What Does It Actually Take To Get A Business Off The Ground?

Feb7

If you’ve ever watched Dragon’s Den, you could be forgiven for thinking that all you really need to hit the big time in business is a bright idea. While this is undoubtedly an excellent foundation, it certainly isn’t the only ingredient you’ll need.

Setting up a business is not a straightforward task by any stretch of the imagination, and there’s a lot of hoops to jump through before you reach the finish line. If you’re thinking about acting on an ingenious idea and trying to crack the world of entrepreneurship, this guide should come in handy.profits

Financing a new business

It’s impossible to establish a new company without spending money. The amount of money you spend will vary hugely according to the type of business you plan to launch, but there are likely to be significant costs involved.

It’s so important to determine exactly how much you money you’ll need and how you’re going to obtain that cash. Many people invest their own money, but if your savings won’t cover the startup fees, you’ll need to consider other sources.

You could look for investors, you could apply for a loan, or you could look to bring partners on board. Whichever path you take, you’ll need to plan every step in detail so that you know where your money is going and how you can recoup it in the best way possible.

If you’re not an expert when it comes to finances and accounting, it’s wise to arrange meetings with financial advisers and take a look at what other companies do to maximize efficiency and lower running costs.

Researching the market

Before you take any giant leaps into the unknown, it pays to do your research. To be successful in business, you need to ensure that there’s a market for your company. If you’ve got a product, who is going to buy it?

What other similar products are already on the shelves? How much do those products retail for? Will your product serve a purpose? Are you offering something different? If you’re providing a service, is there a demand out there? Have you got any competitors? Have you got a USP?

Who are you targeting? Research should provide you with all the answers to these questions and help you decide whether or not there’s a good chance that your business will attract attention and generate sales.

Use the information you obtain from surveys and polls, focus groups and consumer trials to shape your business plan, improve prototypes, plan your pricing strategy and design your marketing campaign.  

Investing in equipment

Almost every company in the land depends on equipment of some kind to deliver services or products. When you’re working on your finances, and you’re drawing up plans for production and logistics, consider what kind of equipment or machinery you’ll need to get the business up and running and operate as efficiently as possible.

If you’re in the construction industry, it’s a good idea to keep an eye out for diggers, towers and mobile cranes for sale and to look into hire costs for machinery you’re unlikely to use on a regular or long-term basis. If you’re kitting out an office for a telesales company, have a look at the latest computer systems and communication programs and equipment.

You may find that investing in cutting-edge tech will cost more now, but save you money in the long-run. If you’re running a hair salon and you’re on a budget, look for nearly new equipment, which will enable you to achieve the same results without spending as much. Whatever kinds of tools or machinery you need, shop around for the best deals and consider buying in bulk to take advantage of lower prices.

Hiring staff

Most business owners employ at least one other person, and some companies have teams of hundreds or even thousands of people. If you’re in the midst of planning a grand launch, consider how you’re going to staff your business.

How many full-time roles do you need to advertise and how much do you have available to spend on wages? Once you’ve got a core team, consider how you can access skills without adding to your annual wage bill. There are alternatives to offering full-time contracts.

If you have a seasonal business, for example, consider short-term and temporary contracts. If you work on projects, for example, building houses, you may wish to think about hiring freelancers and working with contractors on specific jobs.

If you run a company that has many different departments, it may be beneficial to weigh up outsourcing options. This can help you to run the business smoothly and effectively for less.

Legalities

When you’re watching TV, it’s easy to get a rose-tinted vision of what happens when you set up a new business. On the small screen, you don’t necessarily see what goes on behind the scenes. You can’t just design a website or put your name on the side of a van and start touting for customers. You have to make sure that your company is licensed and that it operates according to regulations.

Promoting the business

Once you’re ready to set the world alight with your new venture, it’s time to spread the word and promote your company. Now that you’ve figured out how to get all the cogs turning in the right direction, you need to make people aware of what you do and how you could benefit them.

There are countless marketing methods you can use, and you should utilize the results of market research to design a strategy that has maximum impact. Use methods that will attract your target demographic and try and be original. If you’ve got a brilliant USP, you need to sell it in the best way possible.
Have you got ambitions to be the next business mogul? Have you got a fantastic idea, which you want to turn into a profitable business model? If so, hopefully, this guide will prove useful, and you’ll soon be watching your empire grow.

