Making Your Company Visible: Where You Need Help

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. There are a number of factors that contribute to the success of your business. One of the most critical is your business’ visibility. The following guest post is entitled, Making Your Company Visible: Where You Need Help.

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Business visibility is essential for the success of any company. Having an online presence and making sure your business is visible to potential customers can make all the difference in whether or not those customers decide to use your services.

Not only does visibility increase the chances of potential customers finding you, but it also helps build trust and credibility. Consumers are more likely to purchase from a business with an excellent online reputation. Maintaining an active presence with positive reviews will make all the difference in whether they choose you or a competitor. According to Bright Local’s Local Consumer Review Survey, 87% of consumers read online reviews before purchasing. Furthermore, 72% said positive reviews make them trust a business more, while 53% said negative thoughts would stop them from using that company’s services altogether.

These statistics demonstrate how important it is for businesses today to ensure their visibility across multiple online and offline channels, attracting new customers and growing their customer base. For that, you might need professional services like these:

Content Management

Content is essential to any digital marketing strategy and is vital to improving your company’s visibility. Content helps to engage customers, drive traffic to your website, and position you as a thought leader in the industry. It also helps build credibility and trust with potential customers, encouraging them to purchase from you rather than your competitors.

Creating exciting and informative content can draw attention to your business and its products or services. This can be done through the following elements:

Blogging

Blogging remains a powerful way to share your thoughts, ideas, and stories. If done correctly, it can help you to engage customers and build an active community around your brand. High-quality blogs are also great for SEO, offering valuable keywords and phrases to drive organic traffic to your website.

Social Media Posts

Creating engaging content on social media helps to draw attention to your business. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube allow you to connect with wider audiences that may have never heard of your business. You can use these platforms to promote products or services, launch campaigns or interact with potential customers.

Video and Infographics

Visual content resonates with audiences far more than plain text. Utilizing video and infographics to explain complex topics can help your customers understand what you’re offering in a more straightforward, more digestible way. Additionally, they provide an excellent opportunity for engagement and further brand promotion.

Testimonials

If you want to show potential customers how excellent your services are, the best way is through customer testimonials. Testimonials can help you build credibility and trust with new customers and ensure they feel more comfortable when making a purchase.

Search Engine Optimization

Content alone will not bring customers to your website. It would be best if you optimized it for organic search engine ranking. SEO increases the visibility of your content in the search engine results pages, driving more traffic and increasing conversions.

The right SEO strategy can help you rank higher than your competitors, allowing you to gain a competitive edge over them. However, building a strong SEO presence and staying ahead of the competition can be challenging. Hiring an expert in this field is the best way to ensure success.

By hiring a professional, you can rest assured that your content will be properly optimized for search engine ranking. This will help you reach the right people at the right time and ensure they return for more. You can also contact an experienced SEO agency to help you keep track of your competition and ensure your content is constantly updated.

Customer Service

Having excellent customer service is essential for the success of any company. Customers need to feel taken care of and valued and be able to reach out to your business when they have a question or concern.

Providing customers with an efficient way to contact you will help build trust in your brand and ensure their needs are met quickly and efficiently. You can hire a customer service representative or an experienced call center to handle inquiries from potential customers. This will help ensure that all queries are responded to promptly and help strengthen relationships with existing customers.

Final Thoughts

Businesses can improve their visibility, increase traffic, and attract more customers by investing in professional services such as content management, SEO, and customer service. With the right strategies, businesses can stay ahead of the competition and ensure their customers are satisfied with their products or services.

Building Respect Between Your Company & Its Employees

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“There are a lot of reasons why you might want to have a lot of respect going on between your company and the people who work for it.”

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Three focuses of my blog are Business/Entrepreneurship, Organizational/Management Discussions and Workplace Discussions. When you own a business or are in management of some kind, your employees need to feel that you respect them in order for them to give you their best effort. The following contributed post is entitled, Building Respect Between Your Company & Its Employees.

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There are a lot of reasons why you might want to have a lot of respect going on between your company and the people who work for it. For one thing, that is generally going to lead to a much better working culture, as people feel more appreciated and generally find themselves happier to work hard and long. It also means that the relationships between people will improve, which can be enormously helpful as well. And it will mean that the company is in a better place to improve generally.

