By Debbie Gregory.

Veterans face unique challenges when they return home from active duty.  They are often way behind on the political and cultural events happening back home.  Additionally, many return from incredibly stressful and violent situations overseas which can cause debilitating injuries and emotional wounds that may not ever fully heal. They also need to find a job or start a business to support themselves and their families.

Tips For Servicemembers Starting a Business:

1.) Have Confidence in Yourself and Plan Ahead

As an entrepreneur, you need to have confidence in your own ability and skills. As a veteran, stepping into an entrepreneur role is simply an extension of everything you have learned from your time in the service. You have already learned when to pivot from one thing to the next, how to handle unknowns, how to deal with pressure, and sacrifice, how to focus and complete the mission and teamwork. Though in the business world there is generally a lot less on the line, you can still benefit from your experiences dealing with unpredictable unknowns. You simply need to use some creativity to transition your thinking from military to business.

2.) Embrace and Use Your Military Training

For many the transition to civilian life after the military can be rather unsettling and unnerving. Embrace your military past.  You have been instilled with phenomenal skills of adaptation, the ability to thrive under pressure, and how to use that pressure to perform better and use it as a strength. Those exact skills are a big reason why many veterans become such good entrepreneurs. You have had much worse tossed at you in the military than you will face in the business world.  Remind yourself of that and that you were able to persevere.

3.) Understand Your Strengths and Weaknesses

Take stock of your strengths and weaknesses. Following your passion is a nice thought but often does not translate into a lucrative business. Find out exactly what you are good at and where you excel and then identify something in the market that can be improved on or a new product that would benefit your market.

4.) Work with Other Companies That Share Your Vision

Success is easier when you work with others who share your vision. Once you have your own mission statement finished laying out your personal and business goals, core values, and passions, take the time to visit other entrepreneurial companies that fit your vision and values and offer to work with them. The companies you visit do not need to do exactly what you to do or even be in the same market as your company; they just need to share your values. This type of collaboration helps both of your companies by leveraging the experiences and strengths that you both bring to the table.

5.) Understand and Plan for the Costs Associated with Starting a Business

One of the most important things to think about when starting a new business is how much it will cost to get the business up and running. Write out your plan and your expected expenses and then multiply your expected startup costs by two or three (depending on the type of business you are starting). Good financial planning is key to long term business success. Give yourself the best possible start by saving or otherwise acquiring sufficient financial resources before you begin your new business.

Starting a new business is challenging for everyone and can be even more challenging for a veteran. However, with good planning, confidence, collaboration, and support you will succeed.

By Debbie Gregory.

Managing your business cash flow can be challenging but it is incredibly important to the success of your business.

Below are 12 easy ways to help you improve your cash flow:

1.) Put It All In Writing

Make sure that all your business documents, customer agreements, and invoices clearly set out your payment terms, expectations, due dates, etc. Never leave any important items ambiguous.

2.) Send Invoices Immediately

People tend to pay once they have an invoice in hand, never make them wait.

3.) Include a Specific Due Date

It is very important to make your expectations as clear as possible. Simply stating “due upon receipt” is not enough. Add a clear due date or time frame (such as “payment due within 30 days of the bill date”).

4.) Offer an Incentive for Quick Payment

People love getting things for free. If you can offer them some sort of incentive for paying early, they will be more motivated to do so. For example you could give them a small discount for paying within a week of invoicing.

5.) Add a Late fee

Adding a fee for being late with payment tends to motivate most to get the bill paid quickly. Without a late fee, some people may put off paying you for months.

6.) Put together a Payment Plan

Allowing people to pay off large bills over time allows them to better budget for the expense and makes it easier for them to pay the bill.

7.) Use Electronic Billing or Electronic Funds Acceptance

Using electronic billing allows you to get the invoice to the customer very quickly as well as saving you money on postage costs. Accepting electronic payments works the same way.   It is fast and cost effective. You want to make sure that you accept payment in a variety of ways to make it easier for people to pay you.

8.) Sell your Invoices

If you need cash fast, there are services out there that will pay 90-99% of your original invoice amount upfront for a small fee.  Make sure they are reputable and do not harass your clients.

9.) Hold off paying your own bills

While you wait for your own clients to pay you, hold off on paying bills until they’re actually due. Of course take advantage of any incentives for early payment, but wait on the others.