Advertisements

How To Invest In Real Estate With Less Than $100,000

Feb2

Forget about your cryptocurrencies and stocks, real estate is still the best investment opportunity out there. The main issue with it is that large portions of the populations feel as though they’re sectioned off from it.

This is because investing in real estate demands that you have a lot of money. People are pumping hundreds of thousands of dollars into different properties – it’s not something you can get involved in if you aren’t a high earner.

At least, that’s what most people think. However, as you will see in this article, you can invest in real estate with less than $100,000.

real estate

Image

Put A Deposit On A Mortgage

If you have less than $100,000 ready to invest, then you probably can’t buy a house outright. But, what you can do is use your money to put a deposit down on a mortgage.

This will give you access to money that you can use to buy a house. From here, you have many options at your disposal. You can either rent the property out and collect monthly income, or you can try flipping the property to earn a profit on what you paid.

Naturally, you still have to pay off your mortgage, so remember that when you flip your property to ensure you make enough to cover that. With monthly rent, you can use tenant payments to pay off your mortgage bit by bit until it’s gone. Either way, you’re the proud owner of a property, and you invested less than $100,000.

Invest In A REIT

So many people are unaware of REITs. For those that don’t know, this stands for real estate investment trust. It’s this idea that you invest your money in the trust, and gain access to income-producing real estate.

You’ve basically bought shares in the real estate that the REIT owns, get it? As this Rich Uncles review shows, you can start investing in REITs with as little as $500. Obviously, the more you invest, the more shares you own, meaning the more money you get back.

With a REIT, you could have money in various different properties all generating a monthly income. It’s one of the most affordable ways to make money from the real estate market.

Buy Some Land

When you think of real estate, you think of houses and other buildings. But, land comes under the same category too. What’s more, the land is considerably cheaper than buying properties.

Especially if you’re buying farmland, which is cheap and presents many opportunities for you. Now, you can easily get your hands on over 10 acres for under $100,000 – I think the most expensive farmland is around $6,000 per acre, and the cheapest is about $1,000 per acre.

With this much land, you can start a farm and make money from it. Or, you can sell the land on to other people when it improves in value. Or, my favorite idea, you can contact wind energy providers and tell them they can install a wind turbine on your land. They’ll pay you for this, and you’ll keep getting regular income from it. A smart way to invest in real estate if you want to stay away from properties.

There you go; three ways you can invest in real estate with less than $100,000!

 

12 Marketing Tips That Will Give You Assured Returns During The Holidays-Guest Post

Dec14

Entrepreneurs have a very busy time on holidays since it’s the perfect time to promote their business and accelerate their profits. Be it an online business or a local retail store, each entrepreneur tries to promote his business in new and unique ways.

I have personally met many entrepreneurs who have confessed that they earn the highest percentage of their revenue during the festive season.

sustainable-profits

Now is the time to put all your marketing skills to charm your customers. It is the time to market your business, grab more eyeballs, and accelerate your profits.

Here are a few tips to promote your business during the festive season.

I have learned most of these tips during my interactions with some seasoned entrepreneurs of the industry.

Hopefully, these tips will make your holidays more memorable this year.

12 Tips to market your business during the holidays

If you’re a newbie entrepreneur, then there are a few lessons you need to learn immediately. The first lesson is about company formation. The second lesson is about marketing. The third lesson is about brand awareness and the fourth lesson is on money management.

The list goes on and it’s fruitless to discuss it now. It will take several articles to cover all the topics. So let’s get back to our main subject of discussion and that is marketing tips to promote your small business on holidays.

1. Give special offers and coupons: 

Special offers and coupons can help you garner repeat business. Give coupons in each purchase to lure customers for shopping at a later date.

2. Invite Santa:

Children love to interact with Santa Claus in the Christmas time. So you can invite Santa Claus to your store to attract the attention of children and families who are out shopping.

3. Organize special shows: 

Have you launched new products recently? Do you have a wide variety of products but people have no clue about them? If so, then you can showcase your products on special shows throughout the holidays.

If people like the feature of the products, then they may buy them instantly. There are many people who come back home during the holidays. You’ll get a chance to sell your products to them also.

