Visa possible for the right applicant (EU preferred)
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Wyssen sets the standard for innovative and high quality solutions for risk management in avalanche-exposed areas. We deliver cost-effective and ecological solutions for avalanche control equipment and software tools.
We have over 350 avalanche towers protecting roads, railroads and infrastructure in Switzerland, Austria, Norway, Chile and Canada.
We are constantly focusing on innovative solutions, and this has enabled us to set the standard in the field of avalanche control with our state-of-the-art technology and professional risk solution services.
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We are located in Reichenbach im Kandertal, a small ski town in the Bernese Oberland (ten minutes to Adelboden ski area, 30 minutes to Interlaken, 30 minutes to Bern).
Our current team is small: one frontend engineer, one devops/backend engineer (me), and the electrical engineer who built the initial application. The practical challenge right now is to transform the current, non-OOP, primarily PHP application into a modern, extensible, and manageable tool for our users and for future developers. We are looking for someone with a strong architectural background and experience with PHP web applications. You and I will have an opportunity to define much of the direction and technologies we will adopt or modify.
Most of the team speaks Swiss German, but I am a native English speaker and we use English for technical discussions.
It’s that time of year when you’re thinking about spooky things lurking behind every corner. But your business credit score doesn’t have to be one of those things that goes bump in the night. You can call on these bad small business credit score busters to rescue you.
5 Bad Small Business Credit Score Busters
When it comes to a small business credit score, no score is the same as a bad score. So, whether you actually have bad small business credit, or you don’t have a small business credit score at all, you are in the same boat. The best place to start is at the beginning.
Bad Small Business Credit Score Buster #1: A Properly Established Business Credit File
No business credit is the same as bad business credit. The trick is, most people miss out on all the treats credit in the name of their business has to offer because they think they have a business credit score. They think that if they have a business and pay all the business bills on time, they’re golden. This is a trick indeed.
The truth is, while you do need to know how to build your business credit score, you have to do some pre-work, so to speak. The problem is, business credit does not develop the same way personal credit does. You have to actively establish business credit before you can build a small business score.
How to Establish Business Credit
The key to establishing business credit is to set up your business to be a separate, fundable entity apart from you the owner. This ensures that payments on business accounts are on your business credit rather than your personal credit. Here’s how.
Check out our trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit. Conquer any recession!
Contact Information
You need separate business contact information. That doesn’t mean you have to get a separate phone line or a separate location. You can run your business from your home or on your computer.
Actually, you can get abusiness phone number easily that works over the internet instead of phone lines ( this is called VOIP, or voice over internet protocol). Even better, it will forward to any phone you want it to so you can use your personal cell phone or landline. Calls to your business number will ring straight to you.
In addition, you can use a virtual office for abusiness address. This is a business that offers a physical address for a fee, and sometimes they even offer mail service and live receptionist services. Furthermore, some offer meeting spaces for those times you may need to meet a client or customer in person.
EIN
You also need an EIN. This is an identifying number for your business that is similar to your personal SSN. You can get one for free from theIRS.
Incorporate
Incorporating your business as an LLC, S-corp, or corporation is necessary to fundability. It not only offers liability protection, but it is vital in separating a business from its owner.
Business Bank Account
You have to open a separate, dedicated business bank account. First, it will help you keep track of business finances. It will also help you keep them separate from personal finances for tax purposes.
Also, several types of funding are not available without a business bank account. Many lenders and credit cards want to see one with a minimum average balance. Another reason is, you cannot get a merchant account without a business account at a bank. That means, you cannot take credit card payments. Even more important, a lot of lenders consider the date a business starts to be the date the business bank account opens. Time in business is an important factor in business credit.
Best Bank Accounts for Small Businesses
So, what are the best bank accounts for small businesses? There are tons out there, and each business’s needs are different. However, there are a few things you should consider when trying to find the best bank account for your business.
Fees
This is first because it’s the most obvious, but it isn’t necessarily the most important, at least not in the way you may think. You do not necessarily want the account with the lowest fee. While there are probably free bank accounts out there, those may not actually be the best bank accounts for small businesses. Why? Sometimes you really do get what you pay for. Which leads to the next thing you need to consider.
