Nibletz Staff - 9/87 - Serious Startups

Starting A Business In The Legal Industry

The legal industry is vast and varied in terms of the options available to businesses. That makes it a particularly enticing industry to entrepreneurs looking to be more than a lawyer working the 9-5. Starting your own law firm can be highly rewarding in terms of building a reputable brand and making a sizeable profit. Of course, you have to get your company off the ground first. It isn’t enough to simply have legal qualifications; you need to understand how a business works. Here are some pieces of advice to help you on that journey if you’re looking to start a business in the legal industry.

Make a plan.

You need a rough plan in place before your business can get anywhere. Obviously, you’ll fine-tune this plan over time and it’ll change as your business changes. You need to constantly adapt to your industry but every business needs a place to start. One of the most important parts of your plan needs to involve your target market. There are so many different kinds of legal practice out there, as mentioned in the introduction.

What kind of legal practice are you going to be? Maybe you’re qualified in criminal law or court law but you should find a niche within those areas. Perhaps you’ll specifically help people with DUI charges or divorced couples. Finding your gap in the market has to be part of your plan. You need to specialize so that you don’t spread yourself too thinly. A successful legal firm finds its market. But if you’re struggling to form a fleshed out plan then the rest of this article should help you flesh out your business model…

Get a team together.

Your legal business also needs a strong team in place in order for it to do well in this industry. Perhaps you and some fellow colleagues or friends have qualifications that you’re ready to use in order to help clients in a certain target market but you don’t have a business yet. How are you going to reach those clients? You need a marketing campaign to do so, which means you need to hire marketing professionals to help with that. You might need financial advisors to help organize your business’ profits. You could also look into a company such as Answering Legal to enlist the help of professionals who could provide the customer service side of your law firm.

And you’ll need managers to manage those sub-teams. As you can tell, there are lots of different departments you need to think about when you’re creating a business. Your law firm will mainly depend on experienced professionals in the world of law but you need employees who are experienced in other areas of business if your brand is going to succeed. It’s very important to have all the components in place for your practice to be more than a small group of legal professionals: you need your firm to be a full business in order for your brand to really take off and conquer the legal industry.

Put Yourself In The 10% By Coming Back From The Brink

If you’re starting a business, you’re likely all too aware of the threat that 90% of startups fail. This is the figure we all fear when we decide to make a go of things. And, it’s what we keep in mind if our enterprise starts to struggle.

In truth, though, focusing on this figure isn’t helpful. In fact, you can rest easy that the businesses which do reach success ignore odds like these. The chances are that they had as many rough patches as everyone else. But, instead of lying down and accepting failure, they fought their way back from the brink. And, you can too, with the help of last-minute money making schemes like these.

Turn to investors

Investors have the ability to bring any startup back from the brink. All you need to do is convince them you have an idea worth investing in. Admittedly, this will be much tougher if you’re struggling. But, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. Remember, investors know how tricky it can be to get started. They won’t hold initial struggles against you if they believe in what you do. All you need to do is find investors who seem like they would be interested, and perfect your pitch. Instead of dwelling on how your business is going at the moment, focus on where you imagine you could be. With a bit of luck, they’ll believe it enough to get behind you with financial backing.

Sell stocks and shares

You could also opt to sell stocks and shares to help boost your earnings. In some ways, this isn’t much different to selling to investors. It involves handing over a chunk of your company to others. For obvious reasons, many of us are hesitant to do this. But, there’s no denying that it’s a sure way to make money fast. By turning to companies like TD Ameritrade, you can soon see yourself back on secure financial footing. Bear in mind that, if you’re struggling, you may well have to sell stocks for low prices. But, this is a much better option than merely accepting defeat. While it may be the last choice, it still deserves a place on your list. Bear in mind that you should take the time to research the legalities before getting started.

Special offers for customers

If you want to keep things simple, you could always do some special offers on your services or products. Work out how low you could drop your prices, while still making a profit. Then, offer these discounted rates to first-time customers, or for a limited time. It may involve taking a small hit in earnings for a while, but this stands to boost your business. Plus, if those customers like your services, there’s more chance of them coming back for more later down the line. And, that’s not even considering the power of word of mouth and so on. You know how it goes; you hook them with low prices, then you reel them in.

Controlling Cash Flow In Your Start Up Business

Starting up a business isn’t easy, but with so much to think about cash flow is one thing that can easily put to one side, while you focus on marketing and sales. But with no cash coming in or going out at the right time, you could be left with a huge problem when it comes to continuing to run your business. Which is why I thought I would share with you some of the ways you can control your cash flow as a start up.

Have a decent cash flow reports and money projections

It is vital to ensure that you make cash flow projections for the next year, the next six months, month or even within the next week to ensure that you are fully aware of what your current financial situation is when it comes to your business. As a small business you need to understand the projection isn’t set in stone, but it enables you to make changes or save when possible if you consider that certain times of the year may mean you are shorter on funds than at others. It is important to know what cash you will have, and for it to not be measured on how many sales you might make. It’s more about ensuring that you know where you stand, rather than predicting where you could be.

