How to Boost Your Profits

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances ArticleAmerica is built on the spirit of entrepreneurship. There are over 28 million small businesses nationwide, and a further 22 million that are solely operated. That’s a large number of businesses that contribute to the country’s economy. However, the number of businesses that fail within the first four years is a significant 50%, and out of the survivors, only a third will reach a decade.

Running your own business is a challenge no matter what industry you are in or the products and services that you provide, and there is no singular reason for these failure rates.

Common Reasons for Business Failure

Failing to plan

For your business to be a success, you need to make both short and long-term plans. You need to identify your goals and define objectives that will help you reach them, from the next few months through to the following years. Your goals will shape every business decision you make and give you direction. They need to be quantifiable so that you can assess how successful the actions that you take are. This is important; how will you know what is working and what isn’t if you have nothing to measure?

Ignoring customer needs

The customer is always right. That’s a correct statement, surely. Not always, but it has you relate to your customers that will affect the success of your business. In the digital age that we live in, there has never been a better time to truly understand your customers’ and clients’ needs and wants. Always keep an eye on what your customers want and tell you about your business; their perception of your business may be very different from what you intend. They are fickle, and your business needs to be able to respond to emerging trends, feedback and correspondence. It requires flexibility and patience, but if you not only listen but hear to what your customers say, you will reap the rewards.

Lack of profit

Lack of profit is very different to lack of revenue. Your business turnover may be high, but that does not mean that it is a profitable business. For your business to grow, the profit needs to flow. There are several reasons for a lack of profit: poor management decisions, cash flow problems and premature scaling; all can be related back to a failure for adequate planning. Only 40% of small businesses are profitable – the others either break even or lose money. If your business is not making a profit, you need to assess every aspect of your business so that you can identify why you are not.

How to Boost Your Business Profits

The quandary you have is how to generate more sales while reducing your expenditure. While your current efforts have been successful to some extent, you must maximize the opportunity to turn a profit.

Modify your strategy

You need to implement a new strategy to do this. Research online about how other successful businesses in your niche have succeeded. The chances are high that they have switched to a more relationship-based model that uses technology to improve their customer experience and loyalty. Here is an example of how this change in strategy has been used to grow a law form, check it out.

Increase the product selection

To increase sales, identify which products you can cross-sell to existing clients and customers. You already know that they are interested in your niche, but are there other relating products that your customers will buy from elsewhere? An example of this is for a yoga clothing company to sell yoga mats. The key to making this cross-selling strategy work is to comprehensively understand who your current and target customers are. Know what they want and what they need. You can incentivize your customers to buy more from you by offering bundles and discounts.

Review operational procedures

There will always be aspects of your operational functions that can be improved upon. The Japanese word ‘kaizen’ translates as improvement, and is the name given to a strategy that works on the principle that all employees work together to improve process incrementally. Kaizen is a valuable mindset to adopt and can dramatically reduce waste and improve a business’s profitability. It is imperative that you get all staff members on board and seek their feedback on how to improve your business’s function.

For example, a sub-total column on an invoice can help speed up the efficiency of your accounts department; introducing cloud-based technology so that your teams can collaborate easier, or even something as simple as moving the printer’s location to be nearer to the receptionist can help to make working more efficient. Kaizen is not a one-off experience, consistently aim to improve efficiency. Ask your employees for their recommendations and act upon the information that they give you.

Regularly review expenditure

You may just have been focusing on the income and profit columns of your account reports; however, you need to pay equal attention to your costs. Businesses evolve over time, and so you need to make sure that your regular outgoings are still relevant to your business today, and not based on historical data.

Review your running costs and identify areas that you could save money. Rolling contracts are a great way of controlling cash flow as you know how much money is leaving your account and when, but they can also make you complacent to other deals that are currently up for grabs and can save you money.

Are there routine tasks that you can outsource? Or, would it be more cost-effective to hire someone on a part-time or freelance basis to complete jobs that you currently pay for a full-time member of staff or do yourself? Outsourcing can be a great solution to boosting efficiency and profits; you only pay for the project that you need completing.

You should also review your suppliers. There may be better market deals that you can access that may not have been available when you started out. It can be risky, as there is potential to damage the relationship you have with your current supplier, but it is worth opening the conversation up, just tread carefully.

While it can seem daunting to undertake such a thorough review of your business, it is critical for your business to be a success. You need to adjust your business to the changing times and embrace technology to help your customer’s user experience and increase the efficiency of your organization.