Number of Allowed Transactions
You need to consider the number of transactions allowed per month before you are charged additional fees. Many free accounts allow a very small number of transactions. This is fine for some small businesses, but you also need to consider growth when determining how many transactions per month you need.
Even business bank accounts that are not free do not usually offer an unlimited number of transactions. Many have a transaction limit, and if you go over, will they charge additional fees. The key is to figure out not only how many transactions you need currently, but how many you may need as you grow.
Also, make sure you can upgrade your account if you see you are consistently going over the allowed number of transactions. Find out what is entailed in doing so. You don’t want to be in a situation where you have to get a whole new account if you can help it. That’s a pain. Just be sure to keep an eye on how many transactions you do each month.
Required Cash Deposits
Take a look at the deposit amounts allowed or required each month. Make sure you can meet them.
Minimum Balance Requirements
Are you required to keep a minimum balance in the account to avoid additional fees? If so, make sure you can meet that requirement.
Extras
If you find more than one account that is perfect for your business, take a look at the extras to break the tie. Do they offer mobile banking? Will they waive fees if you hit a certain number of a specific type of transaction? Do they offer an app or text banking?
Finding the best bank accounts for small businesses takes a little finesse, because what works best for one business may not be what’s best for yours. This should get you started.
Licenses
For a business to be legitimate it has to have all of the necessary licenses it needs to run. If it doesn’t, red flags are going to fly up all over the place. Do the research you need to do to ensure you have all of the licenses necessary to legitimately run your business at the federal, state, and local levels.
D-U-N-S Number
This is a number issued by Dun & Bradstreet. They are the largest and most commonly used business credit reporting agency. You cannot be in their system without this number. Get one for free on theirwebsite.
Check out our trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit. Conquer any recession!
Bad Small Business Credit Score Buster #2: Continuity in Business Information
While this buster does not directly affect your business credit score, a lack of it can definitely get you denied, even with a stellar credit score. Here’s the deal. Fraud is rampant, and lenders do not like to take chances. If they see one document with your business name that has an ampersand and one that uses the word “and” in place of the ampersand, it will set off fraud concerns and they will deny the loan. This can happen even if you have a good business credit score. Your business name has to be exactly the same everywhere.
The same is true for addresses and phone numbers. If you have one address on your website and a different one on insurance papers, it’s going to be a problem. All information related to your business has to be the same on all documents across the board.
Bad Small Business Credit Score Buster #3: Credit Line Hybrid
A credit line hybrid allows you to fund your business without putting up collateral, and you only pay back what you use. Qualifying is not as hard as you may think. You do need good personal credit, at least 685. In addition, you can’t have any liens, judgments, bankruptcies or late payments. Also, in the past 6 months you should have fewer than 5 credit inquiries, and you should have less than a 45% balance on all business and personal credit cards. It’s also preferred that you have established business credit as well as personal credit.
But how is it a bad business credit score buster? Here’s how. If you do not meet the qualifications, you can take on a credit partner that does meet them. Since it reports to the business credit reporting agencies in the business’s name, you can build credit for your business without having good credit to begin with.
Bad Small Business Credit Score Buster #3: Vendor Credit
Obviously small business lenders are not going to approve applications for loans based on a business credit score if there is no business credit score. Thus, you need a way to build a score without already having a score. This is the time when you need to know how to build your business credit score. Vendor credit is where you start after your business is set up properly.
Vendor credit is offered by what we like to refer to as “starter vendors.” These are companies that will extend net terms on invoices without a credit check. Then, when you pay the invoice, they report your payment to the business credit reporting agencies.
This helps you build business credit without already having business credit. However, for it to work, you have to have your business set up as outlined above. Also, since they do not check credit, they do have other ways of reducing risk. These vary by vendor, but some general things they look at include:
Length of time in business
Average balance in business bank account
Revenues
Usually it is some combination of these factors and others that starter vendors are looking for when it comes to extending net terms.
