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For a young startup, moving from your bedroom to a small office space is a big step. It’s exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time. It’s the start of a huge journey, and it gives you the capacity for huge growth. You can bring in new employees, and expand the business. You can collaborate, and run daily meetings to further the company. At the same time, however, you’ll significantly increase your overheads and outgoings. You need to make the right decisions, and stick to a budget. Here are some top tips for making the right choice.

Choosing the type of office space

First of all, make a decision about the type of office space you need. In some cases, you could just purchase a virtual office space. That gives you a registered business address, and a professional impression. Another option is renting meeting rooms on a regular basis. This is perfect for meeting clients, investors, and other team members. The professional choice is a full office space for rent. Remember, you can choose from open plan or closed offices. What would suit your business?

Location

The location of your office space is essential for your company. Firstly, your employees will appreciate an office that is central, and easily accessible by public transport. The quicker their commute, the better their productivity and happiness. Secondly, it’s important when considering your competition and meeting clients. You’ll notice that most similar businesses operate from the same area of town. Why not consider a move to a whole new town? Try a city where startups are thriving! You need an office that is easily accessible, and close to your competitors.

Facilities

Ideally, you’ll want to pick an office that is kitted out with modern facilities and amenities. That makes the general upkeep and maintenance easier. You can also move straight in, and set up shop. Look for an office space with existing phone lines and internet connections. Find an office with built in kitchen and bathroom facilities. It may cost a little extra, but it will save you a lot of money on renovating, and installing the necessary facilities.

Room to grow

Renting your first business space is a huge step. You’re probably not thinking about expanding again, but you should be. If things continue as planned, you’ll bring in more money, and – consequently – more staff. Try to give yourself an extra quarter space to grow into. That will satisfy your business as you grow and expand. The last thing you want to do is constrict yourself further.

Cost

Of course, we couldn’t end this article without discussing the cost of your rental space. Upgrading to a larger space will immediately increase your overheads and outgoings. Consider how much your business can afford to outlay every month. More importantly, are the long-term foundations in place to cover the office lease? This isn’t a decision to make lightly, so spend some time with the accounts. Make sure the money is there, and create an extra pot of emergency funds.

Follow this advice, and you’ll move into the perfect office space for your startup company. Best of luck, and let us know how it goes.

Have you ever thought about opening an online store? Since you have stumbled across this article, the answer is probably yes. And, you’re in luck, we’re here to show you how. The best part? It’s easier than you think!

Setting up an online store sounds daunting and complicated. In truth, setting up a store is fairly straightforward. As you’ll see in the following paragraphs, the mechanisms of building a simple shop are easy. The hard part is finding those customers, and turning it into a thriving business. Before that, let’s start with the foundations.

Choose a product

To set up an online store, you need a great product to sell. If you’re reading this, you probably already have an idea in mind. Before we get started, you’ll want to do some research around this product. Who is the target audience? Is there a gap in the market for this product? Now, there are two main options when it comes to products. The first is to make and produce the item yourself. This works for craft stores and other creative outlets. Or will you buy the products from a wholesaler, and sell them on?

Connecting with wholesalers

Most stores go the wholesaler route. In other words, you’ll buy the stock with the view of selling it at a profit. Connecting with wholesalers sounds daunting, and you’ll need a strong business plan in your hand. Make a list of wholesalers that dispatch the products you have in mind. Pick up the phone, and set up meetings with them all. Now, your job is convincing them to sell their products to you. As we said, a great business plan and a professional manner will be your best asset here.

Build a website

Without a website, you can’t sell anything! Of course, you can set up a marketplace shop on the likes of Etsy, Amazon or eBay. However, if you’re looking for a professional, long-term business, you need your own space. There are plenty of options for you here. One potential service is ‘Shopify’. They help you build a website designed around the shopping experience. If you’re more comfortable with WordPress, you can use their platform too. Make the design unique, but powerful.

Logistics and delivery

The last part of the foundations are your logistics and delivery system. After all, you’ve got to get your products to your customers in a professional way. In the early days, you can box up the packages yourself, and ship them one-by-one. But, as you grow larger, you’ll need a better solution. Start to think about your transportation logistics, and choosing a reliable carrier network. You’re looking for cost-effective, trustworthy, and efficient delivery here.

