Making the most of your brick and mortar premises

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship ArticleIn the digital age, most business strategies are focused solely on the importance of a strong online presence. While there’s no disputing the fact that making use of social media is a proven way of reaching new people and encouraging sales through a variety of online strategies, it’s important that you don’t neglect your real-world business premises as well. Your premises are just as important as your Facebook page, and for those customers that prefer to buy in person, your physical store is even more critical. Making sure that your store reflects your business branding, your business ethics, and your commitment to your customers is a solid business strategy that you should not forget about.

Making sure of curb appeal

The frontage of your business premises is perhaps the most important thing to consider when establishing the persona of your business. So-called ‘curb appeal’ is a realtor term that applies to the outside of a home that’s up for sale. Just as homeowners hoping to sell a property need it to look appealing from first glance, so too does your business. That’s why you should make use of banners and flags on the exterior of the business property. These are not just eye-catching, they also act as advertisement too. This can have long-lasting positive effects on your business, with the branding that you choose on personalized banners outside your premises being seen on a regular basis by potential customers.

Customized interior

No matter what your business sector is, having the right lobby or reception to greet customers is essential. It doesn’t matter if it’s a retail outlet, a restaurant, or an office space, you want customers to be inspired by your interiors. There are a number of ways that you can personalize your initial interiors, and they needn’t mean costly refurbishments or total redecoration. Instead, invest in indoor banner displays from suppliers like New York Banner Stands, with your logo and slogans printed across them. These are very useful because not only can they be moved as and when needed (especially useful if you plan on using them for external events like trade shows), but they can also be moved around the property as necessary. If you have a reception system in place, it is also worth looking at backdrops as well, so that your branding is as prevalent as possible.

Be more easily seen

Billboard advertising is expensive, but there is a much better solution. If your premises takes up a number of floors, then you have the fantastic opportunity to attract passing trade by using window decals. These come in both solid and transparent designs, meaning that you don’t have to compromise on either customized designs or lighting. These are highly visible forms of advertising, and can help to make your real-world awareness much more impactful.

With so much attention paid to online advertising, promotion, and marketing, it can be very easy to forget that your real-world presence offers a variety of options for a better business model. Make the best use of your premises, and you have an untapped resource that may provide many more benefits than you expect.

Money, Money, Money: Why getting into trading could be the best thing you’ve ever done

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article
 
Everyone wants to work hard and try their absolute best to acquire the most wonderful life they can possibly have, getting to have the brilliant experiences life has to offer, such as seeing the world, living in a beautiful home, and dining out at swanky restaurants every weekend. This is a goal most people can agree they would love to have for themselves and you, surely, are no different. When you are determined to make something of yourself, you will know that being financially secure is the first step towards the life of your dreams, but the security of your money is not enough; you want to flourish. One way of doing this is to investigate getting into trading. Trading is a lucrative way of making money quickly and easily if you know what you are doing. In this guide, you will learn some vital information and steps to getting into the business of trading and making the money you need to achieve the lifestyle you have always wanted through financial freedom.
What is trading?

Before you start to think about getting into trading seriously, you will need to be one hundred percent clear on what it entails. Being a trader means you buy and sell instruments of finance, such as stocks, bonds, and shares for a monetary gain. It is something that is largely done by big corporations but, with some seed money, you can begin to trade as an individual and start making money for yourself. Read more

Smoothing Out Some Processes

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Think about how your business is run as a whole. We know that there are going to be some areas that just don’t flow. Some areas that might be holding you back somewhat. We’re sure that you want your business to be a perfectly well oiled machine, but the truth is, it just isn’t going to happen. Sometimes, your business is just going to stay a little rough around the edges. But, as long as you have the main internal processes smoothed out, then your business should be able to go from strength to strength. Plus, we think we know a few different areas that your business might be struggling with a little. And, what’s even better, we think we know a few ways that we can iron out the processes so they’re crease free. If your business needs a little bit of help, have a read of the pointers we’ve got below, and see if we can smooth out those processes for you!

