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May 29, 2020

How To Sell Your Business: The Complete Guide To Selling A Company In 7 Simple Steps

Depending on the circumstance, selling a business can be a devastating, rewarding, or lucrative experience — and sometimes a surprisingly emotional one. In this post, we’ll dig into the hows and what-ifs you’ll want to explore before, during, and through the transitional phases. Understanding the basics and planning can help you avoid falling into some of the common pitfalls that may spring up during the process of a business sale, so let’s get started!

Questions To Ask Yourself Before Selling Your Business

Selling a business can be a lot more complicated than it might seem at first glance. While this post focuses on the practical to-dos of selling your business, let’s start with some open-ended questions that may help you clarify your goals.

Why do you feel it is a good time to sell your business?
What is your time frame?
Do you have flexibility with your time frame (if it meant maximizing profits)?
What do you want for the future of your business? Is retaining certain elements of your business important for you?
Will you use a broker to do the legwork in finding a buyer or do you have the time to invest yourself?

Now that we’ve got you thinking, let’s explore the work you’ll need to do before you sell and how you can sell it wisely.

How To Sell A Business Successfully In 7 Steps

If you’ve made a definitive decision to sell, or you are still in the discovery phase, here are the steps you’ll need to understand if you are to move ahead successfully and get the highest sales point as possible.

1. Preparing An Exit Strategy

If you currently do most things yourself in daily operations, start delegating as many responsibilities as you can so that the buyer sees your business can run smoothly without you. Make no mistake: buyers will look at this aspect closely, and it can make a huge difference in selling your business. A well-oiled machine that doesn’t need too many adjustments will go for a higher price.

Another important component for your exit strategy is a packet of general information about your company, including your origins, media mentions or publicity, company growth, marketing strategies, and general employee information. This information gives your buyer a more complete picture of your business and its trajectory over time.

Of course, if your company operates mostly online, you’ll also want to share statistics, including search engine ranking, keyword ranking, visitor statistics, and demographics, as well as any competitor analysis. Remember, your buyer needs all of this information to make a calculated risk and feel confident in doing so.

2. Getting Financials In Order

Organizing your finances is extremely important. It is probably one of the most important things you can do. After all, your business is just one of the options available to a buyer. If your contracts and documents aren’t in order, if things are unclear, messy, or you’re just not ready, the buyer will move on quickly.

Your buyer will likely present you with a checklist of requested information after they’ve given you a letter of intent (more on that later), so being prepared as early as possible for this will help everything go a lot smoother.

Here are some of the documents you’ll want to start rounding up:

Contracts
Intellectual property (ensure loose ends with any contractors)
Expense reports
Profit reports
Revenue documentation
Cashflow analysis
Customer base analysis
ROI analysis
Appraisals
Real estate documents
Undocumented agreements (e.g, promised equity sharing)

These are all things you can start gathering right now to organize your financial documents and contracts. Not only will you be more confident with prospective buyers, but they’ll also be more confident in the health of your business! In addition, you’ll want to plan for the following:

Most states require a documented shareholder meeting if applicable.
Get any undocumented agreements (e.g., equity sharing) settled.
Go through your financials and tax statements with a CPA or accountant so that things are categorized properly and compliant.

Going through your financial and tax statements with a CPA or accountant may help you spot areas in your business that you want to adjust the next year or two to maximize profits. When you are looking at what sorts of expenses you list on your business taxes, for instance, you may decide that an ancillary expense is hurting rather than helping your profit margins, and opt to adjust one or more items in the next fiscal year. If your business is large enough, these changes might make a significant impact on your business valuation. That’s why if you can, pushing your target sale date down the line a year or two may end up paying off for you when it comes time to sell.

3. Obtaining A Business Valuation

Much like when buying a home, the appraisal process is an important aspect of selling a business. An accurate business valuation is critical because it brings credibility to your asking price. When it comes to your business valuation, not all types of businesses are the same; the selling price of your business may vary widely depending on the industry and current trends during any given year, as well as projected growth.

And of course, the higher your profits, the more valuable you’ll likely be to a buyer. This is another reason why you may want to go back and consider what expenses you deduct on your taxes, as those expenses count against your profits in that regard. If you are planning to sell in the next year or more, be aware of the long game and choose carefully what expenses you take on — and how you categorize them.

4. Finding Buyers

If you haven’t already been approached to sell, now it’s time for what may be a challenging phase: Finding a buyer!

You’ll want to spread the word to your colleagues and acquaintances, as well as advertise to target a broader audience of small business owners or interested parties. Or you may want to keep everything confidential. In that case, a broker is a vital player in moving ahead.

If your efforts to sell your business yourself don’t become fruitful for you, it may be time to think about finding a broker. Sure, they will take a cut of the final purchase price, but they may be able to vet out better buyers for you. Not to mention, they will be focused on getting the highest asking price possible because it means a better commission for them! Because a qualified and experienced broker could help you save a lot of time and maximize profits, it may be wise to start looking for one even if you’re not quite ready yet.

Making Your Business More Desirable To Buyers

Having all of your ducks in a row — via impeccable document organization and accurate valuation — will make your business more attractive as people start gaining interest and checking you out as a prospect. Remember, your potential buyers are looking for the lowest risk and highest reward, of course, but the information you bring to the table can be a huge deciding factor in closing the deal.

Once you’ve hooked an interested party, we recommend you pre-qualify your potential buyer. In doing this, your company enjoys a bit more protection because then you’ll only discuss the particulars of your business with serious buyers who have provided some background financial information about themselves. From a buyer’s perspective, a pre-qualification can also encourage them to become more invested in moving through to the next phase.

5. Conducting Due Diligence

If you have found a potential buyer, fantastic! Now it’s their responsibility to really take a look under the hood and find out more about your business. After they give you a letter of intent, they’ll also probably hand you a laundry list of items for you to retrieve. Again, we go back to our own due diligence from the beginning when it comes to keeping clean books and an organized back office.

For larger deals, this process can take months, and that’s why it is so important for you to have a unified front so that it goes smoothly as possible.

Before the deal is finalized, you’ll likely have some very probing questions to answer about your business. Depending on how familiar your buyer is with your industry, you may field high-level questions focused on your company and employee culture, all the way down to the nitty-gritty analysis of the financial and tax documents you’ve prepared for them.

6. Finalizing The Deal

As the deal becomes finalized, now is the time to prepare and communicate with employees about the leadership change.

Many business owners find that the whole process is quite a bit more work than they anticipated, and have already brought a broker on board. If that’s the case, the pressure is mostly off of you to tie up all the loose ends. If not, having an attorney handle finalizing the contracts is probably the wisest decision, as they may be able to catch blind spots you missed and provide greater protection to your business.

7. Preparing To Hand Off Your Business

While all of your energy was probably focused on getting the deal finalized, don’t forget to keep the post-sale transition period in mind. Some buyers want the seller to stick around for an adjustment period (sometimes a few months). Whatever the expectations are, make sure you have those settled and clarified.

A Word About Your Merchant Account

To hand off your business, you’ll have to work out all of those minor (and major) details regarding transferring ownership, too. You’ll need to contact your merchant services provider, for instance, to learn what the protocol is when it comes time to transfer leases, contracts, and any equipment related to your payment processing services.

If you’re stuck in a long-term contract with your payment processor, you’ll have to fill out a change in ownership request formÂ to change the legal entity on the contract with your merchant account. How smooth and flexible this process goes for you largely depends on the flexibility of your contract (if you’re bound by one) and the company with which you work.

Wondering if your merchant account has an early termination fee or a binding agreement? Check out Does Your Merchant Account Have An Early Termination Fee?Â as well as Does Your Merchant Have An Auto-Renewal Clause?Â We show you how to avoid some of the major pitfalls when it comes to contracts, but there are plenty of other options we discuss in both posts to help you avoid this frustrating issue to begin with!

Selling A Business: A Step-By-Step Checklist

Here is another quick recap of the main points we dug into above. You’ll want to keep these in mind as you plan your exit strategy and move towards a successful closing:

Establish a desired time-frame for the sale.
Define your personal goals in selling your business.
Delegate responsibilities and tasks to employees and managers.
Organize contracts and financial documents, and ensure everything is in writing (no verbal agreements).
Get a business valuation.
Spread the word about your sale or find a broker to do the legwork and networking for you.
Pre-qualify your interested buyer.
Allow for due diligence with your buyer and provide documentation as requested.
Have a lawyer or attorney assist in finalizing the sale.
Tie up loose ends with contracts (e.g., your merchant account and/or equipment leases).

The Bottom Line? Selling A Business Requires Organization & Motivation

Starting your exit strategy with these general tasks may seem tedious at the time, yet they represent some of the higher priorities for buyers. Remember, a buyer is a human and as such, they’ll likely apply gut instinct and emotion as well as careful scrutiny when it comes time to make a decision. The truth is that buyers are looking for what feels right and represents the least amount of risk, and yours isn’t the only business they have to choose from. That means that getting your papers organized and in shipshape, having confidence in your “why,” and understanding the process are absolutely critical to successfully selling your business.

For more resources that may help you get things in order before you sell your business, check out Best Accounting Software For Accountants and CPA VS Accountant: Which Do You Need For Your Business?

The post How To Sell Your Business: The Complete Guide To Selling A Company In 7 Simple Steps appeared first on Merchant Maverick.

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May 28, 2020

Tech Equipment Leasing VS Buying: Should You Lease Or Buy Computers & IT Equipment?

Tech equipment–computers, IT equipment, and related items–poses some unique issues for businesses trying to decide whether to lease or buy. Tech equipment becomes obsolete more quickly than almost any other type of equipment, making it a poor long-term investment. At the same time, many businesses need to keep their tech hardware up-to-date in order to remain competitive.

Should you buy or lease your tech equipment? Read on.

How Does IT Equipment & Computer Leasing Work?

The word “lease” is often associated with rental agreements — like the ones you sign when you rent an apartment or lease a new vehicle. While those examples are the most common, the term has grown to encompass a number of other types of agreements.

Capital VS Operating Leases

While there are an enormous number of lease types with names like “triple buyout lease” or “synthetic lease,” almost all of them fall under two major umbrellas: capital leases and operating leases.

A capital lease encompasses leases like conditional sales agreementsÂ as well asÂ $1 buyout leasesÂ andÂ $10 buyout leases. A capital lease transfers ownership of the item in question to you, the lessee, either immediately or early during the lease’s terms. For all intents and purposes, the item is considered yours–it’s an asset on your balance sheet. Compared to operating leases, you’ll have higher monthly payments but a much smaller residual payment at the end of your lease (hence the $1 buyout, for example). You rarely, if ever, have the opportunity to return the equipment at the end of your lease. And why would you? You’ve already paid for its entire value, plus interest. If this sounds a bit like a loan, it should. You’d essentially use a capital lease as an alternative to an equipment loan.

Operating leases are more traditional leases. In fact, they’re sometimes called “true leases.” With an operating lease, the leasing company retains ownership of the equipment while you’re giving operating rights to it. This means the equipment is considered an operating expense for your business, rather than a purchasing expense. The most common type of operating lease is the fair market value lease (FMV). Typically, monthly payments will be lower with operating leases, but the amount left over at the end will be larger. Operating leases usually give you the option of returning the equipment to the leasing company at the end of your lease. You also have the option to buy it for its fair market value price, but in most cases, you’d be better off with a capital lease if you prefer to keep your equipment.

Buyout Agreements

If a lease has a buyout option, that means that you have the option to purchase (buyout) the equipment at the end of your lease. Many types of leases are named for the terms of the buyout. For example, a fair market value lease grants you the option of buying the item at its fair market value. A $1 buyout lease? You guessed it; you can buy the equipment for a dollar at the end of your lease.

Why the enormous difference in buyout amounts? Remember, a capital lease frontloads the cost of the equipment into your monthly payments. The $1 residual is essentially just a formality; you’ve already paid for the item. On the other hand, with an FMV lease, you’ve only been renting, so the cost to buy is based on what a used piece of equipment that age would cost on the market.

There are a lot more obscure types of lease agreements that you may run into, but generally speaking, you can expect capital leases to have small, insignificant residual payments and operating leases to have larger, more significant ones.

Common Lease Terms

Equipment leasing comes with a lot of jargon. Let’s demystify some of it.