4. Advertise your return policy:

A lot of people hesitate to buy new products if there is no proper return policy. Customers want to know what they can do if products are not good.

So advertise your return policy on your website prominently so that customers can buy your products without any hesitation.

5. Offer a cup of hot chocolate: 

A cup of hot chocolate or coffee can be a great way to entice passersby. So hand out hot chocolate or any popular beverage to passersby and increase your chances for selling your products this Christmas.

6. Send out emails:

 Email marketing can help you earn $47 in ROI for every dollar spent. Send out festive emails to your clients in advance. Give festive titles and touches too.

7. Contact bloggers: 

Do you have products that could make awesome gifts? If so, then you have a great chance to get your products in front of potential buyers. Contact bloggers and ask them to feature your products in their articles on holiday gifts.

This is a completely a non-commercial way of promoting your products. It will also help you to create brand awareness. 

8. Host a special sale: 

Host special sale for 3 weeks in December to keep people shopping in the holiday season. Give special deals and products in these 3 weeks leading up to Christmas. 

9. Give free samples: 

If you sell food items, then give away free samples to your potential customers. Let them try your food. If the quality of your food is good, then people won’t mind buying a few packets of your food items.

10. Pamper your clients: 

Last year when I was out for Christmas shopping, an ad on the store window caught my attention. It said, “Buy cosmetics and get a free makeup”. Just out of curiosity, I went inside the store to know more about it.

performanceThere were few pretty girls inside the store who welcomed me graciously and explained the deal clearly. I had to do buy a few skincare or beauty products, and in return, they would do my makeup absolutely free.

On the hindsight, I thought the offer was not bad. I had to attend a party in that evening. A free makeup could save me a lot of time and effort. I grabbed the deal happily.

You could do something similar to this. You could offer pampering activity like meditation or messages to lure more customers.

11. Make a holiday app: 

Make a holiday specific app or add a special feature to your app to help your customers to shop conveniently. They can connect with you any time of the day and access your products without turning on their computer.

12. Post a video Youtube:

In 2016, mobile video views increased 200% on Black Friday and Cyber Monday since it’s more convenient for people to watch a short video, know about different products and buy them.

Create a holiday-themed video this year to remind your current clients about the products you sell and also attract new customers.

Some popular holiday-themed videos

  • Product video where the main focus is on the products you sell
  • How-to-do videos where you teach your clients the ways to create DIY holiday gifts
  • Thank You videos where you appreciate your customers for their support and cooperation
  • Year in review videos where you talk about the most exciting happenings in the last 12 months

One word of advice

Create a budget for marketing your business during holidays. Your budget shouldn’t be too big. Calculate how much revenue you can expect to earn by following these tips and formulate your budget accordingly. If you spend a huge amount on marketing but earn too less, then the whole thing would be a disaster.

The onus is on you to run your business smoothly, pay off your existing debts, set a good advertising strategy, and coordinate with your suppliers. If you don’t, you may soon find yourself filing bankruptcy.

Conclusion

Holiday is the best time to promote your business and make money. Stats say that holiday season constitutes 40% of entrepreneurs’ annual sales. Never lose this opportunity to promote your business. Use the aforementioned tips to get your items in front of your potential clients.

Author bio – Stacy B Miller is a financial editor at Oak View Law Group. She writes financial articles, which, considering where you’re reading this, make perfect sense.

She’s best known for writing articles on debt, credit, laws small business, and personal finance. She enjoys cooking and watching TV series.

She believes money is important in life and one should give value to it. You can get to her blog kissyourmoey.com to know more about her thoughts and perceptions.

What Does An Angel Investor Really Search For?

Dec5

It’s the purpose of many small businesses to become relevant in their fields. The simply act of getting on the map can mean future investment, and future interest from consumers.

Not all businesses adhere to the same type of revenue acquisition, but it’s almost certain that they’re interested in gathering this revenue through some means. In the fight to develop their business model and work from a sustainable level of daily process, a business will need funds to keep active and strong.good-business

Many businesses look to investing from an angel investor at this time. These angel investors are excellent resources, because not only do they allocate funding the business desperately needs, but they sometimes offer invaluable insight into the market and how it really works.

After all, once an investor commits to financially back your brand, they have a personal stake in your success, and will often take any means to facilitate that. Becoming attractive to an angel investor takes the right ingredients however, and if you’re missing them, you might just turn them off from the deal.