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Smoother Sales

You should always be looking for some smoother sales when it comes to your business. There’s nothing worse than delay after delay happening to your company, but, it’s something that a lot of business owners actually have to deal with. So, if you want smoother sales, one thing you could try is a new point of sale for your small business. This is going to be perfect for those of you who have a shop floor where you make your sales. It works by giving you a system on a tablet that you can use in your store. It connects to card machines, and is easy to use. But, it doesn’t stop there. It will then allow you to analyse your finances for the day, and then allow you to see your profits and losses. It will also allow you to manage your inventory. So, as an all rounder, this really will smooth out your sales processes in store, as everything will be on one app.

Smoother Management

Management of your company is one of the biggest areas that you’ll have to manage, and you’re already going to be fully aware that it’s not as easy as you would think it would be! If you want to do this right, you’re going to have to find out where your flaws are at the minute. For a lot of companies, we believe that a lack of communication is to blame here. If you’re not communicating down the chain of command, you’re going to have a shambles at your feet. The more you talk about problems that people are having, the better you’re going to understand the company, and the better you’re going to be able to manage.

Smoother Marketing

Smoother marketing is essential if you want your company to grow. If you aren’t really putting much effort into a campaign at the minute, then this is what needs to change. You need to have a clear marketing plan, and the best way to do this is to get in touch with a marketing company who is going to run a good campaign for you. If you want your marketing campaign to work, you’re going to have to have a good company to carry you!

Make The Best Use Of Your Time – Outsource!

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Finances are tight at the launch of most new businesses, especially if you factor in the costs associated with employing staff and renting premises. There are ways of cutting costs and one way is to outsource a lot of the essential tasks to freelancers. Outsourcing will lower the number of staff you will need to employ on a permanent basis. Freelancers only get paid for the work they complete and won’t require holiday and sick pay. You can tap into the expertise of freelancers on a global scale. Excellent time management is then required for the remaining tasks.

StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article
 
Time management is a skill in itself! If you don’t want to spend the whole day running around like a “headless chicken” achieving nothing, time management is a skill you need to develop fairly quickly! It is essential to prioritise your workload and ordering your “to do” list should become part of your daily routine.

Did you know that it is possible to hire the expertise of an online receptionist? This will remove a lot of the call answering tasks which can cause interruptions to your day. It is also possible to choose a new phone number with differing area codes relating to different parts of the country or a different country altogether! Take a look to see how much it costs to manage an australia 1800 number.

At the beginning of everyday, write a list of the tasks which need completing. Your next step is to then prioritise this list according to level of importance. If you can delegate any tasks or purchase software to make life easier – do it!

Here are some tips to make time management easier.

Deal with Urgent Tasks First

Sometimes tasks need to be urgently dealt with first. Staffing issues, customer requests and complaints and delivery issues will all need to take priority. Ensure IT systems are working effectively, especially cyber security software as you don’t want to be vulnerable to a data breach.

Project Deadlines

Your next tasks to take priority will be those related to deadlines. It is essential to meet certain deadlines in order to maintain customer and supplier satisfaction. Your deadlines may relate to accounting issues and if you don’t meet them you may incur hefty fines.

Phone Calls and Emails

If you answer the phone or open an email every time it rings or pings into your inbox you won’t get a great deal of work completed. Switch on the answer phone and turn off email notifications. Of course they do need to be dealt with eventually, but to make the best use of your time it would be a good idea to allocate a window in your schedule simply for responding to answerphone messages and emails.

Speaking by telephone is an essential form of communication. Many customers will prefer to speak to a real person as it gives the personal touch. To lower the amount of calls received ensure there is plenty of information on your website, which covers some of the more common queries. Perhaps consider having a “frequently asked questions” tab on your website.

To reduce the number of queries you receive by telephone ensure that you have sufficient information on your website and other promotional media to answer most common questions.

Outsource

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Even the best time managers in the world would struggle to complete all the necessary tasks needed to run a successful business alone. Being frugal may be a priority but you should put aside some funds which will enable you to outsource certain tasks. You will need to avoid trying to do everything yourself as you will quickly burn out. Any investment you make is likely to be returned tenfold, especially as it will allow you more time to concentrate on generating sales, without sales your business won’t be viable!

