Useful Tips To Help Your Business Run Smoothly Post-Pandemic

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Post-Pandemic|Useful Tips To Help Your Business Run Smoothly Post-PandemicComing out of this pandemic will be a pain for everyone, but even more so for businesses trying to adjust and come out strong.

Things will have, no doubt, changed in some capacity. If they haven’t, well, maybe you should consider freshen up your look, style and technology.

So, let’s consider some key points once you’ve planned to open.

Getting Back To Normal

Being closed for potentially up to a year has been devastating for many small businesses, larger too but usually they have the capital to survive.

Therefore, it stands to reason that you may not know how to return to operating a business once everything is safe to do so.

Consider your employees, if you have any. It’s only right and fair that they are involved with the discussions of reopening as much as possible.

Once open, try and reintegrate yourself and the whole team on a smaller scale. Don’t take too many orders and don’t open everything on day one. Take your time, have fun with it, don’t overwhelm yourself or your team.

Using New Systems

If your business hasn’t been operational for a while, then it may just be that a few of the old methods and systems are out of date.

That’s okay though, fortunately this is the perfect time for you to try and look for new things. Maybe your software/hardware needs updating? Or maybe it’s your actual equipment that needs looking at? Have a browse around your industry area and see what’s new, or if you’re innovative, then now is the perfect time to start creating and discovering.
Even if you decide you want to stick with what you know and what you’ve got, you can’t go wrong implementing a computerised maintenance management system, or CMMS for short.

If you’re not too sure what this refers to, it is basically a system that centralises all maintenance requests and general information. Making it easier than ever to get issues fixed, track down old reports and get updates as you go.

It’s really worth investing into a CMMS. It will save you money long term when it comes to fixes, and will make you feel incredibly professional too, which is a big bonus.

We are living in the future now, where CMMS itself is evolving into an even greater beast, a mechanically organised beast.
Introducing, Intelligent Maintenance Management Platform, otherwise known as IMMP. It’s the next logical step in maintenance software, giving you real time-saving predictions, intelligent suggestions and even task automation, based on data collected from all kinds of native apps, integrations and even IoT technology.

Rebuilding Customer Loyalty

If you’ve been gone a while, maybe even longer than some competitors, then it’s possible that your customer base has been damaged. Whether they have moved on to rivals or just not interested in your products or services now.
So how do you regain that customer trust again? You really need to work hard on personalisation and customer service.
Prove to them why you’re the best at what you do and what you’ve got to show them.

4 Advantages Of Buying In Bulk For Your Business

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Buying in Bulk|4 Advantages Of Buying In Bulk For Your BusinessAs a business owner, you’ll always be looking at ways to become more efficient, save money, and give your customers what they want. There are many ways to do this, but one that is often overlooked but that checks all the boxes is buying in bulk. This can have a major positive effect on your business, its reputation, and the profits you make, so it’s certainly worth considering, and it may well be exactly what you need to implement in your business right now. Read on to discover some of the fantastic benefits of buying in bulk for your business.

You’ll Save Money

When you bulk in bulk, the cost of each individual item will be less than it would if you bought everything separately. In essence, you’re getting a lot more for your money, and you can make a larger profit because of it.

The less money you have to pay for your goods, stocks, or even your business equipment, the more money you’ll have for marketing, for employees’ benefits, and for growing your business. Saving money is something all business owners need to do, and buying in bulk is an easy way to do it.

A Cohesive Look

If you want your business to look professional and attract more customers, it needs to have a cohesive look. Your brand has to be in place and consistent. This will help people feel that you’re more professional, more trustworthy, and that you’ve taken the time to think about how you want your business to appear.

If you buy in bulk, you can offer this cohesive look. When running a restaurant, for example, you can buy wholesale tumblers so that every patron has the same style of drinking glass. If you purchased each tumbler individually, you run the risk of the type you’ve chosen being out of stock or, worse, discontinued. This would mean you either had to buy all new tumblers or you had to have mismatched ones.

