Articles about Small Business

More than half (52 percent) of small and medium-sized businesses in the UK’s IT sector have no idea what they’d do if key staffers decide to quit. This is according to a new report by the Aldermore Future Attitudes, which claims these businesses are lacking a succession plan.

The report puts things in a dangerous perspective -- 22 percent of SME IT businesses see senior executives leaving as their biggest business threat.

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Almost half of all SMBs in the UK (49 percent) have lost money in the digital tax submission process, signaling that there is still a lot more work to be done before the Make Tax Digital initiative is completed successfully.

This is according to a new report by cloud accountancy software Pandle, which surveyed 1,000 UK SMBs. The report says that SMBs lost money despite feeling well-informed on the recent changes to the system.

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On March 14, the UK National Crime Agency and National Cyber Security Center sounded the alarm about the growing cyber threat. One of their conclusions was that ransomware represents a significant, and growing, threat to UK business. Combine this with the fact that the last 12 months has seen cyber attacks on an unprecedented scale, and you’ve got a melting pot of cyber activity right now.

These warnings come as no surprise. Ransomware use has exploded over the past year or so, particularly in the UK, simply because it is an easy way for cyber criminals to make significant amounts of money. Ransomware works, simply because many firms are forced to pay the ransom because they don’t have the defense systems in place to avoid doing so.

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While large enterprises have the resources to tackle security issues, smaller organizations can struggle. A new survey of more than 150 IT security professionals at small to medium-sized businesses shows a significant drop in respondents' confidence in the security technologies they've deployed.

The study by security as a service specialist EiQ Networks reveals that 86 percent of respondents say their organizations have underfunded IT security initiatives.

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It's a rare business that doesn't have a website these days, but for smaller companies the process of building a site and keeping it up to date can be costly and time consuming.

Texas-based startup Snaplitics is aiming to fix this with the launch of an affordable tool for creating professional websites and landing pages without having to hire developers.

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On April 25th, Ubuntu Linux 12.04 LTS will no longer be supported by Canonical. Why? That is the 5 year anniversary of the release, which is the amount of support time given to an LTS (Long Term Support) version of the Linux distribution.

For many home users, this really doesn't matter, as they have probably already upgraded to a newer version. Unfortunately, some businesses do not upgrade as regularly. In fact, some organizations may not be ready to move on from Ubuntu 12.04. Tough luck? Not at all. Today, Canonical introduces Ubuntu Linux 12.04 ESM. This "Extended Security Maintenance" release is not free, however -- organizations must pay for the extended support.

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Since October, Datto has been conducting testing designed to quickly detect ransomware in backup data sets. Here’s why: it has become a major threat to individuals and businesses over the past few years, and the cyber extortionists behind these attacks operate with increasing sophistication. SMBs can be particularly vulnerable to attacks and are more likely to pay a ransom to get their data back than large businesses.

In many cases, these attacks are conducted by large criminal organizations using wide-reaching botnets to spread malware via phishing campaigns. Victims are tricked into downloading an e-mail attachment or clicking a link using some form of social engineering. Fake email messages might appear to be a note from a friend or colleague asking a user to check out an attached file. Or, email might come from a trusted institution (such as a bank) asking you to perform a routine task. Sometimes, ransomware uses scare tactics such as claiming that the computer has been used for illegal activities to coerce victims. When the malware is executed, it encrypts files and demands a ransom to unlock them.

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For many business managers who are making their first foray into researching ERP software, the subject can see daunting. Search the internet for "ERP software" and you’ll be inundated with dozens of pages of information and opinion; it’s a big subject and there is no shortage of commentators, experts and marketers, all vying for your attention and, of course, a share of your IT budget.

The good news is that despite the technical acronym, the basic principles of ERP software are easily defined and once understood, a business manager is in a solid position to begin considering the different options available to their company.

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Three quarters (75 percent) of large businesses now consider SaaS tools an essential part of their business. This is according to a new report by GoCardless, based on a poll of more than 1,000 senior decision makers.

Small businesses aren’t that convinced though, with every second company sharing the same thoughts on SaaS.

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Ads on Facebook are something of a pain, but they could actually about to become rather more useful. Starting tomorrow, the social network will allow business pages to host job ads and anyone interested in the positions will be able to apply directly via Facebook.

Job ads on Facebook were trialed towards the end of last year, but the official rollout starts now. It's a change that sees Facebook treading firmly on LinkedIn's toes, and it's something that has the potential to work well for Facebook, employers and job applicants alike.

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Technology companies are in a dynamic sector. You may want to expand your business through acquisition, or you may want to sell your company.  In either situation you need to go about the process in systematic way which means becoming familiar with due diligence.

When you are excited about buying a business (or selling one) you can easily miss important steps that will help establish if you are making a  good decision. Due diligence is a process to help achieve a deal. It uses checklists and also relies on combining these with good business sense: without due diligence you could make a deal you regret. It’s my view, after many years of experience, that not enough people undertake proper due diligence.

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Microsoft PowerPoint or Apple Keynote presentations are often very boring, but unfortunately, they are a fact of life in the business world. If you have ever sat through a meeting that focused heavily on these slides, you have probably feigned interest and tried hard not to fall asleep. But why? Often, the data held on the screen is quite informative, but if the presenter is a bore, the presentation will suffer regardless. To make matters worse, with more and more employees working remotely, these presentations can be nothing more than slides with audio for some -- those not physically in the room with the presenter can have a lesser experience.

Logitech decided to take a look at the deficiencies of these PowerPoint presentations, with the goal of creating a tool to improve both presentations and the presenters. True, presentation remotes are one such tool that can help, but that segment was very stagnant. Today, Logitech unveils the fruits of its labor -- the Spotlight Presentation Remote. While the elegant device looks simplistic, you should not judge this book by its cover. It is a revolutionary tool for the business world that is chock full of goodness.

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You no longer have to be a large corporation to draw the attention of cybercriminals. In fact, your small business could be appealing to hackers, simply because you don’t have the same level of security that a big firm can bring to bear.

Learning more about the most common risks can help you protect your organization and ensure you don’t fall victim to a scammer.

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Doing business on the internet is deceptively simple, but for start-ups and smaller businesses, having the resources to do it well can prove elusive.

UK-based website conversion and digital advertising company Ve Interactive  is launching a new self-service platform aimed at giving smaller companies full control of their online marketing and generate more online sales.

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Smaller businesses are increasingly recognizing the importance of digital marketing and Facebook is their platform of choice for the holiday period.

This is among the findings of a report by marketing platform GetResponse which reveals that 60 percent of SMBs increased their digital marketing budget for this year’s holiday season.

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