The steps the U.S. and other countries have taken to combat the coronavirus is a clear indication of the impact it is having globally. Businesses are doing all they can to find workarounds to keep their companies operational.
In this week’s roundup, we take a look at the virus and how businesses are coping.
Zoho is doing its share to help in that endeavor by making Zoho Remotely available for free until July 1st. This is the full version and not the freemium one. Furthermore, the company says it will extend the offer if the virus hasn’t been contained by then.
This is a suite of tools that include everything a business needs to work remotely with its team as well as provide customer support.
When it comes to the government, President Trump has ordered a $50 billion small business stimulus package to help owners cope with the downturn in business. The President is also looking to defer tax payment to inject a temporary infusion of $200B into the economy. Additionally, he is asking Congress to cut the payroll tax.
The virus will go away in due course, but in the meantime, entrepreneurs will keep running their business.
Small Business Trends will keep you informed of any news that affects small businesses along with ways to keep your business operational during this crisis.
Tech Tools
Zoho Launches Remotely, a Collaboration and Productivity Platform
Zoho Remotely is a suite of cloud applications to help you communicate and collaborate with your team. No matter where you are in the world it will keep track of your workload as well as provide remote assistance to your customers. Ironically enough, the launch of Zoho Remotely comes when the world is scrambling to find a workaround for the coronavirus in their workplace.
Hootsuite Launches Social Listening Tool Geared for Small Businesses
Do you dream about knowing what your consumers are doing, feeling, and thinking pertinent to your brand? If yes, then the latest social listening tool from Hootsuite can help you do so. Hootsuite recently launched its new listening solution Insights Powered by Brandwatch. With this tool, small businesses can have better consumer intelligence.
Toast Offers A Game-Changing Management Experience For Restaurants
Toast combines point of sale, digital ordering, reporting, and employee management to offer a single platform to power your restaurant. Interested in seeing all that Toast has to offer? Schedule a demo here. How Toast Can Help Your Restaurant Many POS systems weren’t designed with restaurants in mind. Legacy POS systems can be bulky, slow, and confusing to operate.
Finance
Kabbage Insights Hopes to Keep Small Businesses Cash Positive
There’s a new tool watching your cash flow automatically. Kabbage Insights predicts and calculates cash flow patterns so your small business can target deficits and surpluses. It’s a great way to plan when to expand, downsize and ride the ups and downs of your market. What’s more, it’s free.
Management
How to Build Strong, Personal Relationships for a Remote Team
When you hear the phrase “building team culture” you might envision lively office parties and team lunches, but with geographically-distributed teams and 70% of the world’s workforce working remotely, culture in the future of work means thinking beyond the physical office.
Small Business Operations
What is a Virtual Employee? The Pros and Cons of Hiring Them
Have you ever heard the term “virtual employee” and wondered what exactly it means? Basically, a virtual employee is just like a regular employee who works for your business. However, instead of coming into your office or physical location, they provide services remotely. In most cases, virtual employees aren’t directly employed by your business.
Need an Assistant? Try Work Better Now
As your business grows, you may have more tasks on your plate than you can reasonably handle on your own. In some cases, a virtual assistant could be key to taking your business to the next level. If you think your small business could benefit from a virtual assistant, the next step is finding one. That’s where Work Better Now comes in.
Responding to Emails Promptly Builds Trust
As a small business, how long do you take to respond to your emails? A new infographic from timetoreply.com developed by NowSourcing says people have email response time expectations. And if you don’t respond according to these expectations, they will lose trust in your company.
Thought Leadership
How to Guarantee Success by Becoming an Expert
Want to succeed today and guarantee long term success? Become a subject matter expert in your field. This is because selling is no longer effective; people don’t really want to just buy your product or service; they want to learn and be educated from the best.
Small Business News
Trump Orders $50 Billion Small Business Stimulus to Combat the Impact of the Coronavirus
Beyond the lives the coronavirus has taken, it is also exacting a huge cost on the global economy. This has led U.S. President Trump to order a $50 billion small business stimulus during his speech to the nation. SBA Coronavirus Loan and Other Assistance The President was urging Congress to help small businesses and deliver tax breaks.
67% of Small Businesses Spend More Than $10K a Year on Analytics
Businesses now operate in a digital ecosystem generating a massive amount of data. And making sense of this information is key to ensure the success of your business. So, it is not surprising 67% of small businesses are spending more than $10K a year on analytics. Even more revealing is the fact that 100% of the respondents in the survey are using a data analytics solution.
23% Feel Unsafe at Their Coworking Space
As more people work remotely, they are doing so from different places. And one of those places is a coworking space. So, what are the challenges users of these spaces face when they work there? According to a new survey from Clutch, safety is one of the issues. Almost a quarter or 23% of the respondents in the survey say they don’t feel safe.
Research Says Credit Card Fraud Remains Top Identity Theft Risk
Identity theft continues to affect Americans with credit card fraud topping the list of identity thefts crimes in 2019. This according to research by PreciseSecurity. In 2019 some 271, 823 Americans were victims of credit card fraud. Overall, more than 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year. Identity theft complaints in the U.S.
Small Business Owners Lack Confidence But Not Revenue
If you believe that your small business is underperforming your peers, then chances are you actually are doing great. According to new data released by Kabbage, Inc., the vast majority of small businesses have healthy revenue performance. In fact, 74% of small businesses met or exceeded the overall index revenue growth of small businesses over three months period.
Coronavirus Disrupting Small Business Conference Circuit
The nationwide coronavirus outbreak pushed business conference organizers to change their plans recently. As a result, some high-profile events popular among small businesses and entrepreneurs got canceled or found themselves severely altered. Changes arose from fears of the COVID-19 issue
Liberal or Conservative, Small Business Owners United on One Thing
Stating the current political climate in the U.S. is divided is an understatement. However, not everyone is as divided when it comes to certain issues. According to a new study from Lendio, this is the case for small business owners, who agree on matters affecting their ability to do business. Whether they are Team Red or Team Blue, overall business owners are optimistic.
Image: Zoho Remotely
I think that this is perfect. Social listening is essential nowadays. You need to know what your customers need for you to be able to provide them