There’d better be a good reason to get involved in the business. When family members come into a business, they need to be able to add value to it — and the business needs to add value to their lives. If that’s not the case, don’t risk jeopardizing your family’s economic security as well as ruining family relationships to get into a family-owned business. Imagine taking … [More]
Pokémon Go Reminds Businesses to Protect Confidentiality, Trade Secret and Privileges
The newest, hottest game, Pokémon Go, was downloaded more than 7.5 million times on iOS and Android phones in less than a week after its release. The free-to-download game is bringing in $1.6 million in daily revenue in Apple’s iOS store alone, based on in-app purchases. This augmented reality game is currently on the fast track to overtake social media apps in terms of amount … [More]
Stop Being Boring
Yes, I’m talking to you! I’m talking to the person who walks around the networking event asking everyone their name what they do for a living. The answer to both of those questions is: “Who cares?” When you ask me those questions, it’s really just a generically boring ice-breaker — all you’re trying to do is get a conversation going so that you can tell me what you do … [More]
Hearing Loss in the Workplace
Noise-related hearing loss is a major occupational health concern. Thousands of workers, annually, suffer from hearing loss because of workplace noise. Even when it is short-term, noise can cause a temporary change in hearing. Noise is measured in decibels (dBA). A small increase in decibels results in a huge change in the noise and the potential damage to a person’s … [More]
Management Development: The Power of Manager as Leader
Using social power can help us better understand and compare the roles of manager and leader. Managers can develop and leverage personal leadership skills to increase their effectiveness in getting results through people. Although the definition of “leadership” can easily be found in the dictionary, understanding what it truly means to be a leader is a complex topic and the … [More]
Dental Coverage for the Self-Employed
This is an age of entrepreneurial innovation. Professionals are passing on corporate life and becoming their own bosses. Today, freelancers, the self-employed and contract workers account for 30 percent of the national workforce, and that number is expected to increase to 40 percent by 2020. Working outside the box means accounting for all the details, including dental … [More]
Business Books to Keep on Top of Your Game
Picking up the right business book could help businesspeople stay ahead of the curve. It could advance their career, make them a better manager and keep them on top of new business trends. But with thousands of business books published each year, how can a person know which one to pick up? Try one of these Barnes & Noble Top Picks in Business books. The ONE Thing: … [More]
The Courage to Thrive
Once a frontier state specific to mining and agriculture, Arizona has since thrived over the decades, now home to more than 400,000 registered small businesses in industries such as technology, medicine, finance and real estate. With Phoenix ranked as 14th in start-up companies1 we are seeing more and more small-business owners relocate to Arizona to get their small businesses … [More]
Hot Stuff
It’s never a good day when your vehicle breaks down. When it’s 100-plus degrees, however, the inconvenience becomes a possible danger. As an automotive resource, AAA encourages motorists to stow a breakdown kit in their vehicles and have a breakdown plan so they’re prepared for many things that might go wrong. “Think of it as your own preventive maintenance,” said John … [More]
Make Banking Part of Your Business Strategy
Optimism is on the rise among business owners and, as the economic recovery continues, businesses are ready to grow by expanding operations, hiring new talent and purchasing new equipment. They are also searching for new strategies, financing options and ideas for better market penetration. As part of a growth plan, one of the best advantages a business can have is … [More]
Are you focused on ‘Base Hits’?
Baseball season is in “full swing,” and there are some great comparisons to the sales world. Baseball coaches will consistently tell you that base hits win baseball games. Home runs are nice when they happen, and they look great on sports highlight shows. However, statistically speaking, they are much harder to hit. If you’re trying to hit a home run, you have a greater … [More]
Hiring, Retention and Development: Staffing Your Organization
The discourse in the workplace continues to suggest that the economy is improving. We see evidence of this because of the increase in hiring in all sectors — public, private and healthcare. We know this is a challenging experience. Hiring people is time consuming and expensive. Managers believe that this activity takes them away from their responsibility of getting out … [More]
The IT Challenges of Business Success
Congratulations! You’ve worked hard and have now moved from a “startup, small business” to a “medium-sized business” (100–999 employees). You’ve been able to outsource your IT needs to a small service provider that has adequately fulfilled your IT requirements, and you expect that your supporting technology will keep pace with your business goals. The “mom and pop” IT … [More]
Hacking Small Business Has Become Big Business
Large, well-fortified organizations and enterprises may not be as attractive to data thieves as they once were. You can thank better training, bigger IT budgets and more effective security measures for this welcome bit of news. Things are less rosy for small companies, however. Shrinking budgets, limited resources, and lax or outdated security practices have now made SMBs … [More]
Looking Beyond to Find Your Customers
Global is the new buzz word in business. For most of us, the idea of going global seems like a lot of effort and time — both of which are in short supply. Add to it the risk of doing business with someone who speaks a different language and uses different currency, and going global doesn’t look like a very good business opportunity. But it doesn’t have to be that way. The … [More]
How to Improve Your SEO Score and Why You Need to Do It
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a philosophy of the strategy, the technique and the method used to increase traffic to a website. It is achieved mostly by receiving high-ranking results in popular search engines on the Internet; websites that rank higher, obviously, have more authenticity and are reliable for posting organic results. Here are the main factors that can … [More]
Shopping for Health Insurance Made Easy
ASBA has partnered with Connected Health to create Connect2CoverageAZ.com, bringing individuals the only Arizona off-exchange marketplace to shop for health insurance. The online platform created a simple solution for individuals to be able to shop all available health insurance carriers based on personal options and financial goals. Buyers of individual health insurance … [More]
Top Tips for Small-Business Owners Implementing a High-Deductible Health Plan with an HSA
Over the years, we have seen that many business owners have similar challenges in understanding Health Savings Account (HSA) funding, plan design and contribution strategies. As HSA use continues to grow, there are no shortage of questions that will need to be answered. We’ve outlined four tips for effectively designing a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) with an HSA. A … [More]
