “A key aspect of the hiring process is identifying what you want in the new CEO,” Campbell says. “Consider the responsibilities for the job and the characteristics that the new hire should possess.”

Challenges to Handing over the Reins

Not surprisingly, the biggest challenge associated with hiring a CEO may be letting go of control.

“It’s human nature to resist change, but the small-business owner must be intentional about trusting the new leader once he or she is on board,” Vanderbloemen says. “Let go of the way you’ve always done things and be open to changes the new leader will bring. This might mean a shift in vision or even some staff turnover. Change is never easy, but your team will be watching you to see how you react to it.”

It may help to keep in mind that the CEO sets the vision now, not you, Campbell notes. “If you truly want to set the vision, consider hiring a COO to run the day-to-day aspects of the business and you remain the CEO.”

Policy changes are likely with a new CEO, and this may also be difficult to handle, Jain believes. “New CEOs often like to change the way things are done and may even alter the hierarchy within the company,” he says.

Transition Gradually

To make the changes within your company more palatable for you and your employees, Jain suggests taking a slow, measured approach to the transition.

“Have employees gradually begin reporting to the new CEO and remember that you won’t be able to show all your policies and the ins and outs of working for your various clients to the CEO immediately,” he says. “There are even some aspects of the business, like financials and trade secrets, that you don’t want to relinquish control of initially or perhaps ever.”

Read more articles about leadership skills.

A version of this article was originally published on October 21, 2015.

Photo: iStock

OCTOBER 21, 2016  A 2016 U.S. Department of Labor report  recently revealed some unfortunate realities when it comes to workplace injuries. According to the report, when American workers are injured, they’re at risk of becoming economically disadvantaged. This is because many state workers’ compensation systems are falling short and failing to provide adequate benefits when accidents occur.While you probably can’t singlehandedly change the system, you can try to prevent injuries from happening in the first place in your own company. And when accidents do occur, you can help minimize the financial risks to employees by seeing that they get back on the job as soon as possible.

“Injury prevention is a top concern for any small business owner,” says Laura Putnam, author of Workplace Wellness That Works. “Occupational safety, for organizations of all sizes, has largely been defined as a matter of training and enforcement of rules, despite evidence to suggest that it runs much deeper.”

Putnam believes the key to helping prevent workplace injuries—and minimize their negative effects on employees—is to take the focus away from injuries and focus instead on wellness and safety.

Promote Health and Safety

“Congress passed the Health and Safety Act, not the Health or Safety Act. As the name rightly suggests, health and safety go hand in hand,” says Putnam, who is also CEO and founder of Motion Infusion. “By integrating health promotion efforts and safety into the workplace, you enhance the overall workplace culture, which reduces health and safety-related risks, while increasing engagement.”

The truth is that poor health leads to what is known as “presenteeism,” says Putnam. “This occurs when an employee is at work, but out of it. Presenteeism puts employees at grave risk in regards to their safety.”

Promoting health can also help speed up recovery time when workplace injuries occur. “A healthy worker is more likely to recover more quickly than a less healthy worker,” says Putnam.

Foster a Shared Sense of Ownership

A knee-jerk response to workplace injuries may be blaming the employee for carelessness and clamp down with “no go” rules, believes Putnam.

“Such negative, penalizing responses are not effective. Rather than imposing rules and training that feels punitive, the real solution lies in devising ways to instill a sense of shared ownership among employees,” she says. “The reality is that most workers already know the safety rules, along with the consequences of not following them. And, yet, injuries caused by noncompliance are far too common. Therefore, a small-business owner would be wise to devise ways to replace a top-down ‘do this or else’ approach with a shared sense of ownership.”

Fostering camaraderie in the workplace can help promote a shared sense of ownership. At one Swedish-based construction company, for example, “workers don hard hats that feature their family photos,” says Putnam. “These images drive home the message that safety on the job is about returning home safely to one’s family.” In a sense, that family is also part of the workplace, so staying safe on the job can mean staying safe for the good of the entire company.

Show Authentic Concern

“Occupational injuries and safety-related fatalities may be less a matter of behaviors per se, and more a matter of the conditions that lead to these risky behaviors in the first place,” says Putnam. “A key factor is perceived organizational support, or the extent to which employees feel that their employer authentically cares about them. Employees’ perceptions of the extent to which they feel that they are valued by and cared for by their organization can have an enormous impact on issues like engagement, presenteeism and safety. [It] can go a long way toward avoiding accidents and injuries in the first place.”

One way business owners can show concern is by advising employees of their rights under workers’ compensation laws. This can be based on the assistance generally given by your state, including the potential financial and medical help they can expect if an injury occurs. This information can help them make decisions about their personal health insurance in case they need to use their medical insurance to get adequate medical care in the event that their state’s workers’ compensation isn’t sufficient.

Set up Conditions for a Speedy Re-entry to the Workforce

Setting up conditions so that your employees get back on the job as soon as possible can have a variety of benefits. Doing what you can to ensure a speedy re-entry into the workforce can be good for the employee—and his or her bank account. It can also help boost morale and contribute to a positive company culture.

Your efforts to help employees start working again may help send a message to the rest of the staff: If they are injured at any point, you’ll do what you can to get them back on the job in a timely manner. Here are some actions you can take to help facilitate a speedy return:

• When workplace injuries occur, consider encouraging injured employees to follow the steps necessary to receive workers’ compensation and medical assistance.
• Check in on a regular basis to see how the recovery is progressing. Keeping an open dialogue with your injured employee can help you show your concern and make it clear that you are only a phone call away if help is needed.
• Let them know that there is no rush. Stress that his or her welfare comes first and the employee should only return when he or she feels strong and capable enough to perform duties safely and efficiently.
• Allow the employee to ease back into work. Consider having the employee return on a part-time basis for the first few weeks.

Read more articles on hiring & HR.

Photo: iStock

The information contained in this article is for generalized informational and educational purposes only and is not designed to substitute for, or replace, a professional opinion about any particular business or situation or judgment about the risks or appropriateness of any financial or business strategy or approach for any specific business or situation. THIS ARTICLE IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL ADVICE. The views and opinions expressed in authored articles on OPEN Forum represent the opinion of their author and do not necessarily represent the views, opinions and/or judgments of American Express Company or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries or divisions (including, without limitation, American Express OPEN). American Express makes no representation as to, and is not responsible for, the accuracy, timeliness, completeness or reliability of any opinion, advice or statement made in this article.