5 Things Small Business Owners Need To Know This Week

Five Things To Know This?Week:

1) How Do Employees Feel About Hybrid/Remote Work?

2) A “Lift” for Small Business Owners

3) State of Retail

4) Which Cloud Storage Should You Use?

5) Resource of the Week: Burst, Free Stock Photos

Hello Small Business Edge Readers,

12 days until Christmas!?We are in the thick of the holiday shopping season. Retailers continue to keep two eyes on the weather, consumer demand, cash flow, employees, and possible shipping issues. That’s a lot of eyes!

If you are still holiday shopping for your employees, best customers, family members, and all the other important people in your life, try to buy those gifts from a local small business. Each purchase can make a big difference to retailers who have battled challenges all year, from dealing with supply chain issues, to finding good help, and paying the inflated costs of wholesale goods.

Small businesses should support each other all year round, but buying small during the holidays can significantly impact small businesses in your community.

Thank you!

Brian

1. How Do Employees Feel About Hybrid/Remote Work?

One of the biggest challenges entrepreneurs currently face is finding employees. Workers want flexibility, meaningful work, a healthy culture, and opportunity. What else is on their minds?

To find out,?Intermedia?conducted an?in-depth survey?about today’s workplace. Most employees (85%) say their satisfaction increased significantly or moderately due to hybrid and remote work opportunities. But 53% say a remote/hybrid workplace created a less cohesive culture.

Employees also want tech solutions that make it easy to communicate, meet, and collaborate.

Learn more?about how employees feel about working in a?hybrid/remote workplace.

2. A “Lift” for Small Business Owners

A business survey from Fiverr shows that as a result of the recent economic downturn, small businesses had to “re-examine their fixed costs (lease, insurance, etc.) vs. variable costs (staffing, benefits, etc.). However, 78% of SMBs still feel optimistic about their future prospects, and 77% say freelance talent could be helpful during times of economic downturn.

To help, Fiverr launched “The Lift,” an online recession hub featuring on-demand help, articles, and guides from business experts.

Learn more?about?The Lift.

3. State of Retail

There’s a lot happening in the SMB retail sector these days. In a recent podcast, I interviewed Melissa Campanelli, Co-founder of the?Women in Retail Leadership Circle.

Melissa offers small retailers advice you can still put into action, even though there are only 12 days until Christmas.

Also, remember that the holiday shopping season actually lasts through January since consumers will still be coming into your stores to make returns and exchanges and check out clearance prices. There is still time to turn consumers into loyal customers.

Read more?about the?state of retail.

4. Which Cloud Storage Should You Use?

Small business owners desperately need cloud storage solutions, but it’s hard to know which one to choose. If you use an Android phone, two solutions that come pre-installed on many Androids are Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive.

Each has its advantages, but MUO (Make Use Of) says there’s a clear winner if backing up your device is important to you.

Learn?which?cloud storage is better?if automatic backups are important to you.

5. Resource of the Week: Burst, Free Stock Photos

Small business owners have so many needs for stock photos. They are an essential part of marketing. You can use them for your website, media kit, signs and banners for trade shows, email, social media marketing, etc.

Buying stock photos can be pricey. That’s why Burst, a free stock photo platform powered by Shopify, is so valuable. Their image library has thousands of high-resolution,?royalty-free images?you can use.

Learn more?about how you can get?stock photos for free.

Click?here?to listen to my podcast with Val.

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