The turn of the year usually prompts most people to think about some business planning for the year ahead. Here are some tips to make the planning more productive. Get your team involved Business planning works best when it’s a team effort. Involve your key staff and your advisors, such as your accountant, your mentor (if you have one), and others who can contribute meaningfully to the planning, such as… Read more
If you’re ready to expand internationally – perhaps you plan to open a store overseas, start working with international clients or make a leap into exporting – these tips will help you prepare for hassle-free business travel. Travel tip 1: Check your passport – The earlier you can get your passport documentation in order the better. In many countries it takes several weeks to receive a new passport once you’ve… Read more
Showcasing a business online is an increasingly effective tool for attracting new customers. Blogging is a great way to start to communicate with your target audience. Blogs are highly effective tools for sharing your expertise with others, increasing web traffic and brand awareness, and for attracting and interacting with new customers. WordPress and Blogger are free web hosting platforms that make blogging available to businesses of all sizes. What is… Read more
It’s been said that a business partnership is a lot like a marriage, and the comparison holds true when things go awry: the end of a partnership is a lot like divorce. Lawyers will be involved and assets will need to be divided. However, a separation need not be overly dramatic or unnecessarily painful. These tips can help make separation easier – and more amicable – should your business partnership… Read more
If you’re like most small business owners, you spend the majority of your time managing daily operations, keeping customers happy, and looking for new ways to grow. Spreadsheets, cash flow analysis, and financial projections are probably not your first passion. However, measuring profitability, creating realistic budgets, and planning ahead for the future are crucial to your professional success. Follow these four tips to get a handle on the numbers, and… Read more
The recent statistics on employee theft is shocking. According to one US source, 75% of employees admit to having stolen at least once from their employer—and employee theft costs a company on average 7% of their annual revenues each year. As a business owner you may not be aware of the many ways employees can steal from you. Some common methods include: redirecting company checks to personal accounts and altering… Read more
The key performance indicators (KPIs) for one company will invariably be different from the KPIs of another firm. What both hypothetical companies share however, is the challenge of selecting which KPIs are best suited for measuring the goals and progress of their particular business model. Indeed, entrepreneurs have a vast array of reports and data sets from which to choose and select from, but that data needs to target those… Read more
One of the most often cited reasons for not embracing innovation is that it is too risky. Prototyping or testing often comes with a high cost. Combined with the cost of the time spent, this can all be rather high for an unknown outcome. There is no way to eliminate the risk in innovation, but there are ways to reduce it. It’s easy to understand the dilemma. A business owner… Read more
When it comes to writing for blogs, not all content is created equal. Many articles are rushed, poorly written, and lack the research to back them up, all of which can drive away traffic and leave visitors with a negative first impression. The good news is that with the right know-how and a bit of effort, virtually anyone can dramatically improve their writing skills. Below are some of the most… Read more
Like other time saving apps, tools designed to automate your booking calendar are a huge boon to busy small business owners. Put an end to time-wasting telephone tag and those endless back and forth emails with any of these 4 popular scheduling apps. Calendly Calendly is a popular app for consultants, coaches, solopreneurs, freelancers and other professionals who regularly book client meetings. With a clean intuitive interface, invitees can choose… Read more
Offices are often thought of as relatively benign places, compared to more manual environments, such as factory floors or construction sites. But they hold many risks of their own to employees’ health and safety. Be sure of keeping your most valuable asset safe and well by ensuring you don’t overlook these seven common office-based risks. Lone working Lone working is not just about manual operatives working in remote or isolated… Read more
Making a few good local business connections can go a long way helping your business grow. Networking can spark mutually beneficial partnerships, lead to new opportunities, and attract more customers through word of mouth. In the age of social media, small business owners may think networking isn’t as valuable as it used to be. On the contrary, it’s just as important for people to get to know your face out… Read more
“How much should I spend on marketing?” Most small business people ask me this question at some stage. Many small business people find working out how much to spend on marketing a tricky exercise to calculate. Generally there are five ways to work out a marketing budget for the year. Remember that these are marketing budgets, not advertising budgets. Marketing covers everything you do in your business that creates awareness,… Read more
Effective training of staff is essential to ensure they develop in their roles and are able to be as productive as possible. The business will need training to be cost effective and meet learning objectives, so as a facilitator of training it’s important to get it right first time. These 12 tips cover all the critical areas you must consider to ensure your training delivery is top notch and fully… Read more
Email marketing is one of the best ways to develop a relationship with your customers. It’s also a proven way to increase sales with subscribers who are interested, qualified buyers. The key to maintaining high open rates with your email campaigns is to craft catchy subject lines for every email you send out to your customers. These ten proven tips will show you how to quickly grab attention with compelling… Read more
Most business owners appreciate that online marketing is increasingly important for sales and growth, but drafting effective web copy can be an intimidating prospect. The good news is you don’t need a background in marketing to master the basics of effective web writing. You just need to know a few guidelines that can make your copy more engaging to an online audience. Here’s how. 1.Think like your customer Knowing your… Read more
Currently, many people are feeling a sense of urgency when searching for a job. Perhaps they’re recent college graduates, new to the field, or changing occupations altogether. Regardless of their situation, they often feel the pressure to find a job sooner rather than later. They don’t have time to sift through countless classified ads with vague job descriptions that might match their skill set. As an HR professional, your primary… Read more
Whether you are thinking of launching a small, local business or a global enterprise, finding a city that is friendly toward entrepreneurs is important. You want a city that is culturally supportive of business owners, in a region or country that makes things easy for you from a financial perspective. You also want to be in a place where it is easy to attract and retain good talent, and where… Read more
Bookstores and libraries around the world supply excellent instructional materials. Riding in the car or commuting on the train, you can learn from experts. The bestseller lists at Amazon are fantastic resources. The lists are updated regularly with current insight about the best books on the market. Have a look at some of the best books on business and money currently on the Amazon list. The Millionaire Next Door Thomas… Read more
Many elements are vital to a growing company’s success. A financially-astute leader is one. A confident and motivated sales team well-versed in a company’s product and service line is another. But starting and growing a business requires more than employees with extensive functional skills and appropriate personal characteristics. Growing a business requires collaboration – namely, the deployment of employees in a way that allows them to work together to problem-solve and act… Read more