4 Things People Don't Tell You About Being Self Employed

Are you thinking about starting your own business and entering into the world of self-employment? This can be a fantastic decision and a wonderful opportunity for the typical worker. It will mean that you will be able to avoid having a boss breathing down your neck constantly and guarantee that you have a high level of career independence. You have probably already spoken to people who are self-employed themselves and they might be telling you just how thrilled they are that they made this decision. However, there are a few details they might leave out that you should be aware of. Let’s take a look at some of the key points here. 

The Tax Man Cometh 

One of the crucial points that people often forget when they start their own business is that they are suddenly responsible for paying taxes for a company. Now, you might think that this is just like paying your personal tax, however, it’s not quite that simple. Paying business tax can be quite complex and a lot of new business owners slip up here. For instance, you might need to fill out a 1099 form if you are using independent contractors in your business and if that’s the case you could require a 1099 tax calculator. 

The big danger here is that you underpay on your tax. If that happens, you can bet that you will be visited by the IRS at some point. The problem is that people accidentally underpay their tax for years and then when the IRS does arrive they are faced with a massive bill that they can’t possibly afford. It can cripple a company and cause closures. This is why it might be worth using a professional service to manage tax payments in your new business. In doing so, you can avoid this hurdle completely. It can be worth paying a little more to ensure that you get a professional service too. 

Legal Woes

Some business owners believe that avoiding legal trouble with their company is simply a matter of not breaking the law. To an extent this is true, however, the line between legal and illegal in the business world might be a tad more blurred than you think. Indeed, it’s possible that you cross over that line without even realizing it. This is due to the fact that regulations and laws are constantly changing and it can be difficult to keep up.

It’s also worth noting that a lot of legal regulations are not designed to be understood by the typical layperson. Some require a law degree to fully comprehend all the ins and outs of the regulation in question. Take data protection as an example. If you’re trading internationally, you need to understand the different regulations for parts of the world. Companies were given two years to prepare before the GDPR was officially introduced. For many, this still wasn’t enough time. 

That’s why you do need to hire a legal consultant and ensure that they are able to assist you whenever the needs may arise. This will keep you on the right side of that legal line at all times. 

You’ll Need To Outsource 

Assuming your business is quite small, it’s important to manage your spending effectively. One of the best ways to do this is to make sure that you are using outsourcing solutions. Outsourcing simply means that you pass off areas of your business to other companies and let them handle things for you. The benefit of doing this is that you won’t need to worry about expensive costs. Instead, you can keep things under a tight level of control. If you choose the right company, you will also be able to access a high-quality service. This is important because customers won’t know you’re outsourcing. So, if there are any issues with quality, they’ll blame you directly. 

Time Management And Productivity 

Finally, you might be thrilled by the idea of not having a boss pushing you to complete deadlines or make a sale. However, there is a benefit to this type of set up. It helps ensure that you remain productive and reach a high level of potential each day. Without a boss, the responsibility for ensuring this happens will fall squarely on your shoulders. It’s easier said than done too, particularly if you are working at home. As such, it’s important to make sure that you do plan out a schedule for each day and each week. Set measurable goals to ensure that you remain on the right track with your new company. 

How to Relocate Your Business

Making the decision to relocate your business is a massive one. Whether it's due to financial concerns or a new opportunity in a new space, there is a lot to coordinate and plan for in relocating your business. Here are a few tips for how to relocate your business that you can refer to in planning the process.

Find an Adequate Space

The first step in business relocation is finding an adequate new space that will fit everything you are planning to move. What this constitutes is dependent upon what you need the space for, but it is imperative that you find a new space that can fit everything that is required for your operations to continue in the capacity that you want them to. Take your time in finding this space and consider what it will be able to house in terms of your business operations is a necessary first step before taking any other actions in your relocation. In short, finding a new space that gives you enough room to operate will make the entire process easier.

Move Your Equipment

Next comes a step that can be difficult logistically but is also necessary for business relocation. Moving all of your equipment to your new location can require a lot of coordination. However, using a service that helps with moving equipment Los Angeles is almost certainly the way to carry out this task. Hiring trained professionals that regularly haul oversized loads across states and cities is the only way to ensure that all of your equipment will be relocated safely and efficiently.

Tell Your Customers

An essential aspect of any business relocation is to tell your customers about your move. Ideas for telling your customers include putting up a sign outside your business, reminding them when they come in for your services, sending out an email to them and calling them with an automated message that lists your new address and any particulars of the new location. What you want to be sure to remind your customers when telling them about your relocation is that the quality of your product or service will not at all change from this move. They're going to get the same great service that they are used to getting from you and should not expect anything less in this new location.

The decision to relocate your business is a tough one, but if you're able to find adequate space, move your equipment and tell your customers about your relocation, it can go as smoothly as possible.

A Guide for Making Your Clients Happy

You don’t want to make an amazing first impression with your clients, only to then neglect them down the line. You want to retain happy and loyal clients, and you want to increase their happiness over time rather than reduce it. Keeping your clients the happiest they can be may take some forward planning, but every extra effort is worth it to retain that business.

Here are some helpful ways to ensure client satisfaction.

Be Prompt with Your Communication

If your clients are sending emails, making calls or asking questions via social media, always be sure to have a system in place to ensure that no client is kept waiting - or, worse, ignored altogether. It might not always be possible to answer straight away, but be sure that clients always receive a response, and if it’s later than anticipated, then always acknowledge the delay, or set up an automated system which can reply to emails to advise how long it might take to receive a response.

Manage Your Time

You have a wealth of clients that keep your business busy: that’s great. However, you’re finding that you might not have adequate time to give every client the attention they need and deserve: that’s not so great.

Your time needs to be managed and understood to always deliver the best possible service, if you simply don’t have the time for certain tasks, don’t let your clients suffer for it. You can seek help and external services for processes you need assistance with by teaming up with Click Intelligence to deliver the best marketing service and ensuring that your clients still receive what they need.