Lessor:Â The company financing your lease. Think “lender” but for leases.
Lessee:Â The person or company taking out the lease. Think “borrower” but for leases.
Term Length:Â The length of your lease. A typical tech equipment lease may run anywhere from a year to five years. The longer your lease, the more expensive it will be in most cases.
Interest:Â The amount you’ll be charged in excess of the value of the equipment. Rates usually start at around 6% and top out in the high teens, though some may be higher depending on your credit, the lessor, and the type of lease you select.
Fees: These vary by lessor and state. They may include supplemental charges like administration, restock, insurance, and origination fees.
Monthly Payment:Â The amount of money you’re expected to pay your lessor every month.
Residual:Â An amount required to purchase the leased equipment at the end of the lease. Generally speaking, the lower your monthly payment, the higher your residual, and vice versa. Capital leases have lower residuals than operation leases.

Leasing VS Buying Computers & IT Equipment

So why would you lease tech equipment instead of buying it? Let’s look at some of the advantages and disadvantages of leasing tech equipment.

Advantages Of Leasing

Easy Upgrading: Tech equipment becomes obsolete very quickly, which can make it a poor longtime investment. An operating lease may allow you to stay up-to-date on the latest technology without having to re-purchase every couple of years. This can help small businesses keep up with the technological curve.
Smooths Out Cash Flow: Breaking the cost of your equipment down into predictable monthly payments has its advantages, even if you are paying more over time.
Shipping & Installation May Be Covered: Unlike business loans, leases more frequently cover the full expense of factory-to-operational expenses.
No Downpayment: With the possible exception of having to make your first month’s payment up-front, the entry costs of a lease tend to be very low.

Disadvantages Of Leasing

More Expensive: Between interest and fees, it’s pretty much guaranteed that you’ll be spending more money on the equipment than you would if you have purchased it outright.
You Can’t Easily Resell: If you want to offload your equipment before your lease is over, you may run into some legal complications. Make sure you know your lessor’s policies before you try to transfer ownership to a third party.
Legal Complexity: There are a lot of different types of leases with a lot of different rules. Is the item an asset or an operating expense? Well, that depends on the type of lease you have! Are you responsible for maintenance and upkeep, or is the lessor? Again, it depends on the type of lease you have.
You Need Good Credit: Given the responsibilities that come with leasing, most lessors want to see a solid credit score

Advantages Of Buying

Tax-Deductible: As a business owner, you can write newly purchased equipment off of your taxes.
Cheaper: It’ll be a bigger expense up front, but over the longterm, you’ll have saved a good bit of money.
The Equipment Is Definitely Yours: Want to resell, modify, lend it to your cousin in Tallahassee, or smash it with a sledgehammer? You can! (Check your local laws regarding e-waste, though, if you take the smashing option.)
Less Complicated: Buying is simple. You exchange currency for ownership of the item. There’s not much fine print to sift through.

Disadvantages Of Buying

You Need Cash On Hand: Buying means paying the price of the equipment all at once. That means you have to have a decent chunk of cash in your reserves — or be willing to take out a loan. This can be a big ask for businesses that run on thin margins.
You’ll Be Stuck With Obsolete Equipment: Tech equipment isn’t the best long-term investment. Eventually, you’ll be stuck with obsolete gear that isn’t easy to get rid of. And on that note…
It Depreciates Quickly: Ever tried selling your iPhone four years after you bought it? Tech moves quickly.

Computer Leasing VS Buying: Which Is Better For Your Business?

There are advantages and disadvantages to both buying and leasing computers and IT equipment. Consider leasing equipment with a high turnover rate if you work in an industry where being on the bleeding edge is advantageous. On the other hand, if you have modest tech needs and can comfortably use the same gear for longer than five years, it may make more sense to just simply buy the equipment you need. There are additional considerations for businesses trying to smooth out their cash flows or otherwise apply their limited resources to maximum effect.

Don’t have the cash to buy outright but aren’t sure if a lease is right for you? Consider an equipment loan. Not sure where to look for equipment financing? Check out our Best Equipment Financing Companies. Just starting out and need equipment for your office? Try our guide on how to Get The Equipment You Need For Your Startup Business With A Loan Or Lease.

The post Tech Equipment Leasing VS Buying: Should You Lease Or Buy Computers & IT Equipment? appeared first on Merchant Maverick.

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May 28, 2020

Essential Guide To Choosing A Website Designer

This post originally appeared at Essential Guide To Choosing A Website Designer via ShivarWeb

So you need to know how to choose a website designer.

But here’s the problem.

“It depends” is both the most correct and the most unhelpful answer.

There have never been more choices in the website design industry than now. But paradoxically, all those choices make actually choosing more difficult than ever.

The secret to choosing wisely is to understand exactly what you need rather than attempting to sort & filter all the choices on offer.

Like any other large purchase… a house, car, appliance, etc – ditch the idea of a “best” – and instead, write out your exact needs, requirements, and goals. The best option for you will usually self-select itself.

In other words, choose a website designer through elimination based your goals rather than searching out the one right fit.

With that concept in mind, here’s how to walk through the process of elimination to choose the right website designer for your project.

1. Define Your Technology Needs

How do you need your website to function?

Are you looking to build a “brochure site” – a place with your basic information and contact information?

Or are you looking to build something with certain functionality?

This step is critical because it decides what type of web designer or developer or agency you’ll need to hire.

A pure-play web designer usually does not actually work with HTML / CSS, much less traditional web languages like Javascript, PHP, etc. Pure-play web designers usually work in Photoshop and focus on branding, color palettes, imagery, feel, and user experience.

A pure-play web designer will often work with a front-end web developer to implement a design. The front-end of a website is what the user sees & navigates. A front-end developer will know HTML / CSS and Javascript – and will be comfortable with “back-end” technologies.

Back-end technology involves databases, scripts, and APIs – and generally making sure the computers are all talking to each other correctly.

Now – you’ll likely hire someone who is an expert in one, is knowledgeable in another, and is familiar with the third. If you hire an agency, then they’ll have all three.

Additionally, many designers / developers / agencies will work with certain platforms that already have core functionality built-in. When they work with these platforms, it will speed up the process and lower the costs…but also means that the client (you) needs to have some familiarity with what tools they are using.

But the main thing you need to think about is how much functionality does your site need? This will determine what type of website designer you’ll need, and how to discuss their process.

What To Consider

What functionality do you want now?
How do you want your website to grow?
Do you need to edit & manage your site content?
Do your visitors need to work with the site at all?

What To Avoid

Avoid using vague concepts or ideas.
Avoid accidental technology lock-in.

Example Scenarios

Think about a new fashion brand. Are you more focused on developing content or retailing clothes? Do you need to manage inventory? Do you want to build a community? How do you want to integrate your social presence?

A web designer could build a self-hosted WordPress website to handle the content and then add-in ecommerce with an ecommerce plugin, but it might be harder to manage inventory & social integration. They could also build an online store with Shopify to focus on ecommerce & social, but might hamstring your big content plans.

Think about a new non-profit website. Do you have expertise to manage & maintain the website? Do you need donation abilities or portal logins? Do you need to integrate with certain profiles?

A web designer could build a self-hosted WordPress website that could easily integrate donations and would be cheap upfront, but it would be harder to maintain long-term without someone who can train on the platform. They could also use a hosted website builder like Wix or WordPress.com that might have fewer upfront capabilities, but would be much easier to maintain in-house over the long-term.

Now – the designer that you choose should be flexible but also knowledgeable. It’s better to trust someone that you trust…but also verify that they deeply understand your needs.

2. Define Your Design Needs

How do you want your website to look and feel?

Unless you’ve had to design something for a client, it’s hard to understand how difficult it is to translate a vague idea in someone else’s brain into a tangible creation.

Sure, there are bad designers out there, but usually, the more specific you are about your design needs, the better product you’ll get.

Draw out something – anything – to show even the most basic direction you’d like to go.

Collect websites that you like – and note what you like about them. Here’s a bunch of example round-ups that I’ve written.

Wix Website Examples
WordPress Website Examples
Professional Personal Website Examples
Online Portfolio Examples
Weebly Website Examples
GoDaddy Website Examples
Restaurant Website Examples
Church Website Examples
Shopify Website Examples

Write out your frustrations with existing designs.

Additionally, keep in mind that it’s possible to develop some design assets yourself and let a web designer translate those existing assets into a website design.

For example, I’ve had clients use a photographer and bring in a web designer to build a site layout around their amazing professional images. I’ve built sites around a 99designs logo that clients have already made. Some clients even use automated design generators like Tailor Brands to create a look that a web developer can plug & play into a theme or template.

Once you have all your specifics down – you can use it to choose the right web designer.

What To Consider

The right web designer will be able to tell you how achievable certain features, looks, etc are.
Think about what process you’d like to work with. Do you want choices at every stage? How do you like to give and receive feedback? What are the most important parts of the design? When budget inevitably comes up, what are you willing to cut or prioritize?

What To Avoid

Avoid designers who can’t tell you how they’ll approach a design problem. Look for designers who do not have a stated process.
A written design process is best for you and them. Feedback stages can go on forever and make everyone frustrated.
Avoid vague wishes – even with emotions, be as specific and as concrete as possible.

Example Scenarios

Think about a restaurant website. An established restaurant will likely already have quite a bit of design assets in its physical location. Between logos, fonts, colors, ambience, etc – a web designer should already have a good bit to work off. Hiring a designer will be less about getting the design right and more about the layout, navigation, and design asset conversion right.

Think about a brand-new yoga studio. A startup might need a website design that can translate offline and throughout social media. Here, the owner will need to make a choice about developing a logo & brand feel separately (via a specialist graphic designer or logo contractor or AI brand software) or letting the website designer drive the look of the business.

3. Define Your Business Needs

What role does your website serve in your business?

Some of this will go back to your design and technology needs, but it’s especially pressing to consider before you define your budget & scope.

Think about how your business gets customers and how you do your marketing.

How will/does your website drive leads/sales? Is it something that your referrals & salespeople will offer as a brochure…or will your website need to drive new leads from online visitors?

Will it need to integrate with any business processes such as inventory or bookkeeping or order-taking? Do you want to move your business processes to the website via marketing/sales automation?

Are there any existing software providers that you want to integrate with your website now or in the future?

What To Consider

Think about both the near and medium term needs of your business.
Think about your domain names – and how you want to setup your email and online services.
Think about the incremental value of your website – what number of leads could it drive? What is a new lead worth?

What To Avoid

Avoid too much complexity – integrations and versatility make your website last.
Avoid thinking of your website as a cost – it’s an investment.
Avoid designers who do not work with integrations or cannot build out features that you need.
Avoid designers who cannot make a business case for changing your existing business processes.
Avoid designers who cannot explain how & why their approach will work through the medium term.
Avoid quick, “duct-tape” solutions.

Example Scenarios

Think about a local property management. An accounting firm could do well with a “brochure website” that simply funnels people to the phone and in-person consults. A nice brochure website (i.e., a website that simple provides information) might do fine. But what if the firm wants to add in client tools, secure portals, content marketing, direct listings, etc? Those features would require a website that can expand and develop over time. It might be worth developing a self-hosted website with a designer on retainer.

Think about a new jewelry business. A jewelry business might do business exclusively on Etsy, and want a blog to connect with customers. It might be easy to get a custom theme on a hosted platform like WordPress.com. However, it also might be a better choice to go a different direction at the beginning to integrate Etsy or lay the foundation for a non-Etsy online store.

4. Define Your Budget & Scope

How much money and time do you have to spend right now?

And “as cheap as possible” is not an answer – if this is your thinking, you should not be looking for a custom website designer. You should look for alternative options.

Your website is an investment, not a cost. If you approach it the same way you’d approach bulk-buying office pens…then you’re not going to get the result you want.

Now – I understand the desire to get the biggest return for your investment. But remember that it’s usually better to maximize your return rather than minimize your investment.

What To Consider

Think about your existing cashflow situation. Write out what a single new lead is worth.
Write out existing costs of having a poor or non-existent website.
Write out features, functionality, and design choices that you’d prioritize.
Think about payoff period and amortize your budget. In other words, if you budget $10,000 – and you expect the site to last 50 months, then that is $200/mo. Does that match your expected value?

What To Avoid

Avoid thinking about your budget in a silo – always tie it to scope or value.
Avoid thinking that you can have everything. Think about keeping your options open.
Avoid thinking about having a one and done project. Think about ongoing costs to either you, your staff or your designer.

5. Define Your Sources & Alternative Options

What type of designer do you want? And how do you find them?

The bad news is that most good website designers are not super-easy to find.

The good news is that your competitors don’t know that. If you put in a bit of work to find the right website designers – you’ll have a much better range of choices.