5 Ways to Improve Your Dental Clinic

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Dental Clinic|5 Ways to Improve Your Dental ClinicThere’s a lot of potential when it comes to running a dental clinic. After all, people will always want to look after their teeth, and that means that the dental industry is one of the most future-proof and robust industries out there. However, it’s not as if success will automatically come your way. There will be competition, and that means that you have to ensure that you’re delivering the best level of service that you can. If you’re looking for some ways to improve your dental practice, then take a look at some of the useful tips that we’ve outlined below.

Serve the Community

All dentists are offering the same essential services, but how they offer it will be dependent on where they’re located. If you’re looking to improve your dental practice, then the first place you should look is at your community. Who are the people living there, and what do they need? The answer will be one thing if you live in an area populated by young families, another if it’s a student-heavy area. Possible ways to serve them include extending your opening hours, offering at-home services and expanding the product range to suit their needs.  If your customers are looking for EZ Smile aligners, then provide it for them.

Invest in Your Staff

A dental practice can only be as good as the staff that are working there. For that reason, it’s essential that you’re bringing the right kind of staff on board. This isn’t one of those things where you can cut corners and try to save money. If you bring the best talent to your dental clinic, then you’ll notice a difference. Note that this doesn’t just apply to dentists, but all the positions in your clinic. If you’ve assembled a fantastic team, then you’ll find that everything runs much smoother, patients are happier, and so on.

Get the Right Systems

We’ve come a long way in recent years, and today there are plenty of systems that you can integrate into your clinic that will help to push things in the right direction. They’ll save time, make your clinic more consistent, and all-around help your team to work better. There’s any number of software and services that can help. There are databases that can provide a safety data sheet for dental office, software that’ll help streamline your appointment process, and so on. Have a look at any current problems that you have, and there’ll surely be a solution available to help you.

The Dental Look

While the success of your dental practice will ultimately come down to the strength of your treatments and services, keep in mind that the overall look of your clinic is also important. It’ll help to make your space look more professional, and can go a long way when it comes to building trust with patients. If your site is looking a little worse for wear, then look at giving it an update.

New Treatments

Finally, be sure to stay on top of new treatments that are available. If you’re always on the cutting edge of trends, then your patients will have no reason to look elsewhere.

4 Ways to Support Your Clients During Covid-19

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Covid-19|4 Ways to Support Your Clients During Covid-19Few would have guessed we would be in a practically global lockdown a month ago. The impact on businesses has been significant. Many have been forced to make redundancies, delay paying suppliers or even fold due to the inability to trade. Governments have stepped in to help businesses’ but how are businesses’ supporting their clients during this uncertain time? It will be survival of the fittest between businesses. Those who adapt and innovate will be left at the end, with great opportunities to dominate markets. This article will explore some practical tips to support client’s during lockdown.

Regular Contact

Depending on what industry you are in, contact can differ, but one of the most important things a business can do right now is continue to communicate with clients. Account managers need to be ringing their clients, giving support and feedback that will help their clients on a daily basis. This will ensure that a client is feeling valued and will provide goodwill to the client. It will also help client retention in the long run as clients that feel appreciated are more likely to stick with you.

Temporary Discounted Prices

Offering a temporary discounted price will go a long way with your clients. Naturally, how much discount you can offer will depend upon your margin but there are certain industries like the subscription-based industry that can slash their prices radically. We found a poker training one offering as high as 90% discount during Covid-19 lockdown. It is worth checking with your finance department how high a percentage discount you can offer. Logic dictates the higher the discount percentile, the happier a client will feel. Be careful though, it is probably better to keep the price static than discount an insultingly low amount like 5% or less.

Educate

Another way to support clients is educating them on the situation. Many are oblivious to the resources available to them and are not investing the time. If you are diligent and getting access to the support available from the government and grant schemes, share it with your clients. If you help them with their cash flow by saving them money or getting access to funds they otherwise wouldn’t, they are far more likely to stay loyal to you.

Offer Solutions

As previously stated, innovation and adaptability are key to getting through the next few months. In addition to selling your services or product to clients, why not offer suggestions and solutions to help them? Not everyone is capable problem solvers that can react to the changing business world. Perhaps your client is a Psychologist, perhaps they can move to video conferencing for their 1 to 1 consultation? Perhaps your client sells ladders in a retail store. Could they move their sales to online and setup ecommerce? Most industries have the capacity to change the way they operate, if the owner is willing to change. When this is all over, the business world is likely to be radically different and those who have solutions will have opportunity to make a lot of money.

