Category: Contributed Posts

Major Moves

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. As your business grows, it’s important to know when to move in order to better run your operations. It’s important to execute the move in the most efficient way possible. The following contributed post is entitled, Major Moves.

* * *

Your small business is growing. What started as a solo effort has expanded and you’re desperately in need of more office space and more people to help take your company to the next level.

It’s time to upsize and commit to a bigger office. Moving day can be tough going, so we take a look at the process from start to finish and more importantly we take a look at how to reduce your downtime in this guide to office moves.

Image courtesy of Pixabay

Before

Preparation is key so begin the process early. If you already have a small team then perhaps consider appointing a move manager to take care of the move details while you focus on keeping the business flowing. They will need to appoint someone to take care of the social media and website details, liaise with the moving company and handle the utilities. They’ll also need to make decisions on layout.

Before all that though, why not take advantage of the move by having an office clear out. It’s the perfect excuse for slimming down the amount of filing and paperwork you need to take with you and will make moving in an awful lot easier. Get a skip outside with http://www.budgetbinhire.com.au/ and begin the big clear out.

Now you’re ready to go. Have your move manager tell the utilities companies when you’re leaving the building and have your staff clearly label their desks, computers, office furniture and so on.

On The Day

Send your move manager to the new office early to mark up where desk, chairs and office furniture are to be placed. They will also need a paper plan to give to the moving crew.
If some of your team are able to work remotely, have them do that while the move takes place.

Your move manager should do a final reading of utilities, before they leave the old office and have arranged for the network, electricity and so on to be up and running on arrival at the new office. As soon as you’re unpacked, have your IT company in to connect you all up.

After

Don’t forget to update your social media platforms and your website with news of your move and double check that any email footers, letterheads and so on feature the correct new address. You may want to have your post redirected for a few weeks to allow for any crossover in the post.

With a clear and logical set order and plenty of preparation, your move shouldn’t be a stressful experience.
Have everyone in your team up to speed with the process and any staff not essential to the move working remotely. Keep the business going by redirecting phone lines. Get your layout organised ahead of time with a trip to the new space and make sure your removals company understands where all the desks and chairs are going. Then your business has the space to grow, to take on more staff and reach new heights.

How To Keep Your Home Business Running Smoothly

Two key focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. If you’re going to run a home business you want to make sure that it runs smoothly. There are a couple of keys to doing so. The following contributed post is entitled, How To Keep Your Home Business Running Smoothly.

* * *

Running a business from home certainly has its perks. You get to wear whatever you want, set your own hours, and don’t have a boss nagging at you every minute of the day. Plus, you save time and money by eliminating the commute. That being said, there are troublesome aspects of owning a home-based business too. With so much freedom and so many things around to distract you, it can be more difficult to stay productive and get your work done on time. With that in mind, here are ten things that you can do to keep your home business running smoothly.

Image

1. Stay Connected To Business
Although you run a home-based business, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll be in the house all day, every day. Sometimes you’ll want to work in a cafe or restaurant, while at other times you’ll have to work on the way to a meeting. Because of this, it’s crucial that you have access to business information at all times. Instead of keeping important documents on your computer, you should store them on a flash drive, or, better yet, in the cloud, for access from anywhere.

2. Plan Out The Day
The freedom of being your own boss means that you can work whenever you want to. However, that doesn’t mean that your business hours should change every day. Not only will this make it difficult for customers and clients to contact you, but it also leads to a lack of productivity. Your days need some structure, so choose business hours, create daily and weekly goal lists, and stick to them. If you don’t, you’ll waste a lot of time each day deciding what task to do next.

3. Create A Comfortable Workspace
We tend to see our homes as a relaxing space. This can cause trouble when you’re trying to get your work done. The simple remedy to this problem is to create a workspace in your house. Contact a skip bin hire and clear all of the junk out of a room to make way for office furniture and equipment. Ideally, this room should be bright, quiet, and not too small. Once you have this area, make sure you do all of your work there. This will create boundaries between work and home.

Image

4. Never Skimp On Necessities
When you first start out in business, choosing the cheapest options or going without certain things seems to make sense. After all, you don’t have that much money to play with, and you don’t want to run out. That being said, you shouldn’t overlook the purchases that you need to make. High-quality internet services, for example, is vital for any home business. You’ll also need ergonomic office furniture, including a desk and chair, to stay comfortable and avoid an injury.

