 Image credit: energepic.com from Pexels Stocks, forex and crypto are some of the most effective ways to grow your money. But just which of these investments is right for you? This post explores the pros and cons of each - and what you need to get involved.
Stocks Investing in stocks involves buying shares of companies, waiting for them to increase in value and then selling them. You can make a lot of money by investing in the right companies. You can also lose a lot of money if you invest in the wrong companies. You can reduce risk by diversifying your portfolio. This involves investing in a range of stocks in a range of industries. The most stable stocks to invest in tend to be long-established companies - these stocks tend to gradually increase in value over the years. Newer companies tend to be riskier, however they can offer some of the highest and fastest returns. Anyone can invest in the stock market with as little as $1. There are free trading apps that allow you to buy parts of shares on your phone. Alternatively, you can hire a stockbroker to invest your stocks for you. This involves paying fees, however you could reduce the risk of loss by having an expert invest your cash for you. It’s worth researching into companies before investing in them. By understanding the industry and the company, you can make good predictions as to whether a stock will rise or fall. Forex Forex involves trading foreign currencies. By buying a currency that is rising in value and then converting it back, you can make a profit. Buy the wrong currency and you could lose money. As with stocks, you should always diversify your portfolio by buying a range of different currencies. Some currencies are likely to be more stable than others - the more stable ones are less risky but will offer slower and smaller returns. To invest in foreign currencies you need to use a forex broker. To create an account, you’ll generally need to place down a minimum deposit of $100, although there are some brokers that allow you to invest with less. Fees are charged on every transaction. Currency prices can be affected by political events, travel popularity and rate of trade. By educating yourself in these matters, you can more accurately predict when a currency may rise or fall in value. Crypto Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies. They include the likes of Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin. The principle is similar to buying a foreign currency - you buy a currency, wait for it to rise in value and sell it. Cryptocurrency however can be more volatile. This can result in much bigger potential returns, but also much bigger potential losses. As with forex and stocks, you should buy a range of cryptocurrencies to spread the risk. Certain cryptocurrencies are likely to increase at a much greater rate than others. You can look into buying ETH with Swyftx or another cryptocurrency exchange platform. Minimum deposits and fees can vary depending on the platform you use. When buying large amounts of crypto, it can often be worth using a digital wallet to keep your currency secure. Cryptocurrencies rise and fall in value based on demand. These rises and falls can be a lot harder to predict than with stocks or crypto however there are still ways of educating yourself and spotting trends.
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 Image credit: Christina Morillo from Pexels A lot of people dream about the concept of being able to go self-employed. After all, it means that they have the freedom as well as the autonomy to be able to work on their very own terms. The growth of the sector alone has been very well publicised over the years and this means that there has bever been a better time for you to take the plunge. If you want to make sure that going self-employed is the right decision for you then you can find out whatever you need to know, right here. You Know your Product or Service If you want to go self-employed then you don’t need to have a final or even a polished proposition. You do however need to make sure that you know your product or your service. If you don’t then you may find that you struggle to know whether or not your idea is feasible. You also need to make sure that your product solves a definite pain point, so that you are aware of how best to address your customers. You’re Ready and Willing
Even though you may be an expert in your field, that doesn’t mean that you can easily deal with all of the other aspects that are involved with running a business. If you want to come out a success then you need to make sure that you are able to deal with your sales, marketing accounts, technology and even legal team. The main problem with being self-employed is that you might not be an expert at everything and you probably can’t afford to outsource either. This is normal, but it does mean that you need to get your head around the basics if possible. If you want to get the best result out of your self-employed experience then eventually it may help you to look into remote onboarding at a later date. You Want Control If you are at a point where you feel like your ideas are just not getting the appreciation that they should, then this may indicate that now is the time for you to go self-employed. It may be that you no longer want to be told what to do, or that you just want to be more rewarded for the work that you are putting in. Either way, going self-employed gives you the chance to call all of the shots you need. You’re Ready to Talk about Money You have to be comfortable with money if you want to be self-employed. Undercharging is a huge issue for freelancers so you need to make sure that you pitch your services and your products at the right time. Some signs that you need to think about your charges include if your tasks are taking longer than they should be to get done, or if you find that you are continually trying to undercut your competition. It will take some trial and error, but if you take your time then you should be able to set the right prices.  