Improving money coming in

Sometimes you don’t get paid for sales instantly. This tends to be sales made not to the general public purchasing on your website and making a payment straight away, this is normally as a trade sale where you need to offer a thirty-day payment window for invoices to be completed. One initial step is to ensure you invoice correctly and using the Quickbooks invoice template could be a great way to make sure you do everything right and include the right information. Many businesses will then wait until the opportune time for them to pay the invoice.

Be careful with your outgoings

It is just as important to ensure that you are also careful with your outgoings and the invoices that you may need to pay yourself as a business. This means that when you have your outgoings to consider then you need to make the most of the payment obligations you have to your advantage. It might also be a good idea to discuss your business financial situation with creditors so that they are fully aware of when they are likely to receive funds. This extends respect and also helps them to manage the cash flow within their business.

Making sure you survive the shortfall

Finally, you need to ensure that you manage any shortfall you have. A quick way to do this is to go back to the first step and be aware of your cash flow projections. Being aware of the shortfall ahead of time enables you to make sure that you cover expenses due and that you have the time to rectify the shortfall as quickly as possible.

I hope these tips help you to control your cash flow as a start up business.

Choosing a Web Host for Your E-Commerce Site

There are so many different types of seller out there that one web host isn’t going to tick everyone’s boxes and meet everyone’s needs. When it comes to setting up your page, you may be struggling to find the perfect platform to suit your brand or products. But not to worry. We can help you to determine which will be the best option for you. Here’s a quick run through of three of the most popular E Commerce hosts out there: WordPress, Big Cartel, and Shopify.

WordPress

WordPress is a platform that originally found popularity with bloggers. The largely text based site offered the perfect space for long text posts. However, as the brand has grown in popularity and expanded, many users have found alternative uses for it. Many users will continue to use the blog space, but sell items alongside their written work. In short, WordPress is great for turning your blogging hobby into a means of making cash and profit. Let’s fabricate an example so that you can gain a better idea of how this works. Say you’ve been blogging avidly about environmental matters for the past few years. You’ve probably built up a loyal following of individuals interested in environmental activism and they log in regularly to see your posts. Now, alongside your writing, you could sell handmade environmentally friendly products, such as reusable tote bags, reusable wax food wraps, and bamboo drinking straws. By making use of the WordPress Ecommerce Shopping Cart plugin, you can then start to sell these wares professionally and reliably. You already have the target market at hand and sales are likely to start going through as soon as you’ve listed the goods for sale on your site! You can announce this on your landing page, meaning that anyone who visits your site to read your blog will be notified of the addition of a shop to your writing space. Read more on the easiest way to build landing pages for WordPress to get your plan into action!

Big Cartel

Big Cartel is a sales platform targeting creatives. It advertises itself as a place where nearly a million makers, designers, musicians, and other artists sell their work, wares, and merchandise. For more than one whole decade, creatives around the world have used this web host to build their own custom online store where they can easily manage and sell to their customers and fans. This is an extremely basic and straightforward option, so is ideal for anyone who wants to sell a little more casually. Beautiful pre-made themes are available for the web novice, allowing you to quickly set up and go. However, if you want to customise things a little more, you do have access to tweaking your page’s HTML, Javascript and CSS through code yourself. What’s more? The site is optimised for smartphone and tablet use too, meaning that people can shop easily no matter what device they have at hand. Overall, this is a great option for creatives who want a little space of their own online to showcase and sell what they have to offer.

Shopify

If you find that you’re experiencing a lot of success with your business and its sales, you might want to start ramping things up to the big time. Shopify is one of the most thorough and comprehensive hosts for any retailer working online. It has absolutely anything that you could need to allow your professional sales site to flourish, with developers making constant improvements and adding extra features to the toolkit available to you when you sign up. Selling on the web has never been faster or simpler! There are over 100 free themes and a whole host more paid themes that you might want to take a look at for a layout that’s a little more unique to you and your brand. If you want, you can take matters into your own hands and design a theme of your own or employ a web developer to create one from scratch for you. This can then be implemented via CSS. What’s more? Almost any form of online payment is accepted, but you can choose to opt in for certain options and opt out of others if you so please. Shopify payments allows you to accept payments instantly without having to deal with third party accounts who often take a fair chunk out of the profits you’ve made. Perfect!

As you can see, each of the three hosts listed above has its own strengths and benefits. At the end of the day, it’s entirely down to you to decide which will be best for what you want to achieve. So, do a little more research and sign up to one today!

