Improve Your Business With Mobile Technology

May 21, 2013 | lynb | Access Florida Finance Corporation, Black Business Loan Program, Business Tips, Newsletter, U.S. Business | Leave a comment

Add Mobile Payment Options for Customer Convenience ~ USA Today

Uyen Nguyen owner of Lemongrass Truck, a growing food truck business, reckons her budding company would be nowhere at all without mobile technology. Her company uses tablets to take credit card payments at points of sales and uses social media to let mobile customers know where their truck will be located from day to day. Mobile technology makes sense to Nguyen because her whole business is mobile.

Arm Your Sales Team With Mobile Tools ~Tweak Your Biz

Zoe Maldonado, blogger at TechBreach, writes about the tools of the modern sales force. These include smartphones, PDAs, laptops and tablets. Smartphones and tablets provide mobile sales teams with constant communications and productivity tools including email, internet scheduling and calendars. Mobile business applications allow teams to do presentations, engage in social collaboration and even prepare invoices.

Use QR Codes to Engage Customers in the Mobile Space ~ Right Hand Planning

Online marketing and SEO consultant Peter Semple gives two case studies showing how small businesses can do this. In one instance, a savvy auto mechanic sent out a direct mail piece with a QR code allowing customers to download his mobile app. In another, a local promotional clothing company offers customers a protective sleeve for wireless credit cards. On the sleeve is printed a QR code to the company’s mobile store.

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7 Ways to Protect Your Small Business from Fraud and Cybercrime

May 12, 2013 | lynb | Access Florida Finance Corporation, Business Tips, Newsletter, Opportunities | Leave a comment

According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), companies with less than 100 employees lose approximately $155,000 as a result of fraud each year. Small businesses also have a higher fraud rate than larger companies and non-business owners. One of the most frequent sources of fraud is credit card abuse – largely due to the fact that few business owners actually take the time to go through every line item on their bill or choose to mingle business and personal accounts.

Other sources of fraud stem from an overall lack of security across the business – such as inadequate network and computer security and a lack of background checks when hiring employees.

Don’t be a victim! Here are some tips you can take to better protect your business from some common forms of fraud and cybercrime.

Protect Your Credit Cards and Bank Accounts

Since this is a common area of fraud for everyone from sole proprietors to employee-based firms, this one goes at the top of the list. Start by separating your personal banking and credit cards from your business accounts – this will ensure fraudsters don’t get their hands on ALL your money. Separating your accounts will also make it easier to track your business expenses and report deductions on your tax return.

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13 Tactics to Land Your Start-up Customers

May 9, 2013 | lynb | Access Florida Finance Corporation, Business Tips, Newsletter, Opportunities, U.S. Business | Leave a comment

Selling a brand new product or service is one of the toughest jobs around. Here’s just what you need to know to win.

Start-up selling to big companies is one of the hardest jobs around. Your product is still being built. Your team is still gelling (or coming apart–or both). There’s little marketing support and few customer references. You’ve only got a few bucks in the bank. And, worst of all, you aren’t at all sure how well the rest of the team is going to be able to deliver once you close a deal.

To give you a hand, here are 13 tips for start-up salespeople.

1. Target Your Opportunities

Start with five target companies to focus on. Having too many options is too confusing. Once you’ve made some progress with those five, you can expand your search. No need to rush.

2. Use Your Network Selectively

Initially, you don’t know how the rest of your start-up team is going to perform. Save your big contacts and the full power of your network until you know your team is up for the challenge.

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