Image credit: Start Up Stock Photos from Pexels The fact is that when you first started your business, you most probably didn’t think that you would ever end up in a position where you had a team of employees to manage. You most probably hoped that this would be the case but you may not have thought that it would be the case, after all getting your business to a place where you need and can afford a team of employees is an amazing place to be at and not many business owners manage to get to this point. Now that you’re in a place where you need to take on a team, you are most probably feeling somewhat stressed out and overwhelmed. After all, there’s a lot to think about and consider when it comes to taking on new team members. It’s not just a case of identifying the fact that you need some support, there’s a lot more to choose to employ people than meets the eye; there’s a lot that you need to think about and consider. It’s incredibly exciting to be at the stage that you are at now, but the fact is it can also be extremely daunting as there’s just so much that you need to think about and consider; it’s not just a case of taking on team members, you need to think about all of the ins and outs of running a team. Bearing all of that in mind, there’s a lot to think about and consider. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be an overly stressful experience, it’s just a case of knowing how to go about managing things, that’s all. To help to make the process of taking on your first employees a little easier to manage, below are a few tips and suggestions to have a read and take note of. Have a set screening process in place
First things first, let’s talk about employee screening. How do you ensure that when it comes to selecting a new employee that you’re choosing someone who is a good fit for the role and your business? The truth is that you can never be 100% sure but there are steps that you can take to make the process easier, such as utilising HR support to help ensure that every avenue is looked into. You can also ensure that you ask for references and follow up on those references, to ensure that what a potential employee is telling you is the truth. It’s also worth nailing the interview process by creating a list of questions that not only look at the candidate's potential fit for the role but also for your company ethos and work setup. Master payroll A tricky aspect of managing a team of employees can be payroll; whether you are taking on two employees or 20, you need to master payroll. Payroll is not always something that it’s easy to do or manage, especially when finances aren’t your strong suit. The good news is that there are plenty of resources that you can utilise to make managing payroll a little easier, such as using payroll services, for instance. Learn to be a leader As an employer, you need to find the perfect balance between being a boss and being a friend to your team members. You naturally want to have fun with your team but you also need to ensure that you remain the authority, and that your team members look up to you and respect your choices. It’s also important that you act like a leader, rather than a traditional boss. What does this mean? Well, a traditional boss tells their team members what to do, whereas a leader is part of the workload and leads their team in every task. This is a fantastic quality to have, and something that will help you to be an amazing employer. Create the ideal working environment If you want your team members to be happy working for you, it’s essential that you create the ideal working environment for them to work in. The right work environment can impact how productive a team is, and so it’s important that you think carefully about the kind of space you create for your team. Not sure how to create the perfect workspace? Get inspired - look online, talk to other business owners, speak to your employees. There you have it, everything that you need to know about taking on your first team members and succeeding as an employer.  Image credit: Anna Shvets from Pexels If you’ve integrated remote working options that have been used since March or April of 2020, it’s amazing to think we may have been using those systems for almost a year now.
Of course, in some respects this might become the norm for your business from here on out, ensuring that you always have a possible approach to keeping flexible and always online if necessary. That said, some form of normality will return in the future, and that can mean in the long run, we are given the chance to consider what needs improving in our office, what workflow we should curate to make this daily process easier to handle, and what lessons we have learned. It would take many deep investigations and reports to figure out just what changes have been made and what effects have been felt thanks to this change in our working capacity, so we’re going to stick with the most pertinent advice, and show how it’s useful in order to inspire you to action: Integrating Communication Platforms It’s overwhelmingly likely that your business has been using a range of programs that are external to your business, in order to make sure your staff can communicate with one another. It could be that fully integrating better and more prominent services based on what you have used and what you haven’t could be important. For instance, it may be that upgrading to a VPN with unlimited plans and the means to log in securely with a security key can offset those that require you to keep updating staff with numbered logins that they forget and keep having to respect. Integrating a VOIP phone system can work wonders when returning to the office. In this context, we become better at helping our team collaborate with one another. The Format Of Your Office Now could be a great time to sell your office furniture and pick up newer, more health-conscious ergonomic models. Why is this? Well, many businesses are downsizing at the moment, or shutting up shop. That’s a very sad state of affairs, but it also points to the fact that we can make use of many of these sales, even if it’s just in the form of a large meeting desk, by scouring these sales and helping those businesses liquidate their stock. IT equipment, office furnishings, it can all make a difference when upgrading your utility and helping the office space seem new upon a return. Dedication To Your Values Remember that now is the time for visionary leaders to collaborate with their team, but also to inspire them. In this mindset, it can be important to remind your staff of your values and just what company history they are contributing to. Setting up training that helps you understand these measures once more can help you refocus and reorient your vision. It sounds unnecessary, but you’d be surprised how inclusion to this degree can inspire your staff to renewed effort, and can refocus your dedication to them. With this advice, we hope you can make the most of your business and level up, despite the inconsistent working expectations of the last year.  Image credit: Edward Jenner from Pexels The pandemic has hit millions of businesses around the world, causing them to make major cuts in employment, budget, and for some, permanent closure. If your small business has managed to make it this far, then you’re probably looking for ways to work smarter, decrease expenditure, and appeal to your target audience more than ever. Thankfully, even though the pandemic is still at large, many restrictions are being lifted, which is allowing businesses to continue trading. However, staying smart and vigilant is essential to help your business stay on track. Here are some amazing tips on how to work smarter during the pandemic. Outsource marketing