5 Reasons Why Blogger Outreach Should be Part of Your Marketing Strategy

Blogger outreach, also commonly referred to as blogger relations, is quite simply the business of working with bloggers to promote your service, product, or brand. This involves creating original, interesting and genuine content, which can be posted on an external blog for the purpose of generating quality backlinks while also showing your business as a trusted expert in the industry. Below, we take a look at five compelling reasons why blogger outreach should be part of your marketing strategy:

Influencer advocacy – Let’s start off by talking about one of the lesser-discussed benefits, and this is influencer advocacy. Think about it: when someone you value and trusts introduces you to something, you are more compelled to investigate it yourself. After all, this person has led you in the right direction many times before, and you like what they have to offer. So, if you get influential bloggers to talk about your brand, the same thing will happen. Their trusted followers will visit your site and check out your brand for themselves.
Fresh content – Premium content is the backbone of any successful SEO campaign. However, it’s not easy to product quality content, especially when it comes to the frequency and volume that is demanded for effective SEO. This is why it is a good idea to invest in a blogger outreach service. Take a look at this FATJOE review for more information regarding a popular blogger outreach service that helps companies take their SEO efforts to new heights. After all, it’s incredibly difficult to take on this volume of work in-house.
Develop stronger connections with influencers – We all know that networking with influential people is pivotal, and the same applies when it comes to blogging. Maintaining good relationships with influential bloggers will serve your business well in the long run.
High-quality links – Another reason to incorporate blogger outreach as part of your marketing strategy is because every blog will have a link back to your website. If there is one thing that Google loves, it is relevant and high-quality links.
Build your brand – Last but not least, it can be very difficult to get people interested in your brand if you are a small business or an up-and-coming one. If you get your brand featured on a blog that has a lot of influence in the industry and reaches your target market, you are going to get hundreds of eyeballs on your brand each and every day. And, of course, the more people who see your brand, the more people that are going to be talking about it. This is a great way to build your brand and gain greater traction in your industry.

As you can see, blogger outreach is something that all businesses should be making the most of if they want to increase the effectiveness of their marketing strategy. From influencer advocacy to gaining high quality links, there are numerous ways this approach will boost your brand online.

The Power Of Outsourcing

Outsourcing is the perennial convenience for most business owners. Business small, large and international all use this brilliant method to complete their daily tasks. Not only does it keep things moving along when they otherwise might come to a halt, but they do so with profound reliability. There are many different styles of outsourcing, and many benefits which come from its use. We’re here to explore both of these. If you are a firm just starting out, or a larger one struggling to meet your weekly task load, this article should convince you to try outsourcing out, no matter what that means to you.

Outsourcing Is:

Fast

Often firms which specialize in a certain process or responsibility will have effectively streamlined all avenues of their business output to focus on this. This means there is very little room for delay, as the business kinks have already been ironed and worked on. For example, the payroll department in your firm might be an afterthought which the HR department takes care of at the end of the week or month.

A business offering payroll services offer that service as their direct means of gaining revenue, so they will certainly be interested in optimizing and improving their ability to offer this to their clients. Not only that, but they have a profound interest in turning over your commission in a fast manner without sacrificing quality. This will leave them more time to grapple with the next commission, and the next one after that. This leaves your business with a fast turnaround for even the most complex tasks.

Relaxed

If you outsource a service, you obviously do not need to take care of that yourself. This lightens your load, both mentally and from an operational perspective. During busy seasonal periods, or times where you simply cannot spare the valuable manpower, outsourcing can give you the means to focus on the tasks that really matter. Thanks to preventing your staff from being stretched too thin, they are able to complete their responsibilities with their full capacity.

Professional

Outsourcing companies need your business, and they like to encourage your repeat commissions. That means they are motivated to do a great job, one which will impress you and leave no doubt in your mind that using their services once more is a great option. Imagine if a singular department in your firm had its own support lines, constant and well-developed specialist skills, and a rapid turnaround. This is what the best outsourcing firms offer.

Complete

An undeniably brilliant feature of firms which accept outsourcing tasks is that they often offer a complete services. From the A to B of your business, all could be covered by the professional firm you have developed close links with. For example, VOX Network Solutions offer a full range of security, network and managed services which can help you localize all of your IT requirements in one place.

It’s good to do this, because it saves you time. Systems as complex and comprehensive as your IT functionality requires a singular approach, because the whole network must be taken into account. If you’re diversifying select responsibilities, you will be fragmented in your communication. Simplicity is always best when it comes to outsourcing, so look for services which span many specialized responsibilities for the best results.

Cost-Effective

Sometimes, the tasks your business must carry out aren’t enough to warrant a full time stock of salaried employees. If you’re involved in content creation, writing, or any number of responsibilities which can be conducted online, consider using subcontracting freelancers to work for your firm. Paying these freelancers for the work committed, and only that saves you having to deal with tax issues, insurance payments, pensions and any other number of considerations which can waste your time.