What To Consider

Good website designers have plenty of work. If someone is spending a lot of money on advertising & acquisition, then they are probably a giant agency with a churn and burn process.
Good website designers want to work with good clients. I used to work with web design clients, and I would take a great client for half-pay over a bad client. In fact, at a certain point, there’s not enough money in the world to take on a bad client.
Conversations and back and forths are not billable. That is not good for you or the designer. The more specific you are, the better.

What To Avoid

Googling what everyone else is googling.
Expecting more from a person or platform than is reasonable given how much effort you’ve put in.

Where To Look

Now – you could always do a Google Search. But I promise that you will likely be disappointed. Here are some better places to look.

For local designer / developer

Local web designers are usually horrendous at marketing their services. But many clients want a local designer that they can talk to in person.

Your approach will depend on your metro area, of course, but here’s where I’d look.

Look for meetups to stalk. Web designers are always looking to upgrade skills and you can usually find some at a local workshop, class or meetup.
Do a really specific Google search – one with search operators. Like this.
Ask your favorite local businesses for referrals.
Use city specific directories – this works especially well in smaller metros.

For a WordPress designer / developer

WordPress is an incredibly versatile content management system. It’s not ideal for every site, but it’s like 4 door SUV / Sedan of the Internet. It’ll probably do the job for you.

Now – the issue is that basically anybody can call themselves a “WordPress developer” – even if they really don’t know how the software works at its core.

It’s important to do #1 and #2 – because you’ll need to know if you are hiring a designer / developer who works with WordPress as their software of choice vs. someone who actually develops websites with WordPress.

Here’s where I’d look –

Stalk local WordPress meetups.
Stalk the attendees of WordCamps – big gatherings of designers who use WordPress.
Stalk the community support forums of WordPress.org
Do an incredibly specific Google search with something like intext:”Work with me”

One side note about WordPress designers – since they’ll likely use certain themes/theme frameworks – you’ll be able to negotiate a bit more on scope and do more with DIY.

For [other platform] designer / developer

Now there are plenty of other software options out there – especially “hosted options” like Squarespace, Weebly, Shopify, Wix, Bigcommerce, etc.

The key here is to understand the technology and what exactly you are buying (ie, you are paying more for a custom design over functionality since the hosted option bundles lots of functionality in with your hosting).

Lean heavily on the services’ support forums and Experts Exchange to find prospective designers.

For a general designer / developer

The great thing about web design is that you can work with a global talent pool if you want. There are challenges to working remotely but a lot of upside if you can do it well.

Again, for this search, I’d recommend relying more on internal platforms over random searches. Here’s a few examples.

99designs is a good option for contest-run design only competitions. I’ve implemented designs that my clients have bought through them. Here’s my general review.

Dribbble is the big hangout for designers doing cutting edge work.

Most developers will have a profile on Github or StackExchange or HackerNews. Look for ones who have good answers.

Fiverr is a surprisingly good platform if you are willing to try a few gigs before committing to a single designer. I’ve used them for several side projects.

Upwork is also good if you are willing to do a test project with several designers before choosing.

Tailor Brands is an AI-powered self-service platform that will develop a logo and entire branding setup for less than $100.

You’ll also find that vendors on ThemeForest will do custom work in addition to other marketplaces like CreativeMarket.

The point here is that a bit more effort into searching for good designers will give you much better options than general googling.

Alternatives to a Custom Website Designer

Now if you’re thinking “ok – I just need a simple, straightforward website, not a roundabout search” – then you’ll want to look into some Alternative Options.

Skip down to some alternate ways to get a website without having to choose a website designer.

6. Ask for Proposals

Now that you have a few website designers to choose from, the next step is to send out a proposal.

The better your proposal, the better your options will be.

Think about how you would like to be approached if you were a web designer.

Would you prefer a vague email asking how much a website costs? Or would you prefer a detailed description of a the project along with a ballpark budget range?

What To Consider

Providing a ballpark budget is the fastest, simplest & most accurate way to get on the same page as a website designer. Your budget does not determine your end cost – but it does determine who you even talk to. As an analogy – it’s how website designers know whether you are shopping for a used Toyota Corolla or a brand-new Ferrari.
Make your project easy to say yes to. Keep the next step & primary ask simple and straightforward (ie, “are you interested in the project?”, “if interested, what additional details do you need?”)

What To Avoid

Avoid sending lots of feeler emails with no intention of hiring.
Avoid sending an email with too much information or too many asks.

7. Follow up with Questions & Request for References & Portfolio

However the designer communicates upfront is how the project will progress. Communication never improves over a project – it only degrades. Look for a high benchmark to start.

What To Consider

You are using your requirements, questions, and details to get prospective web designers to rule themselves out.
Think about your priorities – sending too many questions is just as bad as too few.

What To Avoid

Avoid dictating the entire process. Remember that the designer’s questions for you can tell you as much as your questions for them.
Avoid making the designer do too much back and forth. If you think a call will be necessary during the design process, do this entire step via a phone call.

8. Request Contract & Project Plan (and declines)

Tangible expectations in writing help everyone in every engagement.

At this point, you should be able to choose a website designer.

The next step is to request a contract and a project plan from the designer that you want to work with.

A written contract helps *everyone* in the project. The contract should spell out “deliverables”, costs, responsibilities, intellectual property rights, and an adjudicating body.

A project plan helps *everyone* understand expectations, responsibilities, and timelines. This does not have to be complicated. It should communicate clearly though who is responsible for what and when.

Lastly, for the designers that you did not choose, be sure to send a polite decline. Even if it’s as simple as “Thank you for providing this information. We have decided to work with another company. We will keep your company in mind for future project & referrals.” You’ll save the everyone needless follow-ups.

9. Follow up & Communicate Clearly

A good website designer cannot help a bad client.

What To Consider

The website is going to be *yours* so you need to make sure you have all the information you need to make decisions.
Make sure you have all the technical documentation in your control.
Remember that a lot of design work depends on fast, accurate feedback.
Budget for not only time but also money for incidentals (ie, photography) and technical issues.

What To Avoid

Interrupting the project plan and micromanaging.
Providing the wrong feedback at the wrong stage.
Avoid verbal conversations without follow-up written documentation. Phone call notes are essential.

Conclusion & Next Steps

Choosing a website designer does not have to be a daunting process full of frustration and unknowns.

It does require that you clearly understand what you want, when you want it, and to clearly communicate your expectations.

If you are trying to find a good website designer – follow the process and you’ll be set!

Alternate Conclusion & Next Steps

Now – if you have read this post and found it useful…but…

You’re thinking “I just need a website! It’s 2020 – I just need a simple, affordable, quick standard website – not a complicated purchase with contracts and whatnot”

I hear you. I have friends who have been there. And there are options out there – but it’s not a quality custom website designer.

Here’s some options –

#0 – DIY w/ Automated Branding & Design

Many design options (including the ones below) require you to coordinate your branding, even if you are able to purchase assets like a logo or social media photos. But that leaves a lot up to you.

There is one company that focuses on completely automated branding – Tailor Brands. I’ve begun using them for my side projects. They AI and machine learning to create a whole range of design assets & guidelines.

They also have a bundled website builder or you can use them to complement #1 through #3. Check out Tailor Brands here. Read my review here.

Other website builders also bundle a logo designer with their software. Wix has a template driven logo designer as does Shopify.

#1 – DIY with a Website Builder

There are companies that specialize in businesses with a budget and no design or technical expertise. They provide hosting and pre-made templates all for a single monthly subscription. You might not get all the functionality that you want…but you will get a secure, fast, good looking website.

To find the right website one, take my website builder quiz or see my recommendations here.

I also have an online store builder quiz with recommendations here if you need ecommerce.

#2 – DIY with self-hosted WordPress

WordPress is a the most popular, most supported, and most versatile “content management system” on the Internet. It’s free community supported software that you install on a hosting account (ie, you rent part of a server from a hosting company). The software has a learning curve, but you’ll have 100% control and 100% of your options open. You’ll also be able to call in specific experts on specific problems. Or install do-it-all themes / templates.

I wrote a WordPress Website Setup Guide here.

#3 – Purchase Website Design from a Hosting Company

This option is a blend of #1 and #2 – if you want full control over your site with unlimited options for the future…but don’t want the learning curve of setting up a design yourself, then you can sometimes purchase website design services from a hosting company. They are usually able to provide these services much cheaper than an independent website designer since you’re also using their hosting services.

For these projects, I recommend InMotion Hosting – they have great support and are the hosting company for this website. See their design services here.

Other resources include –

How To Try WordPress Before Purchasing
Choosing Your Website Color Palette
Features Customer Want in a Local Website
Building Different Types of Websites with Templates

For any specific questions, see my contact page.

“”

May 26, 2020

How to Build a Minimally Viable Website

This post originally appeared at How to Build a Minimally Viable Website via ShivarWeb

So you want to get your product/service/thoughts in front of an audience, and you need a website. Time to buckle down and create a massive, beautiful site, right?

Wrong.

When you’re launching anything, the most important goal is to get data. Without data, you can’t possibly make something as good as it can be — and that applies to your website, too.

You need data on what it takes to build & run the site of your dreams. You need data on who actually visits your site and what they do. You need data to decide what to do next.

One of the biggest mistakes business owners make when launching a website is starting too big and too well-designed (especially eCommerce sites).

You don’t need pages and pages of content or a fancy design. What you do need is a minimally viable website.

Here’s how to build one…

Define Your Goals

Before you do anything, you need to decide what you want to achieve with your website. What do you want people to do once they’re there? If you’re looking to make sales, what are your revenue goals?

This part of the process may seem counterintuitive — after all, this article is about creating the minimally viable product — but it’s key to building your site on the right foot.

Defining your goals upfront will help you know what to look for in the data you get and whether or not you’re on the right path, so don’t skip this step.

Choose Your Platform & Domain

Most business owners feel like their website has to use fancy tools and platforms to get the job done. Not so. In fact, a simple HTML template can be all you need (you can even host it for free with a Dropbox hack if that’s your thing).

If you’re into WordPress or some other website builder and can churn out a quick website, then go that route. Weebly and Wix both offer free plans on their subdomain.

The point here is to get your content somewhere quickly and simply but to also keep your options open for when you’re ready to make changes (and to track data).

Some companies like InMotion Hosting have a specific quick start setup service for $99 + hosting (which you need anyway). Companies like NameCheap will also bundle it with your domain.

A custom domain can be important – but remember that you can always change it. Your goal right now is data – not perfection. Go get a cheap domain from NameCheap or GoDaddy.

Set Up Analytics + Goals

Speaking of tracking data… the whole point of an MVP (or MVW in this case) is to capture data so you can find what works and what doesn’t. In order to be able to capture this information, you need to set up analytics and goal tracking.

There are a lot of options, but Google Analytics is the go-to solution (it’s also free).

The key is to make sure you have goals set up based on whatever action you want people to take. If you’re an eCommerce store, you need to be sure you have an eCommerce checkout set up. Make sure it’s a goal. Make sure the whole package is working correctly because you have to accurately track conversions (aka sales) – if you are using a minimally viable payment solution like PayPal or Gumroad – this might mean simply setting the thank you page redirect.

If you’re looking for email opt-ins, make that a goal. Set up any action you’re looking at as a conversion in Google Analytics for tracking. And like eCommerce sales, you don’t have to get fancy. This might mean setting your MailChimp thank you page redirect as the sign-up goal.

If you plan on marketing your website (which you should), you should also link Google Analytics to Google Ads and set up a retargeting audience with Google Analytics.

And lastly, you should set up a Facebook Ads account and place a retargeting (audience pixel) cookie on your website. And learn what exactly Google Analytics does.

Set Up Focus Pages

As I’ve already mentioned, you don’t need a 100+ page website on your first launch. When you’re creating a minimally viable website, you should focus on setting up a few landing pages where you can send traffic for conversion.

In some cases, this can actually be done with a single page.

Take this website: Fix the Electoral College. I built this with a single HTML file hosted on a Google Cloud account. I never wanted to build an entire website dedicated to the structure of American politics with all the security updates and information architecture needs — just a single, shareable resource. This single page website got clicks and shares from hundreds of key state legislators in a very targeted Twitter / Facebook campaign. Mission accomplished!

The goal is to create very specific pages (or a page) that visitors can land on and take action. If you can do that in one page — awesome! Do that. If you need more than one, then take that route. Just remember that this should be as simple and clear as possible and focused around whatever conversion you’re looking to measure.