Cutting back costs in 2020 might have been a priority for your business, and if you had to cut back on marketing costs and begin tackling it yourself, you’ll know how much time and effort it takes. However, you can have the best of both worlds! While a permanent in-house marketing team would be ideal, if your budget doesn’t stretch that far then you may run into issues. Outsourcing marketing allows you to let an experienced professional create and run your marketing campaigns - but only as and when you need them! Paying a freelancer say, once a month, rather than for every day of the month will save you money and prevent your marketing from falling down the drain. Look bigger than you are One of the downsides of being a small business is that quite often, customers would rather entrust their money with larger businesses because they think larger businesses are more trustworthy. While this isn’t necessarily the case, making your business look like a larger corporation may help you attract more customers. You can do this by:
Sell COVID-friendly products or services Finally, we’re living in an age where anything to help survive the pandemic is something people will want. Find ways to incorporate COVID-friendly products or services into your niche. Whether it’s a branded face-mask, an app to help cure boredom, or even hacks to help stay safe, people will be interested in buying from a company they know and love. Appeal to the COVID market and you’ll notice a considerable improvement in sales!  Image credit: Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels Are you exploring new ways to grow your business and strengthen your brand? If so, then you should think about the best ways to use the power of your clients and customers. These are a few of the possibilities that we strongly recommend you consider. Use Their Opinions
First, you should think about whether you can use the opinions and thoughts of your customers. They might be able to explain to you the best ways to move forward with your business. Don’t forget, when you’re looking to improve your company it’s important to move in directions that your customers want to see. No one knows what directions these are more than your customers themselves. You might think that customers aren’t going, to be honest when you interact with them. While this might be the case, there are ways to skirt around this issue, such as by using Mystery Shopping experiences. Here customers get a product to review but don’t know what the brand is and deliver honest feedback. Use Their Content Next, you should think about whether you can use content from customers to your advantage. User-generated content can be helpful because it allows you to connect with that individual customer. It will also help you reach their followers. Don’t forget, that customers are far more likely to trust the word of other clients rather than your brand. User-generated content also makes your business seem more accessible and that’s always going to provide a tremendous benefit. Use Their Reviews Next, you should think about using reviews in your business. Do note that a mixture of positive and negative reviews is far better than zero reviews for your business online. That’s why you should make sure that you are encouraging customers to leave reviews. You should do this after the completion of a sale. Business owners often assume that it’s going to be difficult to get customers to leave reviews. However, this is not the case. The reality is that they will drop reviews if you ask the right way and provide some client aftercare instead of just abandoning them once a sale is complete. Use Their Reach Finally, you might also want to consider using their reach to gain more customers and clients for your business. One of the best ways to do this is through promotional merchandise. The right sponsored merch will be worn and used by your clients. This means that they can effortlessly spread the word about your business. You just need to spend a little time ensuring that the merch is attractive and stylish enough that clients want to use it. You might even want to consider using popular brand items to promote your company in this way such as Nike or Adidas sportswear. We hope this helps you understand some of the key ways that you can use your customers and clients to your advantage. By taking the right steps here, you’ll find that your customers can become your strongest asset and help you grow your business, even in a short period.  Image credit: Chris Montgomery from Unsplash Back in March 2020, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, millions of people around the world began commuting to their kitchen tables and makeshift home office nooks, few believed they'd still be there now, nearly a year later. And yet, here we are.
The big question looming in many employees' and leaders' minds alike is, what does it all mean for the future of work? Some argue that the great work-from-home experiment of 2020 will lead to the end of offices forever. Others say the last year, in fact, proved we need offices for the collaboration, the creativity, and simply the excuse to get out of the house they provide. You can find the five top tips we learnt about remote working over at Inc...  Image credit: Pixel Creatures from Pixabay There are over 500 million blogs in the world at the moment and they are growing year on year. If you are just starting or you are a seasoned blogger, you will want to ensure your blog stands out from the crowd. Check out this post which shows you some ways to better your blog. Another important area that will help with your blog is increasing the Domain Authority. For those not familiar with this phrase, the Domain Authority is a calculation that rates your blog from 1 to 100. The higher you are on the scale the higher your blog will appear on search engine rankings. Also, if you wish to make money from your blog, the higher your Domain Authority the more you can ask for paid opportunities. Below are some ways you can improve your Domain Authority and get your blog higher up the rankings.
