10 Essential Resources for Bootstrapping Businesses

In the Bootstrapping Business Series, Mashabletalked to a ton of entrepreneurs about how they got started, what tools they live by and what they wished they had known at the beginning. The result is a deep pool of tips and tricks for aspiring business owners who are looking to raise money, start a tech startup or build their brand.

From selecting the best employees to putting together an awesome workspace, the little decisions are the ones that add up and will make you successful in the long run. Take a look at a roundup of 10 of these solid primers below. Have tips of your own? Tell us in the comments.

 1. What Founders Wish They Knew Before Starting Companies 

The entrepreneurship journey isn’t an easy one — developing a product, scaling a business and growing an audience are intimidating tasks that necessitate endless hustle, ambition and passion. And even if you have all of those qualities in spades, there’s still a good chance your venture will fail.

But one in 12 startups succeed, and these businesses are healthy, growing and maybe even profitable. But that's not to say there weren't bumps in the road. We've asked some founders for things they wish they knew when they started their companies, in the hopes that it'll help you and your startup avoid a fatal flaw.

>>Read the full story here.

 2. 10 Tips for a More Beautiful and Functional Home Office 

If you work from home, you owe it to yourself to set up a proper office space. It’s vital you have somewhere to concentrate that’s separate from your home life — and is hopefully a nice space to spend time in. A good working space is even more important if you operate your small business out of your home.

To help you out on this rather specific front, we have pulled together some useful tips from experienced home-workers and chatted with home office expert Lisa Kanarek, founder of WorkingNaked.com.

>>Read the full story here.

 3. 4 Ways to Grow Your Customer Base 

Once your startup hits the market, there's reason to celebrate — but this is only the beginning. The next step is growth, either indirectly through user acquisition or by bringing in additional customers. You know your product is performing well and has a few happy users or customers, so how do you get the word out?

The challenges faced by early-stage startup are unique. There is no existing user base to piggyback on with network dynamics and little data to determine the most effective entry points that lead to a paying customer. Also, many startups are too small to bring on a PR staff, and most founders are not educated in the best tactics for reaching out to media. The good news is that social media can enable you to reach potential customers without depending on traditional outlets, and sometimes these tactics will work hand-in-hand.

>>Read the full story here.

 4. 4 Hiring Tips for Your Lean Startup 

There’s a ton do when you’re first starting a company. Each co-founder or employee executes several job descriptions jumbled together, and it seems a simple solution to just hire a new person and delegate away responsibilities, never to be worried about again. This becomes especially relevant post-funding, because it suddenly becomes plausible to hire with the intended result of getting more done faster.

But this isn't necessarily true, according to Eric Ries, creator of the Lean Startup methodology. “As you add people to a team or project, there is an increase in communications overhead that makes everyone slightly less productive,” he explains.

It may seem counterintuitive to do anything slow when following lean startup methods, but Ries' point stands: To continue executing effectively, you must not introduce a point of friction to your team. Finding the right person is paramount, and worth the wait.

>>Read the full story here.

 5. 6 Ways to Get the Most Out of Freemium for Your Small Business 

One of the most difficult things about bootstrapping a startup is utilizing the right resources to optimize efficiency and promote growth. And, it doesn't help that the best tools for the job often come at a pretty hefty price. It's easy to feel shortchanged, especially when the apps of your dreams feel like a mouse-click away.

But don't despair. Over the last few years, startups benefited from the so-called "freemium" model — a company offers the basic functions of an app suite for free, and then charges more for premium features and bigger storage space. A classic example is newsletter platform MailChimp, which is free for a few subscribers, but as your userbase — and business — grows, so does the cost, increasing incrementally according to your number of subscribers. Taking advantage of freemium options can help you put together the enterprise arsenal of your dreams while also maintaining that shoestring budget.

However, it's important to note that choosing freemium doesn't automatically guarantee satisfaction. Here are some tips and tricks that will help you hedge your bets within the freemium system — and benefit like a high-rolling VIP.