We have some advice to help you ace your investors meeting and present the best form of your operational idea possible:

Patents

Your idea must be unique. It can’t be unique if you haven’t a patent protecting that idea. With one, your idea is protected, and you have an advantage over the market should consumers see value in your innovation.

If you haven’t a patent, it’s open for other corporations to take the idea and refine it in much more attractive packaging. This is the base of what your angel investor will be looking for, so be sure not to even approach them unless this is in the bag.

Good Financial Books

You need to know your finances and accounts forwards, backwards, upside-down and in-between. You should list them in a moments notice. An investor wants to know their money will be safely and competently handled, so take the time to truly understand how the intricacies of your money matters work. This way, you will be able to calculate realistic percentages, return on investment figures, as well as predicted sales results.

Marketing

An investor truly wants to know how well you’re going to market yourself. They want to know if you have the capability of looking attractive to your audience. How are you to catch the eye of the public, and what demographic are you going for?

These questions must be answered concretely and confidently if you’re to impress your investor. If you can, be sure to collaborate with a digital marketing agency to help you start this off on the right footing.

Check these King Kong online agency reviews to make sure you’re comprehensive in your selection process, as this initial appeal to the market could make or break your firm.

 

With these tips, you’ll find that your ability to secure an angel investor is greatly increased. Before long, you’ll be on the road to success you dreamed of the day you registered your business name.

 

Why Your Team Could Make The Difference Between Success and Failure

Dec5

It’s no secret that 9 out of 10 new businesses fail. There are all kinds of reasons why it’s so difficult for startups to survive, and a lack of cohesion is one of the major contributors.

teamworkIf you’ve got a great team, you stand a much better chance of making your venture work. If you’re looking to hire new staff or you’re trying to promote collaboration and cooperation in the workplace, here are some of the reasons why teamwork is so important and some tips to get everyone pulling in the same direction.

The importance of teamwork

Shared goals

One of the most important reasons to promote teamwork in your business is the accomplishment of shared goals and objectives. If you’ve got some people who feel left out or some that feel like others get more praise, you’re going to struggle to ensure that everyone is on the same page.

By setting clear objectives and getting every member of the group involved, you’re going to hit those targets faster and ensure that each individual has an interest in getting to that milestone.

If you’ve got a target, for example, a deadline for a project, you’ll stand a much better chance of completing it on time if you’ve got an entire team behind you, rather than a few people.

Improved efficiency

Consider how fast you can get a task done when there’s a group working on it cohesively compared to trying to do a job on your own. They say that teamwork makes the dream work, and if you’ve got every cog moving, this notion should be proven right.

Delegating tasks, setting deadlines and monitoring progress will help your team achieve goals without delays or hiccups along the way. If you can improve efficiency, this won’t just impress your clients. It will also save you time and money.

A positive working environment

Nobody wants to go to work and be greeted with a frosty atmosphere. You don’t want to sit at your desk all day feeling awkward about talking to a colleague or spend the morning dreading your afternoon meeting.

If you work well within a team and the team is strong, this is going to create a much more positive working environment where people feel able to speak up and share ideas, and everyone gets on well. You don’t have to be best buddies with your colleagues, but it helps if you get along.

Identifying strengths and weaknesses

The beauty of teamwork is that it compensates for weaknesses and highlights strengths. If you’ve got a group of people, you’re bound to find that each person has strengths and weaknesses and you can adapt the way you approach individual projects to achieve the best outcome every time.

If you’ve got somebody who is a brilliant leader and communicator, you can put them in charge of managing the project while people who are skilled in sales and pitching can get out there and close deals.

Providing support

We all have times at work when we need advice or reassurance. If you’re part of a team that is working together, this should give you peace of mind that you can ask for help or seek advice if you’re unsure or you’re struggling.

Team members support and encourage each other, and this can help to strengthen working relationships and improve the chances of a successful outcome.

Building a strong team

If you’re recruiting for a new business, or you’re hoping to build relationships and promote collaborative working at your company, here are some tips that may prove useful.

Recruiting the right people

Recruitment is incredibly important for any business. When you’re searching for new members of staff, don’t focus solely on qualifications and exam grades. If you’ve got an ethos and your day to day work involves being part of a team, you need to look for candidates who fit the mould and those who are happy to work with others.