Test, Test, Test

Once you’ve got your website up, it’s time to start testing and optimizing. The goal here is to keep what works and get rid of what doesn’t.

Keep in mind that everything you do will conform to the 80/20 Principle. I’ve seen lots of analytics profiles across a wide range of industries. In every single one, every metric conforms to 80/20.

20% of the products make up 80% of sales.
20% of content drives 80% of organic traffic.
20% of ad spend drives 80% of revenue.

When evaluating your website, keep your focus on the 20% that matters, and keep expanding the overall amount of opportunity. If you’ve never read much about the concept, check out the original 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch AND the follow-up 80/20 for Sales & Marketing by Perry Marshall.

Next Steps

Now that you’ve got your minimally viable website, it’s time to take some concrete next steps. Remember, this isn’t about more planning. It’s about action. The whole point of launching your MVP site is to get feedback so that you know what to do next.

Check out InMotion’s Quick Start service or NameCheap’s one-pager that will bundle with a domain purchase.

To get that feedback, you’ll need to get people to your site and taking action. Check out this guide to promoting your website (for free) to get started.

Once you’ve gathered data – you’ll need to set up a more permanent website with more options. You’ll want to explore my essential guide to eCommerce platforms or my WordPress website guide or my guide to website builders.

“”

May 26, 2020

There Is Still Over $100B Left In PPP Funding: Should Your Small Business Apply?

As the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered businesses around the country, the Paycheck Protection Program, or PPP, was created by the passage of the CARES Act in late March. The goal of the PPP is to provide struggling businesses with forgivable loans to be used on operational costs, starting with payroll. Unfortunately, the initial $349 billion in funding authorized for the program was exhausted in just under two weeks due to overwhelming demand. When another $310 billion in funding for PPP loans was passed on April 24, it was feared that this second round of funding would be depleted just as quickly as was the first round.

However, in a webinar hosted by iHeartRadio on May 21st, the SBA confirmed recent reports that the PPP program still has over $100 billion in funding left to distribute. If your business has been suffering from the effects of COVID-19, you may still be able to get a PPP loan if you apply soon.

In addition to the above, the SBA released the following clarifications in its May 21 webinar:

Per the PPP Interim Final Rule, funding is on a first-come, first-serve basis; lenders should not hold or delay applications
Applications are approved by the lender, which sends them to the SBA for verification
- If you applied before Phase 2 (before April 27), check with your lender to see if your application went into the SBA’s system
- If you applied in Phase 2 (on or after April 27), confirm your lender has all it needs to submit your application to the SBA
A lender has up to 10 days after the SBA verifies the PPP loan for the disbursement
Upon receipt, consider using a separate bank account to track expenditures for forgiveness

Let’s talk more about the PPP program and the issues it’s had thus far.

Why Businesses Arenât Applying For The PPP

Many businesses have refrained from applying for PPP loans thus far. For some businesses, the reason is simple: they haven’t needed the funding. Other businesses have been deterred from applying by uncertainty surrounding the forgiveness rules — we’ll get into that in a moment.

Other business owners may have a need for additional capital due to the virus but may not be aware that a second round of funding for the PPP program was passed. Still others may have been discouraged by widespread reports of problems encountered by those who have applied for PPP funds. While these problems have been very real for the businesses affected, over $500 billion in funding has been distributed through the PPP thus far. Even accounting for the fact that some of this funding has unfortunately gone to healthy and/or politically-connected entities, that’s a significant transfer of money to PPP loan applicants.

Thankfully, if you apply soon, your business may still receive some of the money that remains in the funding pool.

Are Forgiveness Rules Going To Change?

As I mentioned, uncertainty regarding the conditions by which PPP loans can be forgiven has been a significant deterrent to businesses that may otherwise qualify for PPP funds. Additionally, some business owners have feared that they may face penalties or other legal consequences if an audit by the SBA concludes that they didn’t meet the threshold for “needing” the loan. However, on May 13th, it was announced that business owners with loans under $2 million will not face additional scrutiny by the SBA regarding their need for PPP funds and will not face penalties.

However, even if businesses won’t face the possibility of penalties for “unnecessarily” receiving a PPP loan under $2 million, you still need to use the money as laid out by the SBA’s rules in order to have your loan forgiven. To that end, bipartisan legislation has been proposed that would, if enacted, relax the forgiveness requirements by doing the following:

Let PPP borrowers use the money on payrolls for more than the eight weeks specified under the original program
Relax a requirement that 75% of the loans be used for payroll expenses
Give PPP borrowers more than two years to pay back any portion of the loan that doesn’t get forgiven
Allow businesses receiving PPP loans to receive a payroll tax deferment

This legislation — known as The Paycheck Protection Flexibility Act — has not yet been passed, but its broad support in Congress makes its eventual passage relatively likely.

Should Your Small Business Apply For The PPP?

Essentially, if your business has suffered due to the coronavirus pandemic and you could use funding to cover payroll and other business expenses, you should apply for a PPP loan ASAP.

I’m sure it’s discouraging to hear about people getting the runaround after applying for a PPP loan. Many business owners have written to us about their Kafkaesque difficulties in getting these needed funds. Simply put, the federal government has let down countless business owners at the worst possible time. Nonetheless, over $500 billion in PPP funding has been distributed so far, and over $100 billion remains. Apply now, and you’ll still have a shot at getting a PPP loan.

Learn More About The Paycheck Protection Program

If you’re thinking of applying but want to know more about the Paycheck Protection Program, how to apply, and how to ultimately have your loan forgiven, Merchant Maverick has a number of PPP-related resources to help you.

Start with SBA PPP Loans Explained for an overview of how the program works, who qualifies, and where to apply.
Then, check out How To Apply For A PPP Loan for information on taking the next step.
Read our article Your Guide To PPP Forgiveness Rules for more on how to have your PPP loan forgiven.

For more on how to get your business through the crisis at hand, check out ourÂ COVID-19 hub for all the latest developments. We’ve been updating it continuously to give you the most up-to-date guidance and resources possible.

The post There Is Still Over $100B Left In PPP Funding: Should Your Small Business Apply? appeared first on Merchant Maverick.

“”

May 25, 2020

GoDaddy Email Problems: Solving Issues w/ Forms & Not Receiving Email

This post originally appeared at GoDaddy Email Problems: Solving Issues w/ Forms & Not Receiving Email via ShivarWeb

For years, I’ve had issues with email forms on websites hosted at GoDaddy. Whether I was trying to get a contact form in WordPress to work, or simply forward emails within cPanel, the whole troubleshooting process was just a pain.

The GoDaddy email issue especially pops up when a client switches from GoDaddy email hosting to a 3rd party email host like Google, Zoho, NameCheap, etc.

And it turns out that it’s not just me. It’s a documented issue with everything from WooCommerce to other non-WordPress software.

But GoDaddy’s documentation is straight-up horrible and poking around StackOverflow / Googling developer forums gets old after a while. So here’s a short guide to GoDaddy form email problems that I wish I had several years ago.

Background

There are a few concepts to understand before picking a solution.

1. Your website form does not actually “send” the email.

Instead, the data goes like this –

User types information into the form
Form passes data to WordPress (or your CMS)
WordPress (or your CMS) passes data to your web host via PHP
Your web host actually transmits the email with its email header information

2. Email Sending & Receiving Is Incredibly Insecure

There is a reason why you generally can’t contact your doctor via email. And there’s a reason why you get so much spam.

Email is inherently insecure. It’s fairly easy to fake the sending and receiving address (aka “spoofing”). Hosting companies and the big email providers spend a ton of money and thought on authenticating email headers. And a lot of this authentication is based on reputation. So, hosting companies don’t want their servers to get a bad reputation for sending spam.

3. GoDaddy has a uniquely bad email problem & a uniquely strict email security solution

Depending on how you count, GoDaddy is the largest single domain registrar and hosting brand in the world. With that kind of scale, they have unique problems with dealing with spam.

However, they have also split from the rest of the industry in creating a security protocol. Their solutions get technical, but they basically block an entire range of ports for sending emails from cPanel / servers in addition to filtering out form emails sent “from” the big email providers like Google, Yahoo!, AOL, etc.

That’s justifiable…except for the fact that GoDaddy is the only host that I’ve used that has these sorts of email issues. They are incredibly strict with their email security – to the point that, well, I have to write guides like this.

Solutions

So what can you do? I’ve tried hacking around with all sorts of settings – including disabling some website security settings (bad idea). But I’ve generally ended up with 2 go-to fixes for the problem.

Use SMTP Authentication for Forms

SMTP is “simple mail transfer protocol.” It’s the Internet-standard way of authenticating and sending email. The great thing about SMTP is that you can sync it directly with your forms / WordPress / CMS.

So instead of passing the email to your web host to send, you can “send” it directly via whoever handles your email.

In other words, this solution simply cuts your web host out of the equation.

If you are using WordPress, you can install a plugin like Easy WP SMTP or WP Mail SMTP.

You’ll need to install the plugin and configure your SMTP settings based on your provider. Once installed, it basically replaces the standard WP_Mail function with your email provider. So any submission to your form is like someone sending you an email directly to your inbox.

Upsides

You can keep using GoDaddy hosting without dealing with a migration.
Your forms should all send correctly.
The process is fairly quick and straightforward.

Downsides

It’s still a bit clunky to install just right.
Any mistake with SMTP settings will create delivery failed notifications.
It may create conflicts for any plugins that use WP_Mail functionality (ie, uptime alerts, etc).
You’ll have to maintain & update another plugin.

One of my clients used this solution for more than 4 years without issue. It worked and it made sense at the time.

Now – that last bullet downside finally got us. The SMTP plugin we used was no longer maintained. So with that, combined with other factors, it made sense to move to the longer-term solution.

Switch Hosting Providers

Like I’ve said in many hosting reviews, using GoDaddy for hosting is fine. They are cheap – and they integrate with their other products. They are usually “good enough” to use to just get started.

However, they have enough limitations – and even quirks like this – that switching hosting companies from GoDaddy is usually the best long-term option.

In the case of one client, I moved his website to InMotion Hosting and haven’t had any email issues since.

I’ve also used InMotion Hosting for this site for quite a while (read their pros/negatives here) – and have since tried out multiple contact forms. Every form from FS Contact Form to Contact Form 7 to my current JetPack contact form has worked well.

Now – it’s still ideal from an email security perspective to use SMTP rather than the default PHP mailer – however, their uniform and well-documented email setup at least allows more flexibility in my email/form setup.

Upsides

You get more flexibility with setting up forms & email.
Your forms will work with the default WordPress setup.
A move will likely pay off long-term with pricing & more advanced features.

Downsides

Migrating your website can be a heavy lift to solve a single issue – depending on how many services you have with GoDaddy.
You may want to install & work with an SMTP plugin regardless.

Next Steps

Forms & email are a critical part of any business website. Not receiving your emails or form submissions via GoDaddy’s servers is not really an option.

You can solve the problem in the short-term on WordPress with an SMTP plugin.

However, to solve for the long-term, you’ll want to move hosting companies to somewhere like InMotion Hosting or another good business host based on your goals & preferences or simply another good email hosting company.

“”

May 21, 2020

Is Your Business Ready For A Second Wave Of COVID-19?

In much of the US, small businesses have been given the green light to reopen after several weeks of closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But with new cases and deaths still rising and no vaccine on the immediate horizon, experts warn that the coronavirus will likely be with us for some time. Though some types of businesses may be able to implement adequate provisions for social distancing, it is feared that the loosening of social distancing restrictions throughout the country could result in another wave of cases.

There’s still so much we don’t know about the novel coronavirus, but we know a lot more than we did a few months ago. Every day, we are learning more about how businesses can safely reopen, and how they can pivot to stay profitable in these new times. As the weeks go on, we’ll also learn more about what’s not safe and what does not work. In this post, we’ll take a look at some precautions you can take to prepare your business for a possible second wave of COVID-19.

Why The Second Wave Of The Coronavirus Could Be Harder Than The First

You’ve probably heard a lot about the coronavirus possibly being in our lives for 18-24 months. The reason is that this is the amount of time it could take for us to either a) develop a vaccine or b) develop herd immunity against the virus. But what exact course the virus will take in those 18 months to two years is unknown.

A new report from the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) presents three possible scenarios for the coronavirus, which are based on what scientists know about COVID-19 as well as historical pandemics. Scenario 1 is that after the spring 2020 wave subsides, we get that big dreaded “second wave” we hear so much about this fall or winter, with some smaller waves occurring periodically thereafter. In that scenario, which emulates the 1918-1919 Spanish flu pandemic, the second wave is even bigger and deadlier than the first. This model also reflects the warning from CDC director Robert Redfield, who cautioned that a second wave of the coronavirus in fall or winter could potentially be even more devastating than the first, partly because it will coincide with flu season.

