Small Business Articles

The shortage of commercial drivers is no longer a news. In 2015, there was a report of over 30 000 empty seats which needed to be filled in the United States and the problem has kept escalating since then. It so surprising that there is a shortage of commercial drivers when commercial driving schools, as well as trucking companies, have been pumping out newly trained drivers. Statistics have shown a good number of certified commercial drivers who are unemployed but they aren’t lining up to fill the empty seats in trucking companies. As a trucking company, the following tips can enable you to survive the shortage of commercial drivers.

Tip 1 – Creating Opportunity for Growth in your Company

Working for a company and remaining in the same position for several years can be discouraging. One of the ways to reduce the turnover of drivers and attract new ones is by providing growth opportunities. Based on the performance of the driver, they can be promoted to other roles such as team captains and supervisors. However, the criteria for promoting the drivers should be made known to every driver on the field in other to prevent those who went promoted from getting frustrated and upset. Also, a company where there are growth opportunities are quite attractive to the younger generation of drivers. Better equipped trucks, automatic transmissions, and improved sleeping cabins are few of the other ways to attract young drivers who seek more comfort and convenience.

Tip 2 – Offering Better Compensations and Performance-Based Incentives.

Offering better compensations to drivers is not an added expense but a means of reducing cost. It reduces your cost of recruiting and training because you get to attract more experienced drivers while reducing the turnover of your existing drivers. Also, drivers who do their job well, arrive on time, drive safely, and are efficient and productive should be given bonuses. This keeps them motivated.

Tip 3 – Making the Job Easy

There are new technologies such as the route optimization software which helps in planning accurate and well-optimized routes. This ensures that drivers never get stuck on the road. It assists them in increasing their productivity and timeliness thus making the job easy and seamless. Also, the software comes with a tracking device which enables the company to know the location of their drivers in real time. This enables the company to be able to send assistance to the driver in case of any problem or breakdown of the vehicle while on the road.

Small businesses, particularly those looking for an organic growth fail more often than they think. The success rate being fairly low, startups and small businesses need a foolproof strategy to be successful in the long-run. There are several things a small business owner can do to take her business to the next level. While on one hand, setting up of goals, planning in that direction and organizing the tasks is imperative, staying put with the latest technology is also equally important on the other.

The latest trend that small businesses have been seen to follow is embracing the cloud technology. The bookkeeping technology has taken a sharp turn, moving up from the traditional methods to accounting on the cloud.

QuickBooks Cloud: A New Way of Managing Finances

QuickBooks Cloud is bookkeeping software that serves the users with all of the necessary accounting tools at a single platform. It has not only made accounting and bookkeeping easier for its users but also made documenting simpler for CPAs, entrepreneurs and owners. Here is how an entrepreneur can grow a small but resilient business with the help of QuickBooks Cloud.

• Embrace The Cloud, Once and For All

To compete with the larger firms and make a mark in the market, firms need to move to the cloud already. QuickBooks Cloud is an innovative way that offers anywhere, anytime accessibility along with a slew of unique benefits such as printing checks, managing payroll, keeping a track of inventory, managing the invoice etc on a single platform, without depending on paper.

• Enjoy Increased Productivity Finally

Small firms need to work on their productivity. Since the workforce is comparatively smaller, SMBs need to work out a system that helps them to grow. QuickBooks cloud is highly scalable, thus when a firm grows, the growing functions can be easily managed without increasing the firm’s expenditure.

• Make Tracking A Habit

In the traditional methods of bookkeeping, entrepreneurs would keep a lot of tasks on the mind instead of on record. This can be classified as an inefficient method of running a business as it is a careless method of tracking the tasks. With QuickBooks Cloud, tracking can be done on the software in no time. The software unfailingly reminds the users to make the payments on time, to track the inventory and to schedule or/and attend the upcoming events.

• Keep Up With The Taxes

QuickBooks Cloud helps its users to stay updated with the changes in tax laws. Along with that, tax payments have also become a lot easier as QuickBooks software helps to organize the taxes beforehand. Tax payments with QuickBooks are a stress greatly reduced for the firms.

• Be A Learner

A successful entrepreneur understands the importance of being up-to-date with what’s latest. Learn where the competitors and leaders are going. The customers need keep on changing and so does the market. Thus, a SMB must keep up with the market to be in business in the long run.

• Backup and Backup

Cloud means multiple backups. And with QuickBooks Cloud, an entrepreneur is making sure that he has several backups for his most valuable company’s data. Loss of data owing to any possible cause can mean a loss of thousands of dollars to the firm. Thus, every company is required to keep its data safe.

• Enjoy Better Planning For Your Business

Cloud helps the firms to plan its future in a better way. The scalability feature of cloud helps firms to expand and contract their functions easily. With easy access from anytime, anywhere, the entrepreneurs can carry out the work with the clients and CPAs even if they are located at a remote location in any part of the world. Thus, better planning and problem solving made easier on multiple levels.