September 2006
Backing Up Your Computers Is
A Must
Keep Burglars Out Of Your
Premises
Don't Freeze Making Cold
Calls
Delivering The Goods
 
Backing Up Your Computers Is A Must
Data stored on your businesses’ computers probably
represents one of your most important assets.
You may have client data, financial data,
contact lists – in fact, what isn’t on a
computer these days? But these assets can be
destroyed in just a matter of seconds from user
error, technical faults or malicious hacking.
The only sure way to limit loss is by backing up
(copying and storing) the data on your computers
on a regular basis. How you back it up and how
often you do it are decisions for you to make
but unless you back up your data on a regular
basis you're placing a lot of your businesses'
intellectual property at risk.
A choice of backup methods
• You can back up your computer data onto recordable media if the
volume of your data isn't too large for it. The
simplest way is to copy your files onto a
recordable DVD (a DVD-R) that will hold about
8GB of data. Since PCs now commonly come with
hard drives in excess of 8oGB this may take up
too much of your time to be practical, but it is
relatively easy providing you have a DVD burner
on your machine. Another, and better option, is
to back up onto portable media such as the very
affordable 300GB data storage drives now on the
market. Backing up onto tapes is another
possibility. • You can put a second hard drive into your PC and make a copy of
your primary hard disk drive. This is also very
easy to do but it has one major drawback - your
'mirror' drive can be destroyed by the same
calamity that destroys your primary drive, so
it's not a preferred backup method.
• You can use an online backup service and upload your data over
the Internet to their servers. This is becoming
increasingly popular as broadband access
increases, and the costs aren't very high. Large
amounts of data can take quite a while to
transmit, and if the backup service operator
fails your data could be lost. It's a good
backup method but shouldn't be your only one.
There are software backup
programs available to help you back up your data,
regardless of which of the above three methods
you choose. They automate the backup process and
schedule backups when it's most convenient for
you.
What if you
have a network?
Many small businesses now have a local area network (LAN)
which gives them the option of setting up a
single backup point rather than backing up
individual computers in the network. You can
back up all the computers and file servers on a
network along with your file servers onto one
high-capacity data storage unit using a utility
program to manage the scheduling.
How often
should you back up your data?
Most offices perform a backup of their most critical data
on a daily basis. Even the loss of a single
day's data can be a serious problem for some
businesses, and some files get backed up twice a
day or even more frequently. Less important data
can be backed up weekly if you feel that's
sufficient. The most important thing is to
back up regularly so it becomes a habit. Allowing
a scheduled backup to be delayed until the next
morning is bad management. Be sure all the
backups are kept in a safe place, as far from
the source computers as possible.
Train your
employees to back up your data
If you intend to have your employees back up their own
computers you should have a written policy that
covers which data is backed up, how often a
backup is made, and how the backup files are
stored. You must also be sure that every
employee responsible for backing up their
computer knows how to do it. Put this policy
into your employee training manual, together
with instructions on how to back up a PC. Be sure
to update your manual and the instructions every
time you amend your backup policy or procedures
– or your hardware and software.
What if
disaster does strike?
It's almost inevitable that the situation will arise where
you haven't backed up something important and
the computer dies. The good news is that data
can often be recovered from severely damaged
machines, but it's horrifically expensive and
only to be used as a last resort. It's far
better to arrange regular backups for all your
data and store the copies in a safe place.
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Keep Burglars Out Of Your Premises
Burglary is simply any unlawful entry for the purposes of
committing a felony or theft. Few burglars are
ever apprehended, and security industry experts
estimate that around 80% of all burglaries go
unsolved. The incidence of business burglaries
is increasing worldwide with up to 2% of
businesses in metropolitan areas falling victim
to break-ins of some sort each year.
Because business premises are likely to be unoccupied
outside of their normal trading hours they can
be easy targets for burglars unless adequate
security measures are in place. There are four
basic burglary deterrents: locks, an alarm
system, lighting and a safe. They can’t provide
a guarantee that burglars won’t attempt to ply
their skills on your premises, but they will
make it a less attractive option and encourage
them to look elsewhere.
Locks
Locks on all doors and windows are a strong deterrent to
burglars because they require force to overcome.
