Monthly Archives: November 2019

5 things to do before you check your phone in the morning

Originally written by Jim Lusty on Small Business
Humans create habits. We love them because we crave familiarity. It makes sound evolutionary logic; repeat the same behaviour in a repeating situation. If it worked last time, it should do again. This limits the need to make a decision and therefore conserves energy.
Studies consistently find that over 50pc of our daily actions are habitual. Our routine habits are the building blocks of our daily life.
The challenge is that habits are typically either very, very positive, or very, very negative. There is little middle ground. And making things worse, it is often hard to become aware of the negative habits that have crept into daily routines unchallenged, because they’re formed unconsciously over time and sap energy.
>See also: Is wellbeing leave a possibility for small businesses?
Get your morning routine right
These are often alluring as they offer instant gratification but have a negative impact on overall energy. It used to be that the appeal of alcohol or the quick fix of a sugar hit topped the naughty list. But topping the modern naughty list is our relationship with digital devices, driven by our fascination with social media. Some studies have shown 75pc of phone users

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How can small and micro businesses achieve enterprise-grade security?

Originally written by Partner Content on Small Business
Thinking that small and micro businesses will not become targets of cyber threats is one of the worst misconceptions in business IT. Just because a business is still struggling to scale or become profitable doesn’t mean it is safe from attacks. In fact, small businesses are the most popular targets of cybercriminals.
An Accenture study found that 43pc of cyber attacks are aimed at small businesses. Unfortunately, according to the same study, only 14pc of SMEs are prepared to address such attacks, which include data breaches, malware penetration, financial theft, identity theft, phishing, and denial of service. On average, these incidents cost businesses £65,000 to £115,000. This figure does not include additional damage including opportunity costs, adverse brand and reputation implications, and the negative impact on customer goodwill. What’s even more alarming is that 60pc of companies that have been attacked go out of business within six months according to a report by Inc. These realities only mean that it’s imperative to invest in competent cybersecurity defense.
Basic antivirus protection is not enough
Most businesses are not prepared for cyber threats usually because their owners or managers lack the competence to foresee and implement measures against

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Free Online Courses to Launch Your Work-at-Home Career

When I started my work-at-home search, I had no clue what I wanted to do. What’s funny is, I knew all the things I didn’t want to do, like, work in the nursing field, talk on the phone, or any occupation with a set schedule. And from the emails that I receive daily, this is […]

The post Free Online Courses to Launch Your Work-at-Home Career appeared first on The Work at Home Woman | Legit Work From Home Jobs.

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Payment companies are withholding funds from struggling businesses

Originally written by Anna Jordan on Small Business
Restaurants and retail stores are raising complaints about payment processing firms holding onto their money, according to The Times.
Payment companies already impose a transaction fee, causing more problems for stretched businesses as consumers increasingly opt for card and mobile wallet payments.
UKHospitality have not heard any cases from their members, but urge anyone affected to come forward. Kate Nicholls, the organisation’s CEO, told SmallBusiness.co.uk:
“With the bulk of hospitality businesses providing products for immediate consumption, there doesn’t seem to be any reason why merchant services should do this with businesses like cafés, pubs, restaurants or bars.
“If any hospitality businesses have experienced this, then we encourage them to contact us, even if they are not members of UKHospitality.”
The practice is more common in sectors with higher-priced items like holidays and furniture. In the run-up to Thomas Cook’s collapse, the firm’s payment processor lengthened the time it held onto customer money from two days to several weeks. The Times reported that the processor held onto millions of pounds.
> See also: Three ways to reduce chargebacks
Worldpay, First Data and Adyen are expected to review the risk profile of their relationships following Thomas Cook’s demise. The Financial Times says

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Neil Patel reviews his journey to success: learn from his top 5 mistakes

Originally written by Partner Content on Small Business
How many online marketing experts have you seen share all the mistakes they’ve made while building their businesses? Not many, I bet. That’s why Neil Patel’s openness about his own failures has always been so refreshing.
It seems a bit counter-intuitive to tell your agency’s potential marketing customers about the biggest marketing mistakes you’ve made in your career, or worse, to admit to your massive blog audience that what you’ve been teaching them is wrong.
However, if Neil’s success throughout the years has been any indication, this kind of transparency has only bolstered his position of one of the most knowledgeable and respected online marketing experts to date. Today, Neil Patel is one of the fiercest competitive marketers around.
Between interviews where he reflects on his journey since starting his first business at age 16, to conference talks where he gets into the details of his worst business decisions, Neil Patel has consistently reviewed many hard lessons he’s learned as an entrepreneur.
Let’s take a look at some of the biggest mistakes he’s made during his career, and the lessons we can learn from him to build better businesses for ourselves.
Mistake #1: Picking the wrong business partners
As

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