3 Tips to Start Your Business Year Off Smart
New Year’s resolutions aren’t just about losing weight and eating right. They are about your business, too!
Keep Your Employees In Mind
FOXBusiness.com sat down with Gene Marks, president of the Marks Group and a small business expert, to discuss the dos and don’ts for starting your New Year’s off right. Check out his full interview above.
Use Technology
“Keep your employees as motivated as possible, as happy as possible,” Marks said. “Being competitive with other companies, flexible for days off and even things like paid maternity/paternity leave are all important to employees.”
Follow the Money!
Almost half of the workforce, he said, is now made up of millennials.
“And survey after survey shows they favor time, flexibility, and freedom in many cases over compensation” Marks added.
He also said that despite being surrounded by it, companies are not using the simplest tools they have readily availabe in their office, such as simple software like Microsoft Office.
“Most of my clients, and when I say most, 90% of my clients are not using technology they own to its fullest advantage” Marks said. “Hire an independent consultant to come into your office and do a little training. For the few hundred bucks you might spend to teach your employees what to do they will learn how to use that technology much more.”
He said one of the biggest hurdles for business owners is figuring out how to best keep tabs of their cash flow.
Besides setting up a bi-monthly payment schedule for vendors, Marks suggested making sure to “have a daily flash report.” Key numbers – from sales to cash on hand – compared to the previous years will help business owners make smarter decisions, he said.