10.) Secure A Credit Line

If you need help with your cash flow consider a line of credit with your local bank.

11.) Actively Monitor Your Cash Flow

Keep a close eye on your cash flow. Make sure that you know what has been paid and what is about to become due. Send reminders if necessary and make sure that you track any late fees.

12.) Hire a CPA

A CPA can help you in many areas.   They can guide you towards your financial goals, offer corrective suggestions, ensure you are taking advantage of the correct tax breaks or benefits, improve your cash flow, and so much more.   They can pay for themselves in savings.

By Debbie Gregory.

There is no way to completely secure any business against hackers. Even if you take every single precaution, you are still at risk from diligent criminals. Hackers seek out weaknesses and are very good at exploiting them. Thankfully there are a few things you can do to lower your chances of being hacked.

Focus Areas To Protect From Hacking:

1.) Professional IT support

If you do not have a professional IT (information technology) person or company working for you, get one. Criminals rarely discriminate between large and small companies and anyone can be exposed to a data hack. Paying a professional to evaluate your risks, install the right software, monitor activity, and keep everything up to date is a critical and essential business cost in our world today.

2.) Employee Training

Most security problems stem from employee-related errors. Things like clicking on bad websites, accidentally downloading or installing malicious software, opening up infected files, allowing fake IT companies remote access to their computer, etc. Invest in training a few times a year with a good IT security firm so that your employees are more aware of the potential problems they can face and how to avoid doing things that make your business more vulnerable.

3.) Employee Turnover

When employees leave a company, they tend to take data with them. This is usually not done maliciously.  However, there are always some people who may take things on purpose to sell to a competitor or for other potentially vengeful reasons. It is a good idea to have procedures in place for data when an employee exits your company.

4.) Remote Employees

Employees that are moving around outside of your company with your data are at a higher risk of that data being lost or stolen. If an employee or contractor is remotely connecting to your database or server through online services, these also have a chance of being hacked. Again, work with a professional IT person to make sure you have strong data management and connection tools in place for these remote workers and make sure they are being actively monitored.

5.) Employees’ Personal Devices

Are your employees allowed to bring and use their own devices for work? If so, their devices can create an easy way in for a hacker. Much like remote employees, any person using their own device for work should be monitored and secured by your IT professional.

6.) Old Outdated Computers and Operating Systems

Running older, out of date versions of Microsoft Windows or Apple’s iOS will leave you incredibly vulnerable to hackers. Make sure that all computers in your company are using the most recent version of whatever OS you utilize. If the hardware is unable to run the latest OS, then upgrade the hardware.

7.) Security Software

All devices used in your company need good security software. Always make sure that the software is up to date and that it is configured to run routine scans. Most security software applications are relatively inexpensive, they run quietly in the background of the device and check for malware, viruses, infected websites, and any other vulnerabilities in the system.

8.) Strong Passwords

Most people are still pretty lax with their passwords.   Can you believe the most common password today is still “1234?”  Make sure that you require strong passwords (a combination of letters, numbers and symbols) for all devices and make sure that those passwords are changed every month or two.

9.) Secure Your Data

Make sure that all data you handle is encrypted, backed up regularly, and stored securely. If your company handles data such as health, financial or other personal information about your customers, and it is stolen, you can have a huge problem on your hands. Make sure that you have polices and procedures in place to safeguard confidential customer data; and make sure that you train your employees to handle the data securely.

Unfortunately, you can’t completely avoid being hacked… but making sure you are taking care of the nine items listed above will increase your chances of avoiding hackers by quite a lot.

By Debbie Gregory.

Our world relies heavily on technology and the Internet. Criminals target companies of all sizes, including small businesses. Knowing a few security basics can help you protect your business and even reduce the risk of your business falling victim to a cyber criminal’s attacks.

Below are six key areas to focus on to help make your business more secure:

1.) Require strong passwords on everything

Strong passwords are at least 12 characters long and are a mix of numbers, symbols, and capital and lowercase letters. Use strong passwords for all laptops, tablets, computers, and smartphones owned or used by your company and your employees. Make sure that no one leaves any of these devices unattended in public places. Never reuse old passwords and never share passwords in texts or by email. Make sure that you also limit the number of unsuccessful log-in attempts to limit password-guessing attacks.

