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What You Don’t Know May Be Hurting Your Business

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We tend to think of our companies in terms of what we can do, what we can bring to the table. However, while it is, of course, recommended to focus on those positive aspects of your business, you should also keep in mind that there are other things that’ll influence your chances of success. For example, the things that you don’t know. If you’ve got some blind spots in your knowledge bank, then your venture won’t be as watertight as it could be — and what’s more, you might not even know it. Below, we take a look at a few key areas where entrepreneurs often fall down.

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Your Competitors

You might think that you’re doing all the right things at your business, but are they as good as what other companies are doing? If you’re not actively keeping tabs on your competitors, then you should be. By checking the practices/products/services of other companies, you can see the areas in which you need to improve. Now, it’s not like you need to adopt everything that rival businesses are doing — just being aware and making sure you’re not falling behind will be enough.

How to Hire

You might have begun your venture as a one-person operation, but there will eventually come a point when you need to hire employees if you’re going to develop. If you’ve never been an employer before, however, then this might prove to be more difficult than originally thought. There are right and wrong methods for bringing a member of staff on board; get it right, and you’ll have an employee who can help push your company forward. Get it wrong, and you’ll have an expensive mistake on your hands. As well as knowing how to hire, you’ll also need to look at yourself, and learn how to work with others. You won’t get the full benefits of having an employee if you can’t properly delegate work.

Specialized Fields

It’s not possible to be all things for your company. You’ll be spreading yourself too thin if you’re the leader, the paper pusher, the receptionist, and so on. And there’s another reason why you shouldn’t take on all the tasks: some are specialized, and too important to be handled by a non-expert. We’re talking about things like your internet marketing. Because SEO is so important to the success of a business, you’ll want to work with a company such as Local Spark Marketing. Other areas of your business you’ll want to outsource include your accounting and legal matters – these are complex tasks that require expert hands to ensure they’re completed correctly. You may also find it very useful to take a look at this Data Analytics Infographic; it is so important to consider analytics if you want to be successful in your career. Understanding the big picture of how your marketing strategies impact certain target demographics, can really help you to hone in on your audience. Exploring the impact of data analytics might be worth the while if you want to specialize in this industry.

Where You’re Going

While you’ll want to mostly focus on the day to day tasks of your company, you should also keep an eye on the future. If you don’t, then you might find that it arrives and you’ve got nothing in the pipeline; you are just where you were two years ago. Additionally, you’ll also want to stay on top of any upcoming issues that may affect your industry in general.

How 21st-Century Solutions Could Save Your Business

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Owning a business nowadays can be a struggle. It can cause stress, worry and be a financial burden. Today we are going to be looking at how you can alleviate some of those daily stresses just by updating some of the ways you do things.

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | How 21st-Century Solutions Could Save Your Business

Outsource

Trying to do everything yourself is something every entrepreneur is guilty of. The result is always the same, exhaustion and burn out which results in a very moody boss.

The solution to this has been made ever more available, especially over the last 10 years. Outsourcing no longer has to be an outside consultant, prancing his way around your offices telling you what you should do.

It is now a fantastic option when it comes to adapting to survive. The key to succeeding in business is simple, it’s all about cash flow. So you can save some money, that’s perfect, right?

You can have your leading expenses outsourced and have all of your IT solutions dealt with from an outside company. You can even have a company operate a customer service solution for you. These companies are great and over the space of twelve months, they can save you an average of around 60% on what you would generally be spending on a salary.

Cloud

The cloud has become one of the most valuable tools we can use as business people. It can offer so many solutions.

Most people still think of the cloud as just a space for storage. In reality, it is so much more. Nowadays we can have cloud-based bespoke customer management systems that we can access on an international level. We have access to cloud-based accounting systems that allow us to manage international finances all in one place. We even have companies like SimplyClouds that will allow us all in one license service on our software.

Turning to the cloud can not just help you as a business, as far as 21st-century solutions go, you should be utilizing it at every turn. It will allow you to operate from anywhere in the world, at any time.

Should you be looking to expand, all of your data is in one place and easy to duplicate to a second or even third location.

Social Media

Gone are the days of expensive, bank-breaking advertizing campaigns. You now have the power of social media at your fingertips.

Social media is so much more important than you think. If we go back 20 years, it would cost huge rates just to reach a few thousand people. Now, with a little bit of knowledge and the right campaign, we can hit millions overnight.

Companies have built their reputation built on nothing more than Facebook videos, vines, and Youtube videos. The perfect thing about these videos, they not only cost nothing, given the right amount of hits, but the videos also start to bring in revenue for you.

Although it is a tough market to hit, you should consider approaching a social media mogul who can push your campaign. One thing you should not do is ignore the power of social media, it could be your winning move.