Conclusions

As challenging as it is at the moment, businesses’ need to remain positive and get through. The most important thing is surviving this period so you are placed to take advantage of opportunities on the other side. The reality is, many companies will go bust due to their inability to plan, manage cash flow, innovate and react to the changes going on. The companies that are supporting their clients now are more likely to keep them and be there afterwards with potential to grow. I hope yours is one.

Renovating Office Space

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Office Space|Renovating Office SpaceThere might come a time when as a business owner or commercial landlord you will need to make renovations to some office space. Unlike home make-overs, commercial spaces must accommodate business needs and those of the staff. If you are closing the office doors for a while as you give the place a face-lift, the experts suggest reading through https://www.industrialdoorsolution.com/ for knowing maxims to protect your office space. Also, here are some key points you need to focus on.

Décor

Most offices are decorated in mundane, boring color-schemes. Even though it is important to keep the space looking professional, consider adding some flair to its design. Incorporate the business brand into the décor with either a mural or having the logo on the office windows and doors. You may want to introduce some plant-life into the space, too. This has been known to be beneficial to staff and helps promote a more positive working environment.

Electrics

As a business you should be having regular checks on your electrics anyway to adhere to health and safety standards. If you are making renovations you might want to consider how you will need to have the wiring redone to fit in with the new office model. It’s also a good opportunity to identify any problems you have with your current electrics. Hire commercial electricians as they will have the most experience working in environments like this.

Facilities

As an office, you will need to have specific facilities available to your staff. Think about how you can refurbish staff bathrooms and break-rooms to make them more comfortable. If any of your employees like to cycle to work, you should have a shower room installed for them to use. You may also want to make the break-room bigger to accommodate a larger team or introduce new perks like a ping-pong or pool table they can enjoy on their lunch hour. Providing these things could help to boost morale in the office and encourage productivity.

Accessibility

It’s also important to consider how accessible your office is for both staff and visitors. People with disabilities should be able to get to your office no matter what floor it’s on, and automatic doors should be installed for ease of access. Where necessary, think about having wheelchair ramps installed to further improve the accessibility of your office. Additionally, you should consider security measures such as key cards or fobs that can be given to your staff. Not only must you protect the business’s equipment and confidential files, but the safety of your staff from potentially harmful intruders is essential.

Equipment

Finally, consider the new equipment you would like to have installed in the new office space. It’s highly likely that you will need adequate IT resources such as computers and projectors, but is there anything else you would like to add? Perhaps new equipment for the break-room would be a good idea? Or any other additional items that are relevant to your particular business.

Make sure your staff members come back to a wonderfully equipped new office space, with top-quality facilities and an overall improved working environment to enjoy.

Cloud Computing for Dummies

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Cloud Computing for DummiesMost everyone these days has heard of the computer cloud, but many don’t really understand what it is or what it does. Let’s take a look at how the cloud got its name and then discuss the basics of how it works.

How Did the Computer Cloud Get Its Name?

There are several different stories surrounding the origins of the name, among them:

  1. The cloud has long been a symbol of the Internet. Essentially, “in the cloud” for many years has referred to the software or other platforms on the Internet.
  2. For decades, engineers have drawn networking diagrams that pictured the cloud to represent the internal structure of a large network of computers and storage devices “out there”.
  3. A cloud was also used in diagrams to represent a network with endpoints connected by a data path.

So How Does Cloud Computing Work?

The cloud is not one entity, but rather it’s a huge system of servers, all around the world, that are connected to work together as one networked ecosystem. The servers can be designed to do a number of different things. Some of the main applications include:

  • Storing data – Businesses use the cloud to safely store data. The information can then be accessed with a password from any computer that has an Internet connection.
  • Delivering content – The content can include streaming services, software and social media platforms. Any computer or other Internet-accessible device can stream or download this content, provided proper password codes are entered.

What Are the Advantages of the Cloud For Businesses?

Businesses see many advantages of using the cloud to store data. Instead of bogging down the servers on location, the data is stored off-site, freeing up valuable storage on the company’s servers. This can save a lot of money in the long run. IUVO Technology states that the Federal government’s departments have saved upwards of 25-50% on the IT budget by moving data to the cloud.

Your company’s data is also much safer in the cloud. Because it is backed up, the chances of losing your data are very low. The information is usually encrypted as well, which makes it secure against cyber attacks. IT Services Boston are available to help you migrate your data to the cloud in the safest way possible.

Working with a trained professional to move your business data to the cloud will ensure that you find the right services at the right cost to keep your company safe and working at maximum capacity.