Link Building Building links to your site is a great way of increasing your Domain Authority. A word of caution though, you want backlinks from quality sites, sites that have a higher Domain Authority to your own. Focus your time on getting links that will improve your site, if you don’t have a lot of time to do this yourself, consider employing a link building service. Internal link building As well as getting backlinks from other websites, you can increase your Domain Authority through the internal structure of your blog. This means in each blog post you should include 2 or 3 links to other posts you have. This is such an easy way to build your internal link structure and get your Domain Authority moving in the right direction. Remove broken links Having broken links can impact your Domain Authority so go through all your posts and ensure all links are working. This may be time-consuming but it is worth it in the end. It’s an easy fix to ensure it doesn’t negatively impact your Domain Authority. Be an Authority in Your Niche Having quality articles is important, especially to your Domain Authority and to Google. Choose a niche and write high-quality posts within that area. An area that people will search for time and time again. If you are helping your audience Google may even use your article for a snippet which means you will be the very first link on page one. Search Engine Optimisation Ensure your blog is SEO optimized so that when search engines crawl your site they can see your content and offer this up to those who are searching. This means ensuring you have a meta title and meta description especially on your pictures, your home page and you make use of heading tags too. Once you start using all these tools they will become second nature and it will make all the difference to your Domain Authority. It can be daunting considering all these things to improve your Domain Authority but with practice and determination, you will increase the authority of your blog.  Image credit: Fauxels from Pexels If you want to survive and help your business to grow, then you need to make sure that you have a steady stream of business clients. In the old days, this was a case of you simply sending out a flyer or even a postcard. You might have even been able to put your ad in a local paper, but right now, things work very differently. You have to make sure that you adapt to what is around you and you also need to make sure that you are willing to figure out the best way to really get your business on the map. If you don’t then you may find that you end up struggling to get noticed and this is the last thing that you need. Verify Google Business
If you are running a B2B business, then you have to make sure that you are as professional as the companies you are marketing to. Your Google Business Profile is what gives your business the opportunity to show up in search results. It also shows up when someone types in your company name on the internet. Google is getting better at catering to users all the time and this free listing should always be your top priority. Ideally, you would use your business profile to promote your company, not to mention that it also helps to verify legitimacy. You can do this through your very own Google My Business account. When you are able to verify ownership of your company, you can then optimise your listing. This will help you to show up much higher in the search results and it will give you access to much more advertising options. If you are able to show on Google Maps, then this will help you to really make the most out of your local SEO efforts. Print Leaflets and Flyers You may think that this is a very outdated way for you to do business, but this is not the case at all. In fact, printing leaflets and flyers is actually a fantastic way for you to make the most out of your marketing campaign, if you combine it with your other efforts. If you are going down the flyer route then you have to make sure that you incorporate your website and you also need to make sure that you add plenty of digital information. This could include your social media handle, for example. If you want to make the most out of your marketing, then it would be wise for you to use large format printing machines. Implement SEO It’s one thing for you to promote your company, but it is another for Google to promote your company. SEO will ultimately determine your ranking algorithm, so you have to make sure that you put in the work to boost your ranking. If you want to boost your SEO, then you need to add relevant keywords that are based on your location as well as your industry. You also need to make sure that you add them to specific places on your site too. At the end of the day, if you can produce high-quality content with tagged images then this will help you out in the long run and it will also help you to maintain a solid site that brings in business for years to come.  Image credit: PhotoMIX Company from Pexels The COVID-19 pandemic posed a significant challenge for businesses and economies globally, prompting business closures and labor cuts in 2020. The pandemic wasn't all doom and gloom however, as some sectors and industry recorded significant growth in their operations. Statistics showed that the ecommerce industry is booming daily and expected to reach $6.54 trillion by 2022. However, the industry is continuously evolving and requires you to stay updated with the latest trends to gain more traction, drive traffic and convert into buying consumers. Take a look at the top five ecommerce trends you should expect in 2021.
1. Brands will partner with influencers This has been a key trend in recent years as ecommerce platforms are falling on influencers to reach their vast followers. The influencer marketing industry is becoming a significant boom for ecommerce brands, and it's projected to hit $9.7 billion in 2020. Do you know why? Experts have indicated that brands have a content creation problem since they cannot create enough marketing content to match their marketing strategies. In 2021, they’ll be looking to partner with influencers to support their content creation process, likely in the form of a content agency. Additionally, we'll see ecommerce brands include paid media spending to enhance their audience reach. 2. Video ads on social media. Last year, there was a significant increase in social media usage, and those numbers aren’t going to slow down in 2021. According to statistics, social media recorded more than 3.6 billion users in 2020, a figure expected to hit 4.41 billion by 2025. With the current trend, several brands have begun to utilize the story features on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat to promote their products and services. The next stage will be the advancement of social media trading. Last year, we witnessed Facebook launch Instagram shops while Shopify partnered with TikTok. This year, we'll see how brands can manage these changes. However, for a D2D brand, you can record videos of your highest performing items and post them on social media platforms where you can discover your most targeted audience. 3. New payment options Many customers use the availability of payment options to choose between brands they deal with. Failure to offer a customer's preferred payment option means they'll have to look to another ecommerce store. Apart from the acceptance of smartcards by ecommerce shops as payment methods, there are several existing payment platforms like PayPal, Apple, or Samsung Pay, and Inoviopay. However, with the low exchange cost and inability to reverse transactions associated with cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, many online shops will now be looking to accept it as payment options in 2021. 4. Voice commerce will grow Individuals are progressively depending on voice assistance gadgets like the Amazon Echo with Alexa and Google Assistant to do just about everything, from serving as alarms and reminders to making purchases on the internet. A survey has proposed that an estimated 75% of U.S. families will own a smart speaker by 2025. Meanwhile, voice trade deals are projected to reach $40 billion by 2022. Another motivation behind the rising voice commerce trading is the accuracy and ease of innovation. Both Amazon and Google are pushing local languages in their virtual assistance programs to enhance shopping experiences. In conclusion, there’ll be several businesses hoping to rule the ecommerce market, which is why you should adopt these new trends as early as possible if you want your business company to thrive in 2021. Marketplaces, voice commerce, and artificial intelligence will be standard, while an increasing number of online businesses will begin accepting crypto payments to allure more clients to their brand.  Image credit: Brooke Cragle from Unsplash Most businesses will work with one or more agencies as an integral part of their day to day marketing strategy. Having a good relationship with the agencies you work with can make a huge difference to the success of your marketing.
