Are You On-Brand Enough?

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In this incredibly digital world, a lot of people talk about things like content, engagement, and growth hacking. But while these may be the on-trend topics of the time, they aren’t the only things you should be focusing on if you want to ensure that your business is going to blossom. Not in the slightest. In fact, you could be working real hard on all three of those factors, but if you have one thing missing, you may not be able to make any waves. Of course, we’re talking about branding. Because branding can make sure that you have the right impact on whatever you do. From your brand colors to the way that you talk, you need to nail it all. So let’s take a look at how you can do that.

Everything Online

First of all, you have to be able to look at everything that you’re doing online and ensure that it’s on brand to attract your customers. From your logos to your social media icons, and even the graphics or videos that you put out – it should all be branded. So when you’re making videos or images, be sure to find someone that can put these together for you. And when they do, they need to make sure that they are on brand with the design. But you also need to make sure that the content is branded too, and that you’re showcasing your brand personality to project the right brand image.

Documentation

Whenever you create a document in-house, you should make sure that it’s on brand. Create a set format that everything gets written on created in. That way, whenever you’re sending anything out, you’re branded. It’s also a great way to ensure that everyone gets into the brand zone, and feels part of something bigger.

Vehicles

If your business has a fleet or any other kind of vehicle (even if it’s just your own car), you’re missing out on an opportunity if you don’t brand them. Take a look at the different way you can use fleet graphics to brand up your vehicles. This is also a great promotional opportunity for you too. So be sure to create a call to action or showcase your contact details too.

Event Presence

Whenever you’re at an event, or you do anything in a business environment, you need to be on brand. Luckily for us all, there are some great branding options that you can have at events. And you can go all out. From your stand complete with banners and signs to the materials you hand out and even uniforms that you wear, you can brand your presence completely to make a bigger impact.

Every Action

Last but not least, you’re going to want to ensure that you and any members of staff that you have are acting on-brand and representing your brand as best as possible. Establish your brand voice and stick to it, and be sure to choose the right representatives so that you know your brand can stay consistent.

Want to Start a Manufacturing Business? Read On

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Starting a business is always tricky and challenging, but the challenges are often even greater when you’re starting a manufacturing business in particular. It takes a certain set of skills and priorities to make a success of a brand new manufacturing business. It’s something that you need to think about and plan out now rather than later if you can help it because you’ll regret things if you don’t.

If you’re really serious about making all this happen, it’s important to know what to prioritize and which steps to make as you grow your business early on. You can’t just make things up as you go along because this definitely isn’t the kind of industry that rewards that kind of strategy at all. So read on now and find out all you need to know about getting your manufacturing startup off the ground the right way.

Research First

You should always be sure to carry out research before doing anything else because this is when you find out where your gap in the market is going to be. You can then start to think in more detail about how you’re going to exploit it. But you can’t do any of that stuff if don’t first carry out research and find out what the situation looks like right now. So don’t be tempted to skip past this.

Don’t Skip Past the Legal Details

There are lots of legal hoops you have to jump through when you’re starting a business, and that’s even truer than every if you’re starting out in something like manufacturing for the first time. You don’t want to break laws that help to keep everyone inside your company safe. Even if you think you’re being fully compliant with the law, it doesn’t hurt to check for sure and act accordingly on that information you find.

Create an Unbeatable Team

The team of people you have working for your business will be the single most important factor you have going for your business. They’re the ones who are going to be doing the work on the shop floor, so you want them to be happy and paid very fairly so that you can keep that team together. Get a mix of good characters in your team, as well as a mix of other things. It’s important to have people willing to work hard and show commitment.

Don’t Skimp on Components or Equipment

The components, machinery and equipment your employees use each day will decide how good your final products are. You want to make sure that you buy the best machinery, whether that means huge lathes and production lines, as well as smaller but still as vital components, such as gauges or flow meters from places like FlowMeters.com. It’s up to you to find the very best so you don’t lose out big time later.