Shortlist candidates who have the relevant skills and experience, and then use the interview process to get to know the applicants and to gauge how well they fit in with your vision.

Look for personality, enthusiasm and passion, as well as skills and capability and set tasks that are relevant to the job description. If you’re recruiting for a sales team, for example, it would be useful to see how that candidate approaches a pitch.

Organizing your team

Organization is key to any business. If people don’t know what they’re doing, what shifts they’re working or when deadlines are, this is going to have a negative impact on efficiency, and it may also affect the service you provide.

Be clear on goals, make sure every person knows exactly what jobs they’re undertaking and have a clear scheduling system in place. If you run a restaurant, for example, the last thing you want is your employees not turning up for shifts or finding that your entire team is working at the same time because you’re using outdated, confused techniques.

Use a team scheduler app to organize your rotas and arrange regular meetings to check up on how your team is getting on. A lack of clarity can be disastrous, no matter whether you manage a bar or an office full of people.

Encouraging cohesion

Cohesion is instrumental in achieving the desired result in any kind of business. If your employees can work together harmoniously, this creates the right atmosphere, as well as improving efficiency and increasing the chances of hitting targets.

It can be difficult to bring a group of individuals together, but there are lots of techniques you can use to try and strengthen ties and facilitate collaborative working. Bonding activities are a popular choice for business owners.

This may involve having a weekend away or spending a day out in a field trying to cross ponds with rafts or scale walls that are too high to climb. Alternatively, you may adopt a more relaxed approach and plan an outing such as a meal out or drinks after work on a Friday.

These are excellent options for getting to know people if the business is relatively new or encouraging new starters to feel like part of the team. It’s also useful to accommodate group work by making time in the day for people to get together and providing spaces for this kind of activity.

If you’ve got an office full of people trying to concentrate, you don’t want one person shouting across the room to another. Setting aside a meeting room or installing a communal area to grab a drink and go over some new figures can help.

If you’re working on a project, it’s incredibly beneficial to arrange regular meetings to see how everyone is getting on and check that you’re on the right track. It’s also helpful to provide a platform for your employees to speak.

Sometimes, in a group, you’ll have people who love to stand up and share their ideas, but there will also be a few who are reticent to get involved. As a manager, it’s important to encourage those who want to participate to step up. Every member should feel able to voice their opinions.
Dealing with conflict

Conflict of any kind can knock you off kilter and kill the positive vibe. As a leader, this is probably one of the aspects of running a business you fear most. Nobody likes to get involved in conflict or find themselves caught up in office politics or unwanted arguments.

If you sense that the atmosphere has changed or you get wind of unrest from other members of the team, try and nip any problems in the bud. If disagreements are left to fester, this can affect the entire group.

Ask those involved to meet with you and air what’s going on. Talk about any problems that have cropped up and try and find solutions. You don’t have to act as a counselor or ensure that two people become best friends, but if you can improve the situation and ensure that any issues are cleared up, this will benefit everyone.

Celebrating together

If you have a team of people working hard to achieve a goal, giving those people something to look forward to will encourage them to continue putting in 100% and help them to maintain focus.

If you hit that target as a team, it makes sense to celebrate as a team. If you’ve won an award or you’ve reached a deadline, do something to recognize the achievement. Go for a celebratory meal, host a party or ask everyone to bring some food in, finish early and enjoy the afternoon together.
Whether you have a new business or an established company, you should never underestimate the importance of having a strong team around you. A cohesive team can make all the difference when the line between success and failure is so fine.

Teamwork improves efficiency, and it helps you hit targets. It also ensures a positive vibe in the workplace and encourages employees to pull together and support each other. If you’ve got a new team or new starters, get everyone together on a regular basis, create spaces for group activities and prioritize organization.

 

Is Your Business Ready For Overnight Success?

Nov30

As a business owner, there’s probably nothing you want more than overnight success. All budding entrepreneurs dream of hitting the big time, and the sooner that happens, the better, right? The truth is that a sudden spike in sales can be great news, but only if you’re actually ready and prepared.