A Guide: How to Stop Wasting Money in Business

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | A Guide: How to Stop Wasting Money in BusinessTurning over a profit isn’t the only important task that you face as a business owner. You also need to consolidate this money that you make, which is why you need to avoiding wasting it at all costs.

It’s going to mean making use of all resources afforded to you, it’s going to mean making smarter investment choices, and it’s going to mean honing in on your mistakes — it’ll all be worth it in the end, though, when you’ve got a heap of cash to invest into the growth of your business.

To unearth all the things you can do to stop wasting so much money in business, be sure to read on.

Minimize your tax bill

Nobody likes the tax man, but unfortunately, he’s never going to go away. There are, however, ways to minimize the bill slapped on your desk every year.

To minimize your tax bill, you should:

  • Keep a track of your business expenses (receipts, invoices, vehicle mileage, etc.) and then seek to claim for them
  • Tap into the Annual Investment Allowance (AIA)
  • Research and make use of tax reliefs (such as the creative industry relief)
  • Pay your tax bill as early as you can

Invest in good website design

Marketing, especially digital marketing, is essential in the world of business. By not running advertising campaigns, quite simply, you won’t spread your company’s message or attract new customers.

As important as marketing campaigns are, however, they need not cost you an awful lot. More to the point, they need not cost you as much as you are no doubt currently shelling out on them. When you choose to invest your money on good website design instead of advertising, you’ll be sure to find yourself saving thousands in the long run. This is because you’ll have a platform that can act as a constant source of important information; your website can spread your message at all times, meaning you won’t have to constantly spend your money on spreading it yourself.

To ensure that your website does everything a marketing campaign can do and more, you have to align yourself with a web design company like Plego Technologies. They will make sure that your website works well in both a practical and aesthetic sense.

Turn off and unplug your devices

Even when they’re not being used, if they’re still plugged in and turned on, the various devices that you use in your office could be costing you an arm and a leg. They will be using up what is known as ‘vampire energy,’ which means they will be draining your electricity bill for no reason whatsoever.

Before you leave your office of an evening, you and your employees have to go around and make sure everything is turned off and unplugged. Other important forms of action you should be taking in this instance include:

  • Tweaking your power settings so as to ensure your devices shut themselves down or go into hibernation mode whenever they’re not being used
  • Resolving to never leave your desktop computers and laptops on their screen savers — believe it or not, doing this is worse than leaving your monitors and screens to go black
  • Never forgetting the peripherals (your printer and speakers, for instance), as they can suck up a lot of ‘vampire energy’ too

Take the above advice, stop wasting so much money, and put the cash you save to good use!

5 Functional Ways to Market and Grow your Business without Breaking the Bank

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article, 5 Functional Ways to Market and Grow your Business without Breaking the Bank It takes a lot of time and commitment to start a business. Probably that’s the hardest part that most aspiring entrepreneurs have.

Growing a small business comes with numerous challenges. You might be trying to think of the best marketing strategies you can embrace.

You may be on a budget, yet you want to market and grow your business. In this post, we are going to explore five affordable marketing strategies that you could use.

Here we go.

1. Have social media presence

Social media is getting more popular day by day. Most people use it to connect with friends, colleagues and family members.

Of late, there has been an increase in the use of various social media platforms for business purposes and building careers.

For example, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn are among the most popular social media platforms. As a business, you could make use of social media to market your business.

Facebook and Instagram are also the cheapest platforms you can use to grow your business. These platforms are simple to use.

All you need is to create a Facebook page or group relating to your niche. A Facebook page is more effective if you are starting out. You can invite your friends and close contacts to follow you.

You could as well create informative posts that aim to solve people’s problems in your niche. Boost the post by paying a small fee, and that will help you reach out to many people.

The goodness about Facebook ads is that you can target people from various geographical regions. Doing this will make people want to know more about your business and will like your page to follow your posts.

You, therefore, need first to have an active account with informative posts. Within a short time, your audience will grow, and you won’t have to boost posts regularly to reach many people.

Create social media profiles with Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram as well. Having a social media presence is one of the inexpensive ways of marketing and growing your business.

2. Create a website

Having a business without a site is like trying to get noticed in the dark. Did you know that people can know about your business through organic search from search engines?

That’s another cheap way of selling your business out there. However, you need to find ways of getting traffic to your site. You need to learn SEO basics.

For example, you should create content that aims to solve people’s problems in your niche. One of the solutions to those problems could be your products or services.

Use relevant keywords so that you can rank high on Google. Remember, you have other competitors, and you should aim to give the best.

You can include your website URL on your Facebook page about info. Make sure that you are promoting your blog posts using your social media channels like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

3. Make use of email marketing

If you are looking for another affordable method of making your business known, email marketing works like magic. While it takes a lot of time, it won’t need a lot of money.

But before starting email marketing campaigns, you need to make sure that you are marketing to the right audience. You might want to create a lead magnet first.

