Issue #97 - Get Festive ❄️ Stay Safe 🔒
More cybersecurity tips for business owners | 10 Startups. 1 Year | The 12 business tips of Christmas | Prepare for storms, floods and bad weather | 5 businesses. 1 question | Tunes | Words | More
🦾 GO
More cybersecurity tips for business owners 👾
We’re now well and truly into shopping season and the Black Friday sales feel like they’ve been in full swing for weeks (largely because they have been).
Following our Cyber Security Issue, we thought speaking to Phil Rushton, Cyber Security Lead at Bionic, would be a good idea. And we weren’t wrong, as he has even more ways to keep your business and customers safe online.
Below are Phil’s top tips for staying safe online this holiday season and beyond (because cybersecurity is for life, not just for Christmas…)
As online shopping surges for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas, so too do cyber threats. Cybercriminals are increasingly sophisticated, employing AI-powered tactics to create highly convincing phishing emails, fraudulent advertisements, and counterfeit websites. That’s why online shoppers must remain vigilant and proactive to protect themselves from these threats.
For Consumers
Check the Email Sender: Check the sender field in emails and make sure you are confident you trust the sender. Be wary of unusual discounts as some deals can be too good to be true.
Check any Email Links: Avoid clicking on suspicious links, even if they appear to be from familiar brands. Hover over the link, if it looks suspicious then it probably is.
Verify Web Addresses: Check URLs for any strange irregularities or typos. Secure websites typically use the "https" protocol and display a padlock symbol, signifying encrypted data transmission.
Prioritise Trusted Retailers: Opt to shop with reputable retailers and well-known businesses to ensure legitimate transactions and reliable product delivery.
Secure All Payments: Utilise credit cards for added protection against fraudulent activity.
Secure your Wifi: Use trusted and secure Wi-Fi networks to mitigate the risk of hacking.
For Retailers
Ensure Payment Security: Implement robust payment methods that adhere to Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards to protect customer transactions.
Vigilance Against Impersonation: Actively monitor for and counteract fraudulent activities that attempt to mimic the brand's identity. Promptly address any suspicious activity to safeguard customer trust.
You can trust Bionic
Via Email: Bionic will only ever get in touch from @email.bionic.co.uk or @Bionic.co.uk email addresses. You should treat any other email claiming to be Bionic with suspicion.
You may also receive emails from our trusted partner Docusign when signing contracts. These will ALWAYS come from Docusign.com or Docusign.net. If you are suspicious, refer to this quick guide: https://www.docusign.com/blog/how-docusign-users-can-spot-avoid-and-report-fraud
On the Phone: Our trusted agents may call you too – but they will always introduce themselves as calling from Bionic and will never ask you for payment details over the phone.
In other news, the energy price cap will increase again in January. Here’s a quick recap of what that means 👇
🤝 COMMUNITY
Calling all new (and not-so-new) business owners! 📢
This week we’re donating our community slot to this great initiative from Matt Lane and Joe Schubert.
Have you always dreamed of starting your own business? Would you love to learn from real people actually doing it? Or are you already building something and want to be part of a community of other startup founders? Then check this out.
Matt Lane and Joe Schubert are the founders of 10startups1year, a new media company that will be following ten entrepreneurs for one whole year to, in their words, “learn from those crazy people that have taken the leap and that are building the businesses of the future”.
Matt explains, “As someone that has started, scaled and sold a business, I get super frustrated that the only startup stories we hear are success or failure and not the practical, messy bits before that. I want to help inspire and educate more entrepreneurs by telling the real stories of people building startups today.”
Launching in January 2025, Matt and Joe are still on the hunt for two of the ten startups to feature. If your business is less than two years old, and you’re interested in being involved, visit www.10startups1year.com to find out more and apply (and tell the lads that The Backbone sent you 😉)
🗞 READ
The 12 small business tips of Christmas 🎄
Ho! Ho! Ho! Christmas is just around the corner. It doesn’t matter if you’re a fun-loving festive type or a total bah humbug, once Halloween has passed and the final November 5 fireworks have been set off, there’s no escaping the cacophony of Christmas songs, the flurry of fairy lights, and that first festive frost.
So, to help your small business get more festive, here are Bionic's top 12 tips to jingle up your small business this holiday season.
How to prepare your business for storms, floods and bad weather ⛈️
According to the Met Office, a wet and windy autumn and winter contributed to 12 named storms in 2023/24. The latest was Storm Bert, which saw more than 100 active flood warnings across England and Wales.