Another scenario presented in the report is that after spring 2020, we’ll see a series of peaks and valleys of the virus over a one- to two-year period, varying by geographic region. CIDRAP says that, depending on the height of the wave peaks, this scenario could require “periodic reinstitution and subsequent relaxation of mitigation measures over the next 1 to 2 years.”

The third scenario posited by CIDRAP is that we’ll see more of a “slow burn” with ongoing low levels of transmission but no major spikes. While this hasn’t happened in past pandemics, the scientists say it remains a possibility for SARS-CoV-2 and one which likely would not require reinstitution of stay-at-home orders or strict social distancing measures.

So it’s pretty clear to see how second waves, third waves, and so forth, will impact businesses and potentially require new lockdowns restricting business activity. While we can be cautiously optimistic that the worst-case scenarios won’t come true, we also need to be prepared for the possibility of a second wave of the virus that could result in more business restrictions and lockdowns.

It’s also a sad reality that even if the second wave is less severe from a health perspective, the economic toll of another prolonged closure (partial or otherwise) could be the final nail in the coffin for many small businesses still trying to recover from the economic effects of the first closure.

Is It Safe To Reopen Yet?

With no national quarantine or coronavirus-related business restrictions in place, states are each making their own decisions about reopening businesses. Individual counties and cities have their own business restrictions as well, with some cities and counties requiring masks at places of business and others having no such requirement. As both the pandemic and the recession continue to deepen, there’s a lot of discussion about how to balance economic health and public health, and also whether local governments are being too hasty about reopening businesses.

When you look at what businesses are doing now, there is a lot of variance from one region to the next, with some states, such as California, maintaining stricter social distancing protocols. For instance, California restaurants can offer takeout and delivery but not dine-in service. California is also doing some phased reopening — such as allowing curbside pickup for retail — in response to effective curve-flattening measures that have slowed the growth of new cases and deaths. Higher-risk businesses that require close contact with other people, including salons, barbers, gyms, and theaters, remain closed.

Meanwhile, in states such as Tennessee, dine-in restaurants are already open, as are salons and gyms. Tennessee is also lifting the 50% capacity restrictions on retail and restaurants, effective May 22. The state is even allowing large attractions, such as theaters, amusement parks, water parks, museums, and auditoriums, to reopen, also on May 22.

So, sticking with those two examples, are Tennessee businesses jumping the gun on reopening, even inviting a second wave? While California does have more than four times as many cases as Tennessee, the share of the population that’s infected is actually higher in Tennessee — one in 391 in Tennessee and one in 489 in California, according to New York Times data.

While time will tell the true impact of business reopenings during the pandemic, based on what immunologists tell us about where you are most likely to be infected by COVID-19 — indoor spaces with lots of people — it’s easy to see how even a single transmission event in a crowded gym or restaurant could cause a local outbreak and resulting business closures.

Again, some types of businesses may be able to reopen a lot more safely than others. It’s possible that, given the right circumstances, even higher-risk businesses such as salons may be able to safely reopen with stepped-up health and safety measures. It will be largely up to business owners (and their local governments) to decide if and how they can safely reopen, but generally, the better safety measures you can put in place, the better protected your business will be against a second wave of the coronavirus.

8 Things You Need To Do To Prepare Your Business

What do business owners need to do to get ready for future outbreaks? What should you have learned, and what should you be prepared to do the second time around? Let’s look at some specific things business owners can do to prepare for another wave of COVID-19.

Invest In Safety

Both to reassure customers and prevent your business from being a source of infection, it’s essential that you step up the health and safety policies of your store or restaurant. Whether that means investing in better personal protective equipment for your staff, putting up signs to encourage social distancing, or improving your building’s ventilation system, you can’t go wrong with a cleaner, healthier business. While most businesses have already implemented some enhanced safety measures, it’s likely you still have some room for improvement, especially if you initially implemented safety measures made for short-term/temporary use.

If you’ve received an EIDL or PPP loan from the SBA, you might consider spending some of it on safety-related supplies, such as PPE, or enhanced sick leave for your staff to discourage them from coming into work sick. (Note that you can only spend 25% of a PPP on non-payroll expenses.)

Revisit Staffing Plans

As businesses reopen, they are having to reevaluate their staffing needs going forward. In some cases, businesses have received PPP funds, but their employees don’t want to come back; other businesses are shutting their doors for good because their loan still hasn’t come through. As the crisis drags on, it’s necessary to view staffing with a long-term view and consideration of what you will do if a second wave forces you to close again. For example, if you’re currently seeing an uptick in demand after reopening, do you need more staff urgently, or can you wait to hire till later to avoid laying people off in the event of another closure?

A POS with employee management can help you make smart scheduling decisions. It’s also a good idea to communicate openly with your employees about your staffing plans because they are probably just as anxious as you about what will happen.

Work On Your Online Presence

If it wasn’t clear already, the pandemic has shown us that having an online presence is an essential tool for communicating with customers about changes to your hours, policies, and other crucial information customers need. Before visiting a business these days, we are more likely than ever to check the business’s website or Yelp profile — we want to make sure they’re still open, and in what capacity. Ahead of a possible second wave, it’s absolutely necessary to get in the habit of routinely updating your website and social media profiles with your current information. You can also use your website and social media for marketing, including offering special online sales during a closure.

If you don’t have a website for your business, you may be able to set one up through your POS — for example, Square POS lets you set up a basic website in minutes. You can also use a website builder to set up a professional website; read Best Website Builders For Small Businesses to learn about options.

Set Up eCommerce Sales

Small business websites have also become an increasingly vital sales channel during the coronavirus pandemic, as eCommerce = socially distanced commerce. If your business doesn’t have eCommerce options, it’s time to set them up. Depending on your business model and industry, you may want to implement the following eCommerce options:

Online Ordering/Local Delivery: Customers can order items or food from your website and have the items shipped or delivered to their homes.
Curbside Pickup/Order Ahead: Customers order from your website and then visit your store to pick them up without having to go inside.
QR Code Shopping: Customers can scan an item’s QR code in your store or store window and then buy the item online.
Online Gift Cards: Customers can buy digital or physical gift cards from your website and spend them on your website or in your store at a later date.
Contactless Payments: This is more of a POS option that can allow for socially distanced payments, but adding a digital payment option, such as Apple Pay,Â can also add another convenient option for customers to pay on your website with one click.
Social Media Selling: Even if you don’t have a full-on eCommerce website, you can sell products and services on social media. Multichannel POS systems, such as Shopify, make it easy to sell on social media, and Square also has a new Square Online Checkout payment option that makes it easy for customers to buy straight from your social media page.

Gather Important Paperwork In One Place

Being organized is key when applying for financing or any kind of aid. If you need a second round of emergency loans, speed will be essential. Make sure you keep all your important paperwork in one place, so you can access it when you need it. If you have received a PPP loan, you’ll also need to keep good documentation practices for when it comes time to apply for PPP forgiveness or if you are unlucky enough to face a PPP audit.

Look At Sales Data

When you need to pare-down operations (reduced business hours, limited customer capacity, online-only, etc.), you need to be super-strategic about what you sell. To this end, your point of sale system should have a wealth of POS data about when you were busiest, what sold well, slow-selling items, etc. You can leverage that data to do things, such as raise prices on hot sellers, lower food costs on a higher-cost dish (for restaurants), adjust your hours and staffing based on your busiest times, and much more.

Small businesses that can use data wisely to adapt quickly are in the best position to survive a second wave of the coronavirus and even a prolonged economic downturn. If you do not have a modern cloud POS with good reporting and analytics, now might be the time to upgrade. Check out our top POS software comparison to look at some of your best options.

Prepare For Shortages & Price Fluctuations

The pandemic has drastically affected the global supply chain, and it is very likely that your business could see shortages of products, supplies, ingredients, or raw materials. Even if you can get the items you need for your business, you may have to deal with price increases. These shortages and resulting price increases could be exacerbated by future waves of the virus, even if your immediate region is not affected. For example, restaurants are now seeing meat shortages and higher meat prices due to outbreaks at meat-processing plants.

In some cases, however, you might get lucky and see price decreases for some supplies, due to decreased demand and possible deflation. For example, gas prices tumbled during the early days of the pandemic. Overall, US producer prices posted their largest annual drop in five years in April 2020. The downside to falling prices is that customers will expect lower prices as well.

For more insight into the supply chain and COVID-19, read Why Small Business Owners Need To Understand Supply Chain & Risk Mitigation: COVID-19 Edition.

Analyze Cashflow

During times of uncertainty, it’s important to keep a close eye on your business finances and your cash flow in particular. Crunch your numbers and project your future earnings under different scenarios. If you’re facing another closure, how could your cash flow be affected? What about debts? If you’re not used to making these sorts of calculations, it might be a good idea to employ the services of a financial advisor who can offer a cash flow analysis and give you sound advice about how to handle your business’s finances in the current climate. Accounting software can also help.

15 Resources To Help You Weather Another Wave Of COVID-19

Here is a list of resources you can use to adapt your business to the new times we’re living through. Use these resources to learn more about socially distanced selling, emergency financing, and software that can help you sell smarter during COVID-19.

Take Advantage Of These Small Business Grants For Coronavirus Relief: Find out if your coronavirus-affected small business is eligible for a COVID-19 relief grant from an organization, such as Facebook, Amazon, Spanx, or others.
5 Clever Marketing Tactics For Small Businesses During The Coronavirus Pandemic: Keeping in touch with customers is even more important as businesses temporarily close or switch to online and delivery. Here are five marketing tactics to help.
Social Distancing For Small Business: How You Can Adapt & Survive The Coronavirus:Â Social distancing can help contain the COVID-19 pandemic, but it has hit small businesses hard. Your business can weather the storm by getting creative.
Coronavirus Payments Guide: Everything You Need To Know About Switching To Online & Phone Payments: This article has everything you need to know about accepting payments online and over the phone instead of in-person.
Quick Business Loans: The 6 Best Lenders & 10 Tips For Fast Approval:Â Looking for fast cash for your business? Read this one for a look at six reputable lenders that provide quick business loans and fast approval.
What The Coronavirus Means For eCommerce & What Your Business Can Do About It:Â What does the coronavirus mean for eCommerce business? Learn the top eCommerce trends and how your small business can leverage them.
Everything You Need To Know About NFC Technology & Why NFC Payments Are The Future:Â Are you ready for the future of payments? Business owners should learn how NFC works and adopt contactless to protect customers — and yourself.
The Business Owner’s Retail Guide To Surviving The Coronavirus:Â Are you a small business retailer worried about the state of your business? Check the top tips and resources to keep your business strong during COVID-19.
Coronavirus Survival Guide For Restaurants:Â Learn how your restaurant business can adapt to new business conditions in the age of coronavirus, including resources on how you can save your business from closing and continue serving customers during this crisis.
5 POS Systems With Exceptional eCommerce Integrations For Online Sellers:Â eCommerce sales are growing, but retail stores arenât going away any time soon. Get the best of both worlds with these great eCommerce-friendly POS systems.
Restaurant Delivery Guide: Everything You Need To Know About Implementing In-House Delivery: Considering expanding your restaurantâs services to include delivery? Hereâs what you need to know to implement restaurant delivery successfully.
What Is Square Online Checkout? Your Guide To Using This New Square Payment Option:Â Square just launched a brand new payment service called Square Online Checkout. Learn about this online payment option and how it can help businesses in the age of coronavirus.
Why Point Of Sale Data Is The Secret To Understanding Your Business And Making More Sales:Â Your small business is sitting on a gold mine of information locked away in your POS system. Learn how to use that point of sale data to your benefit.
Easy Accounting Software For Small Businesses: Find easy accounting software for your business no matter what your level of accounting experience is. These top seven choices are easy to learn, set up, and use.
Employee Management With A POS System: The Secret To Simplified Timekeeping, Scheduling, & Reporting:Â Your POS system probably has employee management features that can make timekeeping and scheduling much easier. Hereâs how to make the most of these tools.

The Bottom Line: Your Business Isnât In The Clear Yet

We are starting to see some signs of small business recovery, and that’s a great thing. But business owners must stay vigilant and be prepared for the very real possibility of more pandemic-related business disruptions in the near future.