Unforeseen Problems With Your Startup: How To Manage Them

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The world of startup is fast moving and can be extremely profitable for those who are the most productive. Problems occur in every business but it is those problems that weren’t seen coming that can do the most damage. Kneejerk reactions to problems rarely are the correct response to an issue. Taking the time to think out a variety of circumstances or problems you can have while preparing for others is the wisest strategy. Proactivity can help quell many problems with a startup so it is important not to procrastinate when it comes to preparation. The following are unforeseen problems that can hurt or possibly put a startup out of business.

Employee Hurt and Suing

An employee being hurt at your place of business can be devastating if you do not have insurance to cover this. A personal injury lawsuit can cost thousands in legal fees with a settlement drying out the rest of the cash flow of the startup. With lawyers like those at the Barnes Firm it is wise to invest in some business insurance. Employee paperwork that has to do with injury on the job should be written up to protect both the employee as well as the company. Wrongful termination lawsuits can be common in startups as many startups do not have the firing process completely figured out. Allow an outsourced HR firm to handle these things as it will keep your startup safe at a fraction of the cost that it would to staff an entire HR department.

Leaked Employee or Customer Data

A data breach can spell the beginning of the end for many startups. Losing the trust of valued clients by having some kind of breach can cripple startups even if the business relationships were strong. Leaked employee information can lead to a huge drop in productivity as many employees will be checking to see if their identity has been stolen. Information can also be leaked by former employees with a vendetta against the company. This information could be sold to competitors or simply be used to ruin relationships the startup has worked hard to garner. Having employees sign NDA agreements can help decrease these happenings as nobody wants to be taken to court for leaking valued information.

Problems Getting a Client To Pay

You delivered the work at the highest quality possible and now your client has ghosted you. Even though everything went according to plan there are some clients that it will take quite a bit of negotiating or threatening with lawsuits to get them to pay. This is not a great way to do business but it is the way certain companies operate as they simply think a company will drop the issue if the sum of money is low enough. Client payment terms can help eliminate these problems as upfront payment can solve most of these problems. Clients that have had issues paying on time in the past should be required to pay upfront. A large client delaying payment can put a startup out of business as they might need to take out a loan to simply pay the staff. Favorable payment terms for smaller startups working with larger corporations are imperative in today’s startup world.

A Juggernaut Has Entered Your Niche

Having a huge corporation enter your niche of business can end a startup. The advantage that a smaller company has over a large corporation is flexibility in decision making. Larger corporations often times have to go through a variety of channels to get approval on one simple decision. A startup can often times deliver faster and for industries where turnaround time is paramount this can be the answer. The startup can also market in a much more creative way in order to get the most out of their marketing budget. Many clients would rather work with a smaller company as a personal touch can make all of the difference. One client manager instead of a revolving door of client managers is much more comforting to many people making business decisions.

The startup world will continue to thrive with billions upon billions of dollars to be made. Getting your business going will not always guarantee success but it is an accomplishment nonetheless. Take the above into account and react accordingly if your startup encounters these situations.

The Five People Your Startup Needs To Succeed

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In business, you won’t ever be able to find success on your own. Of course, you may become a household name, and your business may be internationally renowned – and that is on you – but it’s not something that you can achieve alone. Because you will always need a team around you to get things done. Even if you’re a great innovator or a great marketer, or you can write really well, you won’t be good at everything. And in business, if you’re going to go far, you have to make sure that every business area is covered off expertly. So, you need people. You need the best people around you to help you create your product or service it, get it in front of your customer, and then keep those customers happy. And if you’re not exactly sure how you’re going to do that just yet, you will by the end of this post. Let’s take a look at the people you need around you to grow your business.

  1. An Accountant

We’ve started off with an accountant. But really, this could be any kind of financial expert – maybe a bookkeeper or a finance manager. Either way, you need someone to be keeping an eye on your finances at all time. Yes, this is definitely something that you should be doing, but you won’t want to be doing it at all times, as you’re trying to run your business too. Your accountant should be tracking where you are financially, and can give you the advice you need to ensure that your business is being smart when it comes to revenue and profits.