5. Dress For The Job
As tempting as it may be, you shouldn’t ever work in your pajamas. You don’t have to dress in a suit and tie every day, but you do need to shower and get changed before heading to the home office. Like creating a workspace, this will separate your business and personal lives, making it easier for you to stay productive when working and relax at home. A jeans and t-shirt are usually enough to put you in the working mood, or you can opt for workout gear for extra comfort.

6. Set Office Ground Rules
There’s no use in having an office if your family and friends think that they can come and sit in there whenever they like. Far too many loved ones make the mistake of assuming that, because you’re at home, you don’t need to be working. To break them out of that mindset, you need to set out a few office ground rules. For example, you could ask that they knock before coming in or don’t come in at certain times of the day. This would make it much easier for you to focus.

7. Build A Talented Team
Working from your own home doesn’t have to mean working alone. Just like any other, a home business can become overwhelming if you try to handle it by yourself. When the workload starts to pile up, therefore, you should begin bringing on staff to help you out. Sometimes those employees will work from their own houses, but you might choose to have them come work with you in yours. If you opt for the latter, then you’ll have to set them rules for the rest of your house.

8. Outsource When It’s Needed
Hiring employees is not cheap. In fact, it can be incredibly expensive. On top of the salary, you have to offer a competitive benefits package, advertise for the position, and spend time and money interviewing and training candidates. Plus, if an employee chooses to leave, you have to do it all over again. Outsourcing, therefore, might be the best option for your business. This includes many fewer costs but offers the same great service that you want for your company.

Image

9. Network With Other Entrepreneurs
Although it may seem like it at times, you’re not the only person running a home business or facing the struggles that come with it. There are thousands of other people who know exactly what you’re going through. These people can provide support, as well as advice with your troubles. They might also be able to help with finding providers, potential clients, and leads. For this reason, you should network with these individuals, either in a formal or informal setting.

10. Move Out The House
For many people, working from home is a starting point. In the early days of running your business, money is sure to be tight, so the house is the best office space available if you want to keep overheads low. Once your company starts to grow, however, keeping your business in the home can hold it back. You won’t be able to build your team or client base, as you simply won’t have enough space to do so. It’s at this point that you should consider moving the office outside.

Running a business from home can be tricky, but, with these tips, you should be able to make the task a little smoother.

Does an Environmentally Friendly Lifestyle Have to be Expensive?

A key focus of my blog is STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). Fortunately our society has become more environmentally conscious than ever before and is embracing environmentally friendly lifestyles. More people are thinking of how to preserve the environment as much as possible. The following contributed post is entitled, Does an Environmentally Friendly Lifestyle Have to be Expensive?

* * *

We all know about climate change and the damage that we have been doing to our planet. We know that how we’ve been using it is starting to have an effect and that our children and grandchildren face growing up in a very different world if we don’t begin to do something about it. It’s widely reported in the news, there are countless documentaries about our planet and how we need to fix it, and we’re being told in a variety of ways, what we should be doing differently and why. The “I didn’t know” excuse no longer flies. We all know.

We’re not good at making sweeping changes, nor are we good at admitting fault, or facing up to what is coming. So, new excuses have developed. One of the main ones is that we can’t afford to make the changes needed. We can’t afford to change suppliers, buy sustainable fashion or organic food. But, that excuse isn’t good enough either. Leading an environmentally friendly lifestyle doesn’t need to be expensive. In fact, it can even save you money if you do it right.

https://pixaby.com/illustrations/bulb-nature-ecologycurrent-2368396

Reuse As Much as Possible

A big part of being more sustainable is throwing less away. Every time you put something in the bin, you are contributing to filling landfills or putting plastics into the oceans, but you are also throwing money away.

Instead, try to reuse as much as you can. Don’t buy anything that you know you will only use once. Instead, spend a little more on something that you can use again and again. A reusable water bottle is a perfect example. It will cost more than a cheap plastic bottle of water. But, fill it up with tap water or even rainwater from your Clark Tanks, and within a few weeks, you’ve got your money bag and throw much less away. You can also use reusable wipes, cloth diapers for your babies, reusable makeup remover wipes, clothes around the house instead of wipes and handkerchiefs instead of tissues.