It can be difficult to plan for the future when you’re still working through the first wave, and there is still so much uncertainty. You might also have the thought that you don’t want to over-prepare for something that might not happen (at least, not in your local area). But the fact of the matter is that even before the pandemic, businesses were moving in the direction of eCommerce, contactless payments, online ordering, cloud POS, etc. The pandemic only accelerated the changes that were already in motion. Also, even after COVID-19 is over, customers will likely remain more mindful of health and safety and will continue some socially distanced shopping practices that they relied on during the pandemic (e.g., curbside pickup). So even if you get lucky and don’t have to deal with a resurgence of this particular virus, your business will benefit from adapting to modern sales technologies, safer health practices, and data-driven ways of making business decisions.

For more information on COVID-19 and small businesses, be sure to check out our Coronavirus (COVID-19) Guides & Resources.

The post Is Your Business Ready For A Second Wave Of COVID-19? appeared first on Merchant Maverick.

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May 20, 2020

Essential Work Travel: 6 Tips To Stay Safe While Traveling During Coronavirus (& 4 Alternatives To Travel)

Social distancing has become the new normal in the wake of COVID-19, and business travel has unsurprisingly been limited in the recent days and months. However, with states slowly beginning to relax restrictions and businesses struggling to make a buck, the desire to return to usual work travel is understandably becoming more common.

Despite the easing of restrictions, COVID-19 itself isn’t easing up anytime soon. As such, it’s normal to pause before booking your business’s next flight out or scheduling a meeting in another state. Putting your employees in harm’s way is never an easy decision.

So should you or your employees travel for work? And if business travel is necessary, how can you venture out safely? These certainly aren’t simple questions to answer, but we’ve taken a crack at providing clarity so you can have a sense of how to handle the current situation.

Read on for more information on business travel during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Work Travel Will Return As Quarantine Restrictions Are Lifted

COVID-19 drastically shut down the US through local government-imposed stay-at-home orders. Besides affecting local businesses operating out brick-and-mortar locations, these stay-at-home orders also curbed business travel. An April survey by the Global Business Travel Association, a trade organization for corporate travel managers, found that 92% of the nearly 1,000 company members queried had halted domestic travel in face of the pandemic. Numerous industry conferences have been canceled as well, while large companies like Google and Square have placed restrictions on employee travel.

This stoppage in business travel certainly helped provide a hit to the travel industry — data-hoarding company Statista forecasted 470 million business trips by US travelers in 2019. With such a big role in the travel economy, a lack of business travel has played a role in the danger that now faces airline companies, with many eyeing October 1 as a potential date for massive layoffs in the air industry. Meanwhile, a recent study by Facebook reveals that 43% of hotels, cafes, and restaurants have closed down since February. The past several months have certainly been a bleak time for both the travel industry and businesses that rely on frequent travel.

It’s not all economic gloom and doom, though, as restrictions are being eased across the US, potentially sparking an uptick in business travel. According to The New York Times, only four states are still shut down as of May 20. 36 are nearly “universally” reopening while 10 are regionally opening. With restrictions lifted on retail stores, restaurants, and forms of outdoor recreation, more and more travelers will be willing to hit the road.

The numbers support this — at least in airports, which have been getting busier throughout May. During the midst of heavy quarantine restrictions in mid-April, TSA saw as few as 87K travelers go through security checkpoints in a day throughout the US. In May, TSA has now had multiple days of at least 250K travelers venturing through checkpoints. While 250K isn’t anywhere close to the 2 million-plus who went through checkpoints daily this time last year, it’s still a substantial boost from the lows in April.

So even though things may still be restricted in some way, people are now able to go out and about more often — and travel numbers are ticking up as a response. It’s reasonable to then assume that business travel will only become more frequent as more of the economy opens up.

What The Law Says About Travel

Because countries and states all have different regulations and guidelines regarding travel during the COVID-19 crisis, it’s hard to make a sweeping statement about the legality of travel at this time.

We do know that travel abroad will remain difficult for the foreseeable future. For instance, many countries across the globe have locked down their borders to foreigners or require two-week quarantines for incoming travelers. Some international travel destinations are looking more promising for the summer, though, with countries such as Belgium, Greece, and Iceland planning to ease restrictions as soon as June and July.

It is a bit easier to travel domestically within the US. However, some states — such as Alaska, Maine, and Texas — have instituted 14-day quarantine requirements for out-of-state travelers. If you plan for business travel to such states, your options may be limited.

Of course, many states are in the process of easing restrictions — making the precise rules a fast-paced and ever-changing beast. As such, we suggest you hunt down the guidelines for the state or states your business intends to travel to before actually booking any flights or hotels.

All told, the CDC recommends that people stay home as much as possible and that all non-essential travel is curtailed — including both domestic and international. While it is unlikely for you to be arrested for traveling, the CDC does have the ability to detain, detain, medically examine, and release those who arrived into the US or traveled between states and are suspected of carrying communicable diseases under 42 Code of Federal Regulations parts 70 and 71.

You may also want to consider the legal ramifications in case an employee gets COVID-19 while on the road traveling. Since these are unprecedented times, it’s unclear if businesses will face any sort of legal woes for requiring employees to travel for work.

However, a New York Times article on professional conferences does note that “some attorneys are concerned” that if a business sends an employee to a conference and that employee contracts the virus, the liability may be saddled on the business. Because of these murky waters, we advise that you consult a legal professional, if possible, before sending employees on trips.

Tips & Precautions For Essential Travel

The CDC has provided guidelines to determine essential travel within the US. If you do consider your business’s travel essential based on the CDC’s guidelines, there are a few ways you can improve the safety of both your employees and the communities they’ll visit. Here are our tips for businesses with essential travel:

1. Avoid Hot Spots

Limit or fully eliminate travel to areas (such as specific counties or cities) that are seeing recent COVID-19 outbreaks. Because these areas — commonly referred to as “hot spots” — are seeing increased numbers, you or your employees may be at greater risk to contract the virus by traveling there.

One example of a hot spot location is Illinois — and specifically Chicago. Illinois saw over 4,000 positive tests — a peak for the state — as recently as May 12, per NPR. Cook County, where the heart of Chicago is located, has been hit particularly hard, with one in 81 of the county’s population testing positive for the virus as of May 20. Another example hot spot includes Worcester, Massachusetts, which recently saw 81 workers at a local Walmart test positive for COVID-19, according to the Boston Globe.

The New York Times has created a coronavirus map that details hot spots throughout the country. You can also view raw COVID-19 numbers broken down by state over on IHME’s healthdata.org.

2. No Travel For Those With Symptoms

Institute a policy that no employee should travel if they have any symptoms of COVID-19. Besides potentially limiting the spread of the virus, doing so could ease stress on your employees — especially if their symptoms worsen.

According to the CDC, the most common symptoms of COVID-19 include:

Coughing
Short of breath or difficulty breathing
Fever
Chills
Muscle pain
Sore throat
New taste or smell loss

3. Encourage Safe Travel

Because not all carriers of COVID-19 exhibit symptoms, it’s important that travelers wear a cloth face covering while in public. Also note that for the time being, many major airline carriers are requiring fliers to wear face masks on the airplane. With this in mind, if your business requires air travel, a mask may simply be a necessity for you or your employees to even get on a plane.

Additionally, urge that your employee travelers engage in frequent hand washing, don’t touch their eyes and face, and maintain proper social distancing where possible. Hands should be washed with soap and water for at least 20 seconds while individuals should physically keep six feet apart. If soap and water aren’t available, hand sanitizer of at least 60% alcohol can be used as a substitute.

If it is financially feasible, consider giving masks and hand sanitizer to your employees who travel. Besides building goodwill with your team, doing so can also help encourage that the proper safety protocols are followed by your business’ travelers.

4. Have Employees Self-Quarantine After Trips

When an employee travels in the coming weeks and months, consider requiring that they self-quarantine after returning home. Per the CDC’s guidelines, symptoms take between two and 14 days before appearing. Because of this, we recommend that when possible, you require employees to stay home for two weeks after returning from a trip. You should especially require 14-day quarantines for employees who have traveled to and from coronavirus hot spots.

This rule should be followed for both work and personal travel. In fact, it may be wise for your business to log any time an employee travels, whether for work or personal reasons. Doing so will enable your business to know who should stay in self-quarantine for two weeks.

5. Create A COVID-19 Travel Policy

Having a company policy outlined for travel during the pandemic can ease confusion as employees make plans for the coming months. It should be simple and to the point — make it no longer than one page. It should answer basic questions such as:

“Who can travel?”
“What reasons for travel are essential?”
“How can we minimize risk during travel?”

If you have access to legal counsel or employ human resource specialists, we recommend working with them to come up with a policy that fits your business and your employees.

6. Be Flexible

When you get down to it, your business is made up of people. It’s important to listen to those people and be flexible if they can’t or don’t want to travel during the pandemic.

For instance, if an employee lives with someone who is immunocompromised or otherwise part of an at-risk group, it may be unwise for that employee to be traveling and interacting with many people outside the home. Instead, try to figure out a way that employee could do their tasks from home.

Alternatives To Consider Before Traveling

Until restrictions are fully lifted, and we can safely travel without any worry of contracting or spreading COVID-19, we recommend that you do your best to avoid business travel. Here are a few ways you can still do business without setting foot on an airplane or hitting the road:

1. Work From Home

As a remote company since inception, we at Merchant Maverick have plenty of experience working from home. Working from home can allow employees to enjoy more flexible hours as well as saving money (and time) on commuting. Some employees may find it easier to concentrate in a non-office setting, too.

If it’s at all possible, make sure that your employees that can work from home are doing so. This can limit any potential spread of the virus in your community — and especially so if some employees will also be needing to travel.

While working from home can seem like a daunting task, research has indicated that working from home may actually boost productivity and worker concentration. This has helped convince numerous businesses to be more open to at-home work during COVID-19’s crisis. In fact, several larger companies — most notably Square and Twitter — have been happy enough with their employee’s work that they’ve already indicated they’ll allow workers to continue working from home even after the pandemic’s impact subsides.

2. Use Video Chat

If you are considering traveling or having employees travel for a work-related meeting, attempt to schedule the meeting using video conference software. While not all meetings can take place over video chat,Â many should work just fine with remote participants.

For instance, Merchant Maverick uses Zoom to hold a weekly coffee hour. We also have other meetings between teams using Google Meet, which is baked into Google’s G Suite. Since video chats let you see who else is talking, you may have better and more rewarding interactions than you might with phone calls.

Besides Zoom and Google Meet, video conferencing options include Skype and GoToMeeting. For more information on choosing video chat software for your business — as well as other options — check out Merchant Maverick’s guide to the best video conferencing services.

3. Sign Up For A Messaging Service

Not all interactions require video chat — that’s where text messaging services come in. These services can allow your business to communicate with one another on the fly more casually than video chatting or phone calls.

At Merchant Maverick, we use Slack daily. This service allows us to collaborate within teams or reach out to others individually. For many of us at Merchant Maverick, using Slack has simply become second-nature — it helps us improve communication over more traditional calls or email.

Slack isn’t the only player on the block. Twist is another solid option, while Microsoft Teams offers a good experience for businesses tied into the Office 365 ecosystem. For more details on which messaging service might work for your business, visit our guide to the best communication apps.

4. Email More

If video chat or dedicated messaging services won’t cut it, good old-fashioned email may be able to do the trick instead.

Email is fairly ubiquitous. According to Statista, over 4 billion users worldwide will have email access by the end of 2020. As such, communicating with email may be an excellent option to replace non-essential work-related travel — many vendors and other businesses outside your company should already be set up to communicate via email.

Keep Yourself & Your Employees Safe During Coronavirus

At the end of the day, you’ll need to decide which trips are worth the risk for your business. What counts as an essential trip will vary from business to business and from industry to industry. No matter what, make sure to take proper precautions that can keep you, your employees, their families, and the community-at-large safe during these troubled times.

For more of Merchant Maverick’s continuing coronavirus coverage, visit our small business resource hub for COVID-19.

The post Essential Work Travel: 6 Tips To Stay Safe While Traveling During Coronavirus (& 4 Alternatives To Travel) appeared first on Merchant Maverick.

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May 20, 2020

Small Business HR: What Is HR & How To Manage Your Business’s Human Resources

For some people, knowledge of Human Resources begins and ends with Michael Scott’s relentless feud with HR-manager Toby during several cringe-worthy (and amusing) episodes of The Office. HR can seem like the prerogative of a bigger company, but not necessarily something a smaller business could benefit from. However, in reality, the role of HR is vast (and commonly misunderstood) and can operate as a bridge between your employees, you, and the practical side of having and managing people.

