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Relocating Your Business Internationally: A Guide

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Relocating Your Business Internationally: A GuideDeciding to relocate your business can come down to a number of factors. Perhaps your service or goods would find more success in a different country. Maybe you’re ready for a new challenge, or a family reason has prompted the move. No matter why you want to move to a new location, there are several considerations you need to keep in mind to ensure it runs smoothly.

The Location

If you’re moving due to a family reason, you will no doubt already have a location in mind. Perhaps your partner or spouse would like to return to their home country. However, if you are relocating to find a new challenge, determining the best place can be tricky. Would your products work better in a hotter climate? Or are they ideal for a country which experiences harsh winters?

Once you’ve chosen the location, you should begin to look for the best place not only for your business to be located but for you and your family also. It’s a challenge to view new homes online, so if you can, try to plan a visit where you can visit a number of properties before choosing one. If you have decided to move to Egypt, for example, Capital Egypt specializes in real estate Egypt and will help you find the ideal property.

Create a New Business Plan

When you began your business, you will have created a business plan. This critical plan will have detailed your idea, the funding you required, the profit you expected to hit in the first year and beyond, and more. However, it’s likely that in a new country, this business plan will not be applicable. That’s because the market will be different, you’ll face different challenges, and you may even require extra funding to get the business off the ground quickly. For that reason alone, it’s time to create a new plan, one which takes into account the new market.

Research the Market Thoroughly

Following on from the above point, when you are relocating your business to a new country, it’s crucial you research the market you’ll be entering. Who will your target audience be? It may be very different from your current audience, depending on the see economic climate, lifestyles, and more. Your market will also be able to show you if you require further funding once you arrive in the new location, or whether you will be getting more bang for your buck once you move.

The Legalities

The legal structure which you used in your home country may be completely different from your new location. In the UK, should you employ workers, you will need to adhere to the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Equal Pay Act 1970, to name a few. In contrast, to carry out any business in Egypt, a foreign investor must either establish an Egyptian subsidiary or a brand, which will typically be a joint stock company or a limited liability company. Ensure you are aware of your legal status before making the move.

 

Protecting Your Personal Finances When Starting a Tech Business

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StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article | Protecting Your Personal Finances When Starting a Tech BusinessAre you finally ready to build your dream of starting your own tech business? If so, you may be concerned about how your business will impact on the personal and family finances that you are responsible for. However, there are many ways that you can help to both protect your business and your family at the same time when starting your tech company, and this guide will provide an FAQ to help you.

How can you finance your business?

If you are thinking about starting your tech business, then you may be worried about how to get the right amount of capital if you do not have the full amount in personal savings. However, there are many ways to finance a business without dipping into your savings. These include finding funding from the government or a business awards scheme which can provide you with the funding that you need to research and produce your innovation.

You may also be able to find an angel investor through attending networking events or create a crowdfunding campaign where the public can help to contribute towards your business on websites such as Kickstarter. You should also look into getting loans from your friends and family as these will help to support you without the interest of bank loans.

How can you keep business and personal finances separate?

Many new businesswomen are concerned about their ability to both support their family and create their business from scratch, even though it is possible to do so. To keep your personal and business finance separate, you should create separate personal and business bank accounts, enabling you to keep track of your expenditure for both, know how much profit you are making in a glance, as well as how much money you have to re-invest into your business easily, and allow you to fill out tax returns quickly.

You should also set yourself a business budget and a personal salary to enable you to split your money into reinvestment and family funds and to ensure that you have enough money for both of your purposes. This will stop you from exceeding the amount of expenditure that you can afford. You should also consider employing a financial advisor who can help to separate your expenditure and advise you on how to manage your finances more effectively.

What should you do if you are struggling financially?

If you do find that you are struggling to manage your personal finances successfully, you should consider taking out a personal Quick Loan, such as those provided by Cash Lady between £100 and £2000. This can help you to deal with any unexpected expenses that you have at the same time as building up your business which you have failed to budget for, as well as helping you to balance your personal and business finances more effectively until you are able to manage these and repay the loan that you have taken out.

 

A Guide To Starting A Home Mechanic Business

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StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article | A Guide To Starting A Home Mechanic BusinessAnyone that knows their way around under the hood of a car and is looking for a rewarding way to earn money from home should consider starting their own mechanic business. You can be a self-employed mechanic and earn a good living working from the comfort of your own home and get to work on cars every day. People always need the services of a reliable mechanic so the work can be stable and being able to work from home gives you good work-life balance, and the ability to put yourself in control of your earnings. Read on for advice on becoming a self-employed mechanic.

Treat It Like A Business

Although you can operate out of your own garage, it is still important to treat this like a proper business and to go through all the proper channels. This will involve:

  • Carrying out market research
  • Writing a business plan
  • Securing funding
  • Registering as self-employed

Set Up Your Garage

Of course, in order to be a success, you will need to have a suitable work environment for working on cars. A few tips include:

  • Clearing out clutter
  • Investing in high-quality tools and equipment
  • Having a desk area for paperwork
  • Having a computer with internet access
  • Adequate lighting and ventilation
  • Having a first-aid kit

Insurance

You need to have the right protection in place before you commence business as otherwise, you could be putting your finances and home in jeopardy. Motor trade insurance is one of the most important types to arrange as this will provide cover for any car that you are looking after for professional purposes – you can get motor trade insurance from Tradex which will provide the cover that you need.

Running The Business

You will also need to consider the business side of the operation, such as accounting, invoicing, web presence, and marketing. These are all key areas which will need as much attention as the car repair work. You can either teach yourself how to handle these areas (which can be interesting and rewarding), or you could hire somebody to help you.