Listen to Your Customers

If your customers have something to say, whether that’s feedback or advice, you should always be open to listening. You shouldn’t dismiss any customer’s input and perceive your own business to always be right. Customers may be able to help you improve your service if you take their comments on board - and they will be very happy if they can see that you have listened and understood them.

Don’t Make False Promises

There is nothing wrong with being honest. Although you are trying to sell your product in the best possible way, this doesn’t mean that you should oversell and make exaggerated promises which might be impossible to fulfill. If a delivery is going to take a certain length of time, tell your customer that. If you promise that something will be delivered overnight and it isn’t, your customer is not going to be satisfied.

It's much better to provide a realistic and honest service, delivered in an excellent fashion, rather than risk delays, dishonesty, and disappointment.

Don’t Hide Anything from Customers

As a business, it’s your job to deliver what is expected from a client. However, this doesn’t mean that you should never be able to make mistakes or be open with your customers. Customers will appreciate being informed about any mistakes or delays, and will still be supportive of your business if you fix any issues in an honest and open way.

Trying to hide any problems from customers and keeping them out of the loop will only breed distrust.

Starting A Business In Uncertain Times

Source - CCO Licence

If you are thinking about starting a business at the moment, or you have started one recently that you are keen to keep on working with, then you are obviously going to feel as if you have been dealt a poor hand. It is not the best time to start a business, and you are going to find that it is tough in many ways, with people out of work and unable to spend as much money and the economy generally suffering. But if you are determined to carry on, then there are some things you might want to think about in order to make a success of it. Starting a business in uncertain times is not necessarily going to mean that it is a failure, as long as you remember these key things.

Focus On Offering Your USP

You will always need to think about what your own Unique Selling Point is, and whatever that is you should continue to try and push it through all this trouble. If you can do that, you are going to find that you are much more likely to keep the business going strong even when things get tough, and it could be enough to keep your customer base growing how you need it to during these uncertain times. If your USP focuses on something that is particularly important at this time specifically, then, of course, you are going to be in an even better scenario than most, and that is something that you might want to aim for if you are about to set up your business in the near future. Bear in mind, however, that you will also need longevity too.

Keep The Marketing Going

You might be tempted to draw money away from the marketing budget during all this, as you want to save money for things you might consider more important. But if you don’t keep up your marketing, then you are going to struggle to keep your business alive no matter what is going on in the world, and you might not even have a business after the uncertain times are over. You at least need to keep the marketing ticking along in the background to remind people that you still exist, and you might find that this is easier to do if you have a professional advertising agency on your side doing the hard work for you. That is going to make a huge difference.

Plan For A Brighter Future

You never quite know what is going to happen, but the good side of that means that things could turn out much better than you would expect. So you need to make sure that you are keeping positive as far as possible if you want to have a better chance of your business surviving. It’s just a better way to approach things, and you will find that you have much more luck as a result of that attitude.

Keep Yourself at Peak Performance Levels With These Entrepreneurial Hacks

When you run a business, it is important to think about what it takes to make the most of this moving forward. You are going to have to make the most of this, and there are so many things that play a role in helping you run the company. One of the key things is to consider what it takes to keep yourself in the best possible condition, both mentally and physically.

Running a modern business can be a stressful and intensive prospect, and this is something you need to prepare for. There are a lot of things that play a role in helping you improve the business as much as possible, and it is important to make sure you get this right moving forward. Try to do what you can to ensure you are in the best possible condition with your physical and mental health so you can run your business as effectively as possible. 

Workout as Often as You Can

Working out is an excellent way of being able to keep in shape and make sure you stay healthy as much as possible. There are a lot of factors that play a part in this, and it is important that you do as much as you can to figure this out. You have a lot to consider when it comes to working out as much as you possibly can, and this is something you can do both at home and during the working day. 

Look After Your Mental Health

Mental health is hugely important, especially for entrepreneurs in high-pressure industries. Mindfulness and mental well-being play a massive role in helping to make you better equipped mentally to run a brand. You have to do as much as you can to look after yourself and ensure you are avoiding things like stress, anxiety, and depression as much as possible. Do as much as you can to make sure you take care of your mental health in the best possible way. 

Recover from Injuries

Injuries and setbacks can happen at the best of times, and if you are dealing with physical ailments, it is important to make sure you get back to full fitness as quickly as you can. You need to be in the right shape to be able to run your business effectively. This is why you are going to need to do as much as possible to sign up for an accredited physical therapy program to help you work towards recovery in the best possible way.

All these things play a pivotal role in allowing your business to improve and get better, and this is something that can have a massive impact on the process. You need to make sure you look after yourself and your well-being as much as you can. There are a lot of factors that play a part in helping with this, and you have to make sure you do as much as you can to figure out what it takes to get this right. Look after your health and well-being, and your business is going to thrive as a result. 

Here Are Four Reasons Your Small Business Should Consider Digital Signage

As a small business owner, finding economic ways to gain exposure and attract and retain customers is imperative to the success of your business. Placing traditional ads on TV and billboards are still common options that can have some potential benefits for many small businesses. Another option to consider is digital signage, which provides you greater capabilities in connecting with potential and current customers, allows for more flexibility in when and how to display ads, collects usable data, and saves money over the long term. There are software companies, such as https://www.navori.com/digital-signage-software/, with multiple plan options, allowing you to choose the one that works best for your business.

Customer Connections

In today’s competitive marketplace, standing out from the crowd requires a diverse and creative approach to reaching potential customers. Social media and blogs are two of the most effective marketing tools for reaching consumers. Using digital signage software increases your ability to connect with customers on these platforms by giving you a tool to create, alter, and store multiple marketing messages tailored to your target audiences.

Flexible Campaigns

Digital signage gives you increased control in managing your marketing campaigns. You can create promotional campaigns quickly and alter them as needed. You have the ability to schedule multiple targeted messages across broad audiences in any location, even rotating your campaigns throughout the day, if you wish. Additionally, changes that are made are automatically implemented across sites from one centralized location.

