Getting a startup off the ground, growing it to profitability, and a possible successful exit is no mean feat. It’s critically important to avoid making key mistakes during this difficult time. A few essential services and practical resources should be tapped to increase the chance of succeeding.
Here are four useful resources and essential services for Twin Cities’ Startups.
1. Dependable Office Communications
Companies need to arrange for reliable office communications from the get-go. Using the least expensive option might have been a hasty decision that’s coming back to bite you now.
Instead, work with an experienced team that can deliver what’s needed. Integrated Communications, a leading telecom provider based in Minneapolis, is one such company that can provide what’s required. Then you’re free to focus on the other areas of the business.
2. Data Backups
Data backups are essential for any business, but especially startups that are commonly more tech based. These include offsite and cloud-based solutions. Each approach to backups has its merits.
A) Off-site backups
Off-site backups are designed around companies creating physical backups and storing them in a secondary location. This not only provides a way to recover from a hard drive failure but also a break-in at the office or potential data corruption.
B) Cloud-based backups
Cloud-based backups can either include cloud syncing tools or be specifically designed to accommodate large-scale backup services.
Cloud syncing such as Google Drive and other systems have business plans that support multiple users. Remote backup cloud solutions are geared more towards substantial, regular backups of the entire network on a schedule.
3. Productivity Tools
Most US companies are small. Over 60 percent have five or fewer employees, so your startup may not be expansive yet. And that’s okay.
The types of productivity tools needed will depend on the complexity of the work, the number of employees, and what’s required.
SaaS apps for business users include Asana, ClickUp, and other Kanban-based organizational systems with separate boards filled with tasks under broad categories, such as “To Do,” “Doing,” and “Done.”
Smaller companies may still rely on traditional To-Do lists. Apps such as Todoist and Remember the Milk are also fine for employees with a minimal number of projects and little collaboration between colleagues. Particularly, the latter includes smart lists that allow users to create custom lists that fulfill specific criteria rather than using categories alone; this is extremely powerful.
4. Learning Tools
Staff training should be ongoing and spread across different types of learning tools. Some are free resources, whereas others are paid short courses or long-form courses with a defined curriculum.
Many courses are entirely online today. They can be studied in bite-size chunks without the need for an employee to attend college classes. Don’t dismiss short video training courses from sites like Udemy.com or even YouTube tutorials that shortcut the time to acquire a new skill.
By using essential services and resources that improve productivity and provide adequate training, employees can give the startup the best chance of succeeding.
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