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How To Save A Small Fortune When Launching Your New Company

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StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article |Launch a new company|How To Save A Small Fortune When Launching Your New CompanyIf you’re thinking about launching a new company during the next couple of months, you’re probably worrying about getting the investment you need to get the concept off the ground. Sure, you’re going to need some cash to turn your business dreams into a reality, but there are plenty of ways to reduce your spending and save a small fortune if you pay attention to the expert advice on this page.

Today, we’re going to take a look at some of the most straightforward and simple ways you can limit the amount you need to invest in getting your venture off the ground. Depending on your business idea’s nature, you may have to tailor some of these suggestions accordingly. Just use some common sense!

Work from home during the early days

There is no reason to rent an office or buy business premises when you’re just starting out. In most instances, you can save lots of money by working from home. Maybe you have a spare bedroom or a garage that you can convert into an office? Perhaps you can take a desk up to your attic or something similar?

Working from home will mean you don’t have to worry about renting an office until you begin to make a profit. Of course, there are some downsides to working from home, and you’ll have to work hard to limit their impact as much as possible.

For example, working from home can become a real pain if you have family members or children in the house. So, you need to make sure they know to leave you alone when you’re sitting at your desk. The last thing you need is for the kids to knock on your door every five minutes.

StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article |Launch a new company|How To Save A Small Fortune When Launching Your New Company Outsource some of the work

You can increase your output during your business’s early stages without spending too much money if you choose to outsource some of the work. You can’t afford to hire employees at the moment, so it’s sensible to find freelancers willing to help out on an as and when basis.

There are lots of excellent freelancing websites you can use to find the right professionals, and you just need to open an account to get started. In most instances, you will post a job, and the freelancers will bid for the work. You then select the individual you deem most suitable and let them get started.

Some of the best freelancing websites around today include:

  • People Per Hour
  • Fiverr
  • Guru
  • DesignCrowd
  • Upwork

StrategyDriven Starting Your Business Article |Launch a new company|How To Save A Small Fortune When Launching Your New CompanyPurchase the items you need in bulk

Experts from Supply Link USA and many other professionals claim that buying your essentials in bulk could help you to save a fortune in business expenses. Whether you need to purchase ink and toner for your printer and photocopier, or you need stationery and other items, bulk buying is the best solution.

Don’t make the mistake of buying the things you need from high street retailers because you will pay the highest prices. Instead, you should look towards getting in touch with the suppliers who stock those stores. At the end of the day, you’re in the business world now, and you can get lots of discounts if you’re smart.

Use the latest software

New business software reaches the market every single day, and using it can save you a lot of working hours, according to The Balance. Sure, you’ll have to make an initial investment to get the solutions you require. However, they could save you lots of money in the long run. Why employ humans to perform a task when there is software out there that will do it?

Take some time to research your competitors and the software they use to run their operations if you struggle to know where to start. There is no harm in replicating the processes used by other companies in your industry when you’re just starting out.

Also, find some reputable blogs and news websites that publish articles about your industry. That way, you should remain at the forefront of the market and ensure you hear about any new revelations or software releases ahead of time.

Automate as much as possible

Automation is everything in the business world at the moment, and you’ll need to automate as many of your essential processes as possible if you want to make a killing while reducing your expenses.

It doesn’t make sense to pay someone to enter information into a database for hours when you can find software that will do it instantly. The same goes for lots of other processes and actions within your operation. If you can work out a way to automate them, you shouldn’t have to spend any additional cash.

Depending on your industry and your company’s nature, it could be possible to automate everything from lead generation to distribution if you’re smart.

Ask friends and family to help

Lastly, sometimes you need to call on people who care about you if you need to reduce costs when launching a new business. You might even think about asking them for funding. While you might not have enough capital to employ workers outright, you’ll probably need some assistance. That is where your friends and family could come in handy.