Pic Credit – CCO License

In this post, we are therefore going to take a look at some of the major ways in which you can hope to build more respect between your company and its employees. You should find that a lot of these ways are quite simple to enact, and yet powerful in their results, so that is something that you should certainly think about. Let’s take a look.

Nurture mutual trust

It’s important to build and nurture trust within teams to optimize productivity and enhance well-being and job satisfaction, but trust should be mutual. Employees should have trust in their employer, but crucially, employers must also be able to trust their team. There are multiple ways to establish strong relationships, including open communication, frequent conversations and understanding what is expected of you as either an employer or an employee. Employees should respect the terms of their employment contract and business owners and team leaders should have realistic expectations of their team.

There are additional steps employers can take such as using substance testing services provided by companies like Genesis Reference Laboratories but this is a personal choice. In some industries, regular testing is recommended, but this is not always the case. If you don’t operate within these sectors, for example, healthcare, aviation and transport, it’s best to focus on establishing solid, long-lasting relationships through transparency, consistency, being honest and open and showing employees that you respect, value and appreciate them.

Show Respect In The Workplace

One of the first things you should aim to do here is to try and show some respect in the workplace in general, to the staff working there as well as to one another. That’s a really fundamental way to ensure that everyone has a much better experience in the workplace, and it’s something that is actually relatively easy to build up. It all begins with you – as long as you personally, as the manager or leader of the business, are showing respect to people in a really basic, human way, that is going to then become the norm across the board.

So start today. If you think that you might have been letting this slide, it might be a good idea to think about improving it right now. The sooner you start, the better, as this is going to mean that you see the results a lot sooner. If nothing else, you are probably going to find that doing this makes it much more enjoyable to just spend time in the workplace, and that’s a great feeling in itself and certainly something to consider.

Pic Credit – CCO License

Hold Your Company To Its Values

Most people will find it a lot easier to enjoy working for a company that has good values, and which sticks to those values as much as possible. So if you are thinking of trying to do that, you need to make sure that you, first, decide on some values which your company can stick to, and then second, actually make sure that you do so. What those values are can vary a lot, but these days it’s going to be wise if they are good for the planet and for society in general.

Once your company is sticking to its values in this way, you’ll find that you are much more likely to have a lot of respect for employees, and the same will be in return too. That’s a really important thing that it is well worth trying to achieve from the start. It’s especially powerful if you are personally happy with those values as well.

Work On Employee Satisfaction

In a general way, anything you can do to improve employee satisfaction is always going to be really helpful towards improving what your employees think about the company and about working for the company. That is the kind of thing that is always going to be vital to consider, so it’s important that you are paying attention to that and that you are working on employee satisfaction specifically in all the ways you can. As it happens, there are a lot of ways that you might be able to do that.

For instance, you can make sure that you are providing a workplace that people are able to enjoy working in, and that the pay and benefits are as strong as can be. Those are the kinds of essential things which you will want to make sure you are providing from the first, and as best as you can. It’s likely going to mean that your employees are naturally and organically much happier to work for you, which is the main basis of a good relationship between the company and the people who work for it.

Pic Credit – CCO License

Don’t Underestimate Good Branding

Branding is not only the kind of thing you need to think about when you are marketing your business. It’s also something that affects how your employees feel about working for you. After all, the better the public image of the business is, the better people are going to feel about working for that business. So you should definitely make sure that you are working on the branding regularly, keeping the public image as positive and bold as you can, so that your people really enjoy and feel proud about the work.

There are a lot of ways to do that, but it all comes down to having a decent outreach process. If you are doing that right, you should find that you ultimately get to a place where your business is widely respected, and these days it’s easier than ever to achieve this. It’s amazing how much it helps, so it’s certainly something you will want to pay attention to.

Train Your Employees

Good training is important for a number of reasons, but one of the main ones in this regard is that it ensures that your employees are going to be a lot more confident in their work, and generally feel more capable. But it also means that you are showing them you trust them and you think that they are capable of more. That is something which feeds into the positive relationship really well, and which you are therefore going to want to think about a lot.

