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.

 

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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.

 

Running An Event? Choose Branding, Branding, Branding

Oct13

What would you consider is the most important result of running a business event? What are you looking to achieve? If only one thing could be taken away from all your efforts in setting up the entire affair, what would it be? Securing purchases?

This helps, but is a one-time thing. Networking well? This also helps, but building your own platform is always more effective than relying on others.business-meeting

We’d like to argue that exposed branding is the most effective and idealistic result of your exhibition efforts. In fact, this is so much the case that we included it three times in the title.

With all of your presenting ability, you should do your best to hammer home your logo and name into the minds of your audience, so much so that recollection of either of these will help them remember the entire event in full.

Here are some tips to injecting your branding into the public consciousness through your events and beyond:

Theming

If you don’t have an identifiable theme, you can’t work well at crafting a coherent and memorable presentation for your audience. Your logo design must be appealing and memorable, and preferably simple.

Plaster this on every T-Shirt of your event staff, have it raised in large viewable platforms around the room.

If holding an open forum, or to mark the location of your offices, consider using event flag printing to craft a high-quality identifier, one that will simply shout ‘we’re here!’ to everyone who walks past.

Eye-catching theming is one of the best methods to hold a gaze and keep it, and the longer a consumer or potential investor looks at you, the more intensely their curiosity develops.

Online Platforms

Everything you do within the walls of your exhibition should be depicted on your website, and every product/service you sell here or in the future should be imbued with links to all of your social media pages and dedicated websites.

It should serve as the hub for all of your exploration, a place where a consumer can click and find out everything about where you will be. Consider this the roadmap to all of your future events, and bestow that understanding with perfect clarity towards your clients.

Be Specific

It’s always a shame to see a small business trying to appeal to everyone. In the interest of reaching every demographic, small companies often lose their identity. If you don’t have a strong identity, you become awash in the other countless amount of businesses vying for a successful spot in the same industry.

Don’t be afraid to make your mission statement known, and don’t be afraid that some people will dislike it. It’s better to have a strong presence than none at all, and sometimes, that means treading on people’s toes.

Never be combative, but a little branding aggression can help you dominate the scene, and in the war for consumers hearts and minds, this is the most reliable way forward.

 

This advice should help your branding to no end, so much so that when discussing it you’ll have to name it thrice.

3 Types of business services that you might consider outsourcing

Oct11

As a business owner, it’s easy to want to to do everything regarding your business yourself. It’s easy to find it hard to trust others with aspects of your business and it’s hard to hand over the reins.business-advice

But, if you want to be successful, and you want your business to be successful, you’re going to have to accept help with it from time to time. In fact, you’re going to have to accept help with it all the time. Below are just some of the types of help that you should accept.
Cleaning services

It’s easy to see the cleanliness and upkeep of your office space as something that is not important enough to either ask for help in regards to or pay for. But, it is. It’s important to ask for professional cleaning help from janitorial services, and subsequently pay them for their services, because the cleanliness of your office is of utmost importance.

It is so because you must make your workspace as safe and as healthy as can be for people to enter and work in, and thus you must ensure no germs or bugs are festering.

What’s more, you need to ensure the place looks, smells and feels good so that any potential customer that enters it knows that your business is one that takes pride in it’s presentation and doesn’t forgo the little details.
Virtual services

Today, nearly everything is virtual. What’s more, in the business world of today nearly everything is virtual. Therefore, if you want your business to be right at the forefront of the modern world of business, you have to dabble in virtual services yourself.

What this could mean is you using the services of a virtual receptionist; what doing so would do is allow for your phones to be manned at ALL times — day or night, come rise or shine.

The virtual receptionist you hire would be tasked with answering your calls 24/7, meaning anybody trying to get in touch with you or your business would never fail to do so. This gives your business a real bonafide feel and means no custom can ever be lost because you didn’t answer the phone
Merchant services

Simply, you must be willing to embrace merchant services —the use of card machines to take payment — if you haven’t done so already.

Regardless of whether you want to or not, you must do so because paying by card is now the preferred method of payment for customers, and that doesn’t look like changing.

What’s more, customers now expect to be able to pay by card, and become disgruntled when they cannot. And do you ever want a customers disgruntled with any aspect of your business? No, you don’t!
Whether you feel inclined to ask the three services above for help or not, you must. You must because it will help maintain and boost your business today and see it strong enough to grow even stronger and further tomorrow.