>>Read the full story here.

 6. 10 Must-Have Tools for Entrepreneurs 

For many entrepreneurs, the startup journey transforms them into more of a generalist than they likely were in a position at a larger company. This calls for specialized tools. The vocation-centric applications and programs no longer cut it.

Productivity is essential when you have a lot on your plate. Time is money, so when an app is able to help you do more faster, it becomes worth paying for. Other apps will streamline communication or collaborative processes and reduce the friction of working in tandem with team members.

Of course, no entrepreneur is all work, no play — taking a break will give your brain a rest, and it's important to have options on hand that let you re-center your chi.

>>Read the full story here.

 7. 4 Ways to Budget Your Business Like a Pro 

Nobody likes to talk about budgeting. Even more, budgeting is sort of a drag to do — but all can agree it's incredibly important.

A few companies have launched software to make budgeting faster and easier. Plus, options for interaction with fellow entrepreneurs on sites likeTwitter and Quora enables relevant feedback so you don’t pay excessive amounts for a service you don’t need. Read on to discover a few ways you can manage your company's spectrum of debits and credits without too much stress.

>>Read the full story here.

 8. 8 Tips for Building Your Brand on the Cheap 

When starting your business, we know there's a lot to handle and think about. There's your (growing) team, your intellectual property, product management and a pinched budget, all while you're trying to navigate the waters of entrepreneurship.

But even without millions your brand can make an impression. All the free social media tools are a great start — Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr,Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest are key, but there's more you can do to make an impression. We've rounded up eight ways to build your brand on the cheap — because there are more important things to spend money and time on, like your product and talent.

>>Read the full story here.

 9. 7 Tech Upgrades for Your Small Businesses 

There's nothing better than a shiny new piece of technology, but not everyone can just splurge for a laptop, tablet or iPhone every time another one comes around.

With so many tech upgrades and accessories on the market to turn existing hardware into even more powerful mechanisms, it's not unusual for small businesses to save time, money and a whole lot of headaches by implementing a few simple add-ons.

For example, some small businesses are using systems that turn mobile devices into landlines to help make conference and video calls more user-friendly and less expensive. The AudiOffice by Invoxia features a dock equipped with speakers for devices such as the iPhone, iPod and iPad, and thanks to apps such as Skype and FaceTime that allow businesses to communicate with each other via chat, small businesses can cut down on communication costs.

>>Read the full story here.

 10. 4 Ways Startups Can Leverage Employee-Owned Tech 

The concept of BYOD, or "Bring Your Own Device," has gained plenty of traction as the mode du jour for budding startups. And it's easy to see why more companies — both big and small — are willing to take the plunge: The savings involved in allowing employees to utilize their own devices for work can be staggering.

But don't get too caught up in the savings, or you'll expose yourself to a world of risk. What companies gain in convenience and extra cash can be lost in poor control and flimsy policy. The unknown elements that can happen with a BYOD policy have led critics to call it "Bring Your Own Disaster," and it's easy to see how even the best intentions can lead to a serious security breach or aggravating compatibility problems.

Thinking of switching to BYOD? Here are four things to keep in mind when crafting and enforcing your policy. It's important to note that the preferences and cultures of each company are different, so use your own needs as a guideline to developing a BYOD system that works for you.

>>Read the full story here.

TOPICS: APPS AND SOFTWARE, BOOTSTRAPPING BUSINESS SERIES, BUSINESS, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, JOINME, MARKETING,SMALL BUSINESS, STARTUPS, SUPPORTED

4 Ways to Grow Your Customer Base

Once your startup hits the market, there's reason to celebrate — but this is only the beginning. The next step is growth, either indirectly through user acquisition or by bringing in additional customers. You know your product is performing well and has a few happy users or customers, so how do you get the word out?