Data Collection

With the digitization of marketing comes the ability to gather data more rapidly and effectively than traditional marketing approaches. Data collection can help you hone your message, adjust your campaigns, and understand how your target audience responds to your campaigns. Data allow you to respond in meaningful ways, increasing the likelihood of your campaign’s success.

Long-Term Savings

As a small business owner, purchasing digital signage software is an investment. The upfront costs of the software can seem expensive, making the decision to buy a difficult one. Over the long-term, however, digital signage can save money. Maintaining the software is inexpensive, and you do not incur the expenses that come with creating new ad campaigns for TV or traditional billboards. Another cost-benefit can be found in the potential to reduce the money spent on ineffective campaigns.

Digital signage is common among large businesses and corporations, but its usefulness is not limited to those markets. More small businesses are realizing the potential for digital signage software to increase their exposure, provide more campaign flexibility, obtain useful data, and save money. If you are a small business owner, digital signage software might be an investment worth considering.

4 Entrepreneurial Ideas if You’re Looking for Inspiration

It’s a common dream to consider being your own boss and running your working hours how you would like. Earning a living without having to answer to a higher power can be very enticing for a lot of people - and enticing enough based on the increasing number of professionals looking to follow their entrepreneurial dreams.

Perhaps you’re considering running your own business, but you’re not particularly sure how to go about it, what you want to do, or what your base options are. Let this guide help you.

Turn a Hobby into a Business

Most people aspire to earn money from doing something which they love. If you have a marketable hobby that you are passionate about, then you could look into the business potential for your favorite pastime. The most viable ventures are associated with those hobbies which produce a product to sell, such as building furniture, painting, or making a unique item with a personalized touch. This means an opportunity to open an online store and make money from your hobby.

Branch Out on Your Own

Maybe your entrepreneurial aspirations don’t see you wanting to move away from your current job. It may be that you love the work that you do, but you simply don’t want to work for someone else while you’re doing it.

Opening up your own practice or business, under your own name, in the same business area as you currently work is a good option; this also means that you have reputable professional experience which you can use to your own advantage.

For example, perhaps you have years of experience as a dentist, but you’ve always dreamed of opening your own practice under your own name. A skillset like this will always be in demand, so it’s a viable business move. The initial costs will be expensive, but you have the option to look into loans for a dental practice and branch out on your own.

Help the Local Area

If you enjoy getting out and about in your local community, there are many possible small business opportunities available for you. Pet sitting, dog walking, cleaning, and laundry services are all relevant for the area you live in. If you’re already established in the area and perhaps know many neighbors who might require this service, this can be an enjoyable business venture.

Get Educated

Maybe you’re a long way away from even wanting to start any business venture. It might be that you’re curious about business workings and want to learn all that you can about business and entrepreneurial skills before you find your own inspiration. There’s nothing wrong with finding more education on the subject and improving your skill level to understand better the business avenues available to you as an entrepreneur. There is no negative about arming yourself with more knowledge when it comes to business, and you may meet some valuable contacts and fellow entrepreneurs along the way.

Materials Matter: The Latest Trend In Materials Used To Make Products

‘GRP’ stands for Glass Reinforced Plastic. GRP pultrusions are used in an abundance of applications nowadays. This includes everything from motor vehicles, to the shipping industry, to the transportation of corrosive liquids. The scenarios well and truly vary and the reason for this is because GRP pultrusion products present many qualities and benefits that are advantageous to a number of different companies. Keeping that in mind, continue reading to discover everything you need to know about the perks associated with this type of product, which is the latest trend in materials used in manufacturing today… 

First and foremost, one of the main reasons why GRP pultrusions are so popular is because the material is strong yet it is surprisingly lightweight at the same time, meaning you will have no trouble transporting these parts via your standard warehouse conveyor systems. This presents a whole host of great benefits. When it comes to the lightweight side of things, this makes the material a lot easier to handle and use. You will be able to transport it with ease, which can, in turn, lead to cost savings. In fact, on the whole, pultrusion products can weigh 30 percent less than aluminum and up to 80 percent less than steel. In terms of strength, you will struggle to find a better product, especially as you have a number of reinforcement options to select from. 

This is only the beginning of the beneficial attributes that are associated with GRP pultrusions. Aside from this, this material boasts low thermal conductivity, especially when contrasted with aluminum and steel. This makes it the ideal choice for anyone that is looking for an effective thermal break. GRP is also resistant to corrosion, meaning that this type of product will stand against any corrosive chemicals and environments. The electrical characteristics are also worth touching on. If you are looking for something for applications that are designed for electrical insulation, then this is a good choice, as GRP is non-conductive electrically. 

Aside from this, if you go for GRP at your business, you are going to reap the rewards of greater efficiency. As touched upon, this is a material that is a lot easier to use because of its lightweight qualities. You can also expect to save some money in the process too. This is also a popular option because pultrusions are low maintenance as well. This is because of the fact that they are resistant to corrosion, which in turn means that you do not have to spend a considerable amount of money or time on maintenance. 

All things considered, when you carefully take into account all of the points that have been mentioned in this post, it really is not difficult to understand why so many people are turning towards GRP pultrusions nowadays. This is a material that presents a huge number of benefits and therefore it is suited to a wide range of different applications.

5 Reasons People Still Aren't Taking Your Small Business Seriously

Photo Credit: Career Employer

Your startup is up and running. You’ve cultivated a reasonable and growing base of customers who are happy with the products and services you’re offering. Things are going well… but they could be going better. After all, you have overhead to pay for and the debts incurred to get your business off the ground to pay off.

And that’s going to be harder if your small business remains as small as it is. Repeat customers are coming back, and that’s great. Still, it seems as though your competitors are still gaining ground. Could it be that people just aren’t taking your business seriously enough? That you could be doing more to inspire their trust and establish the value in your nascent brand? 