Paying a fair price for the work you need doing is much better than keeping on a staff member for a singular pursuit. Here you will also be able to select the best freelancer for the job, and view a full portfolio of past work. You’re likely to attract the best freelancers because their ‘gig’ allowances are often competitive. This way, they’re likely to be more flexible, reasonable, willing to take on criticism and immediately reachable. If you’ve only focused on recruiting in-house, this can feel like a revolution.

Making the most of freelancing is a wonderful pursuit, but only if you’re smart in your aims. These tips should help you develop your best outsourced offerings.

The 3 Most Engaging Ways To Present Business Ideas

No matter what kind of business owner you are, you are limited to a certain number of responsibilities. Innovation and a creative spirit can lead you to think outside of the box, but sometimes your business will be restricted to the tried and tested ways of doing things. For example, you will never be able to convince people of your fantastic and revolutionary business idea if you choose not to present them well. Business presentations account for some of the best clarification your business can bestow upon shareholders, investors and consumers alike.

We have detailed the three best and most impactful ways of presenting your new business idea to those who haven’t the slightest idea what you offer. Clarity, brevity and engaging communication will all work to launch your business platform to new heights, but only if you to conform to one of these three examples:

Corporate Events

Many businesses launch their new products at their own shows. This adds to the theatricality of your product unveiling, and as such is likely to attract eyes. If you pull it off well enough, it could even be covered by the relevant aspects of the business media. You have two choices about how to present this idea. You can host an event all by yourself, which will incur a significant cost but can add to the overall positive impression of your business, as the ‘wow-factor’ is certainly introduced.

Secondly, you can hire an event space within a larger convention. This often helps attract a large audience as they meander through the event. It can also make competition more fierce, so choose your option wisely. Choose a relevant convention. For example, if you’re hoping to present a revolutionary new board game, heading to Essen for the biggest board gaming convention immediately helps you meet your target demographic.

Just be sure that you use effective methods to present your ideas. You will need to use staff who possess public speaking skills, or are otherwise comfortable with the nuances of your design, and communicating those to an audience. If needs be, hiring actors and developing a show behind the scenes can truly engage eyes.

Online

Most people will engage with your brand online, especially internationally. For this reason, it’s important to host your website in such a manner that your business idea is front and centre. Anyone visiting your brand online should be immediately greeted with the platform you are trying to launch and should have great difficulty missing it. Instead of gating access to your website or another underhanded method, consider making attractive information the forefront of your homepage. For example, using a great motion graphics company can help you develop an explanatory video that draws the eye but also presents the relevant information. This can also contribute to helping your firm seem ‘cool,’ as motion graphics often signify a creative company with fresh advertising perspectives.

Sponsorship’s

The main bulk of communication is now translated through social media services, meaning that there is a vast and ripe connection to be made with your audience. Sitting in public and witnessing how frequently people look at their phones should convince you there is plenty of opportunity for ‘your brand’ to be the information presented on their phone. Take out advertised Facebook sponsorships, as they prioritize your information listing in the eyes of your demographic.

Also consider sponsoring famous social media figures. To use the board game example, if you see a popular board game Twitch streamer with a social media account, sending them an allowance and free copies of your game to try on stream can present that to a larger audience, and help the content creator spur on their content. If you’re willing to make a significant investment, you might be able to feature placeholder ads on their channel, but this depends on the audience and the persuasion of the person involved.

Another ripe social media platform for inquiry is Instagram. Instagram has a massive audience, and unlike Facebook, photographs are the main content hosted, commented on and developed. Sponsoring fitness athletes, musicians and even public figures can launch your humble brand into the stratosphere. Just be sure you research the chosen sponsor correctly, because upon launching the business deal you automatically associate anything that person has done with your brand. If you deem them suitable, one of the most public platforms is yours to capitalize from.

Hopefully, this article has helped you in your quest to present your innovative idea correctly. We wish you the best of luck.

5 Common Fears Successful Entrepreneurs Need To Overcome

businessman nervously facing an obstacle challenge

With anything in life, you need to overcome your fears if you want to be successful. Letting your fears get the better of you will make it close to impossible to chase your dreams.

Here are examples of fears that an entrepreneur will often face when building a business.

1. Criticism or rejection

People are often afraid of pursuing their dreams or a business venture out of fear of being criticized — that their ideas will be rejected even by their family or friends. Some fear that others will see them as a weird or crazy person.

You might have been told that what you are planning would be too risky and would never work. This fear can can be so debilitating that it can even prevent people from trying something new or even taking the next step.

Everything starts with you. You need to start believing in your talents first before you can make others believe in you and your business. Instead of worrying about the negative things that people might think of saying, think instead about what they would say if you succeeded in your pursuit.

If people think you are crazy, then accept it. Keep in mind that it is the people with “crazy” ideas who end up changing the world.

2. Debt or bankruptcy

Some people stay in their jobs and don’t go into business out of fear that their decisions would land them in the poorhouse. There is a basis for this fear. Starting a business requires capital and finding funding can be difficult.