Buy Less

Reusing things allows you to buy less. But, there are other ways to do it. Instead of spending money on cheap clothes and fast fashion that you’ll only wear once, invest in quality items that you’ll wear often and will last a long time.

If you’ve gotten bored of your furniture and fancy something new, ask yourself if you could make easy changes, or upcycle your pieces into something new, instead of just throwing it away and buying something new.

Visit your local library instead of buying books, take sandwiches out instead of buying fast food and if you do need to buy something, first look in charity shops, at yard sales, and on online auction sites.

Take from the Earth

The best way to live a green lifestyle and save money at the same time is growing things for yourself. Grow your own fruits and vegetables, start a small herb garden, and even try scavenging for berries and seeds. Then, make your food last longer by freezing extras for another time.

Dominate That First Second – A Reliable Approach To First Impressions

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. An old slogan says that, “You never get the second chance to make a first impressions.” The same is true for your business. Whether it’s your business’s physical space, your social media or your communications, you are always making an impression. The following contributed post is entitled, Dominate That First Second – A Reliable Approach To First Impressions.

* * *

Pexels

All businesses know that first impressions matter. In fact, we all know it. It’s part of how we form our judgements to get us through the world. Sometimes, our first impressions are wrong. You’ve likely met people in your life whom you took an instant disliking to, only to realise that actually, they weren’t as bad as you had imagined.

The same goes for businesses, and of course, the reverse is also true regarding that sentiment. However, often, with so many options available, consumers do not wish to wait to hear you out – they want to be impressed. This means that dominating that first second is one of the most appropriate goals you could have as a business trying to expand its reach.

But it’s not as if this just happens on one frontier, it happens on many. Let us see how appropriate that might be for you when making your decisions as a firm, and how worthwhile you might apply your future endeavors to this end.

Consider:

Keep Your Offices Clean

We’re not just talking about the interior. Sure, providing a comfortable office, a clean office, and a hygienic working space is essential if you hope to run your office well. But on top of that, you must never neglect the exterior on your building. Even if you have no retail stores, your headquarters looking neglected from the outside speaks terribly about your firm, and with social media in everyone’s pockets, it might come back to bite you. This is where firms such as Propel Pressure Cleaning https://propelpressurecleaning.com can help you rid yourself of some of the grime associated with long-standing industrial offices. Keep a squeaky clean approach where you can. You never know just how beneficial this could be in the long term.

Keep Your Social Media Clean

Often, social media is the first time someone will hear from you. Engage in humor that doesn’t quite work, reply vindictively to a trying criticism, or allow your staff to get out of hand on their own profiles, and good golly, you’re in damn trouble. It’s essential for you to consider how to dominate that first second in the online space because, for better or worse, that’s how the perception of cultural opinion moves these days.

Messaging

Your messaging is important whenever you need to announce or speak as a business. For example, it could be that your product announcement is unclear, and people have to question exactly what it is you’re teasing. There’s being mysterious to drum up interest, and willingly diffusive and causing frustration accidentally.

Have your announcements looked over by trained marketing writers, or PR individuals. Again, stay consistent. This way your optics are reliable, and when you do break the mold? Things will be much more interesting as a whole. This way, you needn’t ever worry about how to be perceived, because you will be directing and choreographing the whole affair.

3 Clever Tactics That Will Help Protect Your Business From Ruin

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. There’s always the potential for the unexpected when it comes to your business, and likewise its important to have precautionary measures in place. The following contributed post is entitled, 3 Clever Tactics That Will Help Protect Your Business From Ruin.

* * *

Disaster in business is all too common. In fact, fewer than 50% of new companies make it to the five year period and beyond! Happily, there are some tactics you can use to maximize the chances of the business you are running, making it. Read on to find out what they are.

Go green

One way that you can help protect your business from disaster is to take a more environmentally friendly approach. In fact, going green can help your company succeed in two ways.

The first being that as one of the prime goals of environmentalism is to reduce the number of fossil fuels that are used, it can save you a great deal of money. After all, the energy you use to power your business is probably one the most significant expense you have to deal with. That means if you implement methods of preserving this, such as shutting down machines and lights when they aren’t being used, you can save a pretty penny.