The challenges faced by early-stage startup are unique. There is no existing user base to piggyback on with network dynamics and little data to determine the most effective entry points that lead to a paying customer. Also, many startups are too small to bring on a PR staff, and most founders are not educated in the best tactics for reaching out to media. The good news is that social media can enable you to reach potential customers without depending on traditional outlets, and sometimes these tactics will work hand-in-hand.

1. Just Be Helpful

Leo Widrich, co-founder of Buffer, discovered in the early stages that although Buffer was small, he could go one step up and focus on Twitter, which has a massive audience (at the time, Buffer's primary use was related to scheduling tweets). Widrich identified common questions people had about how to be more effective at Twitter, and saved keywords as Twitter searches in TweetDeck columns. Then, he'd take the time to help people out and offer a few solutions or tools, sometimes not even mentioning Buffer.

"This technique was very, very helpful for us, not just for traffic but also to build the community," says Widrich, noting that people he helped often continued to engage by reading his blog or retweeting him long after he initially offered help.

2. Guest Blogging

Investor and entrepreneur Mark Birch recommends guest blogging in lieu of the press release, and he offers some tips for getting your own content onto well-trafficked blogs. He recommends writing your own blog as a way to show how you write and also to learn what makes a successful post — something both Widrich and his co-founder, Joel Gascoigne do.

Initially, Widrich found press outreach to be unsuccessful, so his co-founder, Joel Gascoigne, suggested they do the writing themselves.

"That's when we kind of discovered the power of guest posting, great content that we write for others," Widrich explains. Smaller sites, which are often a side project run by someone who has a day job, were especially receptive to running guest posts. Even if they wanted to write about Buffer, says Widrich, they just didn't have time. But providing content to them was a win-win situation.

Widrich wrote about 150 posts in six months and grew the service to 100,000 users. He found that interlinking content and product was key — since Buffer solves a problem for social media users (specifically Twitter), he wrote posts with titles such as "How to Avoid Spam on Twitter" or "Five Ways to Make the Most Out of Twitter." People who found the article helpful would see who wrote it and notice he works on a Twitter app, and thus be more likely to check it out.

3. Traditional PR

The draw of media coverage is that one article on a major site can provide more traffic in a month than all other marketing efforts combined. It helps to be backed by a big-name VC or to hire a well-connected PR agency, but those aren't the only ways to score some press. What worked for Buffer was making press outreach a habit, not a one-time thrust with each major product launch.

Widrich suggests four story types that could work for any startup: amazing user data, a new feature, big milestone and a disaster (like a related service shutting down) which allows your product to meet a need. Also, a variety of approaches gives you a reason to keep the conversation going with reporters, so they'll have background on you when you have major news to break.

4. Excellent Customer Service

Social media allows for immediacy that is instant gratification for users, especially users experiencing a bug. On a larger scale, this is called crisis communications, known only too well by KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, which turned to social media after a volcano eruption in 2010 caused flights to stall for six days and traditional methods proved unsatisfactory. The airline now takes a progressive approach by responding to every social media user comment or question in 90 minutes and resolving every issue in 24 hours.

Jan Rezab, CEO of Socialbakers, the company that provides analytics to KLM, notes that social media is a cheaper channel than telephone, and it also offered an opportunity for upsells and increased loyalty. Early-stage companies can take advantage of a small user base by showing customers how valuable they are.

"People love to recommend things that are personal," Widrich says. Buffer signs automated emails with the founder's name and invites users to reply, communicating that the team is approachable and responsive. This, in turn, drives word-of-mouth user acquisition.

How does your business grow its user base? Tell us in the comments.

Images courtesy of iStockphoto, lightkeeper, Sjo

TOPICS: BOOTSTRAPPING BUSINESS SERIES, BUSINESS, CUSTOMER GROWTH, HOW TO, MARKETING, STARTUPS, USER ACQUISITION

8 Tips for Building Your Brand on the Cheap

When starting your business, we know there's a lot to handle and think about. There's your (growing) team, your intellectual property, product management and a pinched budget, all while you're trying to navigate the waters of entrepreneurship. But even without millions your brand can make an impression. All the free social media tools are a great start — Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr,Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest are key, but there's more you can do to make an impression. We've rounded up eight ways to build your brand on the cheap — because there are more important things to spend money and time on, like your product and talent.