Having your business disrupted by the weather could mean you need to close and lose much-needed revenue. Here are some ways to prepare for storms, floods, and bad weather and protect your property.
🗣 SHOUTOUT
#BionicBusinessStory - 5 businesses, 1 question 🤔
Christmas is a time for families and communities to come together. And Britain’s backbone businesses usually play an important role in the local community. We spoke to five business owners to find out more.
Bionic - How are small businesses a big part of the local community?
💪 “We’re a local community gym. The diverse amount of people we get coming in is the best part. We get people from all walks of life - ex-doctors, ex-nurses, teachers. But you feel safe in this gym, it’s not competition-led. I mean, yes, we’ve got competitive athletes and bodybuilders, but they’re respectful and can have a joke. There’s no additional pressure and everyone is welcome here.” Mick Povall - Gravity Health and Fitness
🕯 “If you buy something from a local shop, you’re giving money to that business, which then pays local staff who support the local council who in turn organise things like Christmas lights and hanging baskets in the town centre. It’s like a knock-on effect of positivity, and it really matters to people. When I started doing Christmas markets, you’d see a business owner chatting to a customer about an item they’d made with their own hands, and they’d do a little happy jig when the customer made a purchase.” Richard Hills-Ingyon, The Recycled Candle Company
🍺 “In an environment outside the pub, you wouldn't normally have this range of interesting people to talk to. Seeing how they all connect is so great too, like that 80-year-old man knows that 20-year-old student because he walks her dog or something like that. We've become part of the community here, which is really nice. That and the range of people is the best part for me.” Kate Davidson - The Old Ivy House
💐 “Community is everything. Humanity is nice, on the whole, we’re meant to be together as humans. Being part of the community is my proudest achievement. It’s lovely to go onto ‘Spotted in Whitwick’, the local Facebook group and see that someone has recommended you as a florist to go to, it's great to get nice comments but being part of the community is so much more valuable.” Sue Colledge, Colledge Florists
⭐ “We work with Plateful Café, who host pop-ups and help refugees get into the catering industry. Basically, we’re a pub, but also a community hub too. We have some great nights in the pub because we’ve got so many different parts of the local community coming together. For example, you might see a 35-year-old professional chatting to a student, or chatting to guys who are working on the railway, or maybe to someone who's been coming to the pub since the 50s. We're seeing those kinds of conversations happen and relationships build. I think it's hugely important for the neighbourhood. It helps make it a more enjoyable place to live and helps people find out about events they wouldn't necessarily hear about.” James Gadsby Peet - The Star of Greenwich
Want to read more small business stories? Head over to Bionic 🦾 Or check out our Small Business Snapshots on YouTube (where you can also watch the interviews in full)
📊 BUSINESS
Get your business costs sorted 💷
Bionic is the comparison site for your small business. We compare a range of business essentials to help you save time, money, and hassle.
Our tech-enabled team will answer all your questions in simple terms, and help you find the best deal on business energy, insurance, phone, broadband, or finance. No jargon. No-fuss. #BeABionicBusiness 🦾
🎧 LISTEN
We want to know what you’re listening to! Send your favourite podcasts and playlists (any subject, any genre) to thebackbone@bionic.co.uk
Playlist 🎶
We’ve not had a classical playlist for a while, but the cold winter nights and frosty mornings are perfect for some calming classical. Classical Winter is the perfect playlist for sitting in and relaxing with a good book. There’s also an accompanying Classic Christmas playlist for when you’re feeling festive.
Podcast 🎙
Alexei Sayle will soon be recording the latest series of his Imaginary Sandwich Bar. If you’ve never heard his unique mix of stand-up, memoir and philosophy (all delivered from behind the counter of his imaginary sandwich bar) then I have some good news - every episode is available on BBC iPlayer and Spotify.
👩🤝👩🏾 SHARE
If you love The Backbone (or even if you just quite like it) share it with someone who has equally great taste in email newsletters.
🏡 HOUSEKEEPING
Check your folders 📁
If The Backbone isn’t landing in your inbox every other Friday, please mark this address as ‘not spam.’ If it isn’t in your spam folder, it may have been moved to another folder, like ‘Promotions’ or ‘Social’.
🚫 STOP
Thanks for making it to the end of another Bionic small business bulletin 🤝🏻
Carry on the conversation at our Bionic socials 🤳
Please leave a comment and let us know if there’s anything else we should be featuring.
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