Picture link

The second way that going green can help to protect your business is linked to the PR and marketing side of running a company. This is because to be found to be using un-environmental practices in 2019 is akin to PR suicide. In fact, you will find that many businesses are using the ways in which their company, product, and packing are green in their marketing as well. This being something that can help them to stand out above their competitors and also create a positive rapport with potential customers.

Get covered

The next tactic that you will want to use to protect your business from ruin is to ensure that you are covered by insurance for all possible situations that could arise.

Of course, they mean that you will need to familiarize yourself with the type of business insurances that are available. This is because a company with an office or shop will need things like third party insurance, which mean that if anyone is injured on their premises, they will be covered.

However, a business that is primarily logistic-based will also need to budget for things like semi truck insurance as well. In fact, as there is a higher risk for your business when you have vehicles that you are responsible for out on the road, this is one type of insurance that cannot afford to be missed if you want to keep your company from ruin.

Be proactive

Finally, if you want to save your business from disaster, it’s always a smart idea to run it in a proactive way. What this means is instead of allowing things to back up until they become a significant problem, you monitor each area of your business and deal with issues as they occur.

In fact, by taking a proactive approach for everything from recruitment to IT, you can minimize any productivity losses and downtime. Thus ensuring that your business keeps running profitably for as long as possible and is not under threat of ruin.

11 Ways To Make Your Business More Memorable

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Regardless of the type of business you’re running, it’s important to understand how to make your business unique so that it stands out from the others. The following contributed post is entitled, 11 Ways To Make Your Business More Memorable.

* * *

Making your business memorable is key if you want to stay in the forefront of the minds of your audience, and make them think of you every time they have a need that fits what you offer. There are probably many businesses out there offering something of a similar nature to you, so you need to make sure you differentiate your business by being memorable.

Below you’ll find 11 ways to make your business more memorable:

1. Know Exactly Who Your Audience Are And Market To Them
The first thing you need to do is clearly define your audience. You must know who they are and market to them if you’re not only going to be memorable, but successful. You won’t be a memorable business to every demographic, usually – unless you end up becoming the next Coca Cola or the next Ford. Chances of that are pretty slim (not that we’re trying to limit you or anything) so start by knowing your audience and finding ways to make them remember you. What will they respond to? What are they interested in? It’s time to learn as much about them as you possibly can.

2. Come Up With Cool Social Media Campaigns
Social media is a must for any and all businesses, so make sure you’re making the most of it with cool social media campaigns. You don’t even need to do anything super fancy. You could share user generated content from fans and followers, hold a contest, post behind the scenes videos, and more. Thinking outside the box a little and keeping people interested in your brand via your social media channels will really help you to succeed.

3. Aim For High Quality Branding Across All Channels
Your brand should be carefully designed by experts with your values, brand personality, and audience in mind. When you’re sure you’ve got your branding right, you need to make sure that it is the same across all channels. Whether you’re emailing, sending an invoice, or somebody is browsing your website, it should all be in sync.

Credit

4. Attend Events and Plan Them Carefully
Going to events can be a great way to meet more people and get your brand name out there. Don’t just attend these events, though; plan them in a way that forces people to remember you. Offer something different. You could give out goodie bags, have a game or competition, or have cupcakes. Whatever you do, give people a reason to associate positive thoughts and feelings with your brand. You should also pay attention to how your booth/stand looks, so visit chicagobannerprinting.com to see what can be created for you. Maybe you could create a branded backdrop to have pictures taken against, and even use it to encourage your audience to create user generated content.

5. Create Great Copy
You could offer a great product, but if your copy isn’t high quality, it’ll bring you down. People will get an impression of your business from the copy you produce. It shouldn’t have spelling errors or grammatical errors, and it should be interesting. Why should people read it? Create blog content to help people learn more about your business, industry, and what you offer. You could answer frequently asked questions in this way. You should also pay attention to the copy you use to introduce people to your business and even to describe your products. If this isn’t something you have time for, it could be a better idea to hire a copywriter with experience in your industry to do it for you.

6. Come Up With Brave Ideas For Advertising
Come up with a brave idea for your advertising campaign – like that time Vodafone planned a flash mob. Don’t stick to the norm, and do something a little crazy to get people talking. Just make sure it isn’t controversial or offensive if you want to keep your audience on side.

