How You Can Stand a Chance Against Your Big Brand Competitors

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article |Competitors|How You Can Stand a Chance Against Your Big Brand CompetitorsEntering the fray of the business world with your own name and plans can be a thrilling decision to make, especially when you feel like the service or product that you’re providing is something that you are genuinely proud of and excited to show people. The downside of this excitement is the inevitable anxiety that you may feel upon being faced with the reality of the market already being dominated by large, established brand names that you fear your potential customers will stick by no matter what you do to try and convince them otherwise.

While this is an understandable fear, it’s important to recognize the possible options you have as far as standing up to your competition. Having a quality service to offer is important, but it’s hard to draw in crowds of people just from that alone, unfortunately. You’ll need to make decisions to put yourself in the best possible position to be a cut above the rest. When you’re in the early days of your business, the decisions you make are important, and it’s good to know what you can do that will potentially save you a headache, and some money, further down the road.

Save Money in Key Areas

As well as using cost-effective platforms to market your services, for example, you might be looking for other ways that you can save money. After all, making such decisions can give your business every advantage it needs to survive in this competitive environment. Unfortunately, spending money is a reality of the trade and something that you’ll need to do a lot of the time if you hope to make any money back. The important thing, therefore, is learning where to cut costs. For example, you can compare your energy supplier to other options at businesscomparison.com and potentially find a cheaper alternative that can save you money on one of the business essentials, money that you can then spend elsewhere.

Find Your Target Audience

You are no doubt aware of how important marketing is to a business. That should come as no surprise to you. You’re likely already in the midst of making several marketing pushes that will hopefully take your business to more widespread knowledge. That being said, it can be difficult to know what form of marketing will be most effective for you. What can be important is finding your target audience and then working out (via research) what method is known to appeal most to that crowd, meaning you can then focus your efforts and save both time and money to hopefully yield more effective results.

One route that you might be interested in exploring if time and money are of concern to you is to take the well-traveled road of social media marketing, putting you on a cost-effective platform that gives you an easy connection to your potential customers. Social media marketing also has the distinct advantage of allowing your audience to open a dialogue with you, building up a sense of identity for your business and a relationship between the customer and company.

Steps to Save A Failing Business

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article |Save a Failing Business|Steps to Save A Failing BusinessNo one plans for their business to fail. But a harsh statistic is that in the first five years of trading, almost 50% of start-ups will fail for various reasons.

If your business is falling, you must take the steps to address what is going wrong and if there is anything you can do to rectify this.

Top Reasons Why Start-Ups Fail

  • 79 percent of businesses fail because they start with insufficient funds.
  • 78 percent fail due to a lack of a well-developed business strategy and inadequate market analysis.
  • 77 percent struggle because they don’t price items correctly or don’t account for all relevant factors when calculating prices.
  • 73 percent struggle because they are overconfident about the number of profits they will make, the amount of money they need, and what they need to do to succeed.
  • 70 percent of people struggle because they don’t understand or consider their flaws and don’t ask for support.

Steps you Can Take to Save Your Business.

      • Make sure the price you get for your product or service is higher than the cost of delivering an additional device (e.g., make one more widget or perform one more hour of service). If you have several items, repeat the process with each one. If you charge different prices to different consumers, you must research the consumer level. Increase the price, reduce the cost of delivering the incremental unit, or avoid selling the product or service when you find circumstances with a negative variable contribution. There may be unusual exceptions to this law, but in general, you must ensure that each sale generates enough revenue to cover your overhead.
      • You’ll almost certainly have to cut costs to remain in operation. To begin, cut out all discretionary spending. The business holiday party or the summer outing must be canceled. Then there’s the expense of things that don’t include people. Is it possible to lower your travel or utility costs? If the alternative is space because you are out of business, the landlord might be able to reduce rent, at least temporarily. Unfortunately, cutting costs may necessitate the difficult decision of laying off employees, reducing their hours, or lowering their pay. Austerity steps are never simple, but if the alternative is to close the firm, it is preferable to keep some employees working than to lose everybody when the company closes.
      • Address your debt levels. You cannot keep ignoring your debt levels both professionally and personally. Consult specialists such as Strategic Consulting Firm who can assist in moving forward to clear your debt levels.

    Being proactive when it comes to saving your business can help you identify ways you can drive to save the company instead of burying your head in the sand until it is too late. After all, you have poured your heart and soul into this venture; chances are you will thank yourself in the future for doing the hard work now to rescue anything you can and push for success in today’s harsh climate.

What Is The Best Way To Research A Potential Business Partner?

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article |Business Partner|What Is The Best Way To Research A Potential Business Partner?There are a lot of great benefits to business partnerships. You can find somebody else to take on some of the risks and having a fresh set of ideas can help you take things to the next level. Your business partner can also fill in gaps in your own skill set and help you manage the workload, so the business is more successful.

However, partnerships only work when you choose the right person and if you get into business with somebody that isn’t a good fit, it can be disastrous. That’s why you should always do your research before entering into any partnership, but a lot of people don’t know how to do that. These are the best ways to research a potential business partner to see if they are a good fit.

Check Their Social Media

Social media is always a good place to start when you are trying to get a measure of somebody. Their posts give a good insight into what their priorities in life are and what kind of person they are. You can also see what their network looks like and what business events they attend etc, so you can decide if you are on the same page. You need to find a like-minded business partner that you work well with, so general information that you find on social media can be very useful when making your decision.

Run A Background Check

You need to know if your new partner has any skeletons in their closet because, as soon as you enter into a partnership with them, their actions reflect directly on you and your business. So, call in a private investigator company and get them to look into the person for you. They can help you do your due diligence and find out all about their past in the business world, as well as their history, in general. Anything concerning will be raised now and you can decide whether it’s a deal-breaker or not. You don’t want any nasty surprises further down the road, so this is an important step.