Here we’ll look at some reasons why people still aren’t taking your business seriously, despite your commitment to operational excellence, and what you can do about it.

Your website was made using a Wordpress theme

Whether you sell products via ecommerce, your website is an integral part of how you and your business are perceived online. When you’re first starting out, it’s understandable that your lack of HTML knowledge might lead you to create a website using a Wordpress theme. However, this can mark you as an amateur in the eyes of some. Even if you’ve given a lot of thought to how your website looks, you may not have considered the User Experience (UX) quite as carefully. A web design agency can help match you to a talented web designer who can create a new website that looks great and handles beautifully, giving your brand a boost.

Your contact details 

If your contact email is a Gmail address and your only contact number is your cellphone, this can scream “amateur” to some and potentially diminish their trust in your brand. While you might, understandably, be shy of overhead costs, a virtual receptionist and physical address may be cost-effective and worthy investments to lend your business a sense of size and scope. 

You’re marketing to the wrong crowd

Digital marketing allows you to deliver laser-focused campaigns designed to engage your target audience. This can be far more efficient than the old fashioned “spray and pray” approach to marketing. If you’re failing to gain traction with your target audience, it’s worth asking if you could be doing more to make your marketing more effective. 

You’ve not yet built a solid base of social proof

No matter how persuasive and eloquent your marketing copy, however, consumers will believe the word of other consumers before they trust anything you say about yourself, which is why social proof is such a valuable and important aspect of marketing. Make sure you incentivize customer reviews and encourage people to refer others in their friendship groups.

You’ve yet to start posting thought leadership content

You’re clever. You’re passionate. You’re the kind of person to whom people naturally gravitate. It’s time that you let that amazing personality and wonderful experience shine in your content marketing. Blogs, white papers, ebooks, and tutorials can all be great platforms for thought leadership, building trust and value in your brand by building trust and value in yourself.

Photo credit: Career Employer

7 Reasons to Collaborate With Bloggers

Blogger outreach and guest posting opportunities are continually in demand. More is to owe to the businesses that recognize the practice as a stable medium for branding.

However, one can easily sway away with the rush and challenges that it puts forth. Thankfully, experts that handle link building outreach suggest that with a little caution and a great idea, anyone can market their business online, these days.

If you are skeptical about collaborating with bloggers to grow your business, here are 7 reasons for you that can help change your mind.

1. You get to increase your reach

As a business, you need to perpetually reach out to your audience. But, at the same time, you also need to grow your audience size. Collaborating with bloggers can do that for you. They can engage with their followers and subscribers on your behalf.

2. Stellar branding returns for business

Businesses that look forward to scaling up need to consider branding at some point in their lifecycle. However, the traditional branding tactics may be burdening on your budget. Nevertheless, you can try blogger collaboration to help you with the same. And they are really good as they have loyal followership whom they can influence.

3. An easy way to secure backlinks

Of course, when you squadron for growing your business online, you wish for your website to improve in organic ranks in search results. Collaborating with bloggers can help secure backlinks to your website, as the experts from outreachmonks.com suggest. To add to this, backlinks are a great signal for prominent search engines for SEO purposes.

4. You can tap into new markets

An added benefit of partnering up with influencers is, they can help you tap into newer markets. For instance, you may no longer be able to convert new leads in the existing region or city you focus on. But, these bloggers have farther reaches, that can help spread awareness for your brand into potentially new market areas.

5. Exchanging ideas can uplift the brand image

Regardless of the market share you hold, there's a continuous war between rivals for market share. And consequently, the most affected value for any business is its brand reputation. Consider the effectiveness of a person your audience knows over your own words. Who do you think they'll believe? It's surely their words against yours. Simply put, they can help improve your brand image.

6. A trusted voice with your experience

Although your audience may trust the bloggers' words over yours, they still need expert advice. And a blogger being an admirer of the niche may lack the expertise, in the advent of lacking practice in the trade. Instead of creating content by yourself, you can seek their engaging inputs and fuse them with your expertise. And there you have a perfect concoction of expertise and entertainment to convert the leads.

7. Cheaper than signing ambassadors

If you've ever considered signing celebs for branding but lacked the financial resources, turn your attention to the modern-day influencers. Bloggers can provide significant returns on investment, by influencing their loyal followers, regardless of the audience size.

So, what are you waiting for? Start your search for bloggers that can help you grow your business.

Analyzing Your Investments: 15 Tips For Investing Business Profit

Investing money is a big deal. It’s one of the two ways you can make money in the world today - the first is to earn an income. When you invest your money, you are looking to get money back - a return, if you will. When you invest your assets, you grow your wealth over time. It’s in your interest to generate as much money as possible, and when you have investment goals, you can make it much easier to earn back money on your initial investment.

Whether you choose to invest your money on a trading platform with a broker, or you want to go ahead and invest your money on a Foreign Exchange, you need to know the best practice for investing your money. You can analyze your investments for your business over and over again, but unless you have some serious tips, you’re not going to know where the best place to start would be. So, what are the 15 best tips for investing your business profit? Let’s take a look!

Finding A Balance

Your first challenge as a small business owner is to strike the perfect balance between investing in your business all over again or spending money on outside investments. You may have plans for diversifying your business, but you need to be able to expand in outside investments, too. You should make a point of interviewing a financial advisor who will understand your need for reinvestment, as they’ll be able to guide you through what to do and where you should put your cash.

Put Money Into Disaster Recovery

Do you live in a town where you’re likely to need a disaster recovery plan due to adverse weather? Even if you don’t, you need a plan for it. Disaster recovery isn’t just about earthquakes and tornadoes, but IT disasters, too. If you don’t have business interruption insurance, then you need to make this investment now. You need this insurance to stop your business from slowing down in times of trouble. 