1. Killer Customer Service

Yes, it's annoying when things go awry with a purchase or brand experience — maybe something got lost in the mail or a credit card was accidentally charged twice. But missteps like these are actually blessings in disguise — you can use the opportunity to show off your customer service skills and turn the customer's experience around, thus winning them over. A bad-experience-turned-awesome can actually be more valuable than a good or expected experience from the get-go, because the customer will have interacted with the brand in a more intimate way and gotten to see your true colors.

People don't often tell their friends, "I bought something on Fab, and it was delivered right on time" — that's expected (and, from personal experience, it's typically what happens). But if something went wrong with the order, and the Fab team went out of their way to make it right and be sure you come back, then that's something to brag about to your friends. You could also take a proactive approach to customer service — if your team spends a few minutes on the phone to help a customer find exactly what they're looking for, that's something to brag about. Everyone's in a rush these days, so if you're willing to spend a few extra minutes cultivating relationships with customers — like Jetsetter and Rent the Runway do, to name a few — they'll tweet about your customer service and Instagram that lamp they bought from you; these positive experiences can be amplified like crazy on the social web (see also: Peter Shankman and Morton's).

Jumping through hoops makes a customer feel special, and it also impresses them and develops brand affinity. Brand affinities create word-of-mouth buzz, because people love telling their friends about new startups and businesses they have to try.

"We operate on a very lean marketing budget as a young startup," says Jamie Viggiano, director of marketing at TaskRabbit, adding that word of mouth is a major driver of the startup's new customer base. "We focus on how we inspire positive WoM — how do we get customers talking about the amazing experience they recently had on TaskRabbit? We work hand-in-hand with our member services team to ensure that every customer experience is a positive one — one that they will proactively and passionately share with their friends. You can surprise and delight customers — at minimal cost — which will inevitably generate positive WoM."

Find out where your customers are and engage with them there. "We all have access to amazing social tools, and communication is key," says Erica Domesek, founder of DIY blog P.S. I Made This.

2. Think Outside the Box

No one ever said you had to spend a ton of money to get your name out there. A big CPG brand might have a budget in the millions, but you can make a splash on a much smaller budget. Look at Dollar Shave Club, which made a splash in March with its low-budget, yet entertaining viral video featuring the company's CEO, Michael Dubin. As a result of the video — which had a budget of $4,500 — the subscription razor service nabbed five million views on YouTube, 12,000 subscriptions in two days and $1 million from VCs before launch. Not bad for a $4,500 investment. And don't think it's the last we'll see on YouTube of Dubin and Dollar Shave Club.

"Content is a big part of our strategy, and there will be more coming," Dubin told Mashable. "I wanted people to laugh, and people tend to remember something it if it gives them a visceral response."

Dollar Shave Club proves you can circumvent the traditional ways of marketing with a little bit of creativity and a sense of humor.

3. Collaborate

We've always heard that two heads are better than one. Well, two brands can be better than one, too. Brands are always looking to expand their audience, so it's wise to seek out brand partners who share an audience and work out some sort of collaboration. You see it in the fashion world all the time — Matthew Williamson teamed up with H&M, Missoni has a line at Target. These partnerships help both brands build awareness and their audience, which can boost sales. Both sides can bring something fresh to the table, and both brands walk away having learned something about themselves, the audience and what consumers want. For an early startup, you might even be able to get a bigger brand to foot the bill — approach the company with an exciting and new partnership opportunity, and see what they're willing to give you in return.

"Collaboration makes you stand out and shine," says Domesek. But be wary of who you partner with, and make sure you keep your integrity while you're getting more exposure, she warns.