This could be a freebie like an eBook in your niche that solves some problems your audience faces. Create a landing page on your website where you offer the freebie in exchange for their email addresses.

This will help you get people who will be glad to receive emails from you in future. You should find out about lead generation strategies that can boost your business.

Try to avoid marketing emails throughout. Let three-quarters of your emails be educational content, while a quarter of your emails are promotional emails.

Doing this consistently will help you get many subscribers who will turn out to be your customers.

4. Organize a trade show

Would you like to showcase your product one on one to your customers? A trade show is the best place you can use to get instant feedback about it. It doesn’t have to be a big show.

You can plan and start with a small trade show and a few products to test. Later, you can organize a big trade show.

However, you need to prepare well. First of all, you should have a great product that no one will resist buying. Create something that someone would love to use again and gain.

When you showcase the product and give them for testing, they will be glad to use it again.

Before the trade show, ensure that you also have some essential printed marketing materials. You don’t want your customers to lose your contacts after the event.

Since most of them can’t memorize them, you could create attractive business cards for your business.

You could as well create booklets which should have detailed information about your business. Ensure that you mention your products and services and how your clients can benefit from them.

Towards the end of the booklet, include your social media profiles so that people can connect with you. Don’t forget to add your website links and contact details.

Don’t worry about the cost of printing. You can opt for cheap booklet printing and sort out the issue. Just ensure that the booklet has an attractive colour and all the details about your business.

5. Have a loyalty program

Have you started rewarding loyal customers yet? If not, you are missing a lot.

Create exclusive offers only for customers who come back to buy from you. This will help you retain new and old customers.

Every time a former customer comes back, reward them something small. You should also tell your new customers about your loyalty program so that they can come back.

You have taken a crucial step to start your business. That is what you needed because starting has never been easy.

To grow the business, you should make people know about it through marketing. The above marketing tips are affordable and should help you start your marketing journey.

Have you ever marketed your business before? What are some of the budget-friendly marketing techniques you used?

What Do You Need to Get a Payday Loan: A List of the Requirements

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article | What Do You Need to Get a Payday Loan: A List of the RequirementsIf you’re in a financial bind and need a little cash before your next paycheck, a payday loan may be just what you need.

Payday loans, also known as a cash advance, are gaining in popularity as a fast way to get quick cash for an emergency situation. Even so, many people don’t understand how this type of loan works and what you need to get a payday loan.

So if you are thinking about getting a payday loan and are unsure of what you need to get one, keep reading to learn about what do you need to get a payday loan and how much money you can borrow now.

What Are Payday Loans?

Let’s start by explaining what payday loans are and how to utilize them best.

Simply put, a payday loan is a short-term loan that is intended to be repaid in full with your next paycheck. These loans are usually for a small amount between $300 and $1,000. They are a popular loan option for those with no credit or a bad credit score.

Note that the cost of a payday loan can be very high, which is why it is so important to pay them off with your next paycheck. The costs can rise exponentially with each pay period that passes without paying the balance in full.

It’s good to know all the benefits and risks of payday loans so you can make an educated choice that’s in your best interest.

What Do You Need to Get a Payday Loan

Many states regulate payday loans differently resulting in different qualification requirements depending on where you live. But typically, you only need to meet a handful of criteria.

You must be at least 18 years old and you will need a valid government identification, your Social Security number, proof of income (pay stub) and an active checking account. If you are applying in a payday loan store, you will need a personal check. If you are filling out an application online, you must enter your email address.

When you get a payday loan, you must submit a personal check for the entire balance to be paid on the date of your next payday.

Even if you meet the above requirements, you can be denied a loan for a number of reasons. For example, you may not earn enough to borrow money. Most lenders want you to earn at least $500 per month.

The lender also considers are the length of time you have been at your job and how recently you opened your checking account.

They may also reject your applications if you have a recent bankruptcy or bounced checks. And most companies will not issue you a loan if you already have an outstanding loan.

How Much Money Can I Borrow?

The amount of money you can borrow also varies state by state and in how each state regulates loans. Most states limit how much can be borrowed, which usually falls between $300 and $1,000.

Lenders determine the amount you can borrow the same as other lending institutions assess risk for other loan products. Payday lenders take into account your income and expenses along with your lending history to determine an amount they know you can reasonably expect to pay back.

The Bottom Line

So what do you need to get a payday loan? Not much, really. You must be at least 18 and meet the handful of requirements listed above.

Before you get a payday loan, make sure you will make enough on your next check to repay the full balance while also meeting your other obligations. If you are unable to repay the loan for a few more pay periods, the resulting interest gains could result in a debt trap for you.

Payday loans are best used when you need emergency funds, and you have more than enough to repay the loan with your next paycheck.

Keep browsing our site for more valuable and helpful articles.