Ask people you trust if they’re willing to lend a hand for a few hours for free whenever you need some help. If it makes you feel better, you could offer to pay the person for their time when your company begins to make a profit. You could even promise to offer them a job first whenever you’re ready to employ workers.

You should now have some excellent ideas that will help you to save a small fortune when launching a new business venture during the next few months. Be sure to spend a lot of time on your business plan and make sure you cover all the bases if you don’t want to face any nasty surprises. Understand your costs, budget accordingly, and make sure you have some cash spare in case something goes wrong. If you do that, nothing should stand between yourself and business success.

How to Handle Working from Home Stress

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StrategyDriven Practices for Professionals Article |Work from Home Stress| How to Handle Working from Home StressWere you one of the 49% of British workers who worked from home during lockdown? If so, you might not be heading back into the office just yet.

For some workers, moving to home turf to do the day job has been a largely positive experience. However, for others, this shift has had a negative impact on their mental wellbeing, causing stress levels to rise and an increase in feelings of isolation – and these feelings are nothing new.

According to a 2017 study by the United Nations, which looked at 15 countries including the UK, US, and India, 41% of employees who mostly worked from home said they were highly stressed. And in his 2014 report, ‘Wat als we Nieuw gaan Werken?’ (What if we Start Working New?’), Belgium-based academic, Henrik Delagrange found that there is a higher risk of burnout for those who work longer hours remotely.

While the stats are negative here, there are ways to find the balance. If we’re feeling overwhelmed while working from home, here are some ways to handle those stressful feelings.

Have something to look forward to

When did you last book a holiday? Lockdown has meant that many of us aren’t taking the holidays we usually would, but it’s important to have a break, even if you’ve not got anything planned.

Also, there are some big events coming up that can help to restore some sense of normality. Halloween and Christmas are just a few months away so why not start shopping for these? Have a look at sweet treats, such as Christmas chocolate hampers, to really get into the festive spirit.

Take a time out

It can be easy to not take any breaks while you’re getting through your daily to-do list. But walking away from your computer and doing something unconnected for 10 minutes can help you switch off for a while. By doing this, you are resetting your mind and you may find that you’re able to focus on what you’re working on in a more productive way.

Set a schedule

We’re connected to work 24/7, thanks to technology. This makes it increasingly difficult to switch off our computer when the working day is over.

However, if you’re finding that your work life is creeping into your downtime, it might be worth setting yourself a schedule – and sticking to it. Decide on what you’ll be doing at 9am, 11am, and after lunch so that you have tasks to do and a rough time to complete them by and this will allow you to methodically get through your to-do list and give you the chance to plan ahead for the rest of the week.

Download an app

There are lots of mindfulness apps that are available right now, and, while they’re all slightly different, their common aim is to help you feel calmer and less stressed. Calm, Headspace, and Aura are just some of the apps that are available on iOS and Android devices, and as they’re designed for your phone, you can take them with you and access them when you need a break or are starting to feel overwhelmed.

Speak to someone

If you’re finding things tough, speak to colleagues or, if you feel you need to let your manager know, arrange a meeting with them. Your manager should be able to offer some advice or point you in the direction of support services.

Should you feel that you need professional support, there are lots of services to help. Mind has a lot of resources online that can help you take the steps to manage stress.

Working from home doesn’t have to have a negative impact on your wellbeing. It’s important to know that you’re not alone.

Why Business Owners Should Detatch From Banks

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article |Detach from Banks|Why Business Owners Should Detatch From BanksAs a business owner, working with your bank to fund, run and grow your business seems like it’s natural right? Well, it is, and it isn’t. Many people believe that entrepreneurism is all about private ventures, that don’t necessarily involve a bank. It can involve investors, the public in the form of an IPO, or even, family members that are backing you. But why not a bank? Well, banks are inherently linked to the Federal government, so one way or another, big brother has their hand in your pocket. Whether you are taking a loan or credit card from your bank to pay for things in your business, you should reconsider this approach.

