How To Choose Your First Business Premises

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StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article |Business Premises|How To Choose Your First Business PremisesPerhaps you started off at the kitchen table. Or maybe you were in a spare room. Crammed into a garden shed or a loft conversion, occasionally working out of a cafe with free WiFi when you could. Launching your own business often starts with unglamorous surroundings – and when the time comes to finally move into a proper business premises, it feels like a significant milestone. Where your business is based has the power to be transformative. Whether you’re seeking warehousing space to become the logistical hub of operations, or an office environment where you can expand your team and make new hires to grow your business, it’s an exciting time but also a potentially stressful one. Securing premises generally involves a cash outlay and being bound to various contracts, so it’s a decision which needs to be right. If you’ve never chosen a business premises before, what do you need to know to make sure that you get the choice right?

Think Through Your Requirements

Despite your business straining at the seams for growth, choosing a location is not something that you should rush into. Before you go signing up to every commercial lettings agency in town, take the time to draw up a comprehensive list of the unique requirements that your business has, so that you can make viewings with a logical mind. Think about the size of space you need – and how quickly you’re likely to grow. You don’t want to sign a contract only to find that you’ve already run out of space six months down the line, but equally you don’t want to be paying for space you don’t need. If growth is unpredictable, then place a short term leasing agreement higher up your list. Think about things like access and proximity to public transport hubs for your employees. Look into parking restrictions, nearness to your suppliers, building facilities, business rates and the security of the property – even things like the Access Entry System. Now is the time to both think of the big picture and zero in on the details to make sure you make the right choice.

To Buy Or To Rent?

One of the main considerations to bear in mind with your first business premises is whether it’s better to rent or take the plunge and seek capital funding to purchase. This decisions depends on a variety of factors. If you work in a smaller scale, high growth industry such as software development than it makes more sense to rent – this gives you more flexibility and requires less outlay of precious capital. In other situation, where business growth is more steady or you require a very specific space for specialist manufacturing equipment, you may well be better off making a purchase, as you can manage and modify the building to fit your needs. This also gives you the option of renting the premises out in the future if it no longer suits your requirements and creating an additional income stream.The decision has to be up to you – but make sure you enter the process with a clear mind, and you’ll make the right decision for your business.

Do You Need Good Credit to Start A Business?

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StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article |Credit Score|Do You Need Good Credit to Start A Business?We all know that many entrepreneurs have bad credit score. Some businesses only start because the owners are unemployed, laid off, or worse, bankrupt. Some even start their businesses when opportunity arrives and not when their financial situation is good to begin with. Moreover, some go through personal difficulties which affect their personal credit score at the same time.

Do you need good credit to start a business? While having a bad credit should never be a hindrance for you to start your own business. There are some things that you can do to at least improve it. Improving your credit score allows you to get loans or business line of credit that you can use to build your business.

If you’re planning to startup a business but realized you have a poor credit history, you can check out these tips on how to improve your credit:

1. Don’t use big banks as a funding source.

Back then, banks only depend on your credit history, collateral, cash flow, and character when it comes to bank loan approval. These days, most banks tend to focus on credit history, particularly when making decisions on loan approval for small business owners. This happens because banks are now driven by the banking consolidation, which force them to automate the credit decision process and lessen the labor that takes place in credit evaluation. Regardless of how great your business proposal is, having a below 650 credit score will not get you anywhere a bank loan is involved. A good credit score is important if you want to get a loan.

On the other hand, you may apply for home equity loans in order to secure that much-needed funding. However, it is not advisable, particularly during the earlier cycles of business as cash flow can be a little unstable.

2. Determine the difference between your personal and business credit scores.

You may know by now that banks, especially the large ones, focus on the personal credit scores. Smaller lenders or banks, on the other hand, combine your personal credit score and business credit score, together with a lot of other factors when it comes to loan approval.

Keep in mind that your personal credit score is affected by a lot of factors. These include outstanding debts on personal credit cards, history of bill payments, late payment history, as well as the number of credit lines opened. While your personal credit score is associated to your Social Security number, business credit score is linked to the business tax ID. These differences can help you and your business get the financial boost you need.

A damaged personal credit score can affect how banks or lenders see your loan application. Hence, you need to consider obtaining a separate business tax ID number to link with your account. This is possible but you need to be very careful when doing this.