If you find it hard to build capital or convince people to invest in the venture, you can try saving up for some of the capital needed to start your business. The amount may not be enough to pay for everything, but it should be enough to get you started or try out some of your ideas.

3. Offending others

Some people are indecisive out of fear that others will see them as being too self-confident or arrogant. This is especially true when it comes to marketing or promoting the brand.

However, being audacious is often important if you want to become a successful entrepreneur. You have to be confident enough in expressing your ideas, in promoting your brand and what you have to offer. Advertising is a necessity in building a successful business. If you don’t do it, no one will know about your brand or what you can do for people.

4. Looking stupid

We sometimes don’t do things out of fear of looking foolish in front of other people. Have faith in your abilities and the decisions that you make. What you decide to do allows you to test your skills and become better, whether it is in terms of speaking in front of a crowd, making movies, leading a team, or something else.

Regardless of whether you made the right or wrong decision, there is something you can learn from the experience. The worst thing you can do is to not do anything at all. It may make you feel safe, but it also prevents you from growing and developing your skills.

5. Success

You may be surprised to find that there are entrepreneurs who fear success. Success is something we all yearn for when we build a business. So why would people fear becoming successful?

We have this notion that building a business is extremely difficult. On the flip side, what if it’s easier than you’ve been led to believe? Imagine opening the doors of your bakeshop for the first time and seeing a long line of people waiting to get inside.

Some entrepreneurs fear that they will be unable to handle the demands of running and maintaining a booming business. There are other businesspeople who feel that their success will alienate them from their friends and colleagues.

Operating a thriving business is what most entrepreneurs aim for. At some point, you may feel alone, but it comes with the territory of becoming the best in your field. Always strive to improve yourself and your business. Your business’ success will not just affect you but can also affect how your industry grows and develops.

Everyone has fears. Entrepreneurs are no different. Knowing how to face your fears and overcome them can help you create a business that is successful.

AUTHOR BIO

Serial Entrepreneur and Business Strategist Henri Hazougi is the managing Director/Partner of Business Setup Consultants DMCC. The company offers a broad range of expertise in corporate services assisting companies and entrepreneurs in setting up and expanding their business in the UAE.

Five Creative Ways of Making Your Startup Stand Out from the Crowd

Light bulb crumpled paper on a blackboard

If you are working hard to get your new business off the ground, you might want to appear unique and approachable at the same time. While the majority of businesses created today operate on the internet, you should not neglect the importance of branding through networking and carefully designed marketing materials. Make a statement about your business online and offline, and show off your best side to potential business partners and customers. Find out how below.

1. Create Unique Stationary

“Business Cards” by Paul Reynolds is licensed under CC BY 2.0

It is important that your new business is credible, and you show your audience that you are serious about your offer. There is no better way than brand yourself and make people remember you from business meetings and networking events than creating unique business cards, Custom Labels & Tags, and promotional gift items. Make sure that you choose an appropriate and easy to remember logo and color scheme that you can use for creating brand awareness in your new market.

2. Engage in Video Marketing

One of the most underestimated ways of creating awareness about your new company is video marketing. You don’t have to have a full studio with all the latest equipment, and can create a short presentation in just an hour highlighting the benefits of your offer to potential clients. Many online marketers use videos for personal branding, as they can help them get their values and mission effectively communicated to the target market.

3. Create Unique Presentations

Whenever you meet a new potential client, make sure that you tailor your business presentation to their needs and industry. Use their name several times in the presentation or project proposal, and tell them why this feature is important for their business.

4. Personalize Your Messages and Videos

If you want to make a statement and get the job or project, you should create personalized video messages and send them to your potential clients through email or the cloud. This way, they will know that you made the effort to address their particular needs and concerns, instead of creating bulk marketing materials to distribute to everyone. Even if you have an autoresponder, it is important to segment the market and tailor each message to the individual company’s industry and level of engagement.

5. Create a Strong Brand Message

“Raising brand awareness – Own your Brand Conversation” by Thos Ballantyneis licensed under CC BY 2.0

Before you can become successful in the world of business, you need to develop a personal and business mission and vision. A brand message should be something your audience will remember, and can relate to. If you want to end their struggle with cloud administration, or want them to have more flexibility when hiring temporary workers, build your brand message around this aim, and make it consistent across all your marketing channels. This way, you will be the guy they remember for making HR easy, or one who saves them money on accounting software.

Whenever you are thinking about your future business, consider how your future customers will see you. Get them to give you feedback on your marketing and branding messages, and tailor your brand image to their needs and wants. Using personalization and unique marketing materials will help you stand out from the crowd.

Profiting from Your Passion

Many people hate their jobs. They get up each morning and dread going to work. Their days are filled with the same boring tasks, surrounded by people they’ve got absolutely no interest in, or worse, people they don’t get on with and make their working day difficult. They spend the whole day looking forward to leaving, and then their whole evening worried about going back. This is an all too familiar situation that many of us find ourselves in at some time in our lives.