  1. A Sales Person

Next, you need someone in sales. It’s easy to think that you can just handle this, but if you’re not a natural, you may be missing out on valuable sales. Just take a look at what Jozef Opdeweegh says about the factors you need for a successful sales team. You can definitely put this into practice with just one person to start with and the right support system in place. And then, when your business grows, you can expand from there.

  1. A Social Media Marketer

From here, you then need to be thinking about how you’re marketing this business. And if you don’t have time to go it yourself, you need to bring in support. Hire someone to execute your marketing strategy so that you always have content heading out on social.

  1. Customer Service Support

You know that your customers are the most important part of your business, so you absolutely need to have someone with the best customer service skills in place. If you don’t then, you may find it hard to hold onto any customers that you have.

  1. An Admin Assistant

Finally, when you’re busy trying to run the business, the last thing you want is to be worrying about admin or responding to emails. So make sure you hire someone that can help you out with this while you’re looking to push on with growth.

How to Grow Your Start-Up Internationally

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Many businesses today are made up of start-ups that are finding niches in areas people had never previously dreamed of. It is because of this that many grow to find huge success, while other simultaneously don’t live past the first year. However, if you have a strong customer base, then you will find success comes quicker than if you don’t. This is why it’s ideal that it is easier now to gain international reach than ever before, which you can convert into loyal customers. If you are struggling to make your stamp on the international market, then you can follow some key tips that will help your start-up grow.

Make your brand versatile

You may have a polished brand that has developed great roots where you are based, but it could be that this brand won’t be as popular in other countries. Having a versatile brand means that you can tailor it to suit whichever country you are hoping to crack next, where your target market will remember it rather than brush it under the carpet. You can do this by bringing a trusted team on board to refine the design of your logo and the rest of your brand so that it will make a positive impact.

Use social media marketing

A big part of marketing lies in traditional methods, but many businesses are beginning to see how social media is a great way of updating their marketing campaigns. This is because social media allows companies to run campaigns for people to see all over the world in the space of a few minutes. For example, Facebook Ads services allow you to direct your campaign onto people’s timelines, no matter what country you are located in. Such marketing is ideal for smaller businesses with a tight budget, as you can accomplish a lot with little resources and money if you have a memorable brand.

Network with international clients

Attracting and maintaining a customer base is only one part of growing your start-up on an international scale. One other important aspect is having reliable clients on hand to keep your business afloat. Although you can start attracting these clients using sites like LinkedIn, you will need to keep this working relationship going by staying in regular contact with them. This can be tricky when international calling rates can be so high, but there are innovations such as Viber that can help with this problem. For example, if you are hoping to contact clients in South America, you can look at Viber rates Mexico to see how these low prices compare to other services.

Reach out to customers

Keeping an open line of communication with clients is key, but you should also ensure your customers stay loyal after you have attracted them. In recent years, a more personal approach has seen bigger success. These techniques include instant messaging customers any offers and relevant content using a business bot, sending out emails with similar information for them to click through, and keeping flawless customer service.

3 Ways Failure in Business Can Become Strength

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No one likes failure — either when creating a startup, or doing anything else in life — and it’s certainly the case that everyone does their best to avoid it at every turn. The unfortunate fact is, however, that failure in life is inevitable. Your first startup may not fail — but you’d be a statistical anomaly, as most do — but sooner or later you’re going to run up against failure of one sort or another during the course of your professional life.

Fortunately, failure in business isn’t really the pure, unmitigated disaster that it’s made out to be. In fact, there are many ways in which failure can improve you for the mission ahead.

Here are a few of them.

Failure provides data on what doesn’t work

There’s a story that Thomas Edison, when called up on his numerous failures, once responded: “I have not failed, I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Failure may be devastating at the moment, but each failure actually provides invaluable data on what not to do going forward, if you’re able to take a step back and have an objective look at the situation.