Keep Your Customers Happy

There are actually several ways in which buying in bulk for your business can make your customers happy. The first is that you can pass on your savings to them and keep your costs low. If you sell enough quantity (which won’t be a problem when you buy in bulk), you can still make a great profit, and your customers will be so impressed with your prices they’ll let other people know and keep coming back to buy more themselves.

Secondly, when you buy in bulk, you won’t have to worry about selling out. Place your next order with plenty of time to spare, and you’ll always have enough stock to sell to your customers, meaning that they won’t get frustrated because you can’t give them what they want.

It’s Part Of Your Green Credentials

Every business has a responsibility to become as green as possible. The more companies that can do this, as well as the individuals working within them, the more protected the planet will be.

You can do various things to help your business become greener, and buying in bulk is one of them. When you buy in bulk, you’ll be using less packaging, and there will be fewer deliveries to make, meaning that your carbon footprint is reduced.

Saving Money On Your IT

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |IT|Saving Money On Your ITAlmost every single business that wants to earn money and be successful needs to spend money on IT. An IT budget is an absolute must and if you want to save cash without sacrificing your security and the productivity of your business, you need to know how to make your budget work for you. Making your IT budget count isn’t always an easy thing to do, but with the right tips, you can ensure that your IT expenses are lowered effectively.

Of course, you don’t want to cut your budget down only to really need to up it again because your IT is now lacking: that would be pointless. What you do want to do, though, is direct your cash in a way that ensures that your budget is wholly effective and works properly for your business. This should include any growth you plan to have with your business IT, too. So, how can you save money on your IT expenses? Checkout the tips below!

  • BYOD. You can ask your staff force to bring their own device to work. Laptops and tablets only, as this will save you money on computers in the office. Most people now own their own mobile devices, and if they’re already bringing them to work, there’s really no point in having work stations set up for every employee. You need to set very strict security standards to protect your business, of course, but you should consider that you can do this with a VPN. If you know that the servers and cloud access will be secure, then a bring your own device policy is going to save your company a lot of money!
  • Start using the cloud. The IT cloud is going to be far more effective for you in your business IT spending than using a server room. The cloud will reduce labor costs and save money on equipment. It’ll do this while lowering the amount you spend storing and powering all of your equipment, too. You can use a pay as you go model with the cloud, which means you’re only paying for what you need when you need it. This will make all the difference to your budget, and it will help you to stop spending way more money that’s necessary.
  • Outsource. If you outsource your revenue cycle management software & solutions, you’re going to instantly make a saving. You won’t have to worry about paying anyone to manage it for you in-house, which will save you money on your staffing, yearly salary costs and benefits on top of that, too. When you outsource, you only pay one organisation a fee for their help in return for what you need. It’s a great way to save some cash and it can make a lot of difference to the efficiency of your business, too.
  • Buying the right equipment. Make sure that when you do spend money on your IT equipment, you spend it properly. It’s a good idea to spend more to buy upgraded pieces of equipment, than to keep spending on cheaper equipment that will continue to break. You need to think practically as much as economically.

Three Housekeeping Tips to Help eCommerce Businesses Thrive This Summer

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |eCommerce Business|Three Housekeeping Tips to Help eCommerce Businesses Thrive This SummerIt’s not just the fact that spring is coming in and bringing the longer days and brighter sunshine with it: there are reasons to be optimistic as we head into the summer of 2021. It’s been a tough twelve months for businesses of all shapes and sizes, and we’ve all had to work twice as hard and twice as creatively to keep our heads above water and keep our companies running.

Now, as the vaccines roll out and we start making plans to see our friends and family, it’s time that we start thinking about how we can take our businesses to the next level in the months to come.

When Was The Last Time You Thought About SEO?

When you’re running an eCommerce site, it’s fair to say that you have your hands full most of the hours of the day. When you’re juggling so many different tasks, some of the housekeeping jobs can end up getting neglected, but it’s so important to conduct regular SEO audits on your content.