Then, there are other people. Those that love going to work. That tell people what they do filled with pride and passion. These people get excited about doing their jobs, and go home happy, to enjoy a fulfilling, unworried home life.

The first set of people long to be in that second group. But, they can’t see how. They’d love to make money doing something that they feel passionately about. But, they are trapped. They need to work to earn money, so can’t quit. They find that depression about their jobs is affecting their home life and their relationships. They are horribly unhappy, jealous of those that enjoy their work but with no idea of how they could do the same.

If you fall into that first group of people, you need to learn how you too can profit from your passion.

Figure Out What Your Passion is

Sometimes it can be tough just figuring out what your passion is. We all have stuff we love doing or enjoy occasionally, but that’s not the same as being genuinely passionate about something. For this, you may need to go further back. Think about your hobbies and interests, but also things you’ve liked over the years and even the subjects you enjoyed at school. You don’t necessarily have to have been amazingly talented. For this part, just find your passion.

Write them down in a list. Everything you’ve ever loved doing. Then, try to imagine them as a career. Some things you can love doing, but still, hate the idea of having to do every day until you retire. You’re looking for that one thing you’d give everything else up for. That you’d be willing to put all of your time, effort and maybe even money into. That’s your passion.

Become an Expert

Now you’ve figured out what you want to do; you need to become an expert in the field. Learn as much as you can. Look online, where you’ll find some great resources and advice. For example, if you decide you want to go into brewing, you could learn a lot about modern systems from drink-it.com/brewery. Visit the library, and spend some time with other businesses in the industry. Learn everything that you can.

Find a Way to Turn it into a Business

Sometimes, this is easy. If you want to be a writer, you write. If you’ve got a product you want to sell, you start a store. Other times, it won’t be quite so simple. Say you feel passionate about writing and love doing it. But, you know you’re not good enough to earn big money. Then, you need to explore other options. Would your writing style suit journalism or web content instead of fiction? Could you be good at technical writing or even teaching? There are always more options.

Make a Plan

When you know what you want to do in detail, it’s time to figure out how. If you plan to get a job, you need to tidy up your CV to include relevant key skills and start applying for work. If you are starting out on your own, you need to sit down and carefully draw up a detailed business plan.

Branding and Design

If you are starting your own business, branding can be the key to your success. Creating an instantly recognisable brand gets you both noticed and taken seriously. Spend some time trying out some designs and getting advice and feedback before you settle.

Start Networking

Whether you are starting a business or trying to find work within a specific industry, the internet can be a huge help. Start building a digital presence by following and engaging with the right people on social media. Whether these turn into clients or essential connections, they could be beneficial in the future.

Just Do It

One reason many people never fully follow their passion is that they never want to take the risk. The truth is, you’ll never be completely ready to make big changes. But, you’ll never live your dream if you don’t. Stop making excuses and just do it!

Making money from your passion is something many of us dream of. Don’t just dream, get out there and make it happen today!

6 Fundraising Tips for Your New Business

Every emergent business needs a source of capital. Regardless of the nature of your business idea, this capital has to come from somewhere. Fortunately, there are plenty of places to find funding for an early-stage company.

For guidance specific to your company’s needs and growth trajectory, you’ll of course want to speak with a seasoned business coach, accountant or financial advisor before proceeding. However, these six tips to generate or secure funding for your nascent company are broadly applicable and can definitely give you a leg up regardless of your near-term objectives and overarching vision.

1. Tap Liquid Savings

Although roughly half of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, the other half have at least some financial breathing room.

If you’re part of the second camp, look to your personal savings as a source of startup financing. This is a great way to show future investors that you believe in your business idea. The fact that you’ve personally invested in your company before seeking external funding sources is a vote of confidence for many angel investors and venture capitalists.

2. Stay Lean for Longer

As an entrepreneur, it’s always in your best interest to carefully watch the bottom line. Successful business owners use every available tactic to control costs and remain lean, stretching their startup resources farther.

“As a young entrepreneur, staying lean was very important to me,” says entrepreneur George Otte. “My approach to business allowed me to grow on my own terms and strengthened my enterprise during its critical early years.”

By following in Otte’s footsteps, you can wait longer to seek external funding. When the time finally does come to pitch investors on your idea, you’ll be in a stronger financial position.

3. Borrow Against Home or Retirement Equity

If you have substantial equity in your home or a sizable balance in a tax-advantaged retirement account, you can borrow startup capital at lower rates than those afforded by unsecured loans, credit cards, and traditional lenders such as banks.

Contrary to popular belief, borrowing from a retirement account is possible while preserving your scheme’s tax advantages.

“There are provisions in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and IRS tax codes that enable people to invest retirement savings in a business if they are active employees in the company,” says business expert Erik Sherman.

In other words, as long as you play a day to day role in your startup’s operations, you can borrow from your retirement savings without incurring a tax penalty.