If you check your burglary insurance policy
you’ll probably find that evidence of a forced
entry will be necessary to make a successful
claim. Force takes up time and causes noise,
both of which burglars would prefer to avoid.
Professional burglars know all about locks, and many can
defeat a typical pin tumbler cylinder lock with
fewer than five pins. For this reason security
experts recommend a lock with six or seven pins,
or a high security lock with a non-pin tumbler.
Dead bolts, another requirement that’s frequently on
insurance policies, have a bolt that’s inserted
into place when the key is turned, so the lock
requires a key to open it. They defeat one of
the burglar’s favorite methods of entry –
breaking a pane of glass to reach through the
door and turn the handle.
Keep close control over the keys that open the doors and
windows to the business. Avoid making
duplicates, and if a key is lost replace the
lock. Never leave keys where they can be picked
up by unauthorized persons.
Alarm systems
A silent alarm that alerts a security firm or the police is
probably the best form of alarm to use. Noisy
alarms will often scare the inexperienced
burglar away, but the professionals can often
find a tripped alarm and disarm it. Without
identifying the type or make of alarm in use,
place prominent notices that there are alarms
protecting your premises.
Use a range of detectors inside the premises to detect
motion as well as sound or vibrations. Be
careful to locate your alarm’s control panel
where it can’t be seen from the outside.
Otherwise they’ll have a good idea of the make
and type of alarm, and may even be able to see
whether it’s been set or if the system is turned
off.
Lighting
Darkness is the burglar’s best friend, and most break-ins
happen at night. Floodlighting the exterior of
the premises removes much of the burglar’s
protection, and bright indoor lighting is
another excellent preventative measure.
Burglars know that the first thing police will
do if they’re called to a suspected break-in
before entering the premises is to look through
all the windows to see if there’s anyone inside.
Having lights that clearly illuminate all areas,
including office areas, is a good deterrent as
well as an aid to law enforcement authorities.
Safes
Because it’s difficult to remove and to break into, a safe
is another way to protect your premises. If
burglars can see it from the outside they’ll be
less likely to bother breaking in, and the
bigger it is, the better. Size and weight alone
aren’t enough to prevent thieves from stealing a
safe and its contents. To be fully effective the
safe should be fixed to the structure of the
building. Insurance companies will often reduce
premiums for businesses that keep valuables in a
strong safe - discuss this with your insurer
before deciding on a safe to purchase. And
remember to change the combination anytime an
employee leaves the business.
There are many other steps you can take to reduce the
attractiveness of your business to burglars and
to secure your premises such as checking the
security of skylights and other points of
possible access and removing cash from any cash
drawers and leaving them clearly open at night.
And don’t leave anything valuable on the
premises that might make it worth a burglar’s
while to break in despite all your defenses.
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Don't Freeze Making Cold Calls
Cold calling is a widely used method of prospecting for new
customers. Any business owner with a telephone
knows that two or three times a day someone they
have never met will contact their company with
some kind of proposal like seeking an
opportunity to quote against an existing
supplier.
It’s not easy to make cold calls and those who have the job
of making them often feel uncomfortable about
their assignment. But there are ways to ‘warm
up’ to the task so that you will feel more
relaxed and in control and make the whole
process a lot less scary.
1. Send an advance notice
A cold call is usually an interruption for the person on
the other end of the phone. Understanding their
needs is one of the most important parts of cold
calling. You’ll only have a brief period of time
to get your ‘foot in the door’ before the
prospect begins to resent the intrusion, and
making the most of that small window is
essential.
Calling completely cold is probably the biggest
mistake cold callers make. Arrange a mailing so
that your prospect has a day or two notice that
you’ll be contacting them. Send them a simple
brochure or leaflet - nothing too long or flashy
- that outlines the basics of your offering and
promises that you’ll be in touch shortly. They
may not be exactly looking forward to your call,
but at least they’ll have seen your name and
product and know where the conversation is
going. This also allows you to introduce
yourself by telling them you sent them a
communication and inquire if they had received
it.
2. Know something about your prospect
The more you know about the prospect’s business the more
confident you can feel about asking the right
questions and giving them the right answers to
their questions since you’ll already have a
rough idea of how you might be able to help
them. Look for their advertisement in the Yellow
Pages, and if they have a website go through it
carefully.
