Business

How Do I Find the Best Company in Denver?

Finding the most resourceful sign company in your area is seldom an easy task. Even businesses with experience can be fooled by low quality sign companies trying to make a quick buck, and if you’re just starting up, you’re even more at risk to fall prey to such practices.

Fortunately, Denver is home to a few very friendly, experienced and knowledgeable signage professionals who know exactly what you need and how you should get started. These sign company Denver experts will be able to guide you on the strategies you need to adopt and the approaches you have to focus on in order to achieve the highest degree of success with your business.

sign company Denver

You’ll know them based on what they do and how they will approach you. First of all, make sure to steer clear of the following red flags:

  • Companies that try to approach you without you even contacting them and trying to convince you to pay more while creating a sense of urgency;
  • Representatives that will ask you to pay up a large sum of money in advance;
  • Sign companies that aren’t keeping up with the times to promote and provide higher quality LED lighted signs, dimensional letter or lighted sign cabinets;
  • Companies that fail to answer basic questions about their license and experience level;
  • Anyone who tells you that you don’t need a second opinion.

Instead of buying into the use of sign services that propagate such practices, it’s important to be smart about using the right Denver sign company. The profile of the best sign company you can choose hints at a friendly, reliable team of experts who will also be transparent and willing to point you in the direction of the very best solutions for your company. They will be willing to let you test them through questions you’ve already researched, and they won’t back out of giving their own expert opinions on the visions and projects you might have for your business.

Moreover, the services and the diversity they can offer when it comes to providing the best signs in the local area should be based on specific signs that are known as popular in Denver. You should expect them to promote digital signs and LED signs, as well as monument signs of various sizes, indoor signs for helping you highlight your best products, and advanced lighted sign cabinets for promoting your brand and products more efficiently.

Most importantly, the best sign company will be able to get to work right away to provide you with customized signs. This is a challenge that not every sign company will be up to, and some will honestly tell you that they can only offer a small array of standardized signs that might not help you very much. If you want the best results for your business, however, custom signs of different sizes, shapes and designs is the best way to go. Combine that with digital and lighted signs, and your business will soon be the talk of the town – a town that is rapidly growing into one of the country’s most impressive metropolitan areas.

What Are Small Businesses Doing for Their Computer Recovery and Backup?

Computer Recovery Small Business IT Consulting

With cybercrime so quickly on the rise, data backup and recovery measures have become a priority for many companies, not only for large corporations, but for small businesses as well. Having printed copies of corporate data is no longer a viable solution, so here are some things to know about data loss and some of the advanced and common methods to ensure the security of the digital data.

Common Forms of Data Loss

Digitally stored data is exposed to many threats: digital equipment can sustain damage because of an accidental power cut or power surge; ill-intended attackers can try to break into corporate systems using various types of viruses, malware and ransomware. Computers can also malfunction without being attacked, problems that can lead to the loss of the data stored on the malfunctioning computer.

Measures to Prevent Data Loss and to Ward Off Attacks

Adequate data protection systems usually employ a combination of physical devices and software solutions. The best way to prevent any damage caused by fluctuating tension, power cuts and power surges is by using surge protector devices and with uninterruptible power supplies that will keep supplying your computers with current for some time after a power cut to give you enough time to shut down your devices correctly.

Another way to ensure data protection is by regularly backing up your vital corporate data or hiring an IT consulting Denver firm’s services to protect your business. The frequency of running the backup procedure depends on the data volume generated by your operations – if that volume is high, you should step up the frequency of running backups. Ideally you should store your data in multiple storage places, including physical devices, such as external hard disks as well as cloud-based storage. The physical media that you use for creating backups should be stored at a safe, off-site location that only your most trusted employees have access to.

You should also implement adequate measures to protect your system from attacks. The best way is to keep your anti-virus software updated at all time and to implement professional methods, such as advanced firewalls.

The Importance of Turning to Professionals

There are essentially two ways that small companies can ensure that their companies are backed up and their data can be recovered in case of a catastrophic event: they can either have an in-house expert or a team to handle all the tasks related to the process or they can outsource the process to a specialized company. The decision to choose one of the options over the other is usually informed by financial considerations: having a highly-qualified in-house team or a specialist is often much more expensive that working with an external company, even more so as the software and hardware needed for the process are very expensive. Turning to a specialized company for recovery and data backup services usually comes with a significant amount of convenience as well – the subscriptions and plans offered by these companies are affordable, easy to implement and they usually provide access to state-of-the-art technology that would otherwise be out of reach for many small companies.