4. Seek Support from Your Friends and Family

Friends and family members are great sources of “patient capital.” In other words, they may be willing to wait years or even decades to realize returns on their investments. “Patient capital” is the first source of external funding sought by many entrepreneurs.

5. Run a Crowdfunding Campaign

If you have a novel idea that you think consumers will really love, build a crowdfunding campaign around it. Crowdfunding allows you to raise money at relatively low cost without giving away equity in your company or paying interest over time.

6. Apply for Grants and Prizes

No matter what your company does, it’s likely eligible for grants from industry associations, local government agencies, or entrepreneur-oriented nonprofits. It might also be a worthy contestant in startup competitions that promise cash prizes to winners and runners-up. Even if you don’t win, you’ll learn a lot from mentors and fellow contestants.

5 Tips to a Better LinkedIn Profile

As a regular LinkedIn user, you no doubt realize that your LinkedIn profile is your online business card, resume and reputation all in rolled into one. But does your profile truly serve as a comprehensive virtual portfolio? In other words, when colleagues, potential clients and recruiters land on your page, can they learn all they need to know about who you are and what you do?

Likely, you could use a stronger profile. Follow these five tips help you build one.

1. Your Profile Photo: Don’t Settle for Good Enough

Why is your profile photo so important? The face in the photo is your only chance to make a positive first impression. It won’t matter how solid your credentials are, how much experience you have or how much talent you bring to the table if your photo turns viewers off.

Look around LinkedIn and take a look at the profile photos professionals use. Which attract your attention — this Arnold Siegel profile picture, where he looks approachable and friendly, or a profile without a profile picture at all?

Or worse, what do profile pictures of the person too far away to make out, enjoying a cocktail at a party or posing with their pets say? Unless those activities are somehow related to the individual’s profession, they belong on Facebook, not LinkedIn.

Because your profile picture is the professional face the world sees, don’t settle for a bad photo. And don’t yield to the temptation to use that great 10-year-old picture. You’re not after a beauty contest crown here. Your job is to let people know who you are now.

If you have the funds, visit a pro. If paying a photographer is not in the budget, perhaps a friend with a good camera could help. Or, you can try a do-it-yourself and see what you come up with. In any case, follow these recommendations:

The best profile photos encompass the top of the shoulders and the head. The subject, you, should take up at least 60 percent of the frame.
Your expression should be friendly, warm and approachable. No maniacal grins, no frowns, no expressions of discomfort or unhappiness. Keep trying until you get it right.
Look at what’s behind you before you shoot. Avoid distracting backgrounds.

2. Make Your Headline Sing

Directly under your profile picture is the headline field. The headline is drawn from your most recent job title by default, but you can and should edit the information.

Job titles generally do not explain what you really do. So instead of leaving the default, succinctly describe your professional “essence ” as well as what you can do for the viewer.

For example, instead of a headline that says “Senior Marketing Manager,” try “Increase sales on a small budget with a highly trained experienced marketing professional.” You have 120 characters to show value to the reader, don’t waste the space with useless information.

3. Add a Background Photo

A background photo that’s relevant to your profession adds visual interest and makes your page stand out. Choose a photo that is pleasing to the eye, not overly busy and fits in context with what you do.

4. Your Summary: Your Story

The summary section is where you explain who you are, how you got where you are, what you’re like and what you want to do. It’s the story of you, written in an engaging, personal style.

It’s not a list of jobs, skills and accreditation’s. There’s room for those essentials elsewhere. Take your time writing the summary.

Within your summary, add specific keywords and phrases for search engine optimization. Don’t overload text with keywords, but include words people might use to search for someone with your skills and talents.

Avoid using common buzzwords, such as creative, passionate, experienced, expert, focused and similar general non-specific descriptors. The summary is your chance to show why you’re different.

5. Schedule Updates

To get the most out of LinkedIn, engage on a regular basis. Publish content, share, make comments, respond to comments, add graphics and post often. Schedule updates regularly and update in between to post breaking news and other topics. LinkedIn is a valuable tool and can open the door to lots of opportunities, if you use it wisely.

Influencers: Why You Need Them And How To Identify Them

The power of marketing in the digitally led global business climate should never be underestimated. The sad fact is that no matter how incredible your product, no matter how well run your operations and no matter how much time, blood, sweat and tears you pour into your business, it all amounts to little if the right people don’t know who you are. There was a time when marketing was a strategy of broadcasting. You’d send your message out as far and wide as possible and hope that the right people would find it. Today, the world of social media and digital connectivity has made it far easier to identify your target audience and market directly to them via pay per click advertising. This reduces extraneous marketing costs and maximises the chance of your content and advertising reaching the right audience. Yet, as important as it is to know your target market, it’s just as important to know who influences their behavior.

What is an influencer?