Pic Credit – CCO License

You can offer all kinds of training which employees will appreciate having. That might be team training, leadership training for those that you think would do well with the role, or something like a first aid certification, or even fire marshall training. Giving people more responsibility in this way tends to improve the relationship quite a lot, so it’s well worth thinking about doing this for sure.

Be Fair

In all of your dealings with your employees, make sure that you are being as fair as possible. That is important for a number of reasons. For one thing, it means that they are going to feel that you are actually acting how you should as an employer, and that casts a good light on the company more generally. It also means that they will know they can trust you, and having good trust is central to any relationship. That is something that you should definitely think about here.

How can you make sure you are being fair? For one thing, take care that pay is done fairly and that everyone is given equal opportunities to achieve and to grow in their position. That is the kind of thing that people really appreciate and which you should be careful not to overlook. As long as you are fair to people, the relationship will improve significantly, so that’s something that you should make sure to think about.

Those are just some of the main ways that you can build respect between your company and your employees. As long as you have done that, it will mean great things for them as well as for you – and the company itself is much more likely to see a lot of success in its future, which is obviously good news too.

5 Steps To Prepare Your Company For A Pop-Up Event

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Pop-up events can very valuable tools depending on the type of sector you’re in. The following contributed post is entitled, 5 Steps To Prepare Your Company For A Pop-Up Event.

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Pop-up events are fast and simple ways to introduce your brand or company to a potential customer base. They’re also a fantastic way to test the success of your product among an exclusive target audience. It is an opportunity for brands to introduce their products in a way that’s different from other marketing strategies. They are usually inexpensive and accessible ways for businesses to meet potential customers and grow their customer base without making significant investments. Let’s take a look at how you can get started with setting up your pop-up event.

Identify your goals

Before you select the best event to host, you’ll first have to identify your goals. What do you hope to achieve from hosting a pop-up event? The answer to this question will help direct your business strategy moving forward. A pop-up event is a great place to start if you’re looking to promote your product. Pop-up events are inexpensive and easy to set up, which means they’re also a great way to test the success of your product. Hosting an event is a great way to get your product in front of many people quickly and efficiently.

Practise talking to customers and relaying required information

Although you want to host an event that’s unique and special, you still want to ensure it’s approachable for everyone who may attend. One way to ensure your event is approachable is by practising talking to customers who are interested in your event. This can be done in person or through online mediums like polls. Before setting up the event, make sure you have a general idea of what customers want to see at your event.

Choose the right staff to staff your location

If you plan on hosting your event in a physical location, make sure you have the right staff to staff the location. If you’re hosting the event at a bar or restaurant, you may have the opportunity to have someone from the establishment assist you. You need someone confident and knowledgeable about the company and the products or services you promote to have maximum impact.

Don’t forget branding

Even though you’re hosting an event to promote your product or company, you’ll also want to make sure there is plenty of branding at the event. This will help set your event apart from other similar stalls being hosted simultaneously. A simple banner that states you will be hosting an event at the location will help draw more visitors to your event. If you plan to set up a booth at the event, ensure you have plenty of branding. You’ll likely want to wear branded clothing and make sure you have branded accessories like bags, pens, and other swag. You’ll also want to ensure you have branding on hand, such as business logo stickers that can be placed at your booth.

Promote your attendance at the event

Finally, make sure you promote your attendance at the event. You’ll want to publicize the event through social media, email lists, and other methods of communication. Ensure that each post highlights the benefits of attending the event and any special giveaways that may be offered. You’ll also want to ensure you send out emails to your subscribers letting them know about the event. You’ll want to send this out at least a couple of weeks in advance, so people have enough time to mark their calendars and plan on attending.

Hosting a pop-up event effectively introduces your company or product to a wide range of people. It’s a low-cost marketing strategy that allows you to test your product in real-world settings before investing in more robust marketing campaigns.

A Quick Guide To Better Managing Your Agricultural Company Resources

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. The agricultural sector can be quite competitive. As with any business, managing your company’s resources is key. The following contributed post is entitled, A Quick Guide To Better Managing Your Agricultural Company Resources.