To experience this benefit, however, you need to become good and comfortable with reflection, self-critique, and analysis.

Why did your last attempt fail? Was it because you didn’t work enough hours? Or because you invested your money poorly? Was it that your business model was fundamentally flawed in some way? Or maybe you didn’t account for the degree of competition to be found within that particular niche?

Whatever the reasons you identify, learning from your failures in this way increases your chances of success going forward, and decreases your risk of repeating the same errors as before.

Failure builds resilience and inoculates against naive-thinking

Perhaps when beginning your first startup, you were unbelievably excited about everything you did, and believed with a certainty that everything was going to work out in your favour. And then it didn’t.

If, instead of being crushed and giving up on the idea of running your own company altogether, you dusted yourself off and had another go, then you’ve become more resilient in the process.

Failure builds callouses, and although we need to be careful that these callouses don’t end up making us jaded, a tough skin is nonetheless essential for long-term success in business.

After getting a few failures under your belt, you’ll likely find you’ve become more pragmatic. You know failure is a possibility — and you know it doesn’t have to mean the end of you.

Failure encourages us to fill in the gaps in our knowledge

Failure has a way of holding up a mirror to our own shortcomings and weaknesses. With hindsight, we can see how our own character deficiencies, or lack of awareness or knowledge might have exacerbated the problems we faced.

As a result, we may commit anew to learning to trade shares, or attend classes and conferences we previously thought we were above.

As the saying goes, knowledge is power, and failure can be a great incentive to seek out further knowledge.

Convincing Customers They Need More From You

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Customers can be tricky people to handle. They can be picky and impossible to impress, or they can be the sweetest people who accept anything you say. And because of this unpredictability, it feels like you have to be every kind of business all at once.

Even when you’re increasing your reach by operating online, there’s still quite a few methods to implement to make sure customers are able to find you, and then click on you and your products. E-commerce is one of the biggest markets out there after all, and you’re going to have to be clever with what you offer to make sure someone doesn’t simply click away from you.

But it’s harder for someone to pull away when they’re physically in your store, so now’s the time to really try and impress. Here’s a couple of ideas to get you started on refining your sales technique.

Be Specific with Your USP

Every business out there needs a unique selling point, and there’s more than you would think available when it comes to servicing the market. Whether you use sustainable habits to make your products, or you have a no carrier bag rule, or you simply throw in two products for the price of one, you can get a certain type of customer interested in you.

So make sure you’re being clear with your USP, and never stick to a vague statement such as ‘lower prices’ or ‘we’re better than the rest!’ Everyone has heard that from their local corner shop, so it just makes a lot more sense to actually find a message you can sell to appeal to your target market.

Think about what you’re selling and how it can help the average Joe with his daily grind; ham it up in all your marketing material, and be sure to advertise how no one else offers this at the same time. Beating your competitors involves being ruthless, and you’re going to have to learn what statements customers respond to as you go on.

Offer Promotions

It’s one of the most surefire ways to make sure someone doesn’t bypass you on the high street, even if they were never interested in coming in for a browse anyway. People like to get deals on whatever they buy, and even just a hint of saving money means you’ve got a foot in the door on validating their shopping choice.

Say you’re a supplier, but your inventory is overflowing and you need to shift some stock desperately to make sure you have the longevity to keep operating beyond this quarter. Implementing something like CPQ for Manufacturing is a great way to get customers interested in buying more than you, and even at a discount you’re making a profit you wouldn’t have made a penny of otherwise.

Convincing a customer to buy more than they wanted to is always going to be hard. You’re going against their own principles after all, but it can be done by good sale tactics.

Hitting the Books – The Holistic Benefits of Updating Your Bookkeeping

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The term “holistic” has become a buzzword lately, especially in the field of health and wellness. Relating to an approach of the whole, whether it be the whole body (mind/body/spirit) or in this case, the whole business, there are lessons to be learned from stepping back and looking at the entire picture.