Apart from getting a separate tax ID number, making sure that your business has a distinct identity is crucial. Here are some tips:

  • Get an official business name and register it with the local authorities.
  • Get a separate business address that is not a P.O. box and have a separate telephone number listed under your business name.
  • Open a bank account under your business name.

These administrative tasks may look minor and unimportant, but they play a crucial role in distinguishing your personal accounts from your business.

3. Slowly build the credit score of your business.

Now that you have a business tax ID number and a legal business name, you can now start building the credit score of your business. Doing this helps your business establish a way to qualify for a business line of credit from suppliers and other sources of capital.

Starting a Business is Not Always About Good Credit

Keep in mind that anybody can start a business, regardless of how good or bad their credit scores are. If you need some funding and cannot go to banks and big lending facilities, you can opt for other ways to fund your business. You can ask family and friends to lend you personal loans. Just make sure to thoroughly talk it over and discuss with them the payment terms or the risks that they are about to take. Also, you can use credit card loans to help you with your startup. Although it is not the best way to do it, it is a much better option than not starting at all because of lack of funds.

Remember that nothing should stop you from building yourself to success. You may have a bad credit score now, but slowly, with the help from the right institutions or the right persons, you will be able to start the business and eventually make that business grow.

How To Succeed As A New Business Owner

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StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article |New Business Owner|How To Succeed As A New Business OwnerBeing a new business owner is an exciting time in your life but may also be cause for some uncertainty. There’s a lot to learn and do as you embark on this journey and maneuver your way around as an entrepreneur.

Know that there will be challenges along the way but that if you work hard and keep a positive attitude you’re likely to go far with your business. The upside is that if you love what you’re doing then it might not even feel like work to you. Take one day at a time and remember to always track your progress so you can monitor how you’re performing as you go.

Choose the Right Office Space

One way to succeed as a new business owner is to spend time choosing the right office space. Discover more information around working with a bank vs. mortgage broker at www.mortgageconnection.ca so you can better understand which option is best for you. You want a space that’s convenient for you and your customers and will be a nice and comfortable place to meet with clients.

Find A Mentor

In addition, you can better succeed as a new business owner by finding and working with a mentor. Choose someone who’s been in your shoes before and has built a company from the ground up. Meet with them often to pick their brain and understand more clearly what you can be doing to improve your management style and become a more successful leader and boss.

Focus on Your Customers

It’s very important that customer service always comes first at your workplace if you want to be successful. Get in the habit of focusing on your customers and their needs and wants above all else. Train your staff to respond to questions or concerns in a timely and professional manner as well. The better job you do at this the more positive reviews you’ll receive and more business you’ll bring in.

Expand Your Marketing Efforts

The reality is that there’s a lot of competition out there and consumers are being pulled in many directions at once. Therefore, commit to expanding your marketing efforts and investing in getting your name out to your target audience so you can grow your company. For example:

  • Engage on social media
  • Run online advertising campaigns
  • Buy advertisement space in print
  • Produce commercials
  • Create videos

This will give you a good start and help you to drive more attention to your business.

Take Care of Yourself

Your company will succeed when you’re diligent about taking care of yourself. This way you’ll have more natural energy to carry you through the day and will be able to concentrate and focus in the office better. Make self-care a priority and be good about eating healthy, exercising and getting plenty of rest and sleep. You’ll find you reach your goals at a quicker rate when you attend to these matters and don’t let your own health slip through the cracks.

Why Online Tutoring Is the New Effective Way to Make Money at Home

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StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article | Why Online Tutoring Is the New Effective Way to Make Money at HomeWhen we think of someone working two jobs, we often picture people working in retail or the food service industry, or someone who is trying to break into acting and doing another job on the side. While these are all real-world examples, the reality of job juggling is a lot different than we assume. In fact, in the US there are about 13 million double-job holders that are working multiple jobs to make ends meet.

How popular is the gig economy?

The gig economy has been exploding recently, leading many people to picking up two or even three jobs to help make ends meet or to pay down their debt. Intuit performed a study that predicted that, by 2020, 40% of American workers would be independent contractors doing short-term, contract-based work for companies near and far.

While some people may think of this as misery inducing, the gig economy actually provides a lot of flexibility to a younger workforce that is demanding a more sustainable work-life balance. Gone are the days when people could start at a company at 22 and stay there until retirement. With our work rapidly shifting from a local to a global perspective, workers are finding themselves cashing pay cheques from far-flung employers who may only pick them up for a couple contracts before they move to another employer. This is perfect for stay-at-home parents who still want to contribute to the family’s income, people who prefer to travel too often to maintain a traditional office job, or for spouses of military workers or other workers who are forced to move on a regular basis.