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As an agricultural company owner, you understand managing your resources effectively. You need to ensure that your crops and livestock are well taken care of, but you also need to make sure that your resources are being used in the most efficient way possible. In this quick guide, we will provide some tips on better managing your agricultural company resources.

Photo by Tim Mossholder:

1) Start with planning

The first step to better managing your resources is to make a plan. You need to sit down and map out what you need to do to achieve your goals. This includes figuring out what resources you have available and how you can best utilize them. Once you have a plan, it will be easier to stay on track and use your resources effectively.

Make sure to review your plans regularly and update them as needed – this will help you keep on top of changes in your business and ensure that your resource management strategies are always up-to-date. If you don’t have time to make a comprehensive plan, plenty of software programs and online tools can help – more on that later.

2) Automate and streamline your processes

The next step is to automate and streamline your processes as much as possible. This includes using online tools to manage your inventory, ordering supplies, and tracking shipments. There’s no excuse for not taking advantage of technology to help you run your business more efficiently in today’s day and age.

Automating your processes saves you time, but it will also help you avoid mistakes that can cost you money. For example, if you’re manually tracking inventory levels, it’s easy to lose track of what needs to be ordered, leading to stockouts (and lost sales). Automating this process with an online tool can help you avoid that mistake and keep your inventory levels under control.

3) Remember to maintain equipment and machinery

Another important tip for managing your resources is to remember to maintain your equipment and machinery. This includes regularly servicing your vehicles, replacing Agricultural Wheel Rims, keeping your tools in good condition, and ensuring that your buildings are well-maintained. Neglecting this can lead to costly repairs down the line – not to mention lost productivity while your equipment is out of service.

By taking care of your assets, you can avoid these problems and keep them running smoothly for years to come. Additionally, maintaining a good relationship with your suppliers will help you get better deals on replacements or repairs when necessary.

4) Keep an eye on your costs

Finally, it’s essential to keep an eye on your costs. This includes your operating expenses, raw materials costs, and employee wages. By monitoring your costs closely, you can ensure that you’re not overspending and that your profits are healthy.

There are many ways to track your costs, including accounting software or hiring a bookkeeper. Whichever method you choose, make sure to review your numbers regularly to identify any areas where you may be able to save money.

Following these tips can help you better manage your agricultural company resources. By taking the time to plan, automate, and streamline your processes, you can save yourself time and money in the long run. Additionally, don’t forget to maintain your equipment and machinery and keep an eye on your costs – doing so will help you avoid problems.

What Do Shareholders Do?

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. A key aspect to the money world is investing. If you’re investing in paper assets, you must have a fundamental understanding of what shareholders are when it comes to companies and stocks. The following contributed post is entitled, What Do Shareholders Do?

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As a start-up company, you might not be too worried about shareholders, but the longer you are in business, and as you expand, it might be something that you start to consider. But what is it that shareholders do?

In short:

Shareholders own at least one share in a company (but the shareholder can be a company, organization, or a single person). They share in the company’s success as it grows, and their shares can give them some rights within the company too.

They can often play a vital role in the company’s future and how their financials look.

There are two common types that you should know about when it comes to shareholders.

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

Preference shareholders

One of the biggest benefits for preference shareholders is that they get priority over equity shareholders. However, while they do better in the profit distribution, they don’t have voting rights.

This means that they don’t have an impact when it comes to executive decisions. Another bonus for preference shareholders is that they get a fixed dividend rate, regardless of the company’s current profitability.

Equity shareholders

An equity shareholder has a stake in the company’s equity. They do have voting rights, but they can also take legal action if there are matters that arise they believe to be detrimental to the company.

Each of these shareholder types will have shareholder agreements that will outline everything they can and cannot do.

Why are shareholders important to a company?

Shareholders don’t just earn profit from their stocks in the company; they can also help the company grow. Shareholders will have a vested interest in financing, operations, control, and governance.

Financing

It is becoming more common for start-up companies to offer shares to raise cash for their growth, marketing, and more. Shareholders will buy shares, and the company will use that money for what they need to do.

Governing

There will be transparency between shareholders and board members (of public companies) pertaining to operations and how the business is. There will be many meetings between shareholders and the c-suite or other managers to the governing of the company.