 

Real Estate Opportunities Too Many Investors Miss Out On

Sep29

When it comes to investing your money, one of the hardest decisions to make is where you’re going to put it. Whether you decide to dive head first into the stock trade, or you’d prefer to play it safe and stick with a savings account, there are pros and cons to just about every option. However, there are some which come with more benefits than others, and few are better than real estate.

It’s a fairly well-known fact in the investment world that property is one of the very best forms of investment out there. It’s often an incredibly secure investment and thanks to the current state of the property market, more and more people are renting instead of buying properties. crane-kamau

The reliability and potential profit involved in real estate make it one of the most tempting choices out there for both new and experienced investments. However, even those with a strong grasp of real estate investments can still end up missing out on some fantastic opportunities.

Whether it’s through inexperience or a lack of awareness of the options that are available to them, here are some of the most common real estate opportunities that far too many investments and up missing out on.

Fixer-uppers

Most property investors try to focus on finding properties that they can turn a profit on right away. The reasons behind this are pretty understandable. After all, the less work that you have to do to make a property habitable for tenants, the easier it will be for you to start earning money on your investment.

However, this often means that you’re going to have to make a pretty significant upfront financial commitment right away. Sure, this can be totally fine if you have the money to cover those costs but otherwise, you could be in something of a difficult situation.

However, you want to save money on your initial investment then why not think about buying a home in slightly worse condition? Sure, there is going to be a fair amount of cost and effort involved in improving that property and bringing it up to scratch, but it is a great way to spread the costs out and find a potentially fantastic property that might have been overlooked by other investors.

Up and coming areas

The area that your property is in is often just as important as the property itself. Of course, the obvious attitude that many investors take is that a more affluent area is going to be a better bet for properties that will bring in higher returns.

However, that’s often something of a short-sighted attitude to take. For one thing, more affluent areas will generally have more expensive properties which will increase your initial investment, whereas you’re much more likely to find a great bargain when you look in areas that don’t have quite such high reputations.perfect-property

Some of the very best places to look when you’re trying to get the best possible deal on your investment are areas where the house prices aren’t especially high, but there is a decent amount of interest cropping up.

By getting in on the ground when it comes to properties and certain areas, you’re going to be able to find a property that’s a genuine bargain, but that you can make a seriously decent profit on in the future.

International investments

One of the most common mistakes that a lot of property investors make is that they forget that there are opportunities outside their own borders. Sure, there are a lot of conveniences to only ever buying and renting out properties in your own country.

For example, you don’t have to deal with language barriers or any added legal complications. However, the benefits that can come from investing in overseas properties can be incredibly significant.

One of the most obvious of these benefits is the fact that many overseas properties are incredibly cheap. If you head over to a site like http://rumahdijual.com/balikpapan/perumahan you can see just how much of a bargain many of the properties there are.

This means that you’re going to be in a much better position to invest in multiple properties and really diversify your investments. Not only that but by looking further afield, you’re going to be in a position where you have much more choice over what kind of properties you’re after.

Rather than fighting with other investors in your home country, looking internationally opens up a whole new set of options for you that you might never have even considered before.

Commercial properties

When investors are looking for properties, whether they’re looking to flip a property or simply rent it out to a tenant, they tend to only ever think about residential properties. Now, residential properties are fantastic but only ever using those options is putting yourself in something of a limited position.

The truth is that there are plenty of options other than residential properties that you might want to consider investing in. One of the best options is to invest in commercial properties.

Sure, there are some extra details and complications that can come with renting out residential properties but it also comes with a large number of benefits. One of the most common is that you’re much less likely to have to worry about finding replacement tenants.

Commercial tenants often stick around for much longer periods of time. While residential tenants might have their lease run for six months to a year, commercial tenants tend to work in periods closer to five or ten years.

An empty property is worse than useless to a real estate investor, so anything that you can do in order to limit the chances of that happening is a plus.

Sure, part of the reason that these aren’t the most popular choices for many investors is that they involve slightly different approaches than the more common real estate opportunities, but these kinds of options can often be incredibly lucrative.

Not only that but because they are so often ignored by other investors you can get great deals on them because of the sheer lack of competition. They’re not necessarily always going to be the best options for you in terms of investments, but having more options available to you is never a bad thing.