Why Look at Executive Search Firms for Help?

executive search firms

Hiring suitable people is important regardless the position, but the higher the position, the higher the responsibility involved and the bigger the damage caused by employing someone who is not a good match for a key position.

The process of searching for executive-level positions is very sensitive and very special in many ways. Executive positions are rarely advertised on job boards and the perfect candidate is also more difficult to find. The best way to handle the process is through outsourcing to tasks to experts in the field – to executive search firms. Here are the benefits offered by these companies.

Money Savings by Avoiding Bad Decisions

Hiring an executive who does not fit in with your corporate goals, culture or environment can be costly in many ways. A bad choice can increase turnover, making important employees leave and it might also decrease productivity and harm employee loyalty, all of which can have grave financial consequences. Hiring an executive recruiter for the process can decrease all those risks significantly through the recruiter’s knowledge and experience with hiring top-level employees for your specific industry segment.

Access to a Large Network of High-Quality Executive Candidates and Solid Data Bases

Executive recruiters use multiple channels and methods to identify suitable candidates. Most recruiters have their own databases of active and passive candidates that they can approach and they will also use their personal network in the targeted industry to identify key people looking for new challenges.

Thorough Screening

Recruiters not only request resumes from candidates – they will also perform background checks to verify the accuracy of the information in the resumes. As a result, the client can be sure that the candidates who pass that verification process are as qualified and experienced in their field as they say they are.

Reliable, Specialized Knowledge

Most recruiters specialize in certain industries, in segments that they know well. This also means that your recruiter will have a thorough, in-depth knowledge of the companies and the opportunities in your business environment.

Assistance All the Way

Most executive search firms provide comprehensive services that will also include assisting their client during the final phase of interviewing, when the candidates talk to the potential employer’s key decision makers. Your recruiter will also participate in the final evaluation of the candidates and in the final selection as well.

More Successful Employment Relationships

The thorough screening and the multi-round interviewing processes used by executive recruiters ensures that the candidate selected by the employer is a good fit for the employer company’s environment and culture, therefore turning to an executive recruiter is the best way to ensure long-term employees.

Maximum Confidentiality

Any recruiter, including the recruiters that specialize in finding top talent, are committed to protecting the sensitive data of their clients as well as of the candidates that they work with. Recruiters are bound by confidentiality, which also means that your company’s relationship with your competitors will not suffer any harm even if your new executive has been previously employed with a competitor of yours.

How do Business Brokers Help You Sell Your Company?

Selling your business or finding the right investor is a complex and time-consuming process, which in many cases, gets on the nerves of interested business owners to explore the exit from the company. Consulting with a Business Broker specialized in selling business shortens the selling time and brings material benefits.

A Business Broker can help in this way with advice on how to sell your business

  • setting the price for the business is a real challenge for sellers, and a Business Broker connected to the market pulse, with experience and a network of business contacts can provide a valuable indication in this regard;
  • conducting a thorough analysis of the business, to know what adds value to the business and what could be the selling issues, from the perspective of the buyer – investor;
  • maintaining the confidentiality of the intention to sell the business and represent you before disclosing the details of the business and the owners, to those who are interested;
  • making important decisions during discussions with potential buyers;
  • promoting the selling in relevant business environments, taking over the requests from the interested parties and checking the veracity of the interest for the acquisition (qualification/ sorting the buyers and eliminating those who only ask out of curiosity or worse – the competitors who try to gather information in their own interest.

M&A advisors

You should interview several business brokers, in order to choose the one which is the most qualified and has the necessary experience for your needs.

  1. Check the broker’s credentials, experience and client recommendations

To determine if he or she will be able to devote the time needed to your business, ask how many businesses he or she has sold in the past year and how many businesses he or she currently lists. Ideally, the broker you choose will have experience in business sales in your field, the knowledge and contacts needed to promote your business. In addition, the broker should have good relations with professionals in the field, accountants, lawyers and bank representatives.

  1. Find a business broker that prioritizes your interests and listens to your needs

The more comfortable you feel with a broker, the easier it will be to communicate with them. You want a partner you can trust and with whom you can establish a good collaboration relationship. This will make the sales process easy and hassle-free. A good business broker will start by analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the business, your motives and goals in the sales process, and then create a marketing strategy that suits your business.

  1. Find a broker who has a well-developed sales strategy and a privacy plan

Ask the broker how he/ she plans to promote your business and how he/ she will find and select potential buyers. A good broker should be able to explain your strategy, advertising budget and the ways to keep it confidential. You will also want the broker to have a good strategy for selecting buyers, to save you time and maintain your privacy, making sure that you discuss sensitive business details with as few people as possible.