Operations

Shareholders with voting rights (and even without) will have large sway over operations. This is because shareholders are investors, and investors want to keep the company on track so that they see a return on their investment.

Control

When shareholders don’t agree with certain personnel, acquisitions, or shuffling of the staff, they can use their say over what happened—effectively deciding who and who doesn’t have control of the company – and at what percentage they control.

Shareholders are a vital part of the company as it grows, and they do have many rights. They can take legal action where applicable, sign off or stop the signing of directors, and attend general body meetings.

They can also access copies of the financial statement, see accounts and call meetings. Even with all of this responsibility, shareholders have very few liabilities.

If you don’t have a business but are interested in buying shares in one, here are some more interesting ways that you can invest your money: Investment Tips Anyone Can Profit From.

Company Spending That Will Benefit Your Employees

Two focuses of my blog are Workplace Discussions and Organizational/Management Discussions. No matter which organization you’re running, your employees are one of your most valuable resources. As such you want to consider them when thinking about any purchases or updates. The following contributed post is entitled, Company Spending That Will Benefit Your Employees.

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It’s that age-old question for employers:

How should I spend company money?

This may be something that you have been considering today.

Of course, much of what you earn will be put into company savings. This is sensible as you never know when you might need the money you have put away. And when it comes to spending money, you will probably focus on marketing to boost your company profile. Again, this is understandable.

But when you are thinking about what you can spend company money on, consider the people who keep your business going. We could be talking about your customers here, but there are other people who push your business forward. We are, of course, talking about your employees. When you invest in them you invest in your company’s future, as your spending can make a difference to the ways in which they view and work within your business.

So, with this in mind, let’s take a look at areas of spending that will benefit your employees.

#1: Personal development

For your employees, this is a biggie. When you focus on personal development, your employees will be better equipped to do their jobs, and they will be less likely to leave your company. They will be more likely to stay because they won’t need to migrate to another company to grow and develop as people.

So, consider your employees as a group and as individuals. What training courses will develop their skills? What conferences can you book them onto? Focus some of your spending in these areas to improve and shape the employees in your workforce. They will benefit and so too will your business when they are able to excel in their roles.

#2: The workplace environment

For the sake of employee morale, do what you can to improve their environment. They will feel happier at work if you do and as such, they will also be more productive. So, at the very least, you should allow your employees to shape their own workstations. They could bring in photos from home, for example, and any other thing that could personalize their workspace.

But when it comes to spending, there is much you could do. If you have the funds to do so, you could opt for a full renovation. You could create more space, add fresh bursts of color, and create better break areas. Alternatively, you could do a little bit at a time, especially if you don’t have the funds for a complete makeover. Improving the environment with commercial wall decor is certainly one thing you could do. You could also purchase more storage to reduce the amount of clutter in the workplace. These are just some ideas but look at pictures of office fitouts online and consider the changes that could make a difference in your workplace.

#3: Technology

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When you develop your company’s technology, you will improve the efficiency and productivity of your employees. So, consider the tech that will make your employee’s lives easier and invest accordingly.

An obvious place to start is computer equipment, of course. If your employees’ computers are slow and prone to other problems, you will aid their productivity if you give them something new. Then think about the software your employees could be using. Look for those programs that will simplify the complicated tasks they may be doing manually. Take a look at these digital workplace technologies too and consider the benefits to your employees. There is much you can invest in so consult with your employees on the tech that could make a difference to them.

#4: Employee rewards

We all like to be rewarded for things we have done well, so consider what this might mean for your employees. Sure, a word of thanks and a pat on the back might sometimes suffice, but how about something tangible? Knowing that they will be due a reward could spur your employees on to work harder, so bear in mind that what you spend will also benefit the greater needs of your business.

You could spend money on your entire team. You could reward them with a meal out or a weekend away somewhere. When money is spent to bring your employees together in such ways, you might also encourage team bonding. You could also spend money on your employees as individuals. It could be something as simple as a gift card to their favorite store. Or you could splash out on something specific if you know it will please the lucky employee. You will find some good ideas in this article on creative employee rewards so have a read if you need inspiration.