7. Always Deliver On The Promises You Make
You’re likely making promises to your customers, such as delivery times, the quality of your product, and so on. Whatever promises you find yourself making, make sure you go above and beyond to stick to them. People will quickly lose faith in you if you constantly fail to make good on your promises.

Author

8. Be Completely Transparent And Authentic
Being a transparent and authentic brand isn’t something all businesses deem to be important. This doesn’t mean you have to tell your audience about the affair your IT guy had two years ago, or what you all had for lunch today, but you should make sure you’re not misleading your audience. Many brands do this and it only ends up alienating their audience. Get them on side by being honest with them about what you can and can’t do, and what value your service provides.

9. Make Sure Your Customer Service Is On Point
Your customer service should be second to none. If somebody has an issue, go above and beyond to fix it. Reply to queries as quickly as you can. Really give people an amazing experience so that they have a reason to want to work with you again and recommend your product or services to friends.

10. Choose Your Colour Palette Carefully
Selecting the colour palette is something you’ll do when branding your business, but don’t make the mistake of picking colours you like without researching what they really mean. For example, blues and greens can give a tranquil feel and could be great for an eco-friendly business. Many businesses that use red are often bargain businesses, as red is supposed to make people feel a sense of urgency when buying. Consider things like this when you select your colour palette.

11. Send Thank You Notes
A handwritten thank you note can go a long way to making your business memorable and getting recommendations. It only takes a minute or so to jot a quick thank you along with the customer’s name.

How will you make your business more memorable?

Marketing Tips You’d Be A Fool to Ignore

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Arguably the most important part of your business is its Marketing. Properly executing your marketing strategy can cause your business to soar. The following contributed post is entitled, Marketing Tips You’d Be A Fool to Ignore.

* * *

When it comes to your business, you need to be able to move it forward and one of the best ways that you can do that is getting your marketing strategy on point. You need to advertise, you need to attract new customers and clients, and you need to keep building upon the success. So how do you make that happen? Here are some of the marketing tips that you would be a fool to ignore.

Image source

Keeping in contact with customers

Being in contact with your customers and clients will often be one of the most important aspects of marketing. But with so many ways to do it, often the best advice is to stick with convenience. Most people have their mobile phones on them, and so using an SMS delivery option could be the answer. You can then manage your sms marketing online simply and effectively to ensure that you are always delivering the right message and information. This can also work with email marketing and direct mailers, but SMS can be a simple and effective way to get a message seen without the chance of it being ignored.

Focusing on the local area

The next thing you may want to think about would be your local area. There is so much focus around people wanting to use small businesses and shop locally that this can and still could work in your favour. You can start by sponsoring local events. This could be a great advertising opportunity for you but it could also give you the chance to share and sell your products and services. You might also want to consider things such as working with local charities as this can also give you decent exposure. Last of all, advertise in local community magazines, or use social media to get messages across on local community pages or groups.

Having a social media strategy in place

There is no denying that social media is still going to be one of the best choices to make when it comes to how you advertise your business. You need to be able to be in a position where your business is constantly sharing content, and not just in a sales focused way. You also need to consider that you need to have an engaged audience, so making time to think about more topical posts that could interest them will help you stay relevant. This is when a strategy in place for the content can really help you out.

Digital billboards and physical advertising

Finally, digital billboards and physical advertising is also something to think about as this is something that is making a huge comeback. You want to be able to ensure that you get your message seen, but at the same time, you need to be able to pick the right messages and where to advertise in order to be successful. This could be a great move to make for your business.

Let’s hope that these marketing tips have you advertising your business in a more successful way.

Factoring Receivables Gives Small Players The Chance to Compete

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. A major component of any business is properly managing its receivables. Having the systems in place to take orders can be the difference between your business succeeding or failing. The following contributed post is entitled, Factoring Receivables Gives Small Players The Chance to Compete.

* * *

https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-holding-black-and-grey-pen-163032/

Have you ever had to turn down an order because you don’t have the resources to fulfil it? You are not alone. It is a tough old world out there for small businesses. You always feel like you have a mountain to climb because you don’t have the luxury of an unlimited budget as the large companies in your industry do.