4. Innovate the Innovators

Every vertical and industry — from tech to fashion and film — has thought leaders and influencers who set trends that then trickle down to the masses. Domesek advises brands to influence this top 1%, the cream of the crop, in order to reach a mainstream audience.

"These are the innovators using word of mouth through social, personally and professionally, to lead the path and spead the word," she explains. "When you get your product or brand on their lips — when you innovate these innovators — that’s when you know you've done your job."

Whether you're sending free samples or doing some personal outreach, it's worth the extra steps you take to get to these influencers, because they can move the needle for you.

5. Crowdsource

Crowds are pretty smart. While collaboration is a great way to create a win-win opportunity for brands, tapping the wisdom of the crowds is also important. Sometimes you need an outsider's perspective to encapsulate or translate your vision, and crowdsourcing helps that happen. The agency Victors and Spoils launched in 2010 on the premise of crowdsourcing; it enlists a database of more than 5,000 freelancers around the globe, who offer advertising ideas for brands and products based on a one-sheet. Then there are companies like ScoreAScore(music) and 99Designs (logos) that host "contests" for businesses seeking expert work — businesses post a brief about what they're looking for, and freelancers submit a piece that fits the brief. You've likely seen a few of 99Designs logos out in wild — TaskRabbit and Cloudera, among others, have used their crowdsourcing contests to develop their logos.

Jeff Titterton, chief marketing officer at 99Designs, says his firm has facilitated the creation of more than 160,000 graphics for startups and small businesses. While professional logo and T-shirt design can cost several thousands, 99Designs offers tiered pricing that starts at $299 and goes up to $799. Graphic designers are vetted by the 99Designs staff, the business can expect to receive dozens of entries. Once the business decides on a logo and the money changes hands, the logo is 100% owned by the business, so you don't have to worry about legal issues down the road.

Another great place to find talented designers to work with is to go to design-focused communities, like Dribbble, a tactic recommended by Toni Gemayel.

6. Don't Be Afraid of Templates

Templates have a bad rap — they can conjure up thoughts of the boring or generic. But today's templates are not only beautiful and inexpensive, they're also highly customizable.

While tech startups may find web development to be a piece of cake, that may not be the case for a restaurant or yoga studio. For these less web-savvy entrepreneurs, it makes sense to utilize a template service, such as Squarespace or Wix. It's a lot cheaper than hiring a web designer to build it from scratch — plus, you'll need to call on the designer/developer to make even a small change to the site, which isn't an efficient use of time or money. Sure, you might want to develop your own site from scratch down the line, but a template can serve you pretty well in the meantime. Squarespace's newest version even offers responsive design, so you'll bang out a website and a mobile site (hugely important in today's mobile world) in one fell swoop, for less than $20 a month.

"A well-designed template comes with flexibility built in, so you can easily adjust the layout and style to match your own," says Anthony Casalena, CEO and founder of Squarespace. "Further, a great template design will keep your content as the focus of your site, rather than overshadow it."

There are also sites like OnePager, which allow for simple, beautiful one-page websites. And don't underestimate Tumblr — we've seen plenty of businesses use the blogging platform as their website (like Chicago's Au Cheval).

You can even use a template to develop your logo — 99Designs offers 24,000 templates you can get same-day, customized with your company name for $99.

7. Be Elusive and Exclusive

Sometimes all it takes to get attention is to be stealthy. Pinterest exploded last winter and people clamored for invites to the members-only service, pining to see what the fuss was about. Shortly thereafter, the site hit 10 million users faster than any other site. Go figure.

Where Pinterest was exclusive, Wander is elusive.

"Wander built such an intriguing website holding page that it attracted thousands of signups, when no one even knew what the company did," says JB Osborne, partner and CEO at Red Antler. "They successfully created enough curiosity through the holding page that people were willing to part with some of their own personal information to find out more — a great sign for a brand."

People love being early adopters and the first to know about burgeoning startups — a little coyness and exclusivity can go a long way in building and sustaining buzz.