#5: Outsourcing

Outsourcing doesn’t always make sense, especially when your employees are equipped to take on certain responsibilities. However, if they are already overworked and struggling to cope with multiple demands, you will make their lives easier if you outsource some of the tasks you have been asking them to do.

For your employees, this will mean a smaller workload. This isn’t a bad thing, especially if they have more than enough to do to fill their working week. Without the burden of tasks they might struggle to complete on time, they will be able to focus on quality work in the jobs they are given to do. They will also be less prone to burnout and the health issues that come with that common problem.

#6: Employee perks

Every business leader should include employee perks as they can improve the retention rate and make their company more attractive to new hires. There are all kinds of perks you could include, such as paying for child care for the employees who need it and providing healthcare insurance for all of your employees.

For more ideas, check out these employee perks. There will be an expense but as some of these perks will prove highly beneficial to your employees, they shouldn’t be ignored.

Finally

When you invest in your employees they will invest in your business. By this we mean they will devote more time and effort in what they do for you. So, consider these examples of employee spending and factor them into your budget if they make sense for you.

7 Things You Should Think About When Starting A Construction Company

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. There are things to know when starting any company, but a construction company has its own unique set of considerations. The following contributed post is entitled, 7 Things You Should Think About When Starting A Construction Company.

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Are you handy with tools? Using your skills to run a construction business can be a decent source of income that allows you to sharpen your entrepreneurial skills. Although you may start small, you need proper planning and organization to improve your success chances. Like any other business, a construction company should follow basic guidelines and strategies to attract more clients. Here are a few things you should keep in mind if you want to start your construction company:

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Research your local market

The first question you should answer is whether a construction company is viable in your location. The construction industry is nowadays overcrowded, and you want to ensure that you won’t shrink due to competition from more established companies.

Start with thorough market research. Find out the number of construction companies within your locality. Accordingly, determine what is missing and the price points that will make you more competitive and appealing.

Consider safety and health requirements

The construction industry is one of the most regulated in terms of health and safety requirements. This is due to many injuries recorded in worksites. Therefore, you will want to ensure you meet all the required health and safety best practices. Invest in essential safety equipment and training for your employees if you plan to have some. Alternatively, you can work with independent contractors who already have safety equipment.

Estimate prices

Getting your funding in order is a vital step for any startup. And to do this right, you need to estimate prices and draw a budget. Therefore, make sure you understand overhead costs, direct labor costs, and material costs.

For starters, you may need the following estimations:

● Buildings: residential or non-residential premises to work as your warehouse. You can consider a Dumpster Container Rental for this aspect.
● Infrastructure: these are heavy engineering projects you can work on. You need to determine the kind of projects you will work on to know the types of equipment you need.
● You should also factor in other costs such as wages

Understand your tax and insurance obligations

Get an expert to take you through all the tax and insurance obligations. This will make your work more manageable and help you avoid unnecessary qualms with authorities.

Network with suppliers

You need a good network of suppliers and contractors for a successful construction company. These are the [people you will rely on when you have a project that you cannot complete by yourself. You also need a healthy relationship with industry bigwigs you can learn from.

Write a business plan

After everything is in order, you need a business plan to guide you through starting the company.

Register your business

The last step is to have a working permit by registering your company.

Conclusion

Starting a successful construction business is not a walk in the park. However, most people who have been there know how rewarding the job can get. You need a clear plan and commitment to find ways to make your company work. The greatest challenge is to lay a firm foundation and growth strategies.

Cheap Ways To Market Your Company Right Now

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. One the most important aspects of your business is its marketing. The following contributed post is entitled, Cheap Ways To Market Your Company Right Now.

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Marketing is something that is vital to your business. It allows people to see your brand, to see what you can offer, and know who you are. However, marketing can be expensive, and when you want to try and bring money in, you may be worried about how much you spend out.

The good news is that marketing your company doesn’t have to be that expensive; in fact, there are many ways that you can do marketing not only work for you but be as cheap as possible.

Make the most of SEO

SEO or search engine optimization is something that you will hear about as a business owner, it may seem like it is too good to be accurate, but we can promise you that it really does work. SEO allows you to look at the content you create for your company (across all platforms) and ensure that it is targeted to bring the most people in as possible and get your name out there to as many people as possible. Not only is it incredibly effective, but it is relatively low cost too and can really be a sound investment to make.