This can make it feel impossible to compete. You feel as if you are constantly remaining stagnate and never expanding. Does this sound familiar? Well, it doesn’t have to apply to you anymore. Factoring receivables gives all businesses the platform to succeed and compete against the big players in their industry.

Whenever a customer orders a product or a service from your company you can use a factoring receivables service to get the cash straight away. This ensures you don’t have to wait around for weeks and weeks for the customer to pay their order. The service provider will take a small percentage for releasing the funds to you, and you will benefit from instant cash as soon as a purchase is made. This ensures that you never have to turn down an order again!

There is nothing worse than having to put your business on hold because a client hasn’t paid what they owe you. A lot of the time this client is stalling because they are waiting for someone to pay them too. It is a never-ending cycle. Yet you get the opportunity to break out of this by using factoring receivables because you get your cash straight away no matter what.

Don’t underestimate how much of a massive platform this can be for your company. Establishing yourself and growing as a small business is extremely difficult. You make one order and then you often have to wait to receive the cash before you can start on the next. You don’t have the capital free to have the luxury of funding the manufacturing of a product with supplies from companies like C and C EDM, Inc. or the delivery of a service through using your business’s float. With factoring receivables, you eliminate this problem as you will always have the capital there. This allows you to take big orders. And as you know; once the large orders start following you really begin to gain momentum and establish yourself as a force to be reckoned with.

And don’t make the mistake many others do and try to carry the workload by yourself! There are far too many business owners out there who are attempting to do an 80 hour work week so that they can complete orders – as they evidently cannot afford to pay their employees if they are waiting on funds. You don’t need us to tell you about how damaging this is to your health!

Now is the time to eliminate the panic. Stop worrying about when and if orders will be paid. Stop trying to take on the job of seven other people. And start becoming a big player in your industry!

How Can You Get The Target Market To Notice You?

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. A aspect of any business is getting recognized by your target market. Doing so will ensure that you’ll be in business for a while. The following contributed post is entitled, How Can You Get The Target Market To Notice You?

* * *

If your business is struggling to make a name for itself in the marketplace then you need to start trying to stand out. Still, it’s hard to do things differently to your competitors when you’re all selling similar products and services. How can you get the target market to notice you? Here are a few suggestions.

Picture Source

Research your intended audience.
You should definitely research your intended audience if you want to get the target market to notice you. There’s no point in guessing what your potential customers might want from you. Find out directly from them. That’s how you’ll get ahead of your competitors. Get feedback from your existing customers and potential customers in the industry. Find out what changes they want to see in your particular marketplace and your company in particular. In turn, you’ll be able to develop solutions which set you apart from your rivals and increase your likelihood of winning over customers. You need to differentiate yourself.

Start networking.
If you want to get the target market to notice you then you also need to start networking. This is a crucial aspect of getting the word out about your business. If you can make direct connections with big names in the industry and simply talk to potential customers on a one-to-one basis then you might start to get the recognition you deserve in your marketplace. The key is to make yourself stand out from the competition. Perhaps you could host your own event and invite the press so that your business gains some good publicity in the industry.

You should also attend networking conferences with other businesses. Just ensure that your brand makes a powerful impact on potential customers. After all, people will be presented with plenty of different companies that all promise enticing goods and services. You should check out the exhibit booths found here for a high-quality trading stall. It’s important that your booth is well-designed and captivating. If you present yourself in a professional and exciting way then your target audience will assume that your business is professional and exciting too. Networking is all about enticing potential customers by presenting your brand in an engaging way.

Improve your profit margins and investments.
It’s so important to make investments if you want to improve your business and get the target market to notice you. Of course, that’s easier said than done. Which investments are the right investments? And how can you afford those investments if your company is still growing? Well, you need to start by improving your profit margins. Take a look at your business’ expenditures because you’re probably wasting money in more ways than you fully appreciate. Perhaps you could save money by insulating your office’s windows and walls to trap heat and reduce your energy bills. Perhaps you could stop using paper and go fully digital. There are plenty of ways to reduce costs without cutting back on your operations.

