By Dennis Powell, e-Management

It seems like we blog about everything under the sun…the best food, great travel destinations, social media, government agencies, and we can go on and on. We, however, haven’t focused on small businesses or entrepreneurs in a while. So, we wanted to share four tips that every small business and entrepreneur should consider for success.

• Build a company with great culture. In an article on Monster.com, Michael Burchell, author of The Great Workplace—How to Build It, How to Keep It, And Why It Matters, gives a number of reasons why organizational culture can mean success for small businesses. At e-Management, our CEO strongly believes that culture starts at the top and makes it a priority for the company’s leadership to model the culture we want employees to experience and promote. Great work culture can reduce staff turnover. In addition, employees tend to be happier at companies with great culture and their happiness can mean customer care that stands out from the competition. Not to mention, great workplaces are oftentimes centers for creation and innovation. So, don’t underestimate the value of culture taking your business to the next level.
• Reward your staff. A recent report from Bersin by Deloitte (formerly Bersin & Associates), The State of Employee Recognition in 2012, suggests that rewards programs have “a much more measurable role in business performance than previously believed.” Specifically, the research indicates businesses with defined recognition programs see a 14% improvement in “employee engagement, productivity and customer service” over organizations without formal staff acknowledgements. Employee recognition works at e-Management and is a key component of our management philosophy. We highlight staff achievement in a variety of ways. At our All-Hands Meetings held quarterly, we present awards to employees who have received commendations from clients and their peers. Award recipients are treated to a special awards dinner and other perks. In 2014, e-Management handed out more than 90 awards to staff.
• Take risks! But, you have to be smart about it. Drew Hendricks, a contributor to Inc.com provides tips for knowing the difference between good risks and foolhardy endeavors. Hendricks asserts that all “successful business owners must learn the art of taking calculated (i.e. “good”) risks. Calculated risks come with identifying risks, anticipating risks, having mitigation plans in place, and having a strategic vision that includes financing, marketing, and sales among other components. Remember, when it comes to growing your business: No calculated risk. No glory.
• Take cybersecurity seriously! Cybersecurity is a buzz word in business and in the news. Why? Well, it’s a big deal. The average cost of a targeted cyber-attack to a small business is $188,242, according to a 2010 survey from Symantec. And according to the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), 60% of small companies go out of business within 6 months of a major cyber breach. Yet, many entrepreneurs and business owners don’t know what their exposure is or don’t have a response plan in place in the event that they are targets of hackers. At the very least, small businesses should learn about the new Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity Framework from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and find products like CyberRx that help to simplify and automate the framework for small business success.

Your Success in Business
Those are our tips. Now it’s time for you to sound off:  (1) How important do you think organizational culture is to the success of businesses? (2) Do you think small business owners and their staff should be concerned about internet hackers? (3) What tips do you have for small business success?