 

The Advantages of Having A Custom Business Sign

Whether you are just about to start a new business or you are looking for a way to strengthen your brand image, using custom business signs is an excellent tool to help you achieve your goals. A custom sign is a form of unique signage, created with your business profile and your mission in mind, an excellent tool to communicate your brand message at a glance and also an element that creates the link between your name and your products or services in an instant.

According to the statistics, about 80% of people decide whether or not to enter a shop based on how attractive they consider the company’s signage, so having a great sign designed for your business is something that you should consider. Here are some of the most important benefits that your custom business signs can offer.

Denver custom signs

Variety to Meet Your Exact Requirements

With Denver custom signs, you get to choose all the components of your signage design, from the colors, the textures and the graphic elements to the fonts and the text to be displayed. The endless options at your disposal make sure that with custom signs you will never be stuck with cookie-cutter solutions – the limit is your creativity or the creativity of the professional who creates the design for you.

If your business activity would benefit from seasonal signs, having a custom signs that can be modified freely is a great thing to have. Custom signs are designed on computers, which also means that you will have a template that you can freely modify to meet seasonal requirements. The best solution is to maintain the shapes of your design, changing only the colors or adding a few seasonal ornaments.

Efficient Branding

Branding is the process of building an identity for your company and creating a memorable sign that your customers can link with your products or services. The unique design of your custom business signs will distinguish your business from your competitors – a feature that is extremely important not only for new businesses, but for established, already successful brands as well.

Versatility

You can use your business signs across a number of materials – you can use channel letter signs in your shop, you can add your sign to your product packaging and your labels, you can use it on your promotional gifts as well as on your company website, your business profile on social media platforms as well as in your digital and printed ads. Once designed, your Denver custom signs will add value to all your marketing materials.

A Quick Return on a Great Investment

The best way to have a great and efficient sign created is to turn to a professional designer or to an agency. The process of working with professionals will increase the costs of your signage, but think of those costs as an investments into success. Having a professional business sign will inspire more trust among your potential customers and it will attract more people to turn to your business.

What Does General Liability Insurance Cover?

General liability insurances are policies that are mandatory for businesses in most states and provide coverage for third party liability claims, including bodily harm, property damage and advertising injury.

The Most Common Types of Claims Covered for by General Liability Policies

Liability claims filed by third parties are among the most common types of claims and also very expensive ones that can ruin an uninsured company. The most typical physical injury claims that general liability insurances cover for include slip and fall accidents suffered by one of the company’s customers during a visit at the company’s premises, while the other claims that belong to the range that general liability policies cover for include damage caused by you or by your team to your client’s property. Your liability insurance will also provide coverage for the administrative costs incurred by handling claims and for any costs related to court costs and settlements for covered claims.

general liability insurance Colorado

What General Liability Insurance Policies Do Not Cover for

Your general liability insurance will provide you coverage for a variety of claims made by third parties. For any damage suffered by your own business property, you will need a business property insurance, while in the case of injuries sustained by your own employees, you will need a workers’ comp insurance. The damage sustained by your corporate vehicles is also excluded from the coverage provided by general liability insurance policies – that type of events is covered by commercial auto insurance policies.

Making Sure that You Purchase the Best Possible Policy

Shopping for the right general liability insurance Colorado policy is not easy. First of all, you will need to familiarize yourself with the state-level requirements that determine the various aspects of the policy that you need, then you will need to actually start shopping for the right policy.

During the actual shopping phase, you have two choices: you can either turn directly to an insurance company and purchase your policy from them or you can turn to an independent broker or agent who work with multiple insurers and can recommend you various solutions that meet your needs and requirements. Working with an independent agent will give you the additional benefit of having an insurance specialist by your side, should you have any questions or should you need any help or advice in the future.

If you choose the first solution, you will need to start by evaluating insurance companies in terms of their specialties, their experience in handling general liability claims as well as their reputation in handling those claims. In the next phase, you should evaluate the coverage and the premiums – make sure that your policy is worded the right way and find out whether your business is eligible for discounts. Most insurance companies provide discounts for clients willing to make a more substantial upfront payment –insurers usually provide various payment plans that you can choose from. You might also be able to obtain discounts if you decide to buy multiple insurance policies in bundle – you might want to consider getting your other mandatory policies, such as the workers comp, the commercial property or the commercial auto insurance from the same insurer and benefit from discounted rates on all of them.

What Is A Feather Sign?