Once you’ve started to mitigate business costs, you should have larger profit margins on a regular basis. That means you’ll have more money to invest back in your business. Still, which investments are going to get the target market to notice you? Well, you should aim to increase your operations. Instead of hiring new full-time employees, however, you might want to consider outsourcing. It’s a cheaper investment, but you’ll still be getting assistance from professionals. It’s important to spend your money wisely without cutting corners. The more you invest in your company’s growth and improvement, the more the target market will notice you. Make sure you invest in quality control, for instance. You don’t want unhappy customers to ruin your reputation and deter potential customers in the target market from giving your business a go.

Picture Source

Treat your current customers well.
If you want to get the target market to notice you then you have to treat your current customers well. It’s important to chase new leads, of course, but you can’t forget about your existing client base. If you’re going to get new potential clients to notice you then you need to build a reputation for yourself, and you can only achieve that if you have a loyal following that’s leaving rave reviews for your business online. Make sure you talk to your customers on a regular basis. Get to know them. Show that you care about them and want to deliver the best possible service to them.

So, how can you impress your current customers so they spread the word about your company? Well, you can surprise them with discounts and deals they didn’t expect. This is a good way to keep people interested in your business. You could email discounts or even freebies to customers as a way of thanking them for their custom. Perhaps you could even start a loyalty points scheme that gives people discounts or free gifts every time they redeem their points; that’ll give people a reason to keep buying your goods and services so they can rack up more points. Treat your current customers well if you want to boost your reputation and get the rest of the target market to notice you.

Own up to your mistakes.
Consumers like businesses with human values. We all know that humans are prone to making mistakes, so you’ll probably find that customers are understanding when your company makes a mistake. However, you have to own up to that mistake. When delivering bad news, your business has to show customers that it is genuinely sorry. This authenticity will remind your clients that your company is run by human beings. It’ll also remind them that you really care about your customers because you don’t want to just sweep your issues under the rug and pretend that nothing is wrong. Owning up to your mistakes means that you’ll control the narrative surrounding your company. It means that you’ll develop a good reputation rather than a bad one, and you won’t have to worry about the target market deciding to steer clear of you if you make some sort of blunder.

Looking To Run A Small Farm Business? Read this!

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. If run correctly an Agriculture business can be very lucrative. If you’re a novice to the business though, there are some important points to understand before getting in. The following contributed post is entitled, Looking To Run A Small Farm Business? Read this!

* * *

If you want to start a small scale farming business, you may be wondering where to begin. You may have the land ready, which is one of the essential things that you need to do, but you do not know what the next step is. Here, we look at what you need to think about when starting up.

Photo by Noah Buscher on Unsplash

1. Understand how farming works

There is minimal point in starting a small farm business if you have no idea how a farm works. It may sound straightforward enough, but in reality, it really isn’t. It involves long hours and lots of stress, and at times, there can appear to be very little reward for it all. However, in the long run, if you put the effort in and follow some important farming guidelines, you will see it all pay off.

The majority of your learning will happen on the job, and you will make plenty of mistakes along the way. Some things will work, and some will not, and you may feel like you are getting nowhere at times. Before jumping into owning a farm, see if you can get some experience by working or volunteering as a farmhand. If you are purchasing your own far, seek out a farm manager or a mentor with the expertise to guide you through the process.

2. Have a business plan

It does not seem to be the sort of thing that needs a business plan, but if your ultimate goal is to make a profit from it, you need a well thought out business plan. Consider the supply and demand for your products, the markets, the management structure, financial strategy, and how you will be pricing goods. You may also want to look at taking advantage of any grants or loans to get your farming business up and running, which you often cannot do without a plan.

3. Investigate grants and subsidies

As we mentioned above, in some cases there are grants and programs available to help you to purchase essential farming equipment such as mowers, tunnels, seeds, and various other things, or for an injection of cash to get you on your feet.
Other places may provide subsidies on equipment, especially if you are a startup or a young farmer. Don’t forget animal feed if you are looking at that area of farming – learn more here about the things you may need.

You may well want to start off by using whatever budget you have available and see how things go. Do bear in mind that farms often make a loss, to begin with, so make sure that you have enough savings, or a secondary form of income to keep you ticking over until you are consistently making a profit.

4. Set up business licenses and permits

It depends where you are based, but once you have decided on the business type, you are going to work as, whether a sole proprietorship or an LLC, you will need to register it and purchase any relevant business licenses. You may also need to look into insurance, and take out any insurances that may be appropriate, particularly if you are employing other people.