Sponsor a local sports team

Are you a fan of your local sports team? This could be football, baseball, or basketball. The choice is yours. The main thing is that you are sponsoring them by paying for a custom rugby kit or something else that you can put your logo on, for example; that you are showing that you support them and that you want them to achieve their goals. The bonus is that because your company name will be on their kit and on their signs around where they play, you will be getting constant promotion around your local area, which is excellent news for you.

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Master social media

You should never overlook social media if you want to get ahead with your business. It is easy to use, it is fast to get to grips with, and it is also incredibly, incredibly effective too. Especially if you are able to create posts and content that is shareable. That other people who may already be a part of your network, want to share on to their network. Best of all, if you use it in its most basic way, it can also be cheap to use too, even free, which means that you will be saving yourself a considerable amount of money, without worrying about it not giving you any return.

Use email

Email marketing is another form of marketing often overlooked and seen as a low-yield option. However, there is a reason that email marketing has been around for some time. It is not only simple to use, but it is also effective. Your message, whatever that is, goes directly into the inbox of your audience, crying out for them to read it, which means that you are increasing your chances of being seen and getting what you want to say out there.

Hopefully, we have inspired you to find cost-effective ways to market your company. To bring in those all-important clients and to ensure that you are a success, all whilst not having to invest too much money in the first place.

The Raw Truth: Making Big Bucks From Startups Takes Time

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Whether you’re the business owner or the investor, a lot of money can be made from start companies also known as “startups”. The truth however is that these ventures in all likelihood won’t started generating significant cashflow early on. The following contributed post is entitled, The Raw Truth: Making Big Bucks From Startups Takes Time.

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A few companies start generating profit immediately. But almost always, the most financially rewarding enterprises make practically nothing for the first five years of operation. There’s a long ramp between setting up the firm and actually getting a return for all that hard work.

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Take Square, for instance, a company heavily involved in payment systems. The firm, operated by Jack Dorsey of Twitter fame, was lambasted by investors in 2013 for failing to make any money. That year it lost nearly $100 million after taxes and depreciation, and many thought it would fail. Furthermore, the company had already been operational for four years, meaning that such losses were even more difficult to bear. Investors wanted to see a return, but they weren’t getting it.

Just a couple of years later, though, all the doom and gloom disappeared. The company turned things around. And now, it is part of practically every investor’s stock portfolio. You can’t afford to leave it out.

What happened? Essentially, Square spent the first five years of its existence looking for long-term profit opportunities. It didn’t try to satisfy investors by the quarter. Instead, it made decisions that were costly but would set it up for market dominance in the future. These bold decisions then attracted more investors who kept the enterprise afloat until it started making money.

It’s not the only example, either.

Amazon

Jeff Bezos founded Amazon in 1994. The company increased its sales to around $150 million by 1997 and over a billion in 1999. Unfortunately, it wasn’t making any money over this period. In 2000, the company borrowed billions from investors but had less than $350 million in cash on hand at one point.

It took the firm until 2003 to turn a profit, but it was a weak result. Many people believed that Amazon would never make any serious money.

Bezos, however, had a plan. He decided to invest all additional revenue into the firm to develop its technologies and systems. Eventually, it became the market leader, able to do things other eCommerce brands couldn’t. Ultimately, it came to dominate the market, even managing to beat out rivals like eBay.

Tesla Motors

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Something similar is happening with Tesla motors. The company began in 2003 and yet it didn’t manage to turn its first profit until 2013. After that, it continued to make losses, only making serious money towards the tail end of 2019. That’s a long time to wait!

According to fintech industry experts, something similar is happening in their sector. The InsurTech Accelerator, for instance, provides security for firms with a long ramp. The hope is that the sector will see success stories similar to those of Amazon and Tesla.

Making big bucks, therefore, takes a long time. When you reinvest profits in a firm, you’re essentially compounding your advantage (as you might with a stock portfolio). The longer you leave it to take money out of the company, the more it’ll eventually make (so long as you make smart business decisions).