3. Know what you want to say
This doesn’t mean reciting a script word-for-word. Nothing
sounds worse or is more likely to get a
“Sorry, not interested” response. But if you
work out what you’re going to say before you
make the call you’ll be more confident about
making it. You need to introduce yourself,
explain the purpose of your call, and get
through the ‘screener’ to reach the decision
maker. Once you’ve got the right person the real
call begins. Developing a checklist to track
things during the call is a good idea to ensure
you cover all the main things you want to get
across.
4. Talk in terms of helping rather than selling
Be natural and friendly. Explain briefly what you do and
end with a statement that you’d like to see
whether you might be able to help them. Explain
that you’d really like to meet them and that
there’d be no obligation on their part; you just
want to explore the possibilities for satisfying
a need in their business. If you’re sincere and
don’t start selling something right away you’ll
have a much better chance of turning the call
into a conversation. All you want is a meeting,
not a sale.
5. Have an offer ready
Because you’re already taking up their time, and want to
take up even more of it, find a way to make it
worth their while. You might say, “Look, I’ll
set aside whatever time suits you on Thursday
morning and I’ll take you out for breakfast or a
coffee, whichever suits you best.”
6. Rehearse your call lines
Rehearse with someone on the phone who can answer your call
and take the role of your prospect. As they come
back with a variety of responses you’ll get the
feel for handling them. The person you want to
speak with may be out, may be busy, or may just
not want to talk with you. Success in cold
calling is frequently the result of the way you
convince the person screening the calls more
than anything else.
Rejections will happen and they’re nothing personal so
don’t take them that way. Some people may be
rude or hang up on you - it’s just part of cold
calling. However, your call may remind them to
take another look at the leaflet you sent them
and they might call you back later. You can
never tell.
Just remember to be yourself. If you believe in
what you do and that you can really help your
prospect’s business, there’s every reason to be
confident that you’ll win through with the
prospect and eventually get the opportunity to
present your product to them.
To Top
Delivering The Goods
Any business which involves selling a physical product
requires the ability to arrange delivery of the
product to customers in one way or another.
Unlike larger organizations, small businesses don't have
huge budgets and people available to develop
their own carriage service so the most frequent
option is to use a third party whose business is
shipping so as to ensure logistics are carried
out effectively.
But to do it in the most cost effective way can involve
some deliberation of the options. There are no
hard rules about how to get the best deal from
the post office or a commercial courier service
- so much depends on your industry and your
customers, on what you sell and who you sell it
to.
Begin by identifying your shipping needs. This is the easy
part but each of these five questions is
important:
- What do you need to ship?
- How heavy is it?
- Where and who are the customers who buy it?
- How quickly does it have to get to them?
- Does it need special handling?
Move your search to the Internet and go to all the websites
of shipping providers such as FedEx and UPS.
Their range of services will give you a good
idea of costs and other conditions.
Go to the websites of others in the same business as your
company and see what their shipping arrangements
are. Most businesses offer at least two classes
of service, standard and express, with express
naturally being the more expensive. Unless
you’re shipping perishable goods this is a good
way to manage the problem of getting goods to
customers in a specific timeframe - let them
decide how soon they need it and pay
accordingly.
Shipping services are another option that is available in
most areas. They act as brokers to negotiate the
best rates for a client company. Because they
can ‘pool’ their customers’ shipments they can
often come up with really good rates that an
individual company couldn’t arrange for itself.
But costs are only part of the package. The service should
have pickup times that suit your business, for
example in the morning if your packing is done
at the close of the previous business day. Some
services have more than one pickup daily, and
also offer on-request pickups within a specific
period of time. Documentation is another matter
to examine - reducing paperwork to the minimum
will save you time and therefore expense.
Order tracking is another function provided by most
shippers. The more sophisticated shipping
companies allow their customers to track their
shipments using the Internet making it possible
24/7 to handle inquiries from your own customers
about their orders.
Yet another consideration is delivery at the
other end. What methods do they use for
fulfillment? How reliable are their carriers? It
never hurts to ask for references from their
existing customers, preferably those who ship to
the same destinations as you’re intending to.
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