Small Business Best Practices

To succeed in today’s competitive market, small businesses need to have a solid set of best practices in every area. These are some of the most important suggestions for every small business owner.

Marketing Plan

This is one of the most crucial small business best practices for growing a business or maintaining sales volume. To solidify a marketing plan, it must have four essential components:

  • Brand consistency
  • A consistent voice
  • A clear vision
  • An expansive Internet presence

Social media, blogs and YouTube video channels are all good ways to expand business presence on the Internet and to gain a larger following for free. Businesses must encourage interaction, feedback and discussions by engaging their audience.

Standard Processes

Every company should become familiar with small business best practices for their specific industry. Employees should have standard training and regular re-training or education to keep their skills and knowledge sharp. Also, streamlining the on-boarding and off-boarding processes for clients and employees is a must.

Business Information Security

Imagine the pain of losing a trade secret or becoming the victim of business identity theft. When sensitive information is compromised, it can cost a company thousands of dollars in losses. Business data security is an essential long-term part of running a successful business. These are some important business information security tips.

  • Implement a clean-desk policy. In addition to looking more professional, clean desks prevent sensitive documents from piling up and being vulnerable to misappropriation. Make a rule that protects sensitive papers from sitting out on desks for long periods of time.
  • Shred sensitive documents regularly. Sensitive documents should be shredded as soon as they are no longer necessary. On-site professional shredding helps prevent loss of important papers in transit.
  • Destroy hard drives appropriately. Thieves can steal data from defunct hard drives. When hard drives are retired or replaced, they should be destroyed by a professional to avoid potential theft and misappropriation of information.

Business Data Security Solutions From PROSHRED® Milwaukee

For one-time purges or regular shredding services, PROSHRED® Milwaukee offers customized affordable plans for businesses. ProShred is accredited by the Better Business Bureau and has certifications from the International Standards Organization and the National Association of Information Destruction. The company also has mobile shredding services for convenience and enhanced security. Learn more at ProShred.com/Milwaukee.