If you’re pushing a product or you’re gearing up to launch a brand new service, it’s always wise to think about how you would cope if your business suddenly rocketed into the stratosphere. If you’re not quite there yet, but you’re hoping for rapid growth, here are some tips to help you prepare.

graphic design

Keep an eye on the market

It’s so important to be aware of trends and to keep a close eye on the market to predict what’s going to happen next. If you’ve got a product that you think will fly off the shelves, you don’t want to lose out because you haven’t got enough stock or there aren’t enough people to process, pack and distribute orders.

If early indications are positive and you’ve received excellent feedback from buyers and potential customers, set yourself up in advance.

Consider flexible solutions

In business, there’s scope to achieve success in many different ways. Some people take baby steps, some take years to reach the top and others go from a ‘normal’ person to a household name in no time at all.

Shows like Dragon’s Den have encouraged more and more of us to give it a go. While overnight success is still very rare, it’s definitely more viable than it was a decade ago. If you’re braced for an onslaught, it’s so beneficial to be aware of flexible solutions that may help you out.

Consider options like Flex Fleet Rental if you need business vehicles on a short-term basis or get in touch with recruitment agencies and post adverts on social media if you need temporary employees at short notice.

Focusing on the short-term means that you can cope with demand without committing to ongoing costs. If your business does take off, and it looks as though you’re going to be busier for the foreseeable future, you can then plan for the long-term.

Take calculated risks

In business, you often have to take risks to get anywhere. The key is knowing when to take the plunge and using rational calculations and thought processes to determine which risks are worth taking.

If you think that you’re on the cusp of greatness, it may be worth investing in more stock, for example. If you’ve got people asking about the product and it has attracted media attention before it has even hit the shelves, boosting stock levels is probably a risk worth taking.

Most aspiring business moguls dream of being an overnight success. If you think you’ve got a great idea or you long to be the next big thing, it’s imperative to ensure that you’re ready and raring to go.

Keep a close eye on the market, look at consumer trends and consider how you can cope with increased demand in both the short and long-term. Do your homework and take calculated risks. Good luck!

The Secrets Of Entrepreneurship

Oct18

Being an entrepreneur in such a demanding business world has its highs and lows. There’s so many things to worry about, and so many successes to celebrate. Sometimes it’s easy to focus all on the negatives.

But taking baby steps forward is so important. The whole process is so exciting however, coming up with a business name, setting up your first office, making your first sale, it’s all just so rewarding.b2b

But to get to the stage of being a successful entrepreneur, you first need to master a few skills. Have a read to find out more.

#1. Perseverance

Perseverance in the beginning is key to becoming successful. There’s going to be that many setbacks in the beginning that it’ll be hard to push through and not throw it all away.

But literally every business is going to encounter the same issues as you. Don’t panic just because it feels like it’s taking a little too long to get the ball rolling. Stick with it, drive your sales, and reap the rewards.

If you can’t persevere, the business world might not be for you. If what you have a passion for your trade, this skill should come naturally to you however.

#2. Establishing a strong relationship with customers

Having a way with customers is something you’re going to need throughout your time as an entrepreneur. Ever heard of the saying, the customer is always right? That’s because they are.

To become, and stay successful you’ve got to learn to bite your tongue and give them whatever they need. If they say your product is faulty, your replace it no matter what.

If they’re communicating with you in a way that seems a little out of order, you respond in a polite and helpful manner.

Diffusing the situation is literally your only option. The scary thing about business is one bad review can tarnish your whole image.

Word of mouth is so important, and positive reviews will work wonders for you sales. Always put the customer first and the rest will fall into place.

#3. Create systems for efficiency

If you don’t streamline your business and make things easier for yourself, you’re never going to win in this game. Look for cost effective methods to ease the running of everything.

Office 365 small business is the perfect way of keeping track of things. You can use excel for keeping track of finances, and powerpoint for presentations to give to potential business investors.

Use online services such as the cloud to safely store all of your data. The cheaper things in life can really aid your business.

#4. Enjoy Business Success

One final secret is just to enjoy the world of business. So many people get wrapped up in the stresses of it all, they forget to enjoy the beauty and freedom of being their own boss.

The joy of success can be so uplifting, so work through the hard times, and even enjoy them. It’s all part of growing as a business and a person.

Enjoy gaining new skills, enjoy meeting new people, and enjoy interacting with the customers who are going to bring your business success.