Your business is a well-oiled machine. Your developers are coming up with brilliant products, your sales team is reaching your target markets and your customer service is excellent. While you may think that you shouldn’t fix what isn’t broken, there are aspects of every business that need to be updated regularly.
Business Goals
If you haven’t updated your business plan since you launched your business, it’s time to take another look. When you’re first starting out, you’re worried about your finances, product development, marketing and sales. As your business evolves and expands, you need to be sure that you have realistic goals to keep you on the right path. At least once a year sit down with your employees to see what you’ve accomplished and what needs to be improved. If there have been any changes in the market or technology, look at how your business can adapt and thrive in these conditions. If you’ve met all your previous goals, see how you can continue to grow, such as developing new products, reaching new markets or hiring more employees. This process lets you see the bigger picture of your business and make sure all the leaders of your company agree on where you’re going.
Website
Web design trends change about as often as the internet itself. Your website is not an a part of your business that you can set and forget. Set aside time to look through your website architecture, navigation, search, design, content and security to make sure it is easy to use and looks beautiful.
As you add new products and services to your business arsenal, be sure to update your navigation and architecture so your customers can easily find what they’re looking for and move from page to page without bumbling around. The mobile-first trend also should be a big sign that you need to stay on top of your web design. If your website isn’t responsive and mobile friendly, update it immediately or risk being penalized in Google rankings and decreased traffic. You also should make sure that all of your content and images are updated regularly so they are engaging and useful to your customers. This also helps your search engine rankings and web traffic.
Hardware
If you depend on equipment to run your day-to-day operations, it’s going to receive a lot of wear and tear. Keep an eye on all of the moving parts in your business hardware to ensure it’s running smoothly and efficiently. For example, if you run a gas transportation business, you depend on o-rings to keep your tanks sealed and protected from the elements. Don’t wait for them to break or wear down and run the risk of leaks or moisture collecting in the tanks and ruining your gas. If you run a cloud backup center, you need to regularly update your air conditioning units to ensure your building stays cool enough to keep your servers running efficiently without overheating. Just because parts are small, doesn’t mean they’re insignificant, so be sure to keep everything updated and up to manufacturer standards.
Passwords
This simply can’t be said enough: change your passwords regularly. With all of the major hacks, viruses and other problems circling the business world, you need to ensure your business data is safe. Set reminders to change the passwords on all of your accounts and randomize them so they can’t be stolen.
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