Remember running back into the office and checking messages on the old answering machine? Push the wrong button or grab a pen that’s low on ink and — whoops! — the message was long gone. Phone systems have come a long way since then, and now virtual pbx and VoIP systems have led the way in changing everything about how both individuals and small businesses like yours manage their messages, track their phone data and even control costs.

It’s all based on storing your valuable phone data digitally in the cloud, that is, a secure server you can access via the Internet, instead of a combination of your phone bill and a little answering machine tape that knows how to erase itself. This turns messages and call data into something you can store, access and monitor to improve the way your business operates.

This week’s employee spotlight is on Gizem Gaudet.  Gizem is a business analyst on our customer development and retention team here at Grasshopper. She works with the product, design and engineering teams to gather and document business requirements for software development projects.  She also investigates the operations of different functional business areas, researches solution options and uses that information to help us create a better Grasshopper.

While the cost of launching a startup continues to fall at an exponential rate, there’s still a cost involved — and as such, there’s still a need for funding. Investing time in employees to help build and market products, as well as on accountants and lawyers to ensure regulatory compliance, are all important costs that require many entrepreneurs to explore fundraising options.

So, where should an entrepreneur go to raise funds? Below is a breakdown of options, in order of priority:

When was the last time you called your own business and listened to your voicemail greeting? If you’re like most, it’s probably not that often. Voicemail greetings are one of those things we all tend to set and forget. The thing is, your voicemail is often the first impression a new customer gets of your business.

“Leaving the generic greeting either says that you don’t care or that you don’t know how to change the greeting,” says Ivana Taylor for DIY Marketers. And if you can’t handle voicemail settings, what does that say to customers about your business?

Robotic voicemail messages can give customers the wrong impression about how you run your business. Don’t make the same mistakes you’ve heard on other businesses’ voicemail. Create a voicemail greeting that makes customers feel as welcomed and delighted as they would be by walking in your door.

Startup failure rates are infamously high. The U.S. Small Business Administration reports that regardless of the year a business is founded, the majority of the business will go out of business within five years and two-thirds are no longer operating ten years after being formed.

Growth is a good problem to have, unless of course you fail to manage it properly. Growing too fast is one of the top 10 leading problems that trips up small businesses and results in those high failure rates.