Bad Small Business Credit Score Buster #3: Responsible Use of Store Credit and Fleet Credit
Once you have some starter vendors reporting your payments, you will start to build a small business credit score. At that point, you will be eligible to get approval from some store credit cards. These are cards from retailers that are meant to be used at their store only. Apply with your business name, EIN, and contact information so they will report to your business credit report and not your personal credit report, thus building strong business credit.
As they report payments, your business credit score will continue to grow, and you can apply for fleet credit. These cards are meant to be used for auto repair and maintenance and fuel costs. However, after you get enough of them reporting payments, your score will grow to the point you can apply for cash credit, meaning cards that can be used anywhere on anything, in your business name.
The key to this is, you have to handle the credit responsibly. If you do not make consistent, on-time payments, you will achieve the opposite effect.
Call on These Bad Small Business Credit Score Busters and Never be Haunted Again
Whether you need to establish a small business credit score or annihilate a bad one, at least one of these tips should help. If your business isn’t already set up properly, do that now. Even if you do know how to build your business credit score, it will not matter if your business is not set up properly. The longer you wait the harder it gets.
After that, be sure anytime you make changes you make them everywhere, and start working on vendor credit. Small business lenders take all of this into account, so starting as soon as possible to get everything in line is vital.
Check out our trustworthy list of seven vendors to help you build business credit. Conquer any recession!
Disclosure: This content is reader-supported, which means if you click on some of our links that we may earn a commission.
Collaboration software has become a must-have tool for businesses today.
With teams scattered across different locations working remotely, these tools ensure that everyone can communicate and collaborate effectively. From simple check-ins and real-time status updates to ongoing project management, collaboration software can accommodate businesses of all shapes and sizes.
Your organization can even use collaboration software to improve the way you work with clients, contractors, and stakeholders in your business.
By leveraging collaboration tools, everyone will benefit from improved workflows and have greater access to crucial information.
But in order to take advantage of these benefits, your first task will be finding the right collaboration software for your business—and there are a ton of options out there.
To make your decision easier, use the buying guide and recommendations that I’ve reviewed in this post.
How to Choose the Best Collaboration Software For You
As previously mentioned, there are lots of different collaboration tools available on the market today. With dozens, if not hundreds of options to choose from, narrowing down the best option for your business can feel like a tall task.
To ease the buying process, I’ve identified the top factors that must be considered as you’re evaluating different options. I’ll quickly explain each one in greater detail below.
Software Type
Collaboration software comes in all different shapes and sizes.
You’ll come across solutions built for project management, while others are made specifically for instant messaging or video conferencing. There are even some all-in-one solutions on the market today.
The best option for you will depend on the needs of your business. Some of you might just need an internal messaging tool, as opposed to a platform for document storage or task management. We’ll discuss the different types of collaboration software in greater detail a bit later in this guide.
Business Size
How large is your company?
In addition to the number of people on your team, the amount of teams, departments, and other segments should also be taken into consideration.
For example, you might want to have a tool that every single person within your organization can use to contact another employee. But files being shared by the accounting team or human resources department shouldn’t be available for your marketing team to access. Your sales staff shouldn’t be able to access sensitive financial records.
So make sure the software you’re considering allows you to create different groups for each department or project. You’ll also want to look for features to manage permissions and access for each individual user.
Usability
Collaboration software should be making your life easier, not more difficult.
There are some tools out there that are undoubtedly more complex than others. Depending on your needs and the technical skill level of the end-users, that’s fine. Any time you’re using new software, there will always be a learning curve. So you’ll need to keep that in mind.
However, after the first couple of weeks or months using the software, your entire team should be fairly proficient. If not, it could add complexity to your processes, as opposed to boosting performance and productivity.
I strongly recommended that you take advantage of demos and free trials. This will truly give you a better understanding of which options are the easiest to use.
Organizational Tools
This piggybacks off of our last point. The best collaboration software will make it easy for you to stay organized.
Depending on the software in question, there might be task cards, folders, groups, or other ways to keep everything in order. How can you jump from one project to another? Will users easily be able to find a file or document that was shared by a coworker? Can supervisors and project managers keep track of everything at a higher level?