Everyone has heard horror stories about agencies that have underperformed, drained resources, or just failed to live up to expectations. And while there are both good and bad agencies out there, it is often a number of easily avoidable factors that can doom the relationship. So if you’re thinking about engaging with an agency to do your PR, web design, social media marketing, etc, then follow these tips in order to get the very best. Get the brief right Creating a detailed, realistic brief is the first step. You need to be clear about what you are looking for, the scope of work, how results will be measured, and indicative budgets. An agency will then be able to flag any issues with regards to what you’re hoping to achieve and what services they can provide. You can then reshape the brief together or move on. Mismatched expectations when working together can quickly become apparent and can lead to the souring of the relationship. Set key performance indicators Being clear about what needs to be achieved is very important. For instance, if you’re working with a corporate video production agency, you should know what they are expected to deliver in terms of project management, timescale, additional costs, etc. By having these set-out and agreed upon between you as you start working together, you will be able to hold them to account for the work they are delivering. If these aren’t in place, you again have mismatched expectations that can cause the relationship to break down. Streamline the points of contact You will likely have an account manager, who will be your point of contact for the agency. You might well get to know other members of the team too, but your account manager will be the person you deal with the most. This helps an agency keeps track of their work and builds relationships with their clients. It makes sense to have a similar process on your side too. If all employees start contacting the agency, requesting jobs be done, then it can complicate the entire process. It’s your job to be the point of contact for your company, to streamline your requests and communicate feedback. It will be less confusing for everyone and your agency won’t become confused, not knowing who it should be listening to. Deal with issues promptly If you’re not happy with some work the agency has done, or are concerned about any other aspect of the relationship, you should raise it with your account manager immediately. Usually, it is something that can be remedied quickly and you can move on. If you don’t raise it, it can start to build resentment towards the agency. It is much more difficult to come back from this. Conclusion Agencies can be the driving force behind your success, but this can only happen if you choose the right one and the lines of communication are open. Most issues stem from unclear expectations and failure to communicate effectively.  Image credit: Skitterphoto from Pexels When you work in construction, you are working in a dangerous occupation and there is no getting away from that fact. It's never a fully safe working environment, from the materials you use to create a structure or foundation, to the tools you use to get the job done. Construction is often all about edges, excavation, collaborating with others to ensure a safe build with hazardous material. When you don't manage the site and the equipment on site correctly, you end up with a bad working environment - not something anyone should be aiming for. Health and safety is important in any industry, but in construction it can literally mean the difference between life and death. Whether you use forklifts and diggers or you handle corrosive materials and Fosroc chemicals, you cannot make mistakes. Understanding which health and safety measures are most important as you work will enable you to complete construction projects without worrying that you're doing it wrong. Below, we've got five safety measures that you should be taking when on the construction projects you gain.
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We all want to work less and earn more, don’t we? It’s the dream, the final step towards that ever-elusive ‘work/life balance.’ And yet, until now, most of us have assumed that it’s a myth. After all, you get out what you put in – everyone knows that!
Unless maybe you don’t. According to recent reports, US workers who put in as many as 60 hours each week were less likely than their peers to have received a bonus in the last three years. Far from being an injustice, this is clear evidence that you don’t have to work yourself into the ground to get ahead. In fact, doing so could be hindering your earnings, and here’s why.
A focus on quantity not quality
When we push ourselves too far to be productive, we fall into a focus on quantity rather than quality. After all, a sixty-hour workweek might sound impressive, but there’s no way you can produce good work for that length of time. Rather, you’re liable to work like a sleep-deprived zombie trudging towards a deadline. And, your efforts will be as flat as your pulse! By comparison, employees who stick to the forty-hour standard may well come in and boss it on the quality front, meaning that their shorter timeframe is worth more than your long one. Which begs the question, why would you bother to work more in the first place? An inability to hand over responsibility If you’re too focused on being the hardest working, then you’re more likely to take everything on your shoulders. This may seem like a valiant effort, but martyrdom is never good. If you’re juggling product development on top of lead generation, you’re more liable to wear yourself down and drop both balls. By comparison, outsourcing allows you to hone your time, and clock off at a decent hour. All with the promise of better results. After all, outsourcing managed IT means that you can get cybersecurity right at last while turning to a lead generation company ensures that time you spend converting is time well spent. Far from a failure, accepting that you can’t do it all is fundamental to making the most possible money from your time.