Wondering whether a Human Resources Manager, a full Human Resources Department, or an outsourced service is the best fit for your business?

Keep on reading to find out what HR is and whether or not your small business could benefit from adding human resources.

What Is HR?

HR, as a department within your business, is the branch of operations that is responsible for managing a company’s human resources (or human capital; or employees). The Human Resources (HR) department streamlines many important facets of your business and becomes an important link between the leadership of a company and its employees. The umbrella term HR covers the various ways employees are led and developed within a business. For that reason, there are numerous avenues of expertise within HR itself or different ways an HR department can function within a small business.

In general, the tasks delegated to HR can include onboarding, hiring/firing, running payroll, managing employment laws and compliance, addressing employee complaints, running employee training programs, and analyzing job duties and descriptions. HR specialists can bring their own pet passions to a company, but in general, the tasks orbit around employee management and growth.

HR VS. HRM

Human Resources (HR) is the department set apart to manage employees and employment; Human Resource Management (HRM) is the approach to how a company manages its employees. Some of those management approaches are related to recruitment, hiring and firing, employee education and training, employment compliance, and maintaining company culture. An HR Management team will work with a company’s human resources (employees and leadership) to implement processes and set goals.

Sometimes the terms are used interchangeably.

What Duties Does HR Fulfill?

From talent acquisition to letting people go, the HR department follows the life-cycle of an employee and works with you as the small business owner to effectively manage your team. An HR professional needs to be knowledgeable about the law but also informed about the specific niche-needs required for your particular business. A person working in HR wears many hats and often becomes a de facto counselor while also juggling compliance, training, and navigating employee relationships. With that in mind, your HR department is the face of your company to a new employee and they should set the tone and display the culture you desire.

Specifically, in the HR job description, your HR department will take the lead on payroll, hiring and firing, employee benefits, employee documentation, compliance, continued training, and helping maintain company culture. The role is a fine balance between paperwork and people–business objectives that don’t often go together.

Payroll

The facilitation of payroll is something a small business owner might be happy to hand over to someone else. Payroll can be a long and convoluted process, especially if you’re currently running payroll without assistance. Opportunities to outsource payroll are expanding as more businesses make their systems available for small businesses at competitive prices, and many of those leaders in payroll are expanding their platforms to include HR and benefits management online.

Online payroll systems like Gusto, SurePayroll, Paycom or Intuit offer cloud-based payroll platforms that streamline the payroll process and can assist with onboarding and maintaining employee records. Companies like Namely, however, not only offer payroll services but delve into a broader spectrum of HR services, too, and work best for small businesses with over 50 employees to manage.

Hiring (& Firing)

The HR department (either a team or a single person) will greet a new hire with a request for quite a bit of paperwork, and it is the department’s responsibility to maintain those documents related to hiring, compliance, and job performance. (Paperwork, however, is slightly anachronistic as most of HR’s tasks have been relegated to the digital world.) The entire life-cycle of an employee belongs to HR: It is HR’s job to help the company with best practices related to recruitment through termination.

In that capacity, an HR department can relieve some of the burden from a small business owner by shouldering the minutiae of managing employees. HR works with company leadership to outline an ideal job candidate, write job descriptions, conduct interviews, follow-up with reference checks, outline performance reviews, and monitor/manage all employee records.

HR can also take on the task of having difficult conversations with employees who are under-performing. In the event that an employee is terminated, HR will set up an exit-strategy for your employees and develop a system: HR can conduct an exit interview, remove the former employee’s access to company communication, and run a final payroll.

Positively, HR manages employee growth and education within a company, including announcing pay increases and bonuses. Companies thrive when there is a clear growth model, and HR can take on the task of creating a uniform growth model and communicating performance requirements to employees.

Employee Benefits

According to the Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies, a 2018 survey of full-time employees reported that 94% of workers said health insurance was “very important” to them when looking at an employer. Up until recently, some small businesses were shut-out from opportunities to offer affordable health care or retirement.

Setting up benefits, communicating those benefits to employees, answering questions about benefits, and monitoring open-enrollment periods are all functions of HR. Also, HR professionals also have the resources and knowledge to negotiate lower rates to help control benefit costs.

Documentation

Paperwork: Infinitely tedious but monumentally important to your business. Ensuring proper documentation is a crucial component of mitigating risk and protecting both your business and your employees. An HR department will manage and facilitate documentation on the following issues:

Employee training/certifications
Paperwork required for hiring
Job performance reviews that lead to a promotion/demotion
All discipline related to an employee
Harassment and discrimination complaints

Failure to document might leave your business in a fragile position, and one of HR’s purposes is to guide a business when situations with employees become tenuous. HR can also be a neutral place for employees to feel safe voicing concerns and can advocate for employees who need a go-between them and management.

Compliance

During my tenure as a public school teacher, I routinely spent warm August nights renewing my first aid and CPR certifications. It is a legal requirement that schools must maintain a certain ratio of adults with certifications to students in the building, and it is HR’s responsibility to have those numbers and photocopies of first aid cards in case they are needed. Every few years, I’d get nudged to renew my qualifications.

When it comes to HR and compliance, an HR manager’s job is to guard your company against employment/compliance lawsuits. Risk management is a huge part of the HR job description, so hiring someone with specific knowledge of your industry is important.

Company Culture

In recent years, company culture has become an important part of managing employees.

Company culture conveys not only your company’s personality, but also its fundamental value-system. More than ever, prospective employees are interested in a company’s values as a prerequisite before applying. People want to work where they will feel valued, supported, and understood, and it is your cultural environment that sets the foundation for your employees to feel that value, support, and understanding.

HR may be the first face of your company to new recruits and interviewees, and so it’s vitally important for HR to have a strong sense of the company culture you wish to convey. What does that look like? As a small business owner, you choose the culture of your company. So, hire someone who is well-equipped to assess your employee’s skills and know the needs within the company. HR needs to understand the small nuances within your business and must employee messaging that consistently conveys company culture.

Does Your Small Business Need HR?

All small businesses could benefit from some type of HR platform or person to help assist with the more tedious aspects of employment (payroll, documentation, compliance).Â Do you need an in-house HR manager? Maybe not yet. But the good news is that we are entering a golden age for cloud-based/remote assistance for small businesses in areas that were traditionally closed to smaller companies.

As companies grow, it’s important to know when it might be time to devote more attention/resources to HR. Think of the amount of time you spend on clerical documentation of employees or payroll; think about how confident you are in your knowledge of employment law; contemplate the systems in place for employee complaints– are you leaving areas of your business open to employment liabilities? Does new-hire paperwork take up a significant portion of your time?

HR professionals are equipped to navigate these facets of employment, but whether or not you need to hire in-house or outsource is up to you. If you still aren’t certain if you need HR at all, reflect upon some of the key functions of this department and see if they fit with your needs:

Streamlines the hiring process and takes over new-hire documentation
Runs payroll and manages benefits
Assists with employee retention and satisfaction
Manages employment law compliance
Writes and updates the employee handbook
Organizes training
Resolves employee conflicts and can mediate human resource difficultiesÂ

How To Choose The Right HR Option For Your Small Business

How much HR will your business really use? With one or two employees, simple payroll needs, and low turnover, you may find you’re not ready to invest in outsourcing or hiring when you can DIY. But companies that can afford to outsource the administrative tasks of HR should consider looking at the options available. In recent years, some old names in HR have developed new online platforms to assist businesses with every aspect of HR. Some of the bigger names like Namely are only available for companies with 50 or more employees; however, many other options, like Trinet, serve small businesses of all sizes.

Three HR options available for small businesses are:

1. The Startup Mindset: Handle HR Yourself

It may be a cliche that small business owners have an excess amount of drive and energy, but the evidence seems to support the image. When a business is starting, every saved penny is necessary to put back into the company, and those early months need all the stretching they can get. Simply put: If you can do it yourself, then you just do it yourself.Â With tight margins and an unclear path for the future, some business owners need a lot of convincing to pay someone to do tasks that they are capable of doing themselves. And it can be done.

Free accounting programs can assist with payroll and you can make yourself available to talk with employees. You can download or pay once for the creation of an employee handbook, and with time and creativity you could provide employee training. If you feel comfortable with employment law and know that you have the time and emotional resources to be a neutral advocate for your employees, then by all means, handle HR yourself.

2. Hire An In-House HR Manager

There are some businesses that are well-suited to have an in-house HR manager vs. heading the digital outsourcing route. Does working with employees require a significant amount of face-time? Do you hire/fire several times throughout the year? If you said yes to either of those questions, you might need to hire an in-house HR manager. People who work in HR are trained in a variety of different methods regarding the best practices for employee retention and keeping morale high, so you will want to find a good match. (Two different views about how to manage people or what to value in an employee could get complicated. Explore what types of HR methodologies match your business style before you set out to hire someone.)

Also, there is the possibility of hiring an in-house HR manager and then equipping that person with the ability to outsource some of their duties to a Professional Employer Organized (PEO) or Human Resources Management (HRM) company.

3. Outsource Your HR

There are also options to fully outsource your entire HR department to a PEO or an HRM. Employees and business owners alike might find that it’s easiest to streamline aspects of the employee life-cycle using online software. This automated system usually comes with a fee per employee, and offers in-software functions that cover many HR requirements. The best software includes easy employee log-in and navigation, mobile access, payroll, time and attendance platforms, expense tracking, benefits administration assistance, access to training modules, and a customer rep to call directly in the event of a question or concern.

Most of the savvy HRM platforms are designed to look like social media platforms and operate as a place to connect socially as well as send out important employee announcements. As the need increases, integrations grow and the software pivots to respond to client demand; and in that regard, outsourcing is a sure-fire way to stay on top of HR trends.

Final Thoughts On Human Resources

Maybe in the next reboot of The Office everyone works remotely and HR is a robot. That might have seemed like a left-field prediction a few months ago, but now, who knows? If you are spending an exorbitant amount of time on HR administrative tasks, it is highly likely that an HR professional (either in-person or via the cloud) is an important step to grow your business and give your brain a rest. While outsourcing costs can vary between platforms, the mid-line options are less expensive than hiring a full-time HR manager.

Above all, whether you hire in-house or outsource, the HR platform you implement should reflect your business values and make your day-to-day management of employees easier and more streamlined. For growing businesses with a handful of new hires a year, the benefits (and protection) outweigh the costs.

The post Small Business HR: What Is HR & How To Manage Your Business’s Human Resources appeared first on Merchant Maverick.

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May 18, 2020

Why Small Business Owners Need To Understand Supply Chain & Risk Mitigation: COVID-19 Edition

As a small business owner, there are always a million things on your mind and plans to be made. How do you draw in new customers? Where can you get extra funding? Is it time for expansion?

But one of the things that’s likely not top-of-mind is the supply chain. How does that work? What happens when there’s a disruption in that chain?

Think about it. As consumers, sometimes our favorite product is sold out, but we know that (eventually) it will be back in stock. As small business owners, the same typically applies. While your vendors and suppliers may run out of an item or two on occasion, the impact of the shortage is minimal … that is until COVID-19.

The coronavirus pandemic and the shortages that have accompanied it have shown us how a supply chain disruption can affect consumers and businesses of all sizes. For consumers, store shelves containing necessities like hand sanitizer, toilet paper, bread, and meat are empty. For small businesses, shortages can be even more serious, causing many unprepared business owners to shut their doors for good.

Whether you’ve had firsthand experience or you’re worried about what the future holds, this post is for you. In this article, we’re going to look at the supply chain and how it’s important to more than just big businesses. By understanding your supply chain, how it works, and how to mitigate risk, you’ll be better prepared for the future, whatever it may bring.

Coronavirus Has Highlighted Industry Shortcomings On A Global Scale

If you were unaware of the effects of disruption in the supply chain prior to the coronavirus, the pandemic has certainly highlighted problems on a global scale. Let’s look at a big example: hand sanitizer.

As the demand for hand sanitizer has increased, supply has become limited, and consumers are unable to acquire the products they need. Some key materials, such as alcohol, are becoming harder to come by, leaving manufacturers unable to produce hand sanitizers. Even if the manufacturer produces enough to fit the demand, distribution may be a problem, leaving the shelves of many retailers empty. The end result? Consumers are left scouring stores for their much-needed supplies and businesses are missing out on revenue.