Feather signs, also called feather sign banners or feather flags, are feather-shaped or sail-shaped advertising banners fixed on frames and placed on the side of the road, in front of shops or in other areas where they can draw the attention of passers-by and invite them to visit a nearby business. Here are some of the most important features that make feather banners such useful and efficient advertising materials.

The Size of Feather Signs

Feather flags can be of almost any size, from very small, used on promotional desks to very large, such as the banners used at filling stations, the ones seen in front of car dealerships or in front of corporate headquarters.

The Structure of Feather Signs

Feather banners consist of a colorful, eye-catching, sail-like component that carries the advertising information, fixed on a pole made from some durable, weather-resistant material that is affixed to the ground. The most common sail material is nylon or other synthetic fabric, while the pole is usually made from steel or aluminum. There are various options available for fixing the structure to the ground, depending on the purpose, the area of installation and the weather conditions that the banner must endure. The banner pole can be simply stuck into the soil, it can be fixed onto a cross base or a metal plate and simply placed on the pavement or it can be fixed to frame at the bottom and fastened with screws to asphalt or concrete.

feather flags

The Usage of Feather Flags

Feather flags can be used equally efficiently indoors and outdoors. When placed indoors, they can be used to inform customers about the location of shelves of interest, to tell them about promotional offers or to provide company-related information, such as contact details. When placed outside, they can be used for directing customers toward your business or to announce promotional offers. You can also use feather banners in locations that are not very close to your shop or business premises, such as on the side of the road in important junctions to provide directions to your business and they are also excellent, low-cost, mobile advertising materials to use at sporting events and to inform everyone that you are one of the event’s sponsors or that you are sponsoring a specific team or an athlete.

The Benefits of Feather Signs

These versatile and attractive signs can do the same job as huge billboards, but for a fraction of the costs. The materials used for making feather signs are strong, durable and resistant and suitable for executing prints of the highest quality through dedicated printing techniques, with ink that is just as resistant to the elements as the sign material. Another important benefit of feather signs is the mobility they offer – no matter how your feathers are fixed onto the ground, they are easy to unfasten and to move, allowing you to relocate them freely and to use them where they drive the strongest impact. They are also very easy to store – you can simply wrap the nylon banner around the pole and place it in your warehouse or you can dismantle the structure and keep the pole and the banner separately.

Are We Allowed to Use A Storage Unit as an Office?

Van Buren storage

Storage units provide great, convenient solutions for businesses that need a building to expand their office space, but whether or not you are legally allowed to operate an office from a storage container depends on the building regulations applicable in the area where you want to have that office constructed. The local building rules will determine whether you can transform storage containers to use them as offices and they will determine many important aspects of the construction as well. Here is what you need to check.

Zoning Regulations

Zoning is the process of dividing urban areas into zones that serve different purposes. One example of zoning practice is to push industrial areas to the city limits and to forbid industrial construction in city centers. In the case of offices configured from storage units, you need to consult local zoning codes to find out whether you are allowed to build a storage unit office in your neighborhood.

Building Permits

Another set of regulations that you must consult and understand are the ones pertaining to construction standards and the permits necessary for your Van Buren storage unit office. The rules will determine the way plumbing, electrical installations, insulation installation and many other building components need to be executed and they will also determine the safety standards, such as fire safety standards, that your building will need to comply with.

The Codes and Regulations Pertaining to Mobile, Modular and Prefabricated Buildings

These codes will also define lots of features that your building needs to carry, depending on the platform they are standing on.

HOA Covenants

Homeowner’s associations also have very strict rules about the type and the size of the buildings that they accept. HOA covenants are mainly used in residential neighborhoods, if the zoning rules allow for office buildings to be erected in your residential district, the HOA covenant applicable in the area might be an important document to consult.

What the Law Will Regulate

The aspects that are likely to be regulated by the above laws, regulations and rules might include the following features:

  • The building’s appearance – the colors and the materials used for creating the exterior of your storage unit office might be determined by law;
  • Means of egress, fire and smoke detection – the number and the location of the emergency exits and the way your building is protected from fires are all essential for the safety of your property as well as for the safety of your personnel;
  • Requirements regarding the structure and the foundation – your container building needs to be resistant, stable, able to withstand the weight of snow. In the applicable regulations, you will find the exact stipulations regarding the depth of the foundation, the material it should be made from as well as the reinforcements to be used in the walls.

The best way to make sure that your storage container office building is in compliance with all the regulations is to turn to a professional architect – the specialist will know all about local laws.

