Happy Holidays -
from all of us at Lanair!

►Moving your office? 5 tips for Staying Productive
by Christopher Elliott
Reprinted with permission from the Microsoft Small Business Center

Even if you are only moving to another floor in your building, the thought of relocating probably sounds about as appealing as going totally without carbs for a week.

After all, moving your business or home is widely considered one of the single-most stressful life events for an individual. Add to that the prospect of losing valuable work time, and you can understand why small-business owners like Michael Hirschfeld try to get out of town when the business remodels, relocates or redecorates.

"I have always been scheduled to be out of town for the day before, day of, and day after moving day," says Hirschfeld, the managing partner of a real-estate company in Westport, Conn. "Simply put, less is more."

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Remember, if Christmas isn't found in your heart, you won't find it under a tree.

Charlotte Carpenter
 

►Just for Laughs

Do you have more than one location? Are you considering an expansion? Running a business with more than one office presents a set of challenges all its own. Here are some of the ways to use technology to bridge the distance gaps:

1. A VoIP (Voice over IP) Phone System – Our phone system uses the same network cabling as our office computers. That factor alone has saved us money with every expansion as we set up a new location. We can run one set of wires and connect our computer network and our phones. More important, however, is the capability our system gave us for extension dialing and outside line transfer among locations. Before the VOIP system we had separate phone systems at each location. We discovered that it hampered open communications between staff members who needed to speak with each other. There was just a natural resistance to picking up the phone to tie up an outside line to make a long distance call. As soon as we connected the new system, communications between offices blossomed. Employees who were only “an extension” away seemed much more accessible.

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In today's competitive market, small businesses need every advantage they can get. Many are looking for new ways to improve the bottom line, as well as protect their existing business.

One area you might not have looked at is the experiences of larger businesses. With their greater resources, it's easy for them to "test drive" new ideas and strategies – which you can then borrow and apply as needed. Take a look at these four best practices borrowed from successful enterprises and try to put them to work in your business today.

Get plugged in to social media
According to a new study by marketing agency OgilvyOne Asia Pacific, over 456 million users in Asia – almost a third of the world's population – are using social media. Japan, for example, has the highest blog readership in the world.

Never in the history of advertising and marketing has there been the ability to reach so many people so directly and personally at so little cost – which is great news for small businesses with limited marketing budgets. Maybe it's time for your company to start a blog?

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A recent study of companies experiencing a “major loss” of computer records discovered that 43 percent never reopened, 51 percent closed within two years of the loss, and a mere 6 percent survived over the long-term. For small and medium-sized businesses in particular, these statistics suggest the importance of creating a Business Continuity Planning (BCP) strategy grounded in a robust Backup and Disaster Recovery solution.

Unlike enterprises, many smaller companies and organizations cannot afford optimal in-house strategies and solutions for their Business Continuity Planning. Consequently, these companies are at a high risk of being put out of business due to any major loss of data. Loss of data could mean emails lost, accounting data lost, patient or client files lost, company records lost, client legal records or orders lost, etc.

Smaller businesses generally lack the in-house IT resources to develop a successful Backup and Disaster Recovery plan for their data. Therefore, many SMB's either neglect to implement any plan to secure their data or approach data backup and recovery in a sporadic, rudimentary fashion that fails to conform to BCP best practices.

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►Business Continuity Tip
Build a team.

It's a tall order to expect one person to efficiently develop a comprehensive recovery plan by themselves. After all, they have to account for every reasonable interruption across the entire business. There are just too many moving pieces. There is power in numbers and at worst, two heads are better than one. Assembling a team will give you the ability to share information, brainstorm, and create a natural sounding board to bounce off ideas.  During an actual recovery, having a team provides additional advantages. If the team leader is not available, others will be familiar with the plan and can execute it. This built-in redundancy to your recovery response helps ensure a quick and efficient return to business as usual.