Finding your first customers

Before we go, we’ll leave you with a final note about finding your first customers. Without them, your online store will fail at the first hurdle! Start to build a brand presence across social media. Consider using advertising to get your products in front of the right audience. Use active marketing techniques to grow your business from the ground up.

We’d love to hear from any successful store owners. Let us know your story in the comments!

You’ve probably clicked this article because you’ve recently started a new business. But, you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed and need some helpful advice. Luckily for you, I’ve got some great tips for to help new business owners this year:

Technology Is Key

It’s 2016, and that means we’re in the middle of the digital era. For the past few years, there’s been an increased emphasis on technology in business. Most big companies are using tech to gain an advantage over their rivals. How do their rivals respond? By trying to use more tech solutions and get ahead. As a result, it means that businesses lacking in technology will fall by the wayside. This is not good news for small business owners. Small businesses are typically more conventional businesses. They don’t use flashy stuff; they’re traditional. Well, times are changing in the small business world. You must use technology if you want your business to climb to the top.

How can a business use tech? There are so many different answers to this question so I’ll pick a few of my favourites. Firstly, you can use cloud technology to store all your private data. It makes your business more secure, and the cloud can improve efficiency. Secondly, you should make good use of mobile technology. Develop an app for your business and set the bar high for your competitors. A small business with an app is something special. People will think that you’re a lot bigger than what you are. Mobile apps are used by many huge organizations; they’re a great thing to utilize.

You Must Have A Business Website

My next point links in with the first point I made about technology. However, it deserves to be separate because it’s so important. The bottom line is; your company needs to have a website. I can’t stress enough how essential this is for the success of your business. A website will bring so many benefits to your organization. The most obvious of which is that it gives you a web presence. So much of the world is online nowadays, you can’t afford not to have an online presence. There are loads of people out there that may be interested in your business; you just don’t know it yet. The easiest way for them to find out about you is to go online. Without a website, these potential customers won’t find you.

As well as possibly gaining new customers, a website has other uses. It can be a way for your business to start earning more money too. When you create a website, you can leave space to place adverts. Find an advertising service online and you can fill that space with ads. You’ll get paid for each advert you have on your website. It may not seem like much, but every little helps. Similarly, you could sell things via your site. If your business is in the retail industry, it makes sense if your website functions as an online store. That way, people can go online and buy your products without having to leave home. It means people from all over the world can start spending money on your online store.

Employees Are Crucial To Your Success

Although it’s your business and you’ve come up with the idea and set everything up, your employees are important too. They are the people that will help determine whether or not your business is as successful as you want it to be. Good employees will lead to a more productive and profitable business. Whereas ones that don’t perform to a high standard will have the opposite effect.

It should be your mission to ensure that all your employees are motivated and fully productive. This means you have to put in a lot of effort and care for them. Make sure you look out for the healthy & well-being of your staff. This can have a huge effect on their work performance, which will affect your business. A primary concern of yours should be stress. Ensure you aren’t piling too much work on your staff, and they’re stressing out. Stress can lead to all sorts of things that disrupt your business. It makes sense to think about some critical stress management services for your company. Doing this will give your staff some much-needed assistance to help them deal with stress. If you can keep your workers happy, motivated, and healthy, you’ll have a successful business.

Always Be Aware Of The Competition

Competition is something that all businesses have to deal with. There will never be a company that stands on its own and has 100% share of the market. No, that’s not how the business world works. Even if you’ve got a unique business idea, you’ll end up with some competition. You could be the first person to open a particular type of business; it won’t matter. Soon, people will realize it’s a good idea and start copying it in one way or another. You’re going to end up with lots of competition whether you like it or not. I find that a lot of new business owners aren’t aware how important competition is in the business realm. Or, they’re perhaps a bit overwhelmed by it. Which is natural, it’s normal to be a bit worried when your business is trying to compete with other, well established, ones.

But, the important thing is always to be aware of your rivals. Never let them out of your sight. Think of the famous saying, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Make sure you know what your competitors are doing. Don’t let them surprise you with some revolutionary idea that puts you out of business. You may find you learn a thing or two as well. You can see what they’re doing well and start doing it too. And, you’ll see what they’re doing wrong and know not to do it. Whatever happens, always keep a close eye on them.

