As a business owner, you know it’s a good rule of thumb to invest in your company any chance available. If you see an opening in your budget, it is time to make meaningful investments to grow your business and take it to the next level and the next level after.
A reasonable question you might have is what risks to take and purchases to make to advance your business while protecting the bottom line. It is a common source of stress that is enough to make you pause when making your move.
Here are four ideas to help you decide on the best investments to make right now.
1. IT Department and Resources
As a business leader, you know that technology is a driving factor in success today, regardless of your organization’s size. It is vital to continually monitor and assess your organization’s IT resources: hardware, software and human. If you are working with a small, ad hoc crew of business-savvy professionals who lack tech expertise, hire a CIO to help give you direction. If you already have a CIO, offer him or her support in the form of an in-house IT department, and invest in various cloud service and as-a-service (AAS) programs to provide relief to your on-site infrastructure and IT employees. With this investment strategy, you will provide relief to your team and improve customer service.
2. Identity Theft Protection
As a startup, freelancer or small business owner, it is essential to protect your identity, which is the foundation for building your business reputation and finances. LifeLock offers identity protection programs and services that are must-have assets for your enterprise. The volume of data that you store online for your business, finances, employees and customers warrant your pursuit of and investment in every protection available to you. Explore some key features and benefits of an investment in identity theft protection:
- Social Security number & credit alerts
- Lost wallet protection
- USPS address change verification
- Security protection for up to five devices
- Bank and credit card activity alerts
- 3 bureau credit reports and credit scores per year
3. More Marketing
Boosting your company’s presence in your industry is essential to growth, and a strong marketing strategy will foster that growth. It would help if you found the top ways to spread the word about your business and let your target audience know your products are perfect for their needs. While the best marketing campaigns use multiple delivery channels, you can still impact a budget. Take advantage of social media platforms’ popularity by hiring social media content experts or paying for premium content for sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
4. Employee Benefits
If you have any surplus funds in your budget, use it to invest in your employees to foster loyalty. Here are a few ways to help employees feel valued:
- Boost benefits such as adding sick, vacation and personal days
- Search for better health insurance with lower costs
- Focus on employee health, well-being and work-life balance
- Promote from within
- Rehire former employees when possible and appropriate, such as after budget-related layoffs
- Offer employee training
- Launch an employee recognition and rewards program
Meaningful Investments You Make in Your Business Means Rewards for Everyone
With the right investments in your business, you offer improvements, benefits and bonuses for everyone, including your customers and employees. Protecting your business identity, rewarding employees and letting your target audience know how great your business is are all vital to your business health right now.