Just one disruption in the supply chain can cause problems, but we’re seeing multiple issues that are affecting businesses of all sizes. In the case of hand sanitizer, thousands of businesses (such as distilleries) have registered with the FDA to help fill the void, but there are questions regarding safety issues and unproven claims of these new products.

Your business may be affected on a smaller scale. Let’s take a look at a small local coffee shop, for example. While the business model seems simple — brew coffee and create drinks for customers — there’s actually much more that goes into it. The coffee beans you use are planted, harvested, dried, milled, and roasted. These beans are then typically exported before being packaged and distributed.

At any point, a disruption in the supply chain can cause a problem for your business. Halted or delayed exporting, distribution centers that are short-staffed, and other problems mean that you aren’t getting the coffee you need to serve your customers and earn revenue. This isn’t even counting other critical products that may also be in short-supply — creamer, coffee syrups, sugar, and even toilet paper for your restrooms. In addition to being unable to keep crucial items in stock, items that are available may come at a premium. In other words, prices are going to go up.

With many business owners facing these shortages, it’s become more critical than ever to understand risk mitigation.

What Does Risk Mitigation Look Like For Small Business?

The term “risk mitigation” sounds a bit complicated (and intimidating!), but it’s actually quite simple. Risk mitigation is identifying potential risks that could affect your business, then developing a plan to overcome these risks.

While a global pandemic is an immediate risk, there are other risks to be aware of both now and in the future, such as theft, data breaches, or damage. According to a survey conducted by the Business Continuity Institute and Zurich Insurance Group, 75% of respondents reported at least one disruption in the supply chain in a 12-month period. Of those affected, nearly one out of every five companies went out of business within 18 months.

Looking specifically at the coronavirus, an Institute For Supply Management survey showed that nearly 75% of respondents had faced disruptions as a result of coronavirus-related transportation restrictions, while nearly 80% of respondents believe their companies will be affected in some way by a supply chain disruption as a result of the coronavirus.

With risk mitigation, you can lessen the impact of supply chain disruptions on your business. What should you consider as part of your risk mitigation plan? Let’s explore a couple of ideas.

Identify Risk & Effects

What risks does your business face? Identify potential risks and prioritize them. Which factors are the biggest risks for your company? Using the coffee shop example from earlier, exporting delays as a result of political or economic unrest could spell trouble for your business. If you source items from a smaller local company that’s facing financial difficulties, a bankruptcy filed by the distributor could affect your supply chain. Think about various scenarios and how they would affect your business.

An analysis of your supply chain can give you great insight into reducing costs, increasing efficiency, and mitigating risks. We’ll explore this idea more in the next section.

Work With Reputable Suppliers

While it makes sense to work with low-cost suppliers and distributors to maximize revenue, cost should never be the only factor you consider when choosing where to purchase your inventory. Do your research, and work with reliable, reputable businesses that offer competitive pricing.

Have Backups

To mitigate risk, you should always have a backup supplier (or two) and/or distributors standing by. If you are unable to get the products you need to run your business from one supplier, having another reputable company on the backburner could help you get what you need to keep your business flowing smoothly.

Talk With Your Insurance Agent

In some cases, insurance can play a critical role in mitigating risks due to supply chain disruptions. Talk with your insurance agent about the risks identified in your business and find out what type of insurance your business needs and when it’s appropriate to use.

Keep Lines Of Communication Open

Don’t be afraid to communicate with suppliers, distributors, data management centers, and other business partners. Learn about their risk mitigation plans to ensure they align with yours. Keeping the lines of communication open can help you better manage problems when they occur.

Analyze Your Supply Chain

Whether you’ve been affected by a disruption in the supply chain or you fear that problems lie ahead, you’re not alone. Eighty of the world’s economies have banned or restricted exports in response to COVID-19. Even prior to the pandemic, China reduced its exporting dependency by almost 50% since 2008, while more Americans are pushing to buy and sell more products from American companies. As you could imagine, this affects supply chains and thus puts companies at risk.

To understand your supply chain and come up with a plan for risk management, it helps to perform an analysis of your supply chain. This takes time and research but is critical to avoiding (or at least lessening) the negative impact of supply chain disruptions to your business.

First, let’s take a look at a basic, generic supply chain. Note that yours may vary depending on the industry you’re in, but at least a few of these critical players will sound familiar.

Suppliers: Suppliers receive the raw materials used to create specific products. The supplier may also act as the manufacturer to create a finished product, or has a partnership with a separate manufacturer. In the case of a coffee shop, the supplier would receive milled, harvested coffee beans.
Manufacturers:Â Manufacturers use the raw materials from suppliers to create a finished product. In some cases, the supplier may also be the manufacturer, but this isn’t always the case. In our coffee shop example, the manufacturer roasts the coffee beans, grinds some of the beans for ground coffee, and packages the products.
Distributors: A distributor purchases the items wholesale from the manufacturer and is then responsible for selling and transporting the finished product to retailers, restaurants, and other businesses. For your coffee shop, you may work with a wholesale distributor that sells a variety of coffee beans, grounds, and other products.
Retailer: The retailer — you — sells the finished products directly to consumers.
Consumers: Consumers purchase products from the business at a marked up cost, so the retailer makes a profit.

Again, this isn’t the exact blueprint for every company, but some of this should apply to your business. Let’s take a look at another supply chain, this time for an eCommerce business.

Consumers: Consumers visit the eCommerce site to place an order.
eCommerce Site: An eCommerce site features the products that are available to purchase. Consumers can check out, pay for their items, and input shipping information.
Payment Processors: When a site accepts online payments, they work with a payment processor. The payment processor takes all of the steps necessary to transfer money from the consumer to the business owner.
Warehouse: The products on the eCommerce site are stored in a warehouse. This can either be an in-house facility or a third-party warehousing company. The warehouse is responsible for finding the ordered items and making sure they’re ready for delivery.
Shipping: The warehouse may act as the shipper, or it may work with a third-party shipping company. The shipper is responsible for making sure the orders get to the correct destination in a timely manner.
Consumers: The shipping company delivers the ordered product to the consumer, finishing up the supply chain.

For your business, map out your supply chain, making sure to identify the key players that fill each role. It may also help to create a flow chart showing your supply chain from start (raw materials) to finish (delivered to your customer through mail or in-person). Make sure to note the interactions between each person or organization to fully understand how the process works.

Next, it’s time to dig in and do some research. Research and record key details, such as the names of the organizations, your point of contact, the activities of each link in the chain, shipping schedules, and other important information. Smaller businesses can opt to do this manually, keeping up with data in a spreadsheet, while larger or more complicated business structures may want to automate the process with supply chain analysis software.

And remember, it’s important to keep an eye on global trends. While it’s certainly encouraged to keep up with what’s going on in your own country, understanding what’s happening globally that could impact your supply chain can help you be better prepared.

The Importance Of Inventory Management

Inventory management is an important part of the supply chain. Inventory management simply refers to a system of tracking inventory that leaves and enters your business. Inventory management is important for a number of reasons:

Prevents Running Low On Stock: By tracking your inventory, you can quickly and easily identify when you’re low on stock. Then, you can order more inventory as needed in order to fulfill customer orders.
Prevents Overstock: Just as you don’t want to run out of stock, you also don’t want to have too much in stock. Perishable items can go bad before being used, some items may become outdated before being sold, and ordering too much ties up funds that could be used elsewhere in your business.
Keeps Orders On Track: Make sure that all orders are complete and correct by keeping up with your stock, correctly tracking and labeling products, and taking other steps is key to preventing mistakes.

With inventory management, you can lessen risks such as shortages by knowing what you have on-hand, what you need to order, and other important data.

Fortunately, inventory management doesn’t have to be difficult. There are a variety of POS systems that offer advanced inventory management features. Your inventory management system may even integrate with other software that you already use, making it quicker and easier than ever to track your inventory.

The Ethics Involved: A 101 Primer

Now, if you are currently facing a shortage or fear one approaching in the future, what do you do? Even with a risk mitigation strategy in place, sometimes, it’s just inevitable that you’ll face a shortage. How do you proceed, especially when it comes to your customers?

It’s important to remember that no matter what, you have to remain ethical. Increasing your pricing because your cost of supplies has risen is okay. Price gouging to unfairly take advantage of customers in the event of a shortage is not.

What’s the difference? Here’s an example:

Your coffee shop sells a cup of coffee for $2. The supplies to make one cup of coffee cost $1. You make a $1 profit for each cup of coffee.

Now, export limitations and prohibitions have affected the cost of your supplies. Now, a single cup of coffee costs $2 to make. If you continue to charge just $2 to your customers, you’re only breaking even. You opt to raise your prices to $3 to cover the cost of supplies plus make a reasonable profit.

Now, let’s say the cost of supplies has risen to $2. Other coffee shops in your area have closed their doors temporarily or permanently. People in your area want coffee. You take advantage of this and start charging $10 per cup of coffee.

Will customers still buy from you? Sure. But it’s important to remain ethical and fair. While you may be making a profit now, even your long-time customers may turn to another business when available. So, while it’s perfectly reasonable to raise your prices as your costs and demand increases, it’s important to sit down, figure out the numbers, and think about the long-term effects of raising your prices.

Prepare For Another Disruption

If someone could see into the future, I bet most of us would want to know when our personal and business lives will return to “normal.” There are still so many unanswered questions about the pandemic: Are we reopening too soon? Will a second wave hit as some have predicted?

Unfortunately, not even the experts are sure of what’s to come. While the future remains unclear, however, there are a few steps small business owners can take to be prepared.

Keep up with what’s going on around the world. Take note of what’s happening not just in your own country, but nations around the world. Are coronavirus infections increasing? Are numbers expected to increase again?

Understand your supply chain, the importance of inventory management, and the risks that your business faces. Create a risk mitigation plan, look into inventory management software, and do your research to ensure that if another disruption occurs, your business is prepared. Good luck!

The post Why Small Business Owners Need To Understand Supply Chain & Risk Mitigation: COVID-19 Edition appeared first on Merchant Maverick.

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Questions To Ask Yourself Before Selling Your Business

How To Sell A Business Successfully In 7 Steps

1. Preparing An Exit Strategy

2. Getting Financials In Order

3. Obtaining A Business Valuation

4. Finding Buyers

Making Your Business More Desirable To Buyers

5. Conducting Due Diligence

6. Finalizing The Deal

7. Preparing To Hand Off Your Business

A Word About Your Merchant Account

Selling A Business: A Step-By-Step Checklist

The Bottom Line? Selling A Business Requires Organization & Motivation

How Does IT Equipment & Computer Leasing Work?

Capital VS Operating Leases

Buyout Agreements

Common Lease Terms

Leasing VS Buying Computers & IT Equipment

Advantages Of Leasing

Disadvantages Of Leasing

Advantages Of Buying

Disadvantages Of Buying

Computer Leasing VS Buying: Which Is Better For Your Business?

1. Define Your Technology Needs

What To Consider

What To Avoid

Example Scenarios

2. Define Your Design Needs

What To Consider

What To Avoid

Example Scenarios

3. Define Your Business Needs

What To Consider

What To Avoid

Example Scenarios

4. Define Your Budget & Scope

What To Consider

What To Avoid

5. Define Your Sources & Alternative Options

What To Consider

What To Avoid

Where To Look

For local designer / developer

For a WordPress designer / developer

For [other platform] designer / developer

For a general designer / developer

Alternatives to a Custom Website Designer

6. Ask for Proposals

What To Consider

What To Avoid

7. Follow up with Questions & Request for References & Portfolio

What To Consider

What To Avoid

8. Request Contract & Project Plan (and declines)

9. Follow up & Communicate Clearly

What To Consider

What To Avoid

Conclusion & Next Steps

Alternate Conclusion & Next Steps

#0 – DIY w/ Automated Branding & Design

#1 – DIY with a Website Builder

#2 – DIY with self-hosted WordPress

#3 – Purchase Website Design from a Hosting Company

Other resources include –

Define Your Goals

Choose Your Platform & Domain

Set Up Analytics + Goals

Set Up Focus Pages

Test, Test, Test

Next Steps

Why Businesses Arenât Applying For The PPP

Are Forgiveness Rules Going To Change?

Should Your Small Business Apply For The PPP?

Learn More About The Paycheck Protection Program

Background

1. Your website form does not actually “send” the email.

2. Email Sending & Receiving Is Incredibly Insecure

3. GoDaddy has a uniquely bad email problem & a uniquely strict email security solution

Solutions

Use SMTP Authentication for Forms

Why Businesses Arenât Applying For The PPP

The Bottom Line: Your Business Isnât In The Clear Yet