Businesses come in shades and forms, but one thing that is irrevocably correct about any brand is that much effort, time, and resources are sunk in before any business can take a foothold.
All you need do is to take a look back to where you are coming from. As a startup or as a mega firm, it was the same process for most brands. The sleepless nights you had to go through, the stress, energy-sapping moments, and the running about you endured all in a bid to take off can never be written off.
You must have realized that it’s not everybody’s stuff and can be rather very heady since especially, you were able to overcome the mental hurdles that kept others at bay.
If the report that the failure rate of all U.S. companies after five years was over 50 percent, and over 70 percent after 10 years is anything to go by, then the fact that you are bracing the odds to kickstart your brand or that you have been able to survive the avalanche and myriads of onslaughts from right, left, and center should not be taken with a pinch of salt.
It’s of utmost importance that you put in all you’ve got into those things that work out positively for you and completely refrain from anything that can endanger your business. To be able to do that, you need to work seriously on the following things.
- Your security setup
Your business can come crashing in a matter of hours; all your effort, financial input, technical know-how, expertise, goodwill, and market penetration can disappear in a flash. The FBI reported that since January 1, 2016, more than 4,000 ransomware attacks have occurred on a daily basis (on average).
A survey showed that hackers target small businesses the more for the fact that they hardly can put protective measures in place. It was found out that only 22 percent of small businesses report they encrypt databases. Without encrypting, your sensitive information is up for grabs.
If your sensitive information becomes compromised, chances of losing clients and even eventual closure are very high and can happen within days. It will amount to sheer blue murder if you let your guards down on matters that have to do with the security of your business. The sharks out there are ready to go for your jugular.
- Infringement of the copyright law
The Copyright Law and Intellectual Property (IP) legislation is another bobby trap that you must be abreast of. These sets of laws are put in place to protect the company from intellectual thefts by competing firms. Depending on the brand you are into, you may unwittingly find yourself in the bad books of these laws and this will be very detrimental, to say the least.
IP agreements come in two folds, which are Technology Assignment Agreements and Invention Assignment Agreements. Infringing any of these can land you in a very hot pot of soup and to extricate yourself from the ensuing and messy lawsuits could cost you the whole company. The best practice is to engage the services of an IP lawyer.
- Bank agreements
It may not be out of place to enter into agreements with banks and other financial institutions especially if your business has to source funds to operate. However, such agreements must be held sacred. Every effort should be made to redeem all debts as and at when due.
The financial team must go through every document before signatures are appended. Some of the clauses which will include Interests, Default interest, Prepayment, Repayment, and Loan agreement must be clearly understood. Infringing any of these finely crafted clauses could be translated as a default and may lead to the sale of the company.
The bank’s rights and remedies section of the promissory note is a very vital section of the agreement that you should commit to heart. This a set of actions the bank may take if you default on the agreement.
- Quality control
The quality of your product is what will make or mar the image of the company and should not be handled with kids gloves. If the brand has a quality control section, it’s the absolute duty of the section to vouchsafe the product at any point in time.
Any slip from this angle could completely jeopardize the whole business. A quality product that has high-quality application and high tech defensibility confer a competitive advantage status on the firm especially with the cut-throat struggle to outbid and outwit others in the global market.
It should be premium on your mind that every other brand in the market wishes to enjoy a sort of monopoly and may even go all the way to edge you out of the market.
- Workforce
The type of workforce you have in place is another deciding factor on whether you will continue to operate or vacate the scene. Every brand goes for the best. With quacks and semi-baked workforce, your business is headed down the drain.
Go for technocrats. The global village nature of the world avails you of the opportunity to engage the best hands in the market. You should aim at being the best of brands.