The explosion of the gig economy is mostly thanks to a more mobile workforce due to our advances in technology. With reliable high-speed Internet, smartphones, and laptops available to almost anyone, anywhere in the world, working from where you are has become much more feasible.

Where are the biggest changes happening?

One of the biggest increases we’ve seen in the gig economy has been within the teaching and tutoring community. People with the skills to tutor people can help students across the world learn languages and basic skills like mathematics and science concepts. While it used to be that utilizing those skills meant moving to far-flung countries, you can now do it from anywhere with a decent Internet connection. However, you want to make sure you’re not going to end up accidentally giving away your services or getting ripped off. Money Done Right explains how you can earn money from tutoring without losing out.

Most people assume (incorrectly) that being an English tutor or offering tutoring in a subject means you have to be a teacher, but often it just means you need to be patient and skilled at what you’re trying to teach. This is a great way for college students to earn extra income while bolstering their own skill set.

But does it count in the “real world”?

Wondering if distance tutoring counts as something you can put on your resume? It does! A job doesn’t have to be with a large or local company to still be a real job. If you can demonstrate the skills you learned and what was expected of you, a part-time, distance contract can add just as much value to a resume as any “traditional” form of employment.

Keep These 7 Things In Mind Before Starting An Electronics Repair Business

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Keep These 7 Things In Mind Before Starting An Electronics Repair Business

Starting your own electronics repair business can be a daunting experience. Business registrations, gaining customers, making them come back for your service, and updating the company’s system are just a few of the things that will keep you occupied. To help you become successful in your electronics appliance repair business, here are 7 things that you must keep in mind.

1. Get Information Via Market Research

Knowing your market can help you get near to success in no time. Having enough knowledge about the latest trend and if your service is in demand can help you decide whether it is best to keep or quit your current job to start your own business. Surveying to check on how many of your competitors are currently in the area will help you find the best location for your business. Look for a place that has fewer market shares to gain more customers. Also, you have to be certain that people in your area will opt for repair rather than buying a new unit or equipment. Check if the repair volume in the market is considerable enough for you to start your own business.

2. Having Enough Customers Before Starting

Put effort to gain enough customers before starting your business. A strong customer base that can give you a regular income and sustain your monthly expenses can be a good sign that you can already stand on your own. Earning new customers will take time and if it takes a much longer time than you expected, it may have a big effect on your business’ financial support. This tip particularly applies to businesses with no solid financial backup and may not apply to all.

3. Seek Advice From Pioneers

Be humble enough to ask for advice, opinions, and suggestions from those who are already successful in running a business. Always make room for improvement even if you feel that you have already achieved something. Try talking to those who are pioneers in the business field and get ideas on how to keep your business rolling. You will learn new tactics and you may be surprised by their humble beginnings. They may also give you a hint on what to avoid or how to face challenging situations that may put your business at risk of shutting down.

4. Make Friends Not War

Competition in the field of business is not new but it does not mean that you will treat all of them as your enemy. Being friends with other repairers can help you discover things that can improve your repair business. Information such as where can you buy inexpensive spare parts such as Current Sense Resistors, learning new techniques in fixing electronic problems are some of the benefits of being a good friend to other electricians.

5. Avoid Blaming Others

Avoid blaming others when you lose from your competitors. It is better to honestly examine yourself if your service is high enough to satisfy your customers. Are your repair fees reasonable or is it too expensive? Do you wear a smile when potential customers come to your shop to inquire? These are some of the things you may consider to help increase your sales.

6. Invest On Repair Tools Or Equipment

Do not settle for weak and low-class repair tools. You may lose your customers when your equipment keeps on breaking. This may damage your good reputation. Invest in durable tools and test equipment that can help you solve electrical problems quickly and accurately.

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7. Be Realistic With Your Goals

Expectation versus reality. Avoid unrealistic expectations because it can lead to frustration. In your infant stage, you cannot expect that you can make fast money. It takes time to make a business successful so do not give up easily. You can learn from your mistakes and eventually cope up with what is really good for your business. As the saying goes, “Quitters never win.”

May these tips help you become successful once you decide to put up your own electronics repair business. We wish you well!