ENTREPRENEURSHIP
7 Services Every Modern Business Needs to Succeed
Many business owners like to see themselves as self-sufficient entities that rely on nobody else. While the typical business owner possesses knowledge and skills that help them achieve financial success, it’s safe to say few, if any, get it done on their own.
For one thing, any business owner with at least one employee is not entirely self-sufficient. But more importantly, most businesses – big and small – rely on outside services to help them achieve their goals.
Thanks to the ever-evolving nature of modern business – especially those that operate entirely online – it’s becoming increasingly harder to get it done on your own. Sooner or later, outside experts are bound to be required.
With this in mind, let’s take a look at seven services every modern business needs to succeed:
Managed payroll
More companies are opting for remote workers than ever before. From freelancers to salaried employees, things get complicated when workers are spread out across the globe. That’s where global payroll services come into play. These companies specialize in helping businesses manage their international payroll obligations. In doing so, they take a lot of the guesswork out of the picture for businesses that would otherwise be forced to spend precious time and money getting their global payroll sorted.
Payment platform
Most modern businesses have at least some sort of e-commerce presence. If there’s the option to buy and sell online, there also needs to be a way to pay. Enter online payment platforms. The most popular one is PayPal, but there are several others. As long as they provide a safe and secure means of conducting business transactions, payment platforms do their job. And in today’s increasingly digital economy, they’re becoming an essential component of virtually every business.
Cybersecurity
Malware, ransomware, and trojans are no joke. They have the potential to utterly cripple your business in a matter of hours. What’s more, hackers are more likely to target smaller businesses due to the belief they’re less secure. Unfortunately, they’re not wrong. With this in mind, it’s essential for businesses big and small to invest in a robust cybersecurity apparatus. Such protection is increasingly achieved by utilizing existing systems designed by cybersecurity experts.
Insurance
The concept of insurance has been around for centuries, and for good reason. It’s a way to mitigate the risks that come with certain situations that are hard to avoid. For businesses, these risks include things like damage, theft, and personal injury. For this reason, commercial insurance policies are an essential service that every business needs to utilize. Failure to do so could subject them to fines, lawsuits, bankruptcy, and even criminal prosecution. Not to mention, it could put them out of business.
Web design
It’s hard to be a modern business without a website. Even if your business is entirely brick-and-mortar, you need a website for customers to access in order to assess your offerings and learn more about your company. With this in mind, web design is a critical service for businesses to use. Sure, almost anybody can use web builder tools to put together a perfunctory web presence, but chances are it will lack the professional touch that guarantees user-friendliness and reliable customer conversion rates.
Digital marketing
An increasingly digital economy means an increased emphasis on digital marketing. If your company isn’t utilizing the services of a digital marketing agency or an in-house team of digital marketing professionals, it’s at an extreme disadvantage compared to competitors who are. With this in mind, digital marketing ranks high on the list of services every modern business needs to succeed.
Accounting
If a business is for-profit, money is everything. Failure to accurately monitor transactions will prove disastrous sooner or later. This is why every business needs professional accounting services. At the very least, they need to use business-grade accounting software.
It’s not uncommon for business owners to view themselves as godlike. It’s part of what got them where they are. But to think they rely on nobody is nonsense. Every business relies on goods, services, and outside expertise to succeed. Keep this in mind going forward.
Alex Farina is a freelance writer from Ohio. He enjoys writing about design, fashion, nature, and technology.