Failure to see straight
It’s also worth noting that, the more you work, the less you can see simple solutions to challenges. And, when this happens, you spend more time developing less satisfactory responses. Switching your brain off sometimes is the ideal way to solve production dilemmas or close leads at last. Much like when we’re falling asleep, our brains often find answers to these things themselves when left to their devices. By comparison, hunching over a desk and considering things for too long will make it trickier for you to reach satisfactory conclusions, as well as taking ever more of that precious time. So, you see, it may sound impressive when you state you’ve worked a sixty-hour week, but is it really the right way to earn more? Probably not.  Image credit: Negative Spaces from Pexels Are you considering launching a business with high earning potential? If this is the case, then you should give thought to starting a tech business. Despite the hardship posed by covid-19 on personal finances, businesses, and the economy, the UK tech industry led pandemic recovery raising over $15 billion in investments. Business experts have projected an exciting time for tech business as investors are shifting to investing in scaleups and start-ups; Google MD Ronan Harris indicated that the tech giants are looking to being part of the ecosystem in 2021. Are you wondering how you can join the trend? Check out these top tech business ideas you can start. 1. Web designing Website designing is a tech business idea that will never become unpopular. Websites have become an essential business need to build a professional, trustworthy and strong brand image. According to statistics, approximately 84% of UK shared businesses had a website in 2018. With the outbreak of COVID-19, the country has recorded a boom in website demand as companies turn to e-commerce and digitalisation. Website design includes several services such as UX design, graphic design, and SEO, and will remain a lucrative business idea worth considering even post-pandemic. 2. IT support Are you aware that several small businesses don’t have the funds to engage full-time, internal IT support staff? With many small business owners employing cost-saving measures like outsourcing, starting an IT support firm is a potentially high-earning venture worth starting. From providing cloud infrastructure systems to setting up and maintaining networks and implementing data backup and recovery, there are so many in-demand tech services you can offer businesses. Based on your customers’ demands, you may offer other services like security systems and mobile app development and management. 3. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) Consultancy Google remains a fundamental piece of marketing strategies for several businesses. With the UK recording €222 billion in online sales in 2020 alone, companies will invest in digitalisation and SEO to show up as the top outcome in the right search for keywords identified with their business. This implies they will require SEO experts to help them achieve their objective. While some companies will recruit full-time staff to take up such specialised roles, others will engage an SEO agency to implement the required strategies to stay ahead of the competition. You can launch a business to offer such services to other firms.  Image credit: Geralt from Pixabay 4. Computer training services
Are you good with computers, software, and other tech gadgets? If that is the case, then it's a great fit to start a business to offer computer training to individuals and companies, as many people struggle when dealing with anything related to computers. There are a ton of alternatives for getting started with computer training services. You can either train people on how to use Windows, Macintosh, or both operating systems. More so, you can train individuals on the best way to utilise specialised applications. You may decide to offer training on individual bases, groups, or take to online lessons, which is more useful amid the pandemic.  Image credit: Scott Graham from Unsplash The new year has officially begun which means it's time to think about your business year ahead. We have declared 2021 to be the year businesses make a comeback and and thrive, businesses all over the globe have struggled to keep going, if you are one of the lucky ones that have managed to stay open over the last year then well done, it's now time to start planning to grow and run your business successfully throughout the year ahead.
Make Or Revise Your Business Plan Every business should have a business plan in place, if yours hasn't been updated or reviewed in a while then take the time to check in and see if you are still on plan. If you are a new business looking to start writing your plan then there are many templates online that you can use. When writing your plan have a time period in mind, whether it be a 1 year, 5 year or 10 year goal this will be helpful to keep you on track to achieving your aims and objectives. Keep reviewing your plan every 6 months to see if your values or end goal has altered. Grow Your Online Presence It is essential for any successful business to have an online presence in 2021, so if you don't already it's time to think about creating a website and / or social media pages for your business. If you already have a website then you might want to consider rebranding or upgrading. Ensure your website is optimised for all device types and is easy for customers to navigate. Once your website is up to scratch, it's time to set up your social media accounts. Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are the leading social media platforms. Choose one or two main platforms to focus on, having too many accounts running at once can be overwhelming and hard to keep track of. When your social media accounts are up and running you can start using the advertising tools they offer. They allow you to target specific, ages, genders and areas, which will help guide the right customer to your site. Think About Location When running you business location is key, if you are a physical business then you might want to be positioned within a busy highstreet so you get organic walk in traffic. If you are located down a side street it might be hard for your customers to find you so ensure you are somewhere more prominent. If your business is online you might not think that location is important, however people have preconceived ideas about the status of a business based on their location. If you are looking to expand where you conduct business you should get a CBD virtual office to help you grow your business outside your usual area. By setting up a few virtual offices will help you gain customers from all over the world. Now it's time for you to apply these tips to your business and make it a successful year. While you are here check out Three ways you can reduce your workload in your small business.  Image credit: Canva Studio from Pexels Starting up a business is no easy feat. Expect financial loss, energy exertion, and heavy competition. With that said, it is important to start your business with the best possible chances. These simple steps will guide you towards developing a successful start-up.