During the background check, you should also conduct a credit check on them to see how financially responsible they are. If you are trusting them with your business interests, you need to know that they can handle their money well.

Have A Conversation With Them

Once you have done your due diligence and you think that you want to enter into a partnership with somebody, you need to sit down and have a conversation with them. Ask about how they will handle conflict in the business and how they like to work day-to-day. It’s important that you get a good sense of how compatible you are and how you will overcome problems in the partnership.

There’s no reason why you can’t have a few discussions and even present a few example scenarios to them to see how they would deal with them. You can’t afford to make mistakes here, so don’t rush into anything.

As long as you take your time and do your research, you can find the perfect business partner to work with.

10 Things to Watch Out for When Acquiring A Business

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article |Acquiring a business|10 Things to Watch Out for When Acquiring A BusinessInvestors must evaluate all elements of a business purchase. Acquisitions help investors and existing business owners purchase another company and merge the two businesses. However, there are factors they must watch out for when examining the new acquisition.

1. Do You Have a Clear Transition Plan?

The buyer must have a clear transition plan that indicates when the existing business owner passes the torch to the new owner. It is easier to transition a staff to a new owner when there is a transition phase. However, the plan must enforce the transition in ownership, too. Investors can learn more about the plan by reviewing business ownership transition services now.

2. Are the Financial Records Accurate?

It is recommended that a buyer hire a certified and licensed accountant to examine the company’s current financial records. During a business acquisition, the business owner must present accurate financial records to the buyer. If the accountant finds any inconsistencies, the buyer shouldn’t acquire the company.

3. Acquiring Products and Companies That Coincide With Your Brand

The investor must acquire companies that have products that coincide with their brand. For example, if the investor’s company manufacturers vegan products, the acquisition of a company that uses animal products in their products could not coincide with the brand or its mission.

4. Avoid Non-Compete Provisions

When acquiring a competing company, the buyer must be careful not to sign a strict non-compete contract with limited provisions. This could allow the competing company to prosper and decrease the profits of the company that is acquiring the business. Each product line must perform at the same rate.

5. The Realistic Costs of Operating the Business

The seller must present realistic costs of operating the business. If they present low-ball overhead costs, the buyer doesn’t have the correct information, and this could lead to excessive costs for the buyer for which they are not prepared when taking over the company.

6. Does the Company’s Culture Fit Your Ideals?

The business must operate in the same manner as the buyer’s own business. For example, if the buyer’s company is all-inclusive and diverse, it is not wise to acquire a business that isn’t. They do not want to acquire a company where the workers cannot work well with other workers who are different from them.

7. Background Checks for the Company and Its Key Workers

Background checks for the company, its owner, and key workers give the buyer information about potential criminal activities. If there are records that show key workers who present serious risks to the investor, the company may not be the right choice for the buyer.

8. The Market Conditions When You’re Buying

The current condition of the market defines the cost of businesses in all industries. It is best to consider the state of the market and if the price of the business will increase when marketing conditions improve. They shouldn’t buy if the price reflects a company that is not profitable and could present a financial loss for the buyer.

9. Does the Company Share Your Values?

All business owners have their own set of morals, values, and even political affiliation. If the owner’s morals and values do not line up with the investor’s own belief systems. It could create damage for the investor. They must be consistent in what they believe and what views they share.

10. Can You Make the Company More Profitable?

A company that is failing may present the buyer with a chance to turn the tables for the company, but the company must have products that could generate profits.

Investors want a sound investment when considering a business purchase. However, there are factors that could affect the acquisition and present shortcomings. A complete assessment of the opportunity helps the buyer make a sound choice.

Simple Online Money Making Ideas In 2021

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article |Make Money Online|Simple Online Money Making Ideas In 2021If you are still stuck largely at home during the pandemic; there are a lot of different ways you can spend your time. From organising your pantry to investing in your own professional development through courses – we all have had to find ways to use our time as productively as we can.

One thing you may not have considered though is how to make money from home using the online world. Working from home is commonplace these days and there are so many amazing methods to make some extra income from your own living room this year.

Today we want to take a look at some of the different ways you can make money online to help you gain some extra income for yourself and your family this year.

Start a blog

It seems that since 2012, every man and his dog has started a blog – and when you realise the opportunities it brings with it you can start to really see why. Blogging is not only a great way to share your thoughts and feelings and the things you love but it is also a simple way to make money. You can earn money through blogging by hosting advertisements on your website, buy posting affiliate links through programmes such as Amazon Partners, and working with brands. It can be a great way to make money doing something creative but you will also be able to go to exclusive events, get access to new products, and meet a lot of people.

Manage a YouTube Channel

YouTube is one of those careers that has taken off incredibly over the last decade and you can create a whole empire at home by sharing your skills and interests on this platform. There are a lot of elements that can go into a YouTube channel such as social media channels and a supporting website – and you can always contact an IT Support Company to help you with the set up and maintenance of these aspects. YouTube allows you to be super creative and you can talk about anything you want.

Create a podcast

Podcasts have become super popular in the last few years and they are on the rise. If you have a story to tell or a passion to share, a podcast is a great way to do this and you can reach a wide audience with your creation. Whether it be cooking tips, wellness, or true crime stories -there are endless ways to make money through a podcast and recording one every week will allow you to start making some passive income in a fun way.

Share your skills

One more way to make money online if you have a professional skill to share is to create online courses on Skillshare. You can create your own course on a subject you are expert in and teach other people about it. It will be a simple way to make some passive income and can really be a useful tool for you this year.