Using specialised accounting software is the best way to understand the larger financial picture within your business as well as keep track of inventory, organise records, and streamline payroll services.

Keep reading below to learn more about the benefits of updating your bookkeeping.

Cloud Services

Gone are the days of sitting at a desk for all your work. With cloud-based accounting systems, you can utilise the system anytime, anywhere, on any mobile device. Customers need and expect ‘round the clock service and advice. Now you have all of the information available at your fingertips with a mobile phone application.

The cloud is also a very secure way to store business information. Users can be employees at the office or working remotely, but all with the same access to the main software to add invoices, make changes to payroll, or keep track of inventory. With a cloud-based system, you get the convenience of saving money and work hours with an easy to use platform.

Broad View of Your Business

Accounting software was made to help business owners and employees manage a multitude of tasks without spending hours and hours on data entry and reports. The system is designed to be user-friendly and easy to understand for even the least computer-literate person. Access a plethora of financial reports to know exactly which areas need more attention and which areas are already doing well.

Upgrading a bookkeeping system is a painless and short process. Merely upgrade your current system, or ask your accountant for recommendations when switching to a different company. The system should have automatic upgrades, allow for multi-user sign-ins, and real-time updates. Reports can be generated for all categories, including incoming and outgoing expenditures, business expenses, payroll taxes, and more. These reports are vital to the broader financial picture of your business.

With financial reports, you can also make projections for future developments and profit margin estimates. A business without financial reports is like a ship lost at sea. There is no direction, no understanding of the path to take. Reports and balance sheets that are kept up to date will give a clear and accurate picture of the health (or sickness) in your business. Make sure you have current software to maintain the projections and correct tools to succeed.

Keep Track of Changes

Change constantly occurs with tax laws, new regulations, and compliance requirements. With an up-to-date accounting software system, all of those changes can be adjusted without hassle or worry. Instead of worrying about if your business is compliant with taxes and payroll, you can focus on guiding the business in the right direction.

It is a delicate balance when running any business. Being able to focus on what is important and allowing for the systems in place to do their work is the mark of a successful businessperson. Delegating tasks can be difficult, but is necessary in order for a business to thrive. There are many great software options to choose from that can keep your business running smoothly.

Take a Holistic Approach to Your Business

In business, a holistic approach means to look at the entire business with all of its parts together. Each part must work to benefit the whole. An accounting software system is a large part of this process and may require more training and energy to get the system successfully in place but the efforts will be worth it in the end.

Using Press Releases to Gain Visibility

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It can be hard to get noticed in such a crowded marketplace, but there are a number of things entrepreneurs can do to gain more visibility.

Of course, social media is a hugely effective medium to broadcast your message – but unless it’s of direct relevance and personal value to your extended network, it’s unlikely to show up in their Facebook feed unless it’s a sponsored link… which, nowadays, can be pretty expensive.  The main benefit is that you can use hyper-personalised targeting to hone in on the individual demographic you are wanting to reach, including their tastes interests – but, as already mentioned, this will come at a significant cost.

However, have you considered the fact many companies submit press releases for a completely different reason.  They submit them on the basis of boosting their search engine rank and credibility with ranking sites such as Moz.  Indeed, they often imagine not many people will read the content of the press release – which might sound a little disheartening, but this practice of using press releases to boost your rank with Google is a well known practice that can be quite effective.

A strategy that is good for building your company website’s reputation within search engine marketing (see: domain authority) is to submit press releases that are then published on a high ranking site with a link back to your website. When Google sends out its robots they will rank your website higher as an already authoritative website is recommending your site; which infers trust and credibility onto your website.

You can submit a press release on the internet, for a small fee, or on certain websites for no fee whatsoever… a good example of a press release announcement can be found here; it is about Ogletree Deakins and hosted on PR Newswire; now whilst the content may not seem particularly riveting, something to bear in mind on these sites is that journalists working for huge newspapers such as The Sunday Times, The New York Times and even the BBC use these sites for ease and time-saving when it comes to writing an article on a tight deadline.  