8. Use Your Resources

You have a lot of tools at your disposal right now — you just don't know it yet. Your team isn't just a group of designers and engineers — each person has skills and interests beyond their work, and these skills can be put to use in marketing.

Sons of Essex, a restaurant in New York, uses video as a marketing tool, and while video is perceived to be a big investment of time and money, co-owner Matt Levine says the opposite.

"Our videos are super low budget," he says, adding that several have been shot on iPhones. "Our 'How to Make a ... ' videos all feature our charismatic staff, no actors, no fluff, just real employees." And he credits the low-budget approach for the success of the restaurant's YouTube presence.

"Having a limited budget gives you the opportunity to get creative and think outside the box," says Levine. Domesek agrees, adding that keeping to low budgets means you can afford to take more risks, which tend to pay off.

"Whether you're an 'accidental entrepreneur' — like me — or a serial entrepreneur, nobody’s giving 'nos' all the time," says Domesek. "Experiment and take chances with marketing ... If you don’t take those extra risks, you may as well work for someone else."

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Bluberries, simonmcconico

TOPICS: BOOTSTRAPPING BUSINESS SERIES, BRANDING, BUSINESS, JOINME, MARKETING, SMALL BUSINESS, STARTUPS,SUPPORTED

4 Ways Startups Can Leverage Employee-Owned Tech

The concept of BYOD, or "Bring Your Own Device," has gained plenty of traction as the mode du jour for budding startups. And it's easy to see why more companies — both big and small — are willing to take the plunge: The savings involved in allowing employees to utilize their own devices for work can be staggering.

But don't get too caught up in the savings, or you'll expose yourself to a world of risk. What companies gain in convenience and extra cash can be lost in poor control and flimsy policy. The unknown elements that can happen with a BYOD policy have led critics to call it "Bring Your Own Disaster," and it's easy to see how even the best intentions can lead to a serious security breach or aggravating compatibility problems.

Thinking of switching to BYOD? Here are four things to keep in mind when crafting and enforcing your policy. It's important to note that the preferences and cultures of each company are different, so use your own needs as a guideline to developing a BYOD system that works for you.

Are you a BYOD master? Let us know your must-do BYOD tip in the comments.

1. Security is Priority

One of the most discussed and visible challenges in developing a BYOD policy is security — ensuring that your company’s IP and trade secrets are consistently protected against hacking. Because employees are taking their work devices home with them, there is an inherent risk that the computer or mobile device can link to a dangerous network or be used for phishing and hacking. There is also no way to regulate the level of information an employee can keep on his or her computer, meaning that vital information could be compromised if left in an unencrypted state. In short, a BYOD policy needs to be coupled with a stringent and universal security policy to ensure safety and peace of mind.

A good way to standardize and implement security on computers is to create a work-specific identity or profile for employees to work in while they’re on the clock. This separate profile can act as a home-base for work-specific applications and security measures and have a different administrator password to safeguard against the transfer of files or workers installing potentially hazardous software. While this step isn’t applicable for much mobile or tablet use, you should consider installing a security monitoring software such as Air Watch to amplify control and detection within a mobile device. In putting these systems in place, you can get the best of both worlds: Employees get the freedom of using their familiar device, while you can feel better about your company’s trade secrets.

Another key piece of security management is providing a safe and effective way for employees to access the Internet or share data. It goes without saying that a highly secure encrypted network, such as WPA-2 Enterprise, with standardized user access is a great way to monitor and control BYOD access. But, it also would be smart to create a pseudo-intranet via an encrypted cloud like Dropbox, which also includes a handy two-step authentication system to bolster your defenses. For mobile devices, it would be keen to invest in a VNC client such as LogMeIn so employees can have a secure way to do their business via mobile.

But, perhaps most important of all: make your employees aware of their own liability. Setting up proper written policy that underscores the seriousness of BYOD — and the employee’s potential fault in leaking data — is key to having a successful program. Ensure that measures are in place that detail protocol should an employee’s device be hacked or stolen, and make it known to them what will happen if their devices are damaged. It’s always important to prepare for the worst, and keeping a written document that outlines everything will make it much easier to deal with challenges in the future.

