M2M Connectivity Featured Article

Running a small business can still feel like a very independent, or even lonely, job. If you started the business yourself, you'll probably never shed the feeling that it's your baby, and that it's on you to make sure every little thing is going smoothly. While that can stay true for some time, a wise small business owner knows how to delegate tasks and secure partnerships that can take some work off his or her own hands and also improve the business. 

Accounting and bookkeeping can really set a growing small business back in numerous ways. To begin with, most small business owners simply aren't experienced with how to manage financial records at that kind of level. Additionally, simply hiring a bookkeeper or accountant can be a very expensive endeavor early on in the process of forming a business. Fortunately, more tools for independent accounting are released each year.

An article at SmallBizTrends pointed to nine different accounting and bookkeeping programs that you might consider to help with managing your books with as little effort or expense as possible. For the most part, these are free apps released by companies you can work with to generate a strong accounting department with very little cost or effort.

Find A Contactless Pay Provider
It's no big secret that retail payments are moving slowly but surely toward embracing contactless technology, which essentially means special credit cards or mobile programs that can be scanned to transfer money. Embracing contactless technology not only keeps you out in front of an emerging trend, but also encourages customers to engage with your business through their mobile phones in general. This may mean tapping into the virtually endless benefits of providing those customers with apps, push notifications, and so forth. But it all starts with the payment systems. Worldpay shows that there are numerous ways to update how you process customer payments, such as through countertop, portable, or mobile tools. Regardless of which method best suits your store locations, finding a provider that can equip you with machines for accepting contactless transactions can be a big step forward. 

Partner With Content Creators
Content is king on the web. So stated a list by Business News Daily on B2B ideas for 2016, and it's an important piece of information to consider if you're running your own company. Frankly, it's something a lot of business owners don't necessarily consider unless content comes naturally to the industry they're operating in. But the truth is that content keeps your online presence fresh and provides one more way to engage with customers. Even maintaining a blog with one or two posts a week creates a whole new reference point for people searching for or exploring your business. Like accounting, however, keeping up written content is not something all business owners are equipped to do themselves. Thus, looking for a content creation team or even a few reliable freelancers running their own writing businesses can be a pretty good idea. You may be surprised how much online content can widen your reach. 

These are three easy ways to partner with other companies or individuals to improve your business in 2016, and each requires relatively little effort for a potentially significant change.