1. Consider the market you are going into Think about any market niche your business applies to. Gaps in the market will generate higher consumer demand, which you can capitalize on. Familiarize yourself with competitors and find out what they are doing, and more importantly, what they are not doing. Carrying out competitive analysis is crucial if you want your business to succeed. 2. Devise a business model Businesses come in all shapes and sizes. You may aspire to one day expand your start-up into a franchise. You may want to offer a subscription-based service to maintain loyal customers. Or, perhaps you are going for a direct sales business model. Whatever the case, modeling your business will fortify your vision and assist with potential problems. The nine building blocks of a business model are customer segments, key resources, value propositions, client channels, key partners, customer relationships, revenue streams, activities that create value, and cost structure. 3. Consider your employees Once you have established your business model, think about what kind of working environment it will create for employees and how you can implement systems to benefit them and improve efficiency. For example, if you have lone workers or employees that perform paging and alarm management, Motorola radio rental offers specialized two-way systems and communication solutions. 4. Work on your final product Many start-ups' common downfall is assuming they can offer a wide range of products from the outset. Doing this will deplete the limited resources you have. Instead, pick one or two products you can perfect. New customers will appreciate your service quality and be inclined to positively review, repeat purchase, and recommend to a friend. 5. Gather customer feedback After launching your business and getting those initial sales, it is important to review your customer feedback. Positive or negative, it will demonstrate where to alter your business. If the reviews are mostly positive, look specifically at what worked well. Recurring themes in feedback signify consumer habits. Analyzing this data may reveal opportunities for expansion within that area. 6. Carry out market surveys If you are trying out a new product or service, it is a good idea to collect data from your targeted audience before launching anything. You can do this through online questionnaires like Survey Monkey. You could put the question to online forums. Or, you could organize a focus group. Each method has its benefits. Online surveys and forums can target a wider demographic, while focus groups may offer more in-depth feedback on a product or its branding. Conclusion It's a given that start-ups need a fair amount of initial planning. But with savvy preparation and research, there is the opportunity to succeed. Remember: start small, think big.  Image credit: Avi Richards from Unsplash When building your company, trying to promote your business, and push towards success, it’s tempting to take every responsibility on board yourself. Doing so allows you to stick closely to your vision. It means everything will come out exactly as you wanted. But, experienced business owners know that this is not the way forward, and sooner rather than later, you’ll find yourself burned out, drained, stuck for ideas. This is why it’s important to reduce your workload, but if you don’t know where to start with this, consider these ideas.
Work With Professionals Working with professionals is always an excellent way to help lessen your workload. But many first-time entrepreneurs avoid doing this because they want to save money and don’t understand how difficult it can be to cover all the basics. Soon enough, though, they realize that it is challenging to create social media content, write blog posts, design a website, and develop marketing campaigns. There’s nothing wrong with reaching out to others for help, and the likes of fable studios, professional website designers, and more are all far more qualified than you are. The result makes your business more reliable and more professional, which is something all small businesses need. Bring In Top Talent Very few businesses can survive as a one-person show. There will come the point where you need to bring in reinforcements. Immediately, you will see a difference. Rather than doing everything yourself, you can pass other tasks on to your staff, even if it’s just one other person to help with payroll or posting to social media. However, you can't hire just anybody. Bringing in the best talent around will give you more confidence that they can do everything you need them to do. This talent won’t want you breathing down their necks all day long, though, so learn how to delegate and, more importantly, trust them. Embrace Technology Technology is there to help you, but you might not realize just how much technology can help. It isn’t just using a website or social media to spread brand awareness. You can also use it behind the scenes of your company. If you’re short on time, look at marketing automation to save you studying business data and analytics manually. You can also use efficient marketing automation to post campaigns to social media without being by the computer to press Post. The bigger your business becomes, the more you may need to rely on technology. You shouldn’t expect yourself to do everything, and with more things done for you by a computer, the more time you will have to look towards the future. This enables you to plan your next steps and prepare your marketing automation for your follow-up campaign. Slowing Down It can be tricky to loosen the reins yourself and trust others with your business, but as you’re unlikely to be an expert in everything, it can boost your company’s fortunes. By spreading the workload, you will have more time to focus on the things you’re good at, which can lead to more success for your business.  Image credit: Daria Shevtsova from Pexels If humanity is going to solve all its problems, we’re going to require a lot of highly motivated people. We need brains and perseverance to make it through the 21st century in one piece
The problem, of course, is actually getting people motivated in the first place. It’s an age-old question. What’s the best approach? The answer is quite annoying: it depends on who you’re trying to motivate. The tactics that work for one person might not work for another. This post collects all the best methods for motivating people and presents them in a way you can understand. You can then deploy them on a case by case basis. Be Inspirational For some people, inspiration is the best tactic you can use. What’s great about this method is that it forces people to internalize their desire for success. You’re not dangling something in front of them, like money. Instead, you’re finding common ground with them and getting them to align their goals with yours. With proper inspiration, they’ll want to work hard and achieve the objective because they believe it is valuable in its own right. Challenge People What’s the first thing people learn on personal training courses? The answer is the importance of challenging people. It’s a fine balancing act, though. Pushing people too hard stresses them out and causes them to throw their hands up in the air and give up. Not pushing them enough makes them feel like they’re stagnating and failing to make progress. The key is to find the sweet spot between the two. You want to create just enough resistance that they can achieve some success while also feeling like they’re growing as people. Celebrate With Them When people achieve something great, it is vital to celebrate with them. It helps to recognize their contribution and shows your appreciation of what they’re doing. For many people, this type of affirmation is the most important part of their work. They want to feel emotionally valued for what they’re doing. In some cases, it is even more critical than money. Provide Feedback Another strategy is to inform the people you’re trying to motivate about the differences that their efforts have made. In other words, you’re showing them the real-world effect of their actions and how they’re making a difference. Remember, the vast majority of people want to believe they’re making an impact. They want to feel like their work matters. But sometimes, they can’t see the effects of their action. Providing feedback helps with this. It shows people that what they’re doing is making a difference. It reveals how their hard work is paying off. Be More Trusting Trusting people is always a challenge, especially when so many of them will let you down. But it is also critical if you want to motivate people. You have to make them feel as though they can make decisions by themselves and aren’t just carrying out your orders. ] Try loosening the leash a little bit by giving them more autonomy. Once they experience ownership of a task, it’ll become more personally important for them.  Imge credit: Free-Photos from Pixabay With that in mind, below is a guide to some of the key factors that you should know when it comes to going remote with your business. Read on for everything that you need to know.