At scale, the way everything gets organized within your collaboration software is amplified. If you’re just running a small team with five users working on a single project, this may not be important. But when that number jumps into the hundreds or thousands, staying organized becomes critical.
Integrations
Your collaboration software should seamlessly integrate with other tools and software that your company is using.
From CMS to CRMs, email software, cloud storage services, and more, make sure you check out those integrations before you finalize your decision. It’s easier to use collaboration software if everything can be managed and accessed from a single platform. Otherwise, users will have to bounce back and forth between different tools, which isn’t ideal from an efficiency standpoint.
The Different Types of Collaboration Software
Before we jump into the reviews and recommendations, I want to clearly identify and explain the different types of collaboration tools on the market today. Here are some of the options that you’ll come across as you’re browsing around:
Project Management Software
As the name implies, project management software is designed for teams that are working on different projects. A project can be defined as something with a clearly defined start and end date.
This could be anything from a full-scale app development project to a smaller marketing campaign.
Project management tools allow your teams to work on projects collaboratively while sometimes automating tasks. If this is what you’re looking for, make sure you find a solution that fits your project management style (lean management, agile management, Kanban boards, Gantt charts, etc.).
Lots of project management tools are branded as an all-in-one team collaboration solution.
File Sharing and Document Storage
Some solutions are made specifically for sharing files and documents.
With these tools, team members can transfer, distribute, and customize access to shared files. A file could be anything from an image to a PDF or even larger files like software, videos, or ebooks.
It’s much easier and more secure to manage files and collaborate with a cloud tool as opposed to transferring files via email.
Instant Messaging
Messaging tools are ideal for teams that want to benefit from real-time communication. If you need a quick answer or want to communicate back and forth with a coworker, an instant message is definitely more efficient than an email.
These are also great for group chats where multiple members can communicate in real-time with each other. Again, it’s a better alternative to traditional email.
Some collaboration tools will have built-in instant messaging features, while others specialize in instant messaging specifically. Not every collaboration software includes team messaging.
Conference Calling Software
Conference calling software takes real-time communication to the next level.
Aside from instant messaging (or in addition to instant messaging), these tools allow teams to collaborate using voice and video chat. You can even benefit from extra features like screen sharing, presentation mode, etc.
Businesses use conferencing calling software for both internal collaboration, as well as collaboration with clients, contractors, stakeholders, and more.
Coordination Tools
Generally speaking, coordination tools are a component of collaboration software.
I’m referring to features like time tracking, scheduling, calendars, status updates, etc. For example, a collaborative calendar can help you understand everyone’s availability in real-time without having to disturb them. It improves efficiency when scheduling meetings or similar tasks.
Most collaboration software will have features for real-time status updates as well. So when someone completes a task, they won’t have to notify everyone about their progress. That information will be available within a general feed.
#1 – Slack Review — The Best For Team Messaging
Slack is a name that many of you might already be familiar with. It’s quickly become the go-to platform for internal business messaging over the past few years.
Whether you’re working remotely or in a traditional office environment, Slack will be a great option to consider.
More than 750,000 businesses trust Slack for team collaboration. Here’s a quick overview of some of its noteworthy features and highlights:
Stay organized using Slack channels for projects, teams, or topics
File sharing capabilities
Audio and video calls with screen sharing
2,200+ Slack apps for integrations (Zoom, Jira, Salesforce, Google Drive, etc.)
Create your own time-saving workflows
Use Slack API to integrate your internal tools
Enterprise-grade scalability and security
Collaborate with partners like clients, contractors, vendors, etc. by adding them to channels
Plans start at just $6.67 per user per month. All plans come with unlimited messaging. Regardless of your team size or industry, Slack is the best collaboration tool for team messaging.
#2 – Trello Review — The Best For Simple Task Management
Trello is a simple solution for task management. For ongoing work and projects alike, it’s one of the best ways for your entire team to collaborate and stay organized.
With the help of Trello’s boards, cards, and lists, businesses across any industry can use this platform to improve productivity.
Here’s a quick explanation of what you can accomplish with Trello’s collaboration software:
Add comments, attachments, and due dates to cards
Create boards to separate projects and teams
Built-in workflow automation (rule-based triggers, due dates, etc.)