Choose A New Industry

You may love the business you are running, and you may even enjoy the fact that you are in an industry that is progressing well. However, sometimes avoiding familiarity bias is vital for business continuity. For example, some landscapers will invest in architectural stocks and doctors will look at the pharmaceutical stocks, too. You need to have a diversified portfolio so that you cover a broad portfolio. You can use the help of financial advisors when you need to decide on which industry to choose. It can help to align with a similar industry to yours. 

Think About Property

One of the biggest and best investments anyone can make is with real estate. It isn't just about your personal portfolio; your business can always use the investment in commercial property and the return on the investment you’ll receive when you sell on. Commercial properties are an excellent investment if you’re looking for somewhere to stash some profits.

Avoid Mixing Personal and Professional

A lot of business owners put their personal money into their business, and when you look at it from the asset class angle, this could be considered to be a micro-cap equity investment. It’s not a good idea. There’s a considerable risk involved, and the chance for loss is more significant than you think.

Research Your Stock Options Thoroughly

Due diligence is so necessary if you are looking for stock options for your profits. Thorough research is going to ensure that you have vetted the market appropriately, and you can make sure that you don’t jump in too fast with any decisions that involve your money. The market goes up and down, and it’s not the most reliable way to invest your cash, but if you do decide to go for it, make sure that you have the best possible broker to guide you along the way.

Pour Money Into Retirement

You should be contributing to a retirement plan for yourself already, but where you can, you need to consider adding more to it. You should supplement your retirement when you sell your business, but that doesn't mean you’ll get to do so. So, you should start saving as soon as you can. There are plenty of different retirement plans available and your future matters. You can easily set up a retirement account and set aside money to fill it up! 

Self-Investment

Improving your skills as a business owner is so important. You can better yourself and invest further in your abilities, and you can also enroll in some courses that are related to your industry too. Extra certifications in what you do are going to be the best type of financial investment as you can expand your skills, learn how to diversify your business, and have a better opportunity to improve your business revenue. You can educate yourself and ensure that you continuously invest in yourself to stay on top of your industry.

Keep Up With Your Emergency Fund

You can only invest if you have back up. Setting up an emergency fund is your backup. You’ll not need to touch your savings if you have an emergency fund set up. You can use this for anything your business needs, and it’s the perfect way to build the fund that will catch you should something go wrong or disaster befalls your business.

Buy A New Office Building

Renting out an office space is empty money unless you’re using it all the time. You can instead ensure that your business is stable and established by buying an office building instead. A mortgaged building offers you the chance for investment, and it won’t move. It’s a substantial investment, and you can upgrade it as you see fit. You’ll save money on rental costs and be able to use your office as you see fit. It’s not the same as investing in commercial space and then selling on: this time; you’re using the area.

Invest In Your Employees

If you want your business to run well, you need good people behind it. You should be looking at investing more money in your staff; looking after their needs, furthering their careers, and generally investing in your time in guiding them through to their goals. Your compensation packages could be more lucrative, which will bring on new business. How you invest in your people is going to provide more for them than any other investment. The people you spend while working for you are going to make life far easier for you by staying loyal. The investments that you make in your compensation and benefits package will attract the best talent. The more ability you have, the better chances that you have in impressing the people who work for you. You need them - and they need you. Show them your appreciation and invest!

Embrace Low-Fee Index Funds

When you look to invest your money, you’re going to need to look into things like low-fee index funds. It’s the most straightforward investment strategy in which you can be involved, as all you have to do is set up automatic investments into low-fee index funds. You don’t have to think about the investments you’re making, and you’re going to be able to dollar cost into the funds, which will give you returns long-term. Some so many investors fall into trouble when they are looking at how their investments move, as they allow their emotions to get the better of them. Instead, automation will enable you to cut out the sentiment from the decisions that you make and gives you the chance to gain a return without thinking about it.

Diversify Your Products & Invest Further

Look at the products that you have and look at what they are offering to those around you. You need to expand on what you can provide your customers, and that starts with your products. If you know what you can do more of, you know where to cater to the needs of your customers. When you invest in diversification, you can expand on your offering and people will love what you’re doing!

Invest In Your Business

You must invest in your small business as time moves forward. If you’ve made a profit, turning that money back into your business is a smart thing to do. You can make improvements here and there, and you can improve the health of your business while you’re at it. Investing in your own business gives you a chance to expand and renew your business - which keeps it fresh!

Cryptocurrencies - You Need To Consider Them!

Okay, so you may not have heard much about it, but cryptocurrency is a smart investment to make. It’s not the mainstream right now, but it’s something that is growing daily in popularity. Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency in which you should invest, and while you may find that cryptocurrency won’t replace cash, it’s a good investment in the long term.

Picking The Perfect Premises For Your Business

For success, there are a lot of variables that your business needs to get right. At least, the premises that you operate from. However, finding just the right building to suit your company’s needs and requirements can be something of a challenge. Fortunately, we have created this quick guide of all the issues you need to consider below. Read on to find out what they are. 

Location 

Number one on the list of considerations is where your business premises is located. Of course, different types of business will require different things, with shops and restaurants needing central locations with excellent footfall. While offices may be placed in specific sectors of a town or city or outside in a business park, it all depends on what suits the company best. 

Additionally, if you are running a business that ships products out wholesale, remember you will need your location to be close to transport routes as well. After all, a small reduction in distance or time per journey can really add up when you are making multiple shipments a day. 

Type of building 

Next, when choosing your location, you need to think about the type of building that will be suitable for your needs. Ideally, you will be able to locate premises that are already fitted out for the tasks you intend to use for such as an office set up as an office.

However, remember that sometimes it is possible to successfully convert a space that currently does not offer what your business needs to operate. In fact, if you have extensive decoration and rebranding to do at your premises, a little more construction work does not make much of a difference in cost-wise. 

Size 

Another critical aspect of choosing the right premises for your business is finding a building or site that is the right size. Too big, and you will end up paying for space you do not use, while anything too small will make the day-to-day operations in your business a lot more complicated. 

