There are mountains of challenges that come along with operating a business, but there are four common business problems, in particular, that just about every business or business owner will face: uncertainty about the future, changing regulations and compliance, reputation management, and maintaining technology and data. Keep reading as we cover each of these business roadblocks, as well as ideas and ways in which you can combat them.
1. Uncertainty About The Future
Uncertainty in any aspect of life can cause one to feel a sense of discomposure, and there are never-ending uncertainties that come along with operating a business: uncertainty in your next big move, uncertainty in a new market, uncertainty in new technology implementation, or uncertainty in how you are weighing in next to your competitors. The list could go on and on, but what we want you to understand is that uncertainty often influences business owners to make plans with short-term gains, rather than long-term ones. Thinking and planning for the long haul is essential for any company, and if you can try to predict and plan for future customer trends, market trends, and more, you will be that much more prepared to keep your business one step ahead of your competitors. Depending on your company’s capabilities, these predictive measures can be done in-house or through a professional consultant, both of which can help you gain some much-needed comfort regarding your company’s path and future.
2. Compliance with Changing Regulations
Constant shifts in markets, policies, regulations, and technology standards may mean your industry and company will have to make various (or many) changes to meet different types of business compliance. No matter what type of compliance your company is tasked with meeting, it’s important to understand and analyze how these new business regulations will affect your company — from top to bottom. For instance, how will it affect your industry as a whole? What will change internally? What about your clients? Sit down and analyze the effects that the policy will have, but don’t forget to create an action plan to deal with policy and regulation changes. Depending on your industry and the severity of the change, it might also be beneficial to bring in a consultant — along with improving your transitional process flow, they should be able to mitigate the risk of non-compliance related fines and penalties.
3. Reputation Management
Your business’s reputation matters, and customers’ opinions and experiences are not only being shared wider than ever — they’re being yelled louder than ever. Whether it’s through the use of ALL CAPITAL LETTERS, Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, FourSquare, or Glassdoor, there are many online resources that customers and clients can use to rate your performance and their experience — both of which can highly influence others’ decisions to hire you (for better or worse). For example, having good reviews and successful experiences readily available when prospects research your company will often lead to that person choosing your company over another company with less or poor reviews. However, it is often said that one bad review has a greater effect than several respectable ones; therefore, actively responding to any negative reviews with a promise for improvement or a way to resolve the issue can send the message that such experiences will not happen for future customers. Whether you’re currently experiencing online reputation issues or not, you’ll want to create a well-planned reputation management strategy that addresses both happy and unhappy customers. Doing so will pay off in your long-term marketing efforts. You can get started with these reputation management blogs.
4. Technology & Data Management
Strategic IT management, data vaults, blockchain, cloud consultation, hybrid cloud backups, IT asset protection, data encryption…is your head spinning yet? The information technology world has many layers in which businesses often get lost or fail to maintain and upgrade much-needed data management education and processes, all of which can cause great — even business closing — trouble. As a growing company in the 21st Century, you simply can’t allow your business to get lost in the technological shuffle. You must educate and train yourself and your employees on how to protect and securely access your company’s and your clients’ most confidential and irreplaceable assets — your data! You must upgrade inefficient, failing, non-compliant, or unsecured equipment. You must take preventative measures to halt or lessen or impact of downtime, malware, data loss, and all of the other issues that come with the digital age. If you aren’t sure how to do all of this effectively and securely, it’s best to work with a trained and knowledgeable IT professional or IT team. These “managed service providers” (MSP) can make sure your company’s data processes and management is up-to-date, give you access to high-end tech, and lessen your IT burden. And the icing on the cake? Hiring an MSP actually has the greatest ROI from a data point of view. If you’re ready to get started or to see where your company stands, contact Integracon for a free network assessment!
Solutions to Common Business Problems
Although running a business isn’t always smooth sailing, taking preventative actions to face the above problems can lead to longer, more successful business stories. And, by planning for the future, understanding new industry or government regulations, implementing a reputation management plan, and seeking professional IT help when protecting and securing your company’s data, you can help lead your company to a bright and successful future.
Integracon, with close to two decades of IT experience and complex IT infrastructure management, would love to help! Through smart planning and execution, the highest levels of accountability, and expert data management, we can help ensure that your business has far less data and tech obstacles to face in the coming years!