Add lists to create a unique workflow for each project
Integrate with third-party apps that you’re already using
Collaborate from anywhere using the Trello mobile app (iOS and Android)
Notifications and team tagging
Easy to assign tasks or cards to one or more users
Trello is powered by Atlassian, a global leader in the software and project management space. So you know that it’s a solution you can count on. That’s why more than one million teams across the globe rely on Trello.
This collaboration software is free for up to 10 boards with unlimited cards and lists. Paid plans start at $9.99 per user per month.
#3 – Flock Review — The Best For Remote Work
Flock is another collaboration tool with a primary focus on messaging. But it’s a little bit more advanced than Slack in terms of the features and capabilities.
The software is great for teams that work collaboratively from remote locations.
With Flock, you can keep all of your messages, apps, and productivity tools organized from the same place. Here are some of its features that are worth highlighting:
For small teams, Flock is free with 10 channels included. You’ll also get unlimited 1:1 and group messages. Paid plans start at just $4.50 per user per month, which is a great value.
Try Flock for free with a 30-day trial.
#4 – Zoho Projects — Best Feature-Rich Collaboration Software
Zoho Projects is one of the most popular and easy-to-use collaboration tools on the market today. The software makes it easy for teams to collaborate, plan, and track work more efficiently.
As a cloud-based solution, you can use Zoho Projects to collaborate and manage tasks from anywhere.
Compared to other tools out there, Zoho Projects is loaded with robust features. Here’s a quick overview of some of my favorites:
Task management with Kanban boards
Set dependencies between tasks based on the order they are completed
Map your entire workflow
Gantt charts
Task reports
Time tracking tools
Issue tracking
SLA management
Automations
Zoho Projects even has industry-specific solutions for categories like software development, real estate, construction, marketing, education, and more.
Plans start at just $3 per user per month (with a minimum of six users). You can try it for free with a 10-day trial.
#5 – Wrike Review — Best All-in-One Project Management Tool
Wrike is a powerful and versatile project management solution. The software makes it easy to give your team complete control and visibility over projects and tasks.
If you’re looking for collaboration software with a primary emphasis on project management, this will be a top choice for you to consider.
Wrike is trusted by 20,000+ companies across the globe, including some big names like Dell, Google, Airbnb, and Siemens. Let’s take a closer look at some of its features and benefits:
Agile project management
Custom dashboards and workflows
Process automation
Real-time comments and editing
Notifications
Live editing and dynamic reports
Easy to share information with stakeholders
End-to-end visibility and real-time updates
Enterprise-grade security
File sharing and attachments
Wrike is a popular choice for marketing teams, creative professionals, and product development teams. However, it’s versatile enough to accommodate the needs of really any business type.
The software is free for up to five users. But you’ll need to upgrade to a paid plan to take full advantage of the project planning and collaboration features. These start at $9.80 per user per month. Try it free for 14 days.
#6 – BlueJeans Review — Best For Audio and Video Conferencing
For those of you who need collaboration software for conference calling, look no further than BlueJeans. It’s a simple and safe way to empower your remote staff with audio and video conferences.
Brands like Zillow, Facebook, ADP, Intuit, and National Geographic all trust BlueJeans for team collaboration.
Let’s take a closer look at what makes BlueJeans so great for collaboration:
Collaborate with video, audio, and web conferencing from any device
Live meeting controls and automated alerts
Meeting highlights and transcriptions
Enterprise-grade security
Single-touch interoperability
Exceptional call quality with HD video and Dolby Voice audio
Dynamic content sharing
App network of software integrations (Microsoft Teams, Slack, etc.)
Support 24/7/365
Unlimited 1:1 meetings
Unlimited group meetings
Plans start at just $9.99 per host per month. If you’re not quite sold just yet, you can have unlimited access to BlueJeans and all of its features for free with a 7-day trial.
Summary
Collaboration software makes it easy for your entire business to stay organized and connect with each other in real-time.
To find the best software for your business, start by reviewing the buying guide I highlighted at the begging of this article. Then go through the recommended options above to narrow down the best tool for you.
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