Although, if you do find an almost perfect property that is a little on the small side, remember that there are steps you can take to save space within the building. 

The first is to use a colocation data center like the ones www.quotecolo.com has on offer. Something that means you can use your own servers but not use up any valuable space in your building. 

Additionally, you can also knock through individual offices to create an open plan format instead, a tactic that can help your space seem as wide and open as possible, and fit in as many people as you can. 

Cost

Finally, when it comes to finding the right space, you absolutely have to consider the costs involved carefully. What this means is you need to perform a cost - risk analysis like the one you will find at www.projectmanager.com for each possible location. Be sure to look for whether paying a little more per month for a better position or ore space would lead to financial benefits for your company in the long run. 

Make Your NetSuite Software Work for Your Business

Founded in 1998, NetSuite software has been helping businesses manage all of the key business management processes in one system. Many companies use NetSuite software for enterprise resource planning (ERP), inventory management, financial tracking, running eCommerce stores, and maintaining good customer relationship management (CRM) systems.

Arguably, one of the best features on NetSuite is NetSuite customization, but there are a lot of ways that this can damage your business if it is not applied correctly to your system. For example, you could make your software run less efficiently; which is definitely something we don’t want, especially in today’s world. So, in order to make sure the customization project is done the right way, consider what to avoid and what to take advantage of with your NetSuite software.

The first thing you need to do when customizing your NetSuite software is to understand exactly what you want to build. Basically, you can’t just customize your software because it seems like a fun project - it requires a bit more than that to be successful. Start by setting some realistic but specific goals for the project ahead of time so you are able to stay on track and meet your overall needs.

Do not attempt to start this project if you are not well versed in the basic functions and features of the software. Doing so would likely just be inefficient and possibly have you overlooking functions that you may need due to a lack of exposure and knowledge. Make your goals clear and concise, and you will only spend time working on things that are necessary and worthwhile for your business. 

For those who are not as well versed in the use of the software, consider hiring an experienced NetSuite consultant. These consultants can tell you if you really need customization at all. This can save you time, especially if there is really nothing that you need to add. It is possible that there are just functions you weren’t aware of, and they can help you determine what those are without wasting a bunch of time trying to customize your software. If you do still need to utilize some customizations, the consultant can also assist you through the process and show you how to integrate the customizations painlessly. 

Now that all of the details about how you’re going to customize have been settled, it is important to test your products before officially launching them. NetSuite sandbox feature is built specifically for this. Using the sandbox to run tests in your customizations allows you to be able to catch any major flaws and implement corrections before taking the time to train employees in the new software. This feature is also great for training purposes once you have officially launched the new customizations. 

If you want to update your NetSuite software for it to run more specifically to your business needs, consider these tips before customizing. Having the software updated for your personal needs is a great bonus if you know what you’re doing and have taken the time to learn all of the bits and pieces that go along with it. 

3 Ways To Expand And Diversify A Courier Business

Owning a courier business is a pretty good position to be in right now. Online shopping is bigger than ever, and somebody needs to deliver all of those parcels. However, a lot of the big eCommerce companies like Amazon are moving over to a different model.

They handle their own deliveries, using drivers that they source through their own app, using a similar model to Uber or Deliveroo. If more businesses start to adopt this model, that could mean that there is a lack of work in a market that is saturated with courier companies. 

Image From Pixabay CCO License

However, if you can find ways to diversify and grow your courier company, you can survive and ensure that you always have plenty of work. If you are looking for ways to expand your courier company, these are the best ways to do it. 

Offer New Delivery Methods 

Delivering parcels is a great way to keep the business ticking over and it’s probably where most of your revenue comes from. But if you want to protect yourself, you should start offering more services. For example, this commercial 3/4 ton truck is a great fleet choice because it means that you can take heavier loads that a lot of courier companies are unable to handle.

Being able to take delivery that other rivals in the area don’t have the capacity for is a big bonus for you. You could also specialize in certain high-value items that need extra care. Packaging and delivering art, for example, is a great specialist service that will open up new markets for you. Finding these new delivery methods to offer will expand your reach and offer you some protection if the work from e-Commerce begins to dry up a little. 

Invest In A Larger Fleet 

A lot of courier companies find that, even though things are going well, they hit a plateau. There are only so many parcels you can deliver with the number of vehicles that you have, and when you hit that limit, there is nowhere else you can really go. That’s why it may be a good idea to invest in a larger fleet and start expanding. However, it’s important that you only do this if you can get enough new customers to make the investment worthwhile. Make sure that you put some money into promoting the business both online and offline, so you can bring in enough revenue to justify investing in a larger fleet. 

Move To A Different Area 

The area that you operate in has a big impact on the success of your courier business. It makes sense that a courier in a big city is going to get more work than one that works in the middle of nowhere. If there is a lack of work where you are and you are struggling to find any new customers, you may benefit from a move. Do some market research on a few nearby cities and see whether there are any opportunities there. 

These are all good ways that you can expand your courier business and ensure that you have enough varied revenue streams to protect yourself in the future.

4 Ways to Make Your Office More Fun

The idea that work should be boring or difficult is a little outdated. That definitely became the stereotype for a long time, but it’s not so true these days. Today, offices and jobs are better balanced than they were in the past. Employees are less likely to be treated like worker drones, more likely to be treated as full-fledged humans. And that means that offices should incorporate enjoyable elements, on top of work. If you’re a business owner and you want to make your office more fun, take a look at some of the tried and tested tips below.

Pexels - CC0 Licence

Hire Pleasant People

There’s a lot that you can do to make your office more fun, but keep in mind that you’re only one influential figure at your business. Your employees also make a massive contribution to the overall atmosphere of the office. If you’ve hired people that are a little less than pleasant, then it will come as no surprise if there’s ultimately a negative atmosphere at work. During the hiring process, look beyond the resume and experience, and get a feel for what sort of vibe they will bring to the work environment. 