Influencers can make all the difference between your content falling on deaf ears or going viral. The rise of the influencer is a relatively new phenomenon but one which numerous big brands recognize the value of. Influencer marketing works in a similar way to celebrity endorsement, but influencers tend to be easier to reach, cheaper and more receptive to working with brands. They tend to be individuals who have gained a sizeable and loyal following on social media.

Why you need them

Like celebrities, they’re usually attractive and aspirational figures whose look, style and habits your potential customers find aspirational. They can help you by endorsing your products, link building and even agreeing to be the face of your brand. They can also help to elevate your brand’s status, giving you a degree of “cool by association” in the eyes of your target market. Moreover, unlike roping in a celebrity, influencers tend to actively want to work with brands. They may well have content of their own to monetize and will be grateful to be able to piggyback on the recognition of your brand in order to expand their own reach.

How to identify an influencer

Instagram and YouTube celebs like Zoella or Jamie Genevieve may not be the best influencers for your brand, it’s important to find an equivalent that speaks to your target market. Looking for people with large followings and an interest in your product or service is a no brainer, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

It’s important to keep an eye on an influencer’s social media engagement. Throwing money at an influencer with a large following is unlikely to pay dividends if that following is not actively engaged with the influencer. Make sure that their posts all have a healthy amount of likes and comments.

Important caveats

Any time you associate your brand with any individual, there’s always an element of risk. There’s a chance that they could be ostracized by their following by their actions, their posts or their political affiliations. They can misrepresent your brand or mislead your potential clientele. Thus, it’s extremely important to make sure that your influences are vetted and well managed.

The Pros and Cons Of ‘Doing Something Different’ In Business

Business is all about innovation; finding a new idea; doing something unique and different with what you can offer to the public. Over and over again, the importance of the ability to do something different with your business is emphasized.

However, “doing something different” can actually be more of a gamble than it sounds. There may even be times, and certain industries, where doing something different is an outright bad thing; your startup could be doomed to failure before you even really begin.

Confused? Us too, so that’s why it’s worth drilling down into the realities of “doing something different” and examining the pros and cons…

PRO: You’re Offering Something New

The most obvious pro to the idea of novel innovation is that you are going to be able to offer something truly unique to your customers. Many businesses have been able to turn over billions because they offered something truly different.

Take Apple, for example. They did something different with the first ever iPhone. They took a basic idea — that we all carry a phone with us — and transformed it, asking: “why can that phone not function like a small computer?”. They added a great camera, working internet, and functionality that surpassed basic laptops– and changed the way we interact with the internet forever.

If you have something truly innovative to offer — be it your methods of approaching a service, or a new product you want to manufacture — then you have the potential to capitalize on being the first, the innovator, the great creator. The scope in this area is huge; that’s why you will so often see business guides insisting you should “do something different”– because it’s lucrative, because it works, because it’s the very essence of business ingenuity.

CON: What If You’re Offering Something “Different” That No One Wants?

Many products and services are designed to solve problems, usually problems that the entrepreneur has experienced themselves.

For example, an entrepreneur who lives beneath a flight path. This irritated them, so they got to work on a way to combat it. They decided to create a device that automatically creates white noise when it detects an aircraft overhead. They do everything right; they design a product, use the likes of WayKen Rapid to produce a prototype; and have tested that the concept is sound. To that person, that product makes a huge amount of sense; it’s inherently useful, and it fixes a problem they are experiencing.

However… the number of people who live beneath flight paths is relatively small. The product is never going to be able to take off (if you’ll excuse the pun) because the market just isn’t there.

There’s a chance that the product or service you are innovating will suffer from the same fate. Sure, it may be useful, and it may fix an issue you have experienced, but that doesn’t mean that it has a global appeal. There might be a reason that no one has offered a service in a way you are planning to, or manufactured the same product you are designing– because other people have seen there is absolutely no call for it.

PRO: Easier Marketing and Promotion

Let’s say you’re opening a digital marketing agency. There are plenty of digital marketing agencies in the world, which means that your marketing and promotion is going to be difficult. You’re going to have to find a way to distinguish yourself from the huge amount of competition, something that draws customers to your company above all others.

However, if you are offering something new and innovative that has never been done before, then your marketing will largely do itself. You can emphasize how you have hit upon a method that no other firm has managed; how it is going to benefit your customers; and why your business is special. This makes the entire campaign easier, and also guarantees you will be more easily noticed by your target customers.

CON: The Risk Of Being Copied

If you are looking to manufacture a new and exciting product, then you don’t need to worry too much about this issue. With products, you can file for a patent and ensure that no one can reproduce anything similar to your own design. This is expensive, but at least it protects you against copycats.

However, if you are just offering a new and interesting service, you could be vulnerable to copying. There is no way of patenting a service, unfortunately. You may find yourself investing a lot of time and energy into offering a service that is genuinely innovative, only to see your competitors do exactly the same a few years later. There have been a few famous examples of this exact scenario happening in recent years, such as Instagram outright copying Snapchat on numerous occasions.