2. Maintain Universal Software

It can be tough to comprehend that BYOD really means BYOD. In instating a policy that allows employees to use their own computers and mobile devices, you may find that not all of your employees operate on the same OS, and with that comes some complications. For example, 95% of your company could be sending word documents through iWork in a .pages format, but an important team member on a Windows computer will remain out of the loop due to the unsupported file extension in his OS. But minor annoyances can give way to frustration in a hurry — how do you help troubleshoot a single employee’s software system when you’re completely foreign to Linux?

Much of these headaches can be taken away simply by standardizing universal software for work purposes. Thankfully, you don’t have to spend a mint in order to get your company operating on the same software. Many freemium software models are browser-based and can therefore be operated on any computer. And, pesky document sharing can be circumvented with ample use of Google Docs or, if you prefer a browser-based option, a standardized installation ofOpen Office. Furthermore, keep an eye out for mobile applications that are supported for bothiPhone and Android, to ensure that all employees have equal access.

By making a conscious effort to standardize software and application usage, you not only prevent compatibility headaches but also unify your team. Employees will not be left out because they don’t operate on the majority system, and IT woes can be minimized because the software is designed for universality. Furthermore, the synergy will keep you in the loop, and narrow down your IT focus to just a handful of need-to-know items.

3. Want to Standardize? Incentivize.

Do you dream of an all-Apple workforce? Or, are you anxious to get your company on the much-anticipated Windows 8 platform? While enforcing a standard make, model and year of a device naturally goes against the BYOD, it can be an ideal situation for small teams to run on the same OS. It’s important to understand that while you cannot demand your employee to change their computer, you should entice them to make the decision through use of incentives.

For example, it’s not feasible to issue $1,100 MacBook Airs for every employee, but you could find it a worthwhile investment to subsidize an employee’s device to a more reasonable point of purchase or perhaps buy the device and deploy it when needed. This system could also be used to issue smartphones: Employees can buy their own and then the company can pay for cell and data service until upgrade or termination. Keep in mind that this, like all other policies, should be fully baked before implementation. Make sure you and your employees know who is responsible for the device and what will happen if termination were to occur, and set up different protocol for different use cases.

While this sounds a lot of work, it’s a tradeoff if having a singular platform is something that’s important to you. This could also give you considerably more control over your IT and move your company towards a BYOD-hybrid that could be safer and more convenient in the long run.

4. Always Keep a Failsafe

The best laid plans always have a smart exit strategy, and BYOD is no different. It’s imperative that you prepare for the absolute worst — a security breach or theft of a device — with software that will allow you to remotely wipe endangered mobile gadgets or computers. This is perhaps the most important aspect of BYOD because it is the ultimate failsafe that can keep your IP from falling into the wrong hands.

We’ve already discussed preventative security measures to ensure all BYOD devices, both computers and mobile, maintain an ample amount of security and monitoring in the event of a breach. But it’s important to consider the option of nuking of BYOD gadgets (and knowing the right time to do so) because it can make the difference in the event of a lost or stolen device. While critics have argued that wiping a device doesn’t account for computers and gadgets that have already been compromised, there’s still a peace of mind that comes with putting a wiping protocol in place. Furthermore, when coupled with an up-to-date backup system, the risk of information loss after a wipe can be minimized.

Because BYOD is still a budding trend among startups and enterprises, it’s important to put as many measures in place to control, distribute, and delete the information that flows through your company. Don’t be afraid to employ a failsafe, or you may continue to wonder what information an intruder could have found instead of cutting it off at the source.

Image courtesy of iStockphoto, alejandrophotography, ymgerman

TOPICS: BOOTSTRAPPING BUSINESS SERIES, BUSINESS, GADGETS, JOINME, MOBILE, STARTUPS, SUPPORTED