Relaxed Attitudes

But of course, you’re going to be the one that sets the tone of the office. So make sure that you’re delivering good things to the group. While it’s important that work is being completed, it’s best to avoid becoming one of those bosses that is forever asking for more, more, more. Studies have shown that rather than helping a company, a workaholic attitude actually ends up causing problems. That’s because there’s only so much that a worker can do, and it’s not as if working long hours contributes to higher output. It just leads to dissatisfied and unhappy staff.

De-Stress Aspects 

No matter how fun certain aspects of your company will be, there will always be stressful times. This is a place of work, after all, and if there weren’t any stress, then there would be an issue! Yet, while you can’t prevent stress from happening, there are things you can do that’ll help your team of employees to de-stress. For example, you could put together a relaxation room, one that’s filled with comfortable seating and the best stress toys. You can also encourage your employees to take regular breaks and to spend time outdoors throughout the day.

Social Spaces

It’s always nice to walk into an office and sense that the workers are more than just colleagues; they’re friends. Indeed, this is the dream of every boss, or it should be at least -- studies have shown that people work better when they work with friends. But of course, you can’t expect people to become friends when they’re just emailing back and forth. So look at setting up a social space where you can host after-work drinks for everybody. If you’ve hired awesome people, then you’ll find that people bond just fine and that people work better moving forward. Plus, it’ll make the office more fun. 

Are You Edging Out The Competition?

As a business, it’s important to keep track of the industry you’re part of and try to figure out just how you fit there. Of course, there’s room for multiple businesses in one industry, but it’s also important to note that every business that occupies your particular specialty is one more added to the pool of potential competitors. This means that finding means to edge out, or at least more than contend with the said competition is essential.

Some firms invest all they can in trying to edge out the competition. For instance, stock trading firms will often shift their entire office to new locations in order to shave milliseconds from the latency of their trading platform connectivity, potentially allowing them to trade with quicker results. You needn’t become so overbearing in your attempt to resolve these issues, but it can be worthwhile to adopt at least the basic spirit of this behavior.

First, you need to assess just where you may increase your competitiveness. Second, you must consider if investing in this process is worth it to you. Third, if going forward, adopting the best approach requires careful planning and practice. We have some advice for that below:

Excellent IT & Fast Networks

Of course, while our prior example was hyper-specific, it’s certainly important to see if you have your own worthwhile IT system up and running. If not, this should be one of the places you consider improving. Thankfully, you needn’t be the most experienced tech-wizard to establish a top of the line digital infrastructure. For instance, ITsupportboston.us is known for excellent service regarding almost any managed IT approach you could need, and using outsourced services like this could herald a dramatic improvement in your tech ability.

Securing Your IP 

Securing your IP can also be an extremely worthwhile approach. By using vital cybersecurity techniques, ensuring a need-to-know access level when protecting your important documents, and using patents or copyright law to protect your intellectual property can be very important. If you’re unable to protect your vital business ideas, inventions, and projects, you can be sure that they will be leaked at best, or stolen at worst. This means that investing time ensuring best practice within your firm can be a golden idea.

Valiant Networking

It’s very important for a business to remain a present force within its industry, and you can achieve that through solid yet effective networking. No matter who you are, it’s not hard to see just how this approach can be used for your benefit. By attending business expositions, meeting at business conventions, giving talks at local colleges, or even curating recruitment drives in said locations, you will be able to meet new people, gain the talent, and remain a solid part of your local industry. This will not only help you feel connected to those around you, but it will also increase how familiar people are with your brand.

With this advice, you’re sure to edge out the competition in the best possible manner.

Keep Your Business Up To Date With The Changing Times

To ensure that your business is doing whatever it can to remain popular and well-loved, you have to make sure you are keeping it up to date with the way things are changing. There are numerous aspects that you need to consider here, and we’ll look at a few of them in turn in this article. But the important thing is that you are doing everything in your power to keep your business up to date so that you can ensure that people continue to respond well to it, and so help it to grow.

Laws

As a business owner, you always have to keep one eye on the law at all times. There could be any number of changes in the law that might affect your business, and you are going to have to make sure that you are following along with them all the time. You will generally find that there is a lot of messaging around when a big law is changing, but it’s also necessary to keep an active lookout for such things. Of course, having a company lawyer is the best way to do this, as then you can carry on doing whatever you need to, and leave it to them.

Technology

There is no rule that says you have to keep up with all the tech changes. But the more that you do, the more likely it is that your business is going to be viewed by the customer as one to trust and support, and that is obviously going to be hugely important. Your technology is there for a reason, and you are going to need to make sure you are utilizing whatever changes there are in the best way possible if you feel it is necessary. If that means you need to make QR code to help spread awareness of your website or invest in some VR so that you can better visualize changes, then you might want to consider that

Culture

Good businesses also need to reflect the culture that they find themselves to be a part of. That means paying close attention to the kinds of changes in ideas and so on that are occurring, and hoping to fall in line with them in whatever way you can. You shouldn’t feel you have to merely do whatever is expected of you by the culture at large - but it is important that you are clever about how your business interacts with it. You will find that this is what you are going to have to consider, and it is this approach that really helps your business to keep up with what’s changing in the world.

Ethics

As ethical needs change, so too should your business. At the moment, you would be remiss not to consider making a big point of trying to work against climate change, and it is something that you will want to consider if you want customers to respect your business on the whole.

The Skills You Need to be a Successful Entrepreneur

Would you like to start your own work-from-home business to spend more time with your family or to have the freedom to travel? Do you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur? Listed below are some skills that people who have successfully started their own businesses possess. 

Creative Problem Solving

Entrepreneurs need to be able to look at problems and see solutions, especially if they have limited resources. Innovations like workflow automation or MVP identification can help creative thinkers save time and get ahead. Follow your passion for a new way of doing business.