This means there would be a chance of a high flying journalist from a national newspaper linking your site with a particularly feature they are writing as a result of this press release.

In summary, if you’re wanting to get high up in the search rankings within Google, and let’s face it we all know how important appearing on the front page is – because, in reality, how many people scan through the next two or three pages let alone the 679th page which many businesses that rank poorly for that particular search phrase will be on; even though they might have relevant content and offer a great product or service.  The point is, if you want to get up in Google you need to ‘play the game’ and to do that, you need to know what rules can be bent and which can be broken. It would appear that using press releases in this way to boost your Google rank is a way to ethically bend the rules and quickly get up onto the first page of Google.

Raising Capital for Your Serious Start Up

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There’s a point in turning your idea into reality where things get serious; gone are the days of dreaming and scheming – it’s now time to launch,and to do this, you need some capital behind you.

Unfortunately, one of the greatest challenges any entrepreneur wanting to start up their own small business faces, is raising capital to take the acorn of their idea into the fledgling stage of business development.  Essentially, the process of raising capital is what enables them to take their business to the next level.

That said, unless you’re an established company such as American Pavilion that rents out clearspan fabric structures you’re unlikely to get on Shark Tank anytime soon; meaning you need to find a more low key way to attain the capital you require.

However, something to be mindful of is that entrepreneurs face immense emotional pressure and work very hard, yet still face an extremely high risk of failing within the first few years.  In this case, having friends and family to support you is particularly crucial but when they have money tied up in your business – the dynamic can change to the point they become a source of pressure and stress rather than comfort and support.

This article looks at three of the most common suggestions for raising capital as a start-up business, at an early stage – which are to get a business loan, seek help from friends and family, and crowdfunding.

GET A BUSINESS LOAN

The most traditional route for setting up a small business is to get a small business loan.  This is one of the most easy, reliable, and simple ways of financing your business. You keep complete control of your company, as you aren’t having to offer equity to external investors, who each get a say in how your company is run – and convincing one person, is a whole lot easier than going around investor meetings.

FRIENDS AND FAMILY

If you have a wealthy relative, or several friends and family who are open to backing your business for a small incentive (such as interest on the loan) then this can be a great option, as it will cost less and be easier to arrange than commercial financing; however, borrowing money from friends and family can be a very stressful experience that totally changes (and sometimes annihilates) friendships.  It might be worth considering the potential strain put on your friendships should the business not turn out to be a success.

CROWDFUNDING

A recent trend in raising startup capital is that of crowdfunding; where you pitch your idea on an online platform such as www.crowdfunding.com and strangers can offer bits of cash to back your idea – but these ‘bits of cash’ can accumulate to several million dollars.

In summary, there are three main options; raise money from a commercial source such as a bank, raise money from friends and family, or raise money via crowdfunding.  Whatever route you decide to go down just make sure that your cash flow projections are realistic and that you are asking for as much as you actually need; as one of the main reasons for business failure is a lack of cash flow.

Marketing Advice for Strong Startup Success

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Most startups fail within the first year of business, and even fewer of them make it past the 5-year mark. There are a number of reasons why this is the case, but quite often it is because they have failed to market themselves effectively.

If you want to be successful as a startup entrepreneur then you need to nail your marketing campaigns right from the off. If you can’t do that, you will struggle to gain enough momentum to keep you afloat until things really take off, and they never will without the right marketing strategy.

So, marketing is important, but how do you get it right as a startup?

Collect and Use Data

Probably the best way to ensure that your marketing efforts are on point is by collecting data from your target audience, analyzing it and then marketing in ways that you know your audience will be receptive to. If you don’t have time to collect, analyze and act on data yourself, have a marketing agency like MyOptimind take care of it for you. It has never been easier to collect data and gain a deep level of insight into your audience, so you would be foolish not to do so.