We don’t doubt that you know what SEO is and how it works, but with Google making constant changes and refinements to the way it displays results, and with the needs and concerns that we input into search engines changing so rapidly, you need to make sure you don’t find yourself falling behind.

Is Your Website Working Hard Enough For You?

While you need to keep one eye on your SEO to make sure it’s all up to date, we shouldn’t forget about the bigger picture either. Your website is so much more than a catalogue for your business, it’s a statement about your brand personality. It tells your customers who you are and what you’re about, and it’s not always easy to translate your vision for your brand onto the page, and if you are feeling the need for a new look then it is absolutely worth bringing in the experts.

Professional eCommerce web design is a complex and multi-layered process that should be tailored to your specific needs and vision. Cake Commerce knows that it’s about more than making your site look pretty, and they will find the perfect business solutions for your unique aesthetic.

Are You Available For Your Customers?

We don’t need to tell you how competitive it is out there for eCommerce businesses. It’s been a battle to stay afloat over the last twelve months, and one of the most important tools in any company’s arsenal has been excellent customer service.

We’re not just talking about making sure that you are responding to any and all customer queries that come through your website (and making sure that it’s clear to customers how they can make those queries). We’re talking about using your social media channels to show your customers just how important they are to your business and showing that you know that their support has helped to keep you afloat during this impossibly difficult time. While there may be brighter times ahead, “normal” is still a little way down the road, so let’s all keep in touch.

Thinking of expanding your business? Here’s how you can!

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Business Loans|Thinking of expanding your business? Here’s how you can!Have you heard the popular saying, “You have to spend money to make money”? It means if you want to expand your business, you need to invest in different marketing and other strategies.

However, with the concerns over the current growth rate, how can you push your company towards the growth phase? Well! By looking at the plethora of options that offer business loans at attractive rates.

But what about it? Let’s find out more!

It is a type of finance option that you can opt for if you are thinking of expanding your enterprise. These are also called commercial loans.

Why is it an attractive choice for your business? Read further to know!

Manages working capital – These loans come as the best solution to fulfill your working capital requirements and further grow your enterprise. When you face hard times in the commercial world, it is the way out to maintain the cash-flow. This can also help in covering short-term expenses. As the economy is changing rapidly, these loans help in strengthening your financial stability.

Flexibility – As per your financial need, you apply for this loan. For instance – you can opt for either a long-term or short-term loan. Basically, short-term loans are the ones that are given for up to a year, while long-term ones are given for more than 5 years.

After you get one, the lenders are not bothered about how you are running your venture. They want the timely repayment of their amount. Therefore, the owners find it easier to avail it as it gives them full control over how they are spending their funds.

No collateral needed – If you properly meet the eligibility criteria of this loan, congrats! You can get it without collateral, provided that you must own a property or land.

Improve your business credit – Acquiring this loan improves the creditworthiness of your enterprise. Ensure that you are making timely repayments. This will improve your financial score. In the future, this will further lead you to get more financing at lower interest rates.

You can also acquire a business credit card to improve the credit score. Regularly paying the bills through it helps build a positive credit history that will be fruitful for your enterprise. According to the financial experts at nav.com, choosing the card with a 0% introductory rate offer is suggested.

Profit is not shared – In case you have an investor on board, you will have to share the profits. But with this loan, a fixed amount is paid to the lender. This means the principal and interest amount does not change, no matter how much profit your enterprise is making.

Quick distribution – These advances do not require a lot of documents. Funds are quickly distributed. This ensures that a company does not have to stop its operations or change its growth plans while waiting for the funds.

Affordable rates of interest – The corporate world is ever-changing. There is a cut-throat competition to gain customers. Taking this into account, lenders offer such credits at a reasonable rate of interest. Some other factors that are also taken into consideration are – tenure or the financial condition of the enterprise.

Wrapping up
Expanding your enterprise takes a lot of hard work and determination. Also, you need to check the finances before thinking of doing the same. But with some solutions, you can be successful and take your enterprise to new heights!