Managing Your Time

People who start their own businesses need to be self-starters and able to manage their own time efficiently. That often involves making use of new tools or methods of accomplishing tasks more efficiently. Companies such as Mitratech can help improve workflow efficiency and free you up for other tasks.

Clear Communication

The ability to get your point across successfully is very important to anyone starting a business. Clear communication preempts a number of problems, such as missed deadlines, ordering mistakes, and time lost to fixing errors. Taking the time to proofread anything you write to send out to clients can head off many annoying delays.

Persistence

Everyone experiences setbacks when they are starting a new venture, but what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the failed ones is persistence. Don't let rejections, delays, or progress that is slower than you would like get you down. It is difficult to keep going when orders are slow or clients are only trickling in, but that is exactly what you need to do. Try breaking your goals down into smaller steps to keep yourself from falling victim to burnout.

Pay Attention to the Numbers

While you need to give yourself a pep talk occasionally to keep going, you have to be realistic about financing issues. It is important to keep ROI in sight and to weigh financial decisions carefully.

Build a Brand

It can take some time to create a recognizable brand, but it is another important part of building a business. Putting thought and effort into branding will pay off in the end.

Sell Yourself and Your Product

Like branding, finding the right places and customers for your products is crucial to success at building a business. If you are uncomfortable approaching strangers with your message, have a friend help you practice your pitch.

If you are creative, a good communicator and persistent, among other qualities, you probably have what it takes to start your own business and run it successfully.

How To Be As Productive As Possible When Working From Home

Working from home can have a terrible effect on the quality and speed of your work, as there are a wealth of distractions that can take your attention away from the task at hand, and a greater opportunity for mistakes and problems to arise too.

Taking back control and becoming as productive as possible whilst out of the office doesn’t have to be a tricky process, as you need nothing more than determination and commitment to achieve your goals.

Luckily, there are a few simple steps which you can follow that will show you exactly what you need to do to perform to your full capabilities whilst working from home, and it could not be easier to implement these tricks into your daily schedule to see results in no time at all. So if you would like to learn a little more, then read on to uncover the best top tips that you can make the most of today!

Lay Strong Foundations 

One of the most important things that you must do to improve your productivity considerably is to lay the strongest foundations. This means providing yourself with the best quality platforms to work from - you need a comfortable and quiet room that can act as an office or workspace, a high specification computer or laptop as well as a super-fast internet connection too.

Trying to work without any of these features will immediately set you up for failure, as it’s going to be almost impossible for you to achieve your aims without the right surroundings and equipment. It’s important that you can carry out regular updates on any electronics so that you can make the most of bug fixes and additional features, otherwise, your workflow will begin to slow down. Many common issues that occur with technology can be easily solved with a little research, as you can do something like fix microphone on Mac or improve the speed of your laptop in no time at all. 

Staying Focused 

Staying focused is one of the biggest issues people face whilst working from home, as there are so many distractions that risk-taking your attention away from what’s important. Reducing these distractions can help you to stay on task and get into the right working flow so that you can finish your shift in record time!

First of all, though it may be tempting to visit the kitchen for a snack every time you need some motivation. It’s vital that you can set a specific time frame in which you can have your lunch and stay inside your office until that time. Turn all electronics and entertainment devices off before you set down to work for the day, as you will then have to go out of your way to switch it back on if you want to use it, therefore giving you more time to decide whether or not you actually want to waste your time in this way. 

Being as productive as can be whilst working from home has never been so simple!

Do You Have What It Takes To Start Your Business?

When you are hoping to start a business, you need to make sure that you are aware of as much as possible to do with what you need to expect. There is just so much that you are going to have to think about, and so much to deal with, that it is all going to be a lot easier and simpler if you know exactly what you need to do along the way. In particular, there are many things to focus on at the start as you start up your business. In this article, we are going to take a look at whether you have what it takes to start your business. What are some of the things that you are going to need straight away?

Secure Funding

All businesses will need a fair amount of funding if they are to start up well, and that will certainly go for your business too. That funding might come from a number of places, or you might be lucky enough to find a single benefactor who really believes in your cause, but in any case, it is something that you are going to have to think about to some degree. To ensure that the funding is secure, get it down in writing and in a clear payment clean or otherwise have it in your bank account at the very start where you can see it. Whether you are borrowing from visiolending.com, your local bank, or an investor you have found, you need to make sure that you are doing so in a sensible way.

Confidence & Drive

A lot of how well your business does comes down to you as an individual. As long as you have a certain amount of confidence and drive, you can be sure that you are going to have much more success with your business throughout its lifespan, so this is something in particular that you might want to focus on. There are always ways to improve your confidence and to fill yourself with more drive, so it is a good idea to do that. Hopefully, just the idea behind the business will be exciting enough that you have the drive to make it happen. Perhaps if you are feeling unmotivated, it just means you need to find an idea that you can get really excited about.

Time

Finally, starting up and running a business takes time. If you do not have a great deal of time to spare, then you are going to struggle to make it all work. Of course, that doesn’t mean that you have to spare every waking second: plenty of businesses began life as part-time ventures, and there is no reason that yours should be any different. But even those side businesses require a lot of energy put into them, and that means dedicating some time every day towards them. Be prepared for that particular sacrifice straight out the gate, as it is going to be an important part of the process.

Passion

You need to make sure you have a passion for the industry in which you are starting a business; otherwise, you might want to give up if you are just running a business for profit over everything. Your customers might also notice lower-quality products since the owner has lost passion and does not care when running their business. Finally, you must be consistent to maintain your customer base and make your business sustainable for years to come.

 Have you considered buying a business for sale?

If starting a business from scratch is not the ideal path to entrepreneurship for you, you should consider purchasing an existing business for sale. This way, you can acquire a business of your choice depending on your schedule, investment range & industry. This will help you find your ideal business opportunity. If you want to browse existing businesses for sale, you should use a directory of business opportunities, such as https://businesses-for-sale-uk.co.uk