How Find the Perfect Piece in the Jewelry Stores Denver Gives Home to

Whether it is an engagement ring that you are looking for, a bracelet to surprise one of your loved ones or a pair of earrings to match that new dress that you have been eying for so long, finding the most suitable jeweler is half the success. The jewelry stores Denver gives home to offer pieces in all price ranges, styles and designs, so here are a few tips about how to find the jeweler that can help you make the best selection.

Know What You Want

You don’t need to have a very accurate mental image of the piece that you want to buy (though it won’t hurt if you have one), but it would be very useful to have an idea about the style of the jewel you are looking for – it will help you a lot not only when your jeweler shows you dozens of items to choose from, but when you pick your jeweler as well. Here are the main types of jeweler stores:

  • Chain stores – these shops are usually found in malls or shopping centers. There inventories are quite large, they often provide promotional and discounted prices and they offer consistent quality, but don’t expect them to provide any unique or very expensive items;
  • Independent shops – many of these stores are family-owned businesses, usually located in the main street. Their inventories usually consist of classic items, even their high-end, unique pieces feature classic designs;
  • Designer shops – these places offer pieces created by contemporary artists and many of them sell jewelry lines, that is, collections comprising items that feature the same style. You can turn to these shops for very exclusive pieces that make a special style statement;
  • Sellers of pre-owned jewels – jewelers call items that are older than century antique, vintage is the name for pieces made 50-100 years ago, while estate is the term used for pre-owned pieces created during the last 50 years. You can turn to these merchants if you are looking for a piece that features a specific style or comes from a specific era, such as Edwardian, Victorian or Art Deco.

Figure Out the Services that You Need

Buying the jewel is only the first step – most pieces need maintenance and adjustments to preserve their beauty. Most jewelers, though not all of them, provide repair, polishing, adjustment and other maintenance services, so if you think you will need such services, find out about what is offered before you buy the jewel.

Trust Your First Impressions

Your jeweler is your partner in the process of picking the perfect item, so try to find a jeweler who listens to your description of the item that you want and shows you pieces that you like. Pick a shop that makes a positive first impression, one that is not too overwhelming, a place that exudes the atmosphere that encourages you to ask all the questions that you have – a very important aspect, especially if you are not very experienced buying jewelry.

 

How to Find a Great Office to Lease at a Lower Cost

Denver meeting space

Ever thought you might be able to figure out how to find a great Denver office to lease at a lower than average price? Oftentimes we don’t really know what we can do until we actually start doing it. If you planned on starting your own business for a while, and you’re having second thoughts about whether or not you can afford it, then you’re in the right place.

Below we’ll take a look at the most typical and efficient methods that small start-ups and businesses go about finding affordable office space before they gain too much profit.

Business Incubators

Have you heard of business incubator programs? They might not be the absolute best method to find a good office space, but they’re among some of the cheapest.

Business incubators allow aspiring business professionals who are still working out of their basements and home offices to expand their horizons. You can use your local business incubator program to find lower cost office space and get the most out of buying ergonomic office furniture, equipment, electronics and communication devices at a lower than average price.

Learn to Negotiate a Better Offer

Since no lease is standard, sometimes figuring out how to find a great office to lease at an affordable cost simply means knowing how to haggle. If you have some idea of how to put your negotiation skills to the test, you’ll find a lot of commercial real estate owners will give you a significant price reduction, and you can start your business seriously without worrying too much about your capital.

Here are a few tips for the negotiations table:

  • Opt for a longer lease term. If the landlord sees that you’re in it for the long haul, it might be possible to win a slightly lower lease, especially if the property has been on the market for a while and you opt for at least a two-year renewal option.
  • If the landlord insists on annual rent increases based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increases, try to settle the matter by pushing for a CPI increase that only kicks in two years after you moved in.
  • Completely avoid one-sided office lease propositions where the landlord disclaims responsibility for environmental law compliance, tries to pass on increased taxes and operating costs, or reserves the right to terminate the lease at any time without you getting a say in the matter.

Join or Create a Co-Working Office Space

Probably the best option for finding great office space at a more reasonable price is to join a co-working office venture, or even better, create your own.

While joining a co-working office space is already great, since you’ll be part of a community and get to form new partnerships, creating a co-working office area is even better. You have complete control over the office space, the policies you impose and the businesses you bring to it, and better still, you can even get a profit out of it.

It might not always be easy to find great Denver meeting space at a good price, but the work you put into it is definitely worthwhile. The best offers are usually just around the corner, and with the information presented here you should be able to find them in no time.