Show Your Difference

Unless you’ve invented a really unique product, chances are that you will be competing with a whole lot of other companies, many of whom will be way more established than you are. The only real hope you have of competing with them is showing your audience that you are different. If you can show them how and why you do things differently – and the why must represent a benefit to them – they are way more likely to be interested and give you a chance.

Build Authority

A really good way of convincing people to buy stuff from your startup is by first building your authority in your niche. You can do this by writing blog posts, making how-to videos and engaging on niche forums. Once you put yourself out there and people see that you know your stuff, they will automatically be more interested in doing business with you than someone they don’t know who may or may not have as much knowledge as you.

Sponsor a Community Event

If your startup is locally based, a very effective way of marketing yourself is by sponsoring a local event, such as raising funds for a local charity or community project like the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence. This will automatically show you in a positive light, and people will respond positively to you and your company as a result.

Engage Your Customers

Instead of simply selling to them, seek to engage with your customers instead. Start conversations with them on social media, ask them what they think about your products and what special offers they would like to see and they will treat you more like a friend or acquaintance than a salesman, and they will be more likely to act and buy something for you as a result.

If you try some of the above techniques and you keep working at it, you will start winning people round to your startup, and you will still be in business this time next year.

Tools That Will Help Run Your Business Efficiently

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In any business there’s always room for improvement, no matter how big or successful it may be. Business only works through strategic planning and executing of those techniques, and there are new and improved ways of running a business coming out each day. Whether you feel like your business needs improving or not, it’s always a good idea to keep up with the latest ways that people are trying to help with their businesses better than ever. Here are some tools that will help run your business efficiently so that you can build a bigger and better empire.

Document management software

It’s likely that at some point during the business day you’ve got to deal with paperwork or some sort of document. Files like these can easily become lost, muddled, or even duplicated which can make running your business harder than it needs to be. You can now buy document management software to help you manage these files and keep them organised in one handy place. Software like this often offers template management too, which can save you tons of time and really help the efficiency of you and your staff.

Employing the right people, and keeping them trained

An important factor in any business is the people who help keep it running, and that’s why it’s important that you have the right people working for you. Hiring people can be a tough task, especially because interviews don’t really show a person’s full working capacity. Instead, you could use employee referral software which allows you to see what your members of staff are achieving. Not only that, you can send them useful bits of information which can increase their productivity and knowledge of their job.

Keep everyone in the loop

The key to a successful business includes efficient communication. It’s important to make sure that not only are you having regular meetings and updates with senior members of staff, but with all members of staff. There will always be need to know information, but even the littlest of details can completely change how someone approaches the way that they do things. Many successful businesses choose to have a weekly meeting with all members of staff where business and personal matters can be discussed and resolved. Communication is key!

Clever financial options for your customers

A really popular business strategy is being able to offer finance to your customers. This won’t apply to all businesses, but if you’re selling products that would take the average person a while to save for, it might be a good idea to offer a finance deal for them to take if they’d like to. It’s convenient for customers who can’t afford things straight up, and it’s great for you because you are then bound into a contract, meaning that you will have regular contact with them for the entirety of the finance deal. This will give you the chance to keep them sweet, and they will be more likely to return.

Try these tools in your business and see if they can help you accelerate the growth and reputation of your business!

How To Boost Your Plateaued Business

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There comes a time in most businesses where success has been increasing, and sometimes at quite a speed, only to gradually slow and level out onto somewhat of a plateau. While, in most cases, this is nothing to worry about, it can be frustrating. You want to keep yourself, and your employees, motivated and an increase in sales would do just that.

Before you consider letting employees go or seek further investment to boost your companys finances, have you thought about the following three strategies to reignite your success?

Expand Your Reach To New Customers

Its possible that your growth has come to a halt because youve already won all the customers you will find in your local area. Instead of trying to sell more to your already-engaged consumers, why not look further afield, into new markets, for wider success?