There are many things that new business owners have to pay attention to. I’ve listed some of the key things above. If you take this advice on board, you’ll find it far easier to run a business.

Starting a new company is one of the best ways to secure your income for the future. You just need to identify the right concept and act fast. However, there are many common mistakes made by people in your position. For that reason, you need to perform a lot of research along the way. The information on this page should help to make sure you don’t do anything too stupid. We spoke to some of the country’s leading entrepreneurs when writing this post to ensure the advice is accurate and up to date. So long as you don’t make any of the simple mistakes listed below, you should be on the right track.

At the end of the day, people start businesses to make money. So, it doesn’t make sense for you to navigate blindly through the landscape. There are many other companies out there trying to steal the lion’s share of the market. That means you need to work hard to come out on top.

Failing to create a business plan

Your business plan is the most important part of your operation. It’s critical you know how your company will make a profit before starting out. The plan you create needs to include information about the level of funding you require. It also needs to outline a clear growth strategy that should be attractive to investors. You have a couple of options when it comes to getting your new business plan sorted. You could handle the process yourself using free templates or outsource the task. Sometimes people find that paying an expert to create their business plan is the best choice. It guarantees you will get a perfect document to show to investors.

It should be clear how much cash you need after creating your business plan. However, many new companies fail to get the level of investment they require. For that reason, you should always pitch for slightly more money than you need. So long as you plan covers all aspects of your operation, investors should fall over themselves to offer funding. Just make sure you take a look at any possible threats to your business and how much it would cost to solve them. Keeping some extra cash in your accounts is vital because you never know when something unexpected might happen.

Employing the wrong team

There is no getting away from the fact that you will need employees to push your business forward. Even so, lots of new company owners still manage to employ the wrong people. Don’t make the mistake of advertising jobs on government websites because you will get too many applicants. You need to promote your vacancies one specialist job boards designed for your industry. That way, it should be easy to reach the right people and encourage them to apply. The main issue you face is that workers have many rights these days. That means you can’t simply sack someone without good reason. Considering that, you need to spend a lot of time interviewing candidates to ensure you get it right.

Ignoring legal advice

All company bosses will have to seek legal advice at some point. That is especially the case when it comes to employing team members. Employment law is a complicated subject, and so you always need guidance. It is vital that all employees have legal contracts that would stand up in a court of law. Indeed, you would be breaking the law if you didn’t provide them with the right paperwork. Just search online for a lawyer in your local area with suitable experience. Book an appointment to see them and explain your situation. It should become clear very quickly if you have made an appropriate selection. Once you find a decent legal representation, you need to build a relationship and let them know about your business. That way, you can always get the best advice when you need it most.

Using bad marketing strategies

There are certain tasks every business owner should outsource during the startup stage of their company. Marketing is one such task. You need to make sure thousands of people encounter your brand every single day. That is the best way to expand your operation and secure higher sales levels. Selecting the right marketing strategies for a startup company involves a lot of hard work. There simply isn’t enough time in the day for you to do that while running the business. Thankfully, there are thousands of marketing companies you could contact for help. Letting the professionals work their magic should mean you get much better results. When all’s said and done, it’s in their interests to keep you happy because you will continue to spend money.

Becoming a tyrant

You don’t need us to tell you that some bosses can become impossible. Your workers need to have a certain level of respect for you if you want them to go the extra mile. They’ll never feel that way if you don’t offer the same respect to them. Employees are not your slaves, and they only have to fulfil their contracts. Make sure you never push anyone too hard, and always try to remain friendly. Becoming a tyrant will mean the best workers start to look for alternative means of employment. The last thing you need is for experienced team members to leave your crew at the most critical moment. Make sure your workers always know how much you value their contribution.

Any business owner who makes the mistakes listed on this page is headed for disaster. We just hope that reading about them today will help you to avoid walking down that path. You are guaranteed to make lots of dodgy decisions while you’re still learning. However, you can limit the impact they have on your operation by listening to the experts. We hope your business manages to succeed and make millions in the next few years. Whatever you do to make a profit, you now have the right information to secure your operation for the future.