Business loan vs investment

A business loan is quick and easy. But, it always comes with strings attached. But so does investment money. So what’s the difference? Well, with a business loan that a bank or lender provides, you can rarely ever negotiate the terms. It’s usually on a take it or leaves it basis. The upside is, that you get to have the money in your account in just a few hours. However, with investor’s money, you can set some of the rules. An investor may want a piece of the company, you can negotiate how much of it you can give away and what kind of creative control you will retain. You can also commission growth reports that can stagger or step the amount of investment put into the business in accordance with success, and how much the investor is to receive in profits from the same correlation.

Banks can pull the plug

Bank loans are usually entirely in the favor of the financial institution. This means you are kind of at the mercy of a bank that is also at the mercy of the government. Essentially, the buck doesn’t stop with the bank, so they feel they can abuse their relationship with you. Take a look and read any business loan contract, and you will find clauses that allow the bank to pull the plug and ask for early payments that were not in the initial structure or payment. The Debt to Success System reviews banking scam, and in an orderly manner lays out how the banks have gone to a debt-based ‘growth’ system. As global debt mounts up, banks will be more inclined to pinch their purse strings and that in turn means, being more aggressive in their actions towards business loan recipients. DSS can also help you overcome your debts, with their unique debt discharge system that banks and governments don’t want you to know about.

YOU are the investment

Rather than going to the bank for a loan, they should want to invest in YOUR business. Banks go to corporations like Tesla, Apple, Mercedes and Microsoft, not the other way around. But how could you become like them? You need to show consistent profits and a brand that has the potential to spread like wildfire. Banks will be flocking to you to invest and you’ll be contacted by their investment firms.

Banks are not the savior of any business. They do provide some financial services that are useful, but before you turn to them, exhaust all your other options first.

Can You Verify Mobile App Users and Is It Worth Your Time?

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article |Verify Mobile App Users|Can You Verify Mobile App Users and Is It Worth Your Time?As an entrepreneur with a mobile app as either part of your business model or the whole thing, it’s a difficult part of the business to actively embrace. It’s certainly beneficial when people wish to engage with the brand in any fashion, but what’s it worth if it’s not known who they are? For this article, we look into verifying users, and what value it may hold.

Mobile App Strategic Business Models

Some companies offer mobile apps that will proving a meaningful way to interact with customers. The business models may include:

Advertising Based

An app that is monetized using advertising such as the Ad Mob platform from Google can be a primary revenue driver. This requires the app to be highly adopted and sticky enough that it’s frequently opened and used most days of the week. This leads to enough activity that ad revenue is reliably generated. However, millions of users are usually needed to profit substantially. It doesn’t require identification to be usable.

Subscription-based or Premium

A subscription-based model is essentially a premium version of the mobile app. There may also be a free version or a “freemium” one that is upgradable. Scant information through permitted access to certain aspects of the information stored on the mobile device provides little clarity. Taking a payment for the premium app may provide more, but it’s still not verified.

Lead Generator for Main Business

An app that acts as a lead generator for the main business serves a useful purpose. Being able to verify that they’re a real person either representing just themselves or on behalf of a business is useful. It ensures that valuable staff time won’t be wasted.

Supplemental to Main Business

An app that’s offered as a supplement to the main business is helpful too. It’s not always necessary to verify the user if they’re already a customer. However, it can provide greater clarity by using an automated tool to match their name to the phone number provided.

How Are Mobile App Users Verified?

There are companies that can provide a solution to enable quick verification in real-time on mobile app users. One such company is Cognito, found at https://cognitohq.com, which provides an SDK to developers to incorporate their sophisticated technology into their apps. By checking the entered information from a user such as their name and contact number, it’s possible to get a quick confirmation score on the validity of this information. Dummy phone numbers and even incorrectly types names will get appropriately flagged.

Does Verification Change the Game?

Yes, it does. With the number of mobile users growing every day and up to 40 percent of online shoppers now, companies realize that they cannot ignore this kind of growth.