Thanks to the internet, its easy to scope out the potential of new markets, both within your country and across the world. Do a competitor analysis to ascertain how great a need there is for your product in these new locations before attempting to launch. If there are no other businesses operating in the same industry as you, then thats a green light. Its recommended you start slow and look for a small number of new clients or launch a manageable new branch (for example, one store), so as not to put your existing business at risk.

Rebrand To Change Customer Perceptions

A rebrand or redesign can be a very powerful tool indeed for encouraging greater sales. If youve been in business for a while, youll have developed some key equities that youll want to keep as part of your visual brand language moving forwards. To neglect these important qualities may risk damage to your brand communication.

Never fear if you dont believe youre very design articulate, partner with a strong design and marketing agency, such as the experts at Eventige.com, who will be able to guide you through a rebranding project. Think about the semiotic meanings of the colors and shapes you use. Are they communicating a motivating message to your end consumer?

Launch A New Product or Brand Extension

If youve already tapped the potential of one line of products, there may be scope for you extend your line to include new solutions. You may choose to ask your customers directly if there are any other needs they have, you could run a series of interviews or focus groups or perhaps collaborate with another business to bring your two areas of expertise together.

Collaboration is a fantastic way to grow your business, as youll learn new skills and techniques and benefit from co-branding a product, reaching out to a new audience.

Boost Your Stagnated Business

You dont need to go to extreme measures to boost your business again. Consider the above opportunities. Strategize new markets and products to develop, or reflect upon whether you could tweak your current brand communication and hopefully, youll soon see the buzz return to your workplace, motivating your employees and seeing your bank balance go back in the right direction: up.

 

Making Sure Potential Customers Make Their Way to Your Site

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For a few years now, new business owners have decided to start up their ventures online rather than going down the old brick and mortar business route. While this may go against tradition, it has proven extremely profitable for many, and for good reason! When you’re starting out, you don’t have a reputation, recommendations, or established brand image to support you in the market. It’s difficult to get your products to stand out amongst all of the competitors out there. But by operating online, you significantly reduce running costs and can offer your goods and services at lower prices – something that is always bound to catch any buyer’s eye. However, when it comes to making a success of your online business, everything won’t necessarily be plain sailing. After all, the web is a large and heavily saturated place, and it can be difficult to direct potential buyers to your page, regardless of whether you’re offering low prices or not. So, how do you go about ensuring you get as much traffic as possible? Here are a few ideas to get you started on the right foot!

PPC

The first thing that you want to do is to advertise. Advertising is what will expose your products to potential buyers and encourage them to look further into who you are, what you have to offer, and (hopefully) how to make a purchase from you. If you’re operating online, the best place to advertise is also online. This is because your adverts could include direct links to your website where the customers will be able to push their purchase through and make you profit. However, as we are all aware, advertising can be expensive. The best option for people who are watching their budget is often PPC advertising. Now, there’s PPC directly targeted to near enough every sector out there… PPC for Car Dealers, PPC for clothing companies, PPC for events companies. But each runs off a relatively similar concept. PPC stands for “pay per click”, which means that you only have to pay the advertiser for each unique web user who is directed to your page. This means that you are only paying for genuine traffic!

SEO

“SEO” is yet another acronym that you should familiarise yourself with. It stands for “search engine optimization”. While it may sound complex, it is simply the process of helping your webpage to appear as high in search engine results pages as possible. It sounds relatively insignificant, but if you think about, people use search engines to find pretty much anything they want or need on the web. If your page features higher in the results, they’re more likely to click it. How often do you go past the first page or two of search results yourself? Probably very rarely! So, collaborate with an SEO specialist in order to secure a high ranking and gather the maximum traffic possible.

These are just a couple of techniques that you should try out to ensure that you get as many visitors as possible on your site. Remember that the more visitors your page receives, the more people who are being exposed to what you are selling and the more profit you are likely to make!