2.) Use multi-factor authentication

Require multi-factor authentication to access areas of your network with sensitive information. This requires additional steps beyond logging in with a password such as a temporary code on a smartphone or a key that’s inserted into a computer.

3.) Secure your router

Make sure that you change the default name and password that comes pre-installed on your router. Make sure that you also turn off remote management and log out as the administrator once the router is set up. Make sure your router offers WPA2 or WPA3 encryption, and that it’s turned on. Encryption protects information sent over your network so it can’t be read by outsiders. If you do not know how to do this we recommend getting in touch with a reputable tech company to take care of this for you.

4.) Keep all software up to date

Make sure that all of your devices are setup to automatically update when an update becomes available. This includes any apps, programs, web browsers, hardware, and operating systems.

5.) Secure all of your files

Backup all important files offline – either on an external hard drive or in the cloud. Make sure that the offline backup is secured with a strong password. Make sure you store all of your sensitive paper files securely. Also, make sure that you encrypt the data on devices and other media that contain sensitive personal information. This includes laptops, tablets, smartphones, removable drives, backup tapes, and storage solutions.

6.) Train your staff

Create a culture in your company of security by implementing a regular schedule of employee training and make sure that you keep your employees updated as you find out about new risks and vulnerabilities.

Most importantly, make sure that you have a plan in place just in case you do experience a breach. You will need to get backups online quickly so you can get back to work as well as notify any customers who may also be impacted. The FTC’s Data Breach Response: A Guide for Business gives you steps that you can take.

Again, cyber security is increasingly important in our world. If you are uncomfortable or lack the knowledge to implement security at your company we highly recommend hiring a professional technology company to keep your information secure.

By Debbie Gregory.

You may not know it but press releases are still an effective marketing tool for small businesses. Press releases are released online through news services and press release services. This means that your press release will not only be seen by journalists or bloggers, they can also turn up in general search results by the public.

Below are the key elements of every press release as well as a few tips to help you write a good one:

Headline

Make sure that your headline is attention-grabbing, while also immediately conveying what the release is about. Your headline should be no more than 100 characters long as shorter headlines are easier to share on social media platforms and more of it will show in search results online. Utilizing pertinent keywords in the headline will also help it show up in searches.

Subheading

Your subheading is a short summary of the main idea of the press release. The subhead should add a bit more information and expands on the headline itself.

Date

Adding the current date along with the city and state where your business is located will help journalists looking in your area for local businesses find you as well as ensure they aren’t using outdated releases.

First Paragraph

The first paragraph of your release should briefly explain the most important information in your release. Make sure to include the five W’s (Who, What, When, Where and Why) as well as your company name. People today have short attention spans, and most won’t read beyond the first paragraph, so you need to make sure what they do read grabs their attention.

Body Copy

This is where you can explain your announcement in greater detail. Make sure to break it up into paragraphs for easy reading by the consumer. Use informal language, as the body copy should sound natural, and include any relevant keywords.

Quotes

It is always a good idea to include a quote or two from your company’s key people (the president, CEO, or the company’s authority on the subject matter). Always include that person’s full name and title.

Extra Flair

If possible, include things like photos, infographics, videos, and other visual elements that a journalist can use to help differentiate your release from others. Include photos of the product, person, or event that your release is covering. You should also make high-resolution photos available for any journalists that would like them (this can be done by posting them to your own site and including links for download in the press release).

Call to Action

Near the end of your press release always be sure to include a call to action. This is something you want the reader to do once they have finished reading your release – maybe visit your website, learn more about your new product, reserve tickets for an upcoming event, etc. You want to make it as easy as possible for people to contact you. Make sure to include a link to your website as well as a phone number the reader can call.

Boilerplate

A boilerplate refers to a brief paragraph about your business that you include at the end of every press release. This should short paragraph should include your full business name, a short bit about what it does, when it was founded, and any other important information that you want a reader to know. Keep it short and sweet.

Media Contact

The media contact is someone at your business who is available to quickly respond to inquiries from the press release. List multiple ways to contact your spokesperson (phone, email, social handles, etc.).

To sum up:

• Press releases should be no more than two pages in length.
• Start with an eye-catching headline and subheading.
• Include quotes from key personnel in your company.
• Spice it up with enticing visuals.
• Include links when appropriate.
• Use relevant keywords but don’t go overboard.
• Make it very easy for the reader to contact you.