Being able to “automagically” identify the users of a mobile app when they supply a couple of pieces of information is a game-changer. The company can then understand where they are located and glean some statistics that are officially known. This helps the business to offer advanced features in response to the supplied information as an incentive to users.

Identifying at least some of the users of your mobile app proves extremely beneficial to companies, especially when the app is publicly available, and anyone could be using it. They can then build more reliable profiles about whom their users are, including their demographics, and shape their offering accordingly.

Reputation And Entrepreneurship- What Startups Can Do To Enhance It

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StrategyDriven Starting Your Busines Article |Enhance Reputation |Reputation And Entrepreneurship- What Startups Can Do To Enhance ItStarting up a new business is never easy but this wouldn’t dissuade someone born with an entrepreneurial streak. When you establish your dream venture, there’s always a lot to handle. Apart from the financial challenges and hard work to be invested, you need to be very careful about managing your reputation at all times. One slip at this stage can throw your reputation off track and your company may never be able to take off.

On the other hand, a solid reputation right from the start can build the trust, credibility, and loyalty of your customers. Also, it can present you as a reliable prospect for suppliers and partners. Together, these factors can give you the growth push that your startup needs. It makes sense to put all the effort you can in building your reputation. Here are some measures that can help you enhance the reputation of your entrepreneurial venture.

Invest in consistent branding

Branding serves as the bridge between a business and its customers. It is all the more important at the startup stage when you want the potential audience to know, recognize, and recall your business. Investing in a consistent branding initiative makes it possible to build a reputation for your product and brand. Start by creating a compelling narrative that highlights your value proposition. Encourage the first customers to stay with your brand and propagate it with word-of-mouth recommendations. Incentivize them for spreading the word around because people tend to trust other people rather than brands. Ensure that the tone of voice and messaging is consistent across all the branding channels.

Have the right people on board

While a great branding plan gets you a head start with your reputation, you cannot sideline the value that people can add to your brand’s presence. This is one more reason why entrepreneurs should prioritize having the best people in their team. Hard skills do matter but you should onboard people who are great with interpersonal skills as well. Customer-facing roles, in particular, require extra care and attention. After all, these are the people who will interact with your customers. Moreover, those dealing with suppliers, vendors, and partners should also be capable of keeping up your reputation with positive and friendly interactions.

Steer clear of legal issues

Legal hassles are one of the most common reasons why any business may face reputational damage. Startups are at a higher risk because they aren’t aware of the issues they may come across, from intellectual property breaches to founder disputes, workplace discrimination and more. The legal risk can be unexpected, like personal injury cases from customers and third parties. The injured victim will probably get a law firm offering top-notch legal solutions to represent them for a compensation claim. While lawsuits have financial implications, the loss of reputation can be a bigger issue. So you must do everything you can to steer clear of them in the first place.

Get the basics right

Besides avoiding specific legal issues, getting your basics right is equally important to protect your reputation as a startup. This is something that a majority of founders overlook and end up paying a heavy price. Double-check your calculations while doing sales figures, financials, and taxes. Go the extra mile with product design safety and testing and avoid service errors that may bring bad reviews. Do everything possible to keep customers happy because a single bad review can send your reputation plummeting. Even if you do get a negative review, address it immediately and try winning the customer’s favor.

Grow at an optimal pace

It may be great to experience booming growth and have a huge customer base quickly. But an unrealistic speed of growth can actually lead to unrealistic expectations that you may not be able to handle in the long run. Your efforts should be to move ahead at a consistent yet optimal pace, focusing on long-term relationships rather than only immediate revenues and profits. Keep a close eye on your growth graph and ensure that you are always on the right track. The processes you have in place should be scalable and reproducible with other people, rather than being dependent on only a few people.

Your reputation depends on your business and it works the other way around as well. So it becomes important to follow the best practices and be committed to giving the best to your customers. Avoid every small slip and admit your mistake even if you make them. A proactive approach towards resolving issues goes a long way in giving you a healthier reputation.