How To Find The Perfect Company Vehicle

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. An important company cost to figure out is the company vehicle. Cost has to be factored in, in addition to practicality. The following contributed post is entitled, How To Find The Perfect Company Vehicle.

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Whether you just have a couple of company cars for the directors of your business, or you have an entire fleet of cars and vans that are used by a range of employees, there is a lot that you need to consider when it comes to buying, owning, and managing your company vehicles.

The decisions that are associated with the vehicles will start when it comes to working out which vehicle you would like, and whether you would prefer to buy or lease it.

Whether To Buy Or Lease The Vehicle

Vehicles are expensive to buy and there are a lot of associated costs in terms of running. You will need to decide whether the cost of owning a vehicle is really worth it, or if it may be a better option to look at a lease hire option.

When you buy a company vehicle, the advantages are that it becomes a financial asset. The problem with vehicles as an asset is that they very rapidly diminish in value. The amount that you pay for the vehicle new, will be so much lower after just a few months of ownership. If you were to sell the vehicle on after a year or two, you would not get a good return on your investment.

On the other hand, leasing will mean that you and your company will be able to use the vehicle as and when you need it, and after a set period of time, it will return to the company you took the lease out with.

With a lease vehicle, you would be required to maintain a certain standard to the vehicle, and there may be limitations on the milage that you can do. Any deviation on these points could mean that you have to pay out at the end of the agreement.

Buying New Or Used

If you did decide to go down the route of buying your vehicle, you have the choice of buying new or used. There are definite pros and cons to both options.

As previously discussed, a new car does not hold its value. However, you will get the benefit of the manufacturer’s warranty which may mean a reduction in repair costs should anything go wrong with the vehicle during the warranty period.

Used vehicles can often be much cheaper, with the biggest percentage decrease coming from the first year on the road, buying something that is only a year old will be much cheaper than buying the same model brand new off the dealer’s lot.

Of course, if anything goes wrong with your used car, you won’t have the manufacturer’s warranty to fall back upon and you will have to manage any costs incurred in maintenance yourself.

Selecting Your Vehicle

When choosing the vehicle, work out what you want from it before you decide on the make and model. If you are going to be driving long distances, then you will want an engine that is built to last. How many people will need to ride in it? If it will be used for carrying things, think about the size. If you’re buying a van, decide whether it is important to have a tail lift. You may not currently use pallets to load your vehicles, but if you are likely to do this in the future, having the ability to raise a pallet truck to the level of the van is going to be vital. Fuel efficiency and environmental impact should always be a factor in your decision making, but you may also want to throw in insurance costs, and availability and cost of spare parts. Some vehicles have very cheap generic parts available, while others can be a lot more proprietary.

If you are buying a used vehicle, have it thoroughly inspected and do your due diligence to check that it has never been written off following a major crash. Try and find out about any work that has ever been carried out on the vehicle and ask to see the service history. This will give you an indication of any potential problems that may emerge in the future so that you can factor repairs.

Getting Your Vehicle To Your Business

There are of course practicalities to contend with when buying your vehicle. Getting the car or van from the dealer’s lot can prove to be tough. The vehicle may be coming quite a distance, and it may be that you are unable to go and get it yourself. Or, it may not currently be road legal yet. Whatever the reason, you will no doubt want to look for reliable and cost-effective car delivery options.

Vehicle Insurance

Before you buy your vehicle, you will need to factor how much it will cost to insure it. You will need to get a comprehensive level of cover to ensure that you do not have to pay for any repairs in the instance of a crash where your driver was at fault.

The next thing to decide will be who can drive the vehicle. If it is for a certain person, for example like a company car that a member of your team working in the field will drive, then this is fairly straightforward. You may want to have a pool car, which can be used by anyone with permission, or you may be looking for a delivery vehicle which may be assigned to multiple drivers. Being clear about the way in which the vehicle is used will help to determine how much it will cost to insure it.

Conclusion

There are a great many decisions surrounding the purchase or lease of a company vehicle, and it is important that you weigh everything up to work out what is right for you. The way that the vehicle is used, and whether you wish to view it as a company asset will be vital. Make sure you do your due diligence into the specific vehicle you are buying to make sure that it is the most cost-effective option available.