Building A Reputation

Developing a positive reputation is vital to success in this industry. This can be challenging when you first start out, but you can get early business by offering reduced rates to friends and family. You can then build a positive reputation by:

  • Encouraging word-of-mouth marketing
  • Using customer reviews on your website and social media
  • Partnering with relevant local businesses (like a car dealership)
  • Advertising online and offline

The information in this guide should give you the confidence and knowledge required to set up your own garage at home. There is the potential for great success as a self-employed mechanic once you start to develop a positive reputation, plus you have the benefit of being able to work from home which gives you a great work-life balance and allows you to handle any other large responsibilities that you have. Much like any business, it will require hard work and commitment, but it can also be highly rewarding.

 

How To Run A Business From Home

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article | How To Run A Business From Home | Home Business | Home OfficeRunning a business from home can be incredibly beneficial for those that want to set up a business alongside other priorities such as children and family, or if they would like to start up a business with limited funding. To find out whether your home is appropriate to run your business from, this article will guide you as to what you need to do to make your home suitable for a business.

Create a Better Business Space

The first thing that you need to do to run a business from home is to turn your home into a better space for business. Although homes make better places for working than offices due to the limitation of distractions and noise levels, you should ensure that your home is suitable to run a business from. For instance, you need to create an office or workshop space in your home that is separate from the main body of your house to limit the disruption to both you and your family and give you space to work and store equipment. You should also ensure that there is sufficient space for a home office; a loft conversion could be a good idea. If this sounds like something you might consider, be sure to check out conversions with Visionary Lofts for the best ideas.

One of the ways that you can do this is to renovate an existing room, build an extension to your house, or look around for a bigger house that can match your needs. In order to make this financially viable, The Money Hub can help you to get the bad credit mortgage that you need through loans, whether you need to extend your mortgage for expansion or get a mortgage for a bigger house.

You should also make sure that your office is a welcoming and relaxing space. When renovating your home office, you should try to access as much natural light as possible to boost your mood, personalize the décor as much as possible to help you to stay engaged with your work and remain inspired, have enough storage to ensure that your workspace is not cluttered. You also need to make sure that you have an office chair and layout that can limit back pain and eye strain and allow you to keep working for longer periods without discomfort, Office Reality has a wide range you can choose from.

Invest in the Right Equipment

You also need to make sure that you equip your office with all the items that you need to succeed, such as the latest gadgets like laptops and printers that can help you to perform your work to the best of your ability. You should also invest in the software that you need. For instance, it is also important that you are able to establish reliable communication channels to allow your clients and any employees to contact you at all times. If you fail to get a secure WiFi connection or mobile signal, this can lead to your business losing trust with its customers. One of the best communication methods for small businesses at home includes Skype, which can allow you to video chat with contacts for business conferences and networking purposes, needing only an email address to do so.

Create a Timetable or Work Plan

It is difficult when running a business from home not to let your family and other commitments impact on your workload. Therefore, you should make sure that you are able to create a plan to help you to schedule your workday. Then you can prioritize your most important work and ensure that you are able to stay on track amid the chaos of a family home. There are many paper organizers, and even online software applications that you can download to keep you on track too.

How to Boost Your Business’ Appeal

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article | How to Boost Your Business’ Appeal | Curb AppealRegardless of how hard you work or how good the service you provide might be, if your business doesn’t appeal to potential customers, you will find it increasingly difficult to garner customers. Boosting your company’s appeal should, then, be one of your top priorities.

To see how you can make your company far more appealing, to both your target audience and the passing one, make sure to read on.

Showcase your success without showing off

In order to appeal to potential customers in the future, you need to attempt to show them just how successful you’ve been in the past.

Unfortunately, this isn’t as easy as it may seem. There’s a fine line between showcasing your past successes and plain-old showing off. Doing the former will prove to potential customers that you’ve worked hard to get where you are today, which will in turn make them trust in your abilities going forward. Doing the latter will show you to be egotistical and self-indulged, and nobody likes doing business with people like that.

You want to showcase your successes without showing off about them. To do this, you should resolve to make subtle hints about your affluence without being too overt about it. An example of this would be refraining from investing in the flashiest sports car available, and instead buying something a lot less conspicuous — fear not because buying, say, a 4×4 wouldn’t necessarily have to mean that your next car choice need be a boring one. Thanks to E.C.D. Automotive Design, you can design your own unique custom Defender.

Improve your curb appeal

Even if your business operates solely via the web, it won’t hurt to improve your office’s curb ap-peal. Amongst a host of other benefits, taking this action will help you to stand out to the foot traffic that passes your workspace — you never know, once they get home, the people that saw your display might just jump online and research the services that you offer.

To improve your curb appeal, you should:

Put some greenery out front

You need not go all out in this instance. A couple of hanging baskets or raised planters will do the trick — they will both inject life into your entrance and prove that your workspace is cared for.

Lay out a welcome mat

Laying down welcome mats is a simple, affordable, and effective change that will make customers feel welcome whenever they visit your site

Do a bit of redecorating

Has your paint peeled? Have our colours faded? If so, you could be doing serious damage to your brand. Refresh your signage, add a splash of paint, and bring your storefront back to life before passers by think your business is dead and buried.

Tend to your curb appeal regularly

You have to tend to your curb appeal regularly if you truly want to boost your business’s appeal in this sense. This means sweeping the sidewalk, watering your plants, and changing your window display every week or month.

Boosting your business’s appeal is one of the most important tasks you face as a company owner. Be sure, then, to put the above advice into practice, even if you have to make time to do so.