Research has shown that 80% of a business owners time should be spent on generating leads and making sales.The internet has opened up the opportunity to connect with freelancers on a global scale.

There are some tasks which naturally lend themselves to being outsourced.

Accounting Tasks

Keeping an accurate set of accounts is essential, it is also tedious and time consuming! Some people love the accounting side of running a business but if keeping your books straight is not your “thing” it would be worth outsourcing this task to an experienced bookkeeper on a freelance basis. An accountant would also be useful at tax return deadlines.

Social Media Management

Social media is a relatively new phenomenon, but it has very quickly escalated into becoming a major marketing tool. Social media platforms literally allow you to promote your business to thousands if not millions of potential customers. The downside to social media marketing is that it is very time consuming. To stay engaged on platforms you need to interact and post regularly. You also need to be available to respond to queries 24/7. It would make sense to employ a social media manager, who could concentrate on building up your followers as well as a rapport with future and existing customers.

Virtual PA

It is now possible to employ a virtual PA, who can undertake all the tasks normally associated with a secretary in the traditional sense. A good PA will ensure records are up to date, complete paperwork, write up minutes and store data safely. All these tasks take time and if you have delegated them elsewhere you will free up lots of time.

For outsourcing to be successful you need to adopt excellent forms of communication. You will not see the freelancer in person so any instructions need to be clearly communicated in the written word as well as spoken. This will ensure that information isn’t misinterpreted and everyone will be working to the same goal.

When choosing a freelancer to outsource tasks to, be wary. Ensure that you can view examples of previous work and follow up references. There are so many people to choose from it’s important to realise that the cheapest isn’t likely to be the best, it’s also fair to say that the most expensive isn’t always the best either! Go for middle ground.

Is It Time To Start Purchasing Your Own Business Assets In Abundance?

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article
 
Most businesses rely on the use of outsourcing, hiring other businesses, and using connections for niche supplies. This is quite obviously worthwhile. Not every business can be Google, a corporation with seemingly endless reach and a finger in every pie. However, as your business begins to really gain in profitability, and you decide to invest that back into your operation each year, it’s not hard to see how purchasing your own business assets might become a great long-term cost-saving scenario.

Is it time that you did this? There are many reasons for doing so, and if you have the funding to play with, you could potentially benefit in the following ways:

Transport & Delivery

Could it be that it’s time to branch out into your own logistics solutions? Purchasing your own vans and hiring your own drivers could help you not only ship your goods in a more competent timeframe but save you money in the long term, as the cost of upkeep often beats the cost of renting a service. This is only worthwhile if you ship many, many products nationally. However, if you do, your vans may serve as free marketing as they drive on public highways to get to the destination, and can often pass tens of thousands of cars in the process, effectively serving as a mobile billboard.

Construction

It might be that you own large plots of land, and purchasing your own equipment to help you retrofit this area for your own purposes can help you save plenty of money in the long terms. Simply looking online in the direction of cranes for sale, generators and hired construction services to come to a B2B relationship with could slash the cost of your construction, allowing you to extend offices, generate new lots or custom fit current property to your requirements.

Merchandising

Merchandising is, of course, one of the best methods of natural marketing. Having many pens made, or perhaps a set of mugs for distribution throughout your office can help your name and contact information travel. Merchandising can also become a larger investment opportunity. It might be that you print clothing designs, or decide to have more significant, long-term items made featuring your company names, such as mousemats or even skins for phones. These assets not only help you outfit your office with a personal touch, but often travel wide and far, and can be used as free and mass produced marketing. You’d be surprised how far these merchandising efforts can travel, sometimes around the world.

Property

Purchasing property can serve as a long form use of tying up cash in tangible assets. You may decide to profit from these properties, or generally utilize them to help your business expansion. Property is perhaps one of the most reliable assets you can purchase owner. It’s certainly good to keep in your business inventory.

With these simple investments, purchasing your own business assets in abundance is sure to reward you in the long term.