A well-designed website is crucial If you are going to successfully take your business remote, the most crucial thing that you need is a smart, well-designed, professional website. Think of your website like the hub of your business, without a carefully designed website, your business has nowhere to run from. That’s why it’s worth taking the time to source a website designer who is able to create you a smart, stylish, and well-designed site that offers everything that you need your site to offer. Not sure what your site should include? Consider checking out what your competitors’ websites offer. IT support is a must When you’re running a business virtually, your website and online presence is the hub of your business. This means that if your systems or site end up going down, you could be left with a business that is unable to run. As every business owner knows, downtime is never a good thing for a business, which is why it’s so vital that you have adequate IT support in place. You can find plenty of IT support for SMEs online, it’s just a case of finding the support that is the right fit for you, your business and your budget. Hone your marketing strategy To ensure that your remote business sees as much success as possible, it’s vital that you take steps to properly hone your marketing strategy. Even with the most amazing product or service in the world, if no one knows about it, you are going to struggle to see success. That’s where having a well-thought out marketing strategy comes into play. If you’re going to make a success of your business, you need to ensure that you’re properly marketing your services. Going remote can be a fantastic way to reduce business costs and make running your business simpler and easier. There’s a lot to think about when it comes to running your business from home, but it doesn’t have to be too overwhelming, it’s just a case of thinking the process carefully through, that’s all.  Image credit: Melanie Sophie from Unsplash It makes information more digestible
Learning skills is in human nature. We need to learn skills to grow, develop and adjust from a young age. However, it seems counterintuitive to learn all your skills from a set of books. Indeed, young children learn through practice and copying the adults around them. It would be foolish to assume that people change their approach when they grow older. Mimicking gestures and processes is an innate mechanism. Consequently, compiling information in a format that focuses on the copying part of the learning process can facilitate skills acquisition. The adult education sector can partner with a professional video production company to turn reading materials into videos. Concepts are more easily digestible and approachable when they are shown rather than read, which can speed up learning for adults. Similarly, when showing isn’t an option, telling remains a valuable tool. Let’s not forget that people grew up in a storytelling environment before books existed. As such, podcasts are a suitable alternative to videos. It brings new incentives Modern classrooms have been using gamification with their students of all ages. For children, gamification used to be in the form of a physical reward, such as a star or a small present, to mark successes. Nowadays, teachers rely on virtual rewards, using apps to allocate points, badges, and creative avatars. Gamification apps can be equally effective for adults, as they provide a new sense of motivation. Don’t we all want to win? Earning badges and points can encourage adults to prolong learning sessions and memorise new knowledge quicker and better. Knowledge is always available How did school go for you? As a child, you needed to revise your book-based lessons before a test. As an adult, the same principle may not be suitable for your day-to-day life. Ultimately, it’s hard to make time for learning when you’ve got to manage work and a household. Consequently, digital tech makes knowledge accessible whenever and wherever you need it, whether you want to listen to the latest school podcasts during your commute or use the app to refresh your memory. Digitalising knowledge adds flexibility. In a world where remote teaching has become the new normal, it’s essential to maintain the technology even after turning the covid page. Digital technology makes learning more manageable for millions of adults who need to upskill. Whether they want to integrate into a new culture or boost their career progression, digital teaching makes their goal possible.  Image credit: Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels The point of conversion is one that gets a lot of attention, and rightly so. It’s the moment where you have the best chance to turn a lead into a customer or client. However, that doesn’t mean that you should be rushing to that stage. If you spend a little more time preparing your lead before the pitch, then you can maximise your chances of succeeding with it. Here are a few ways to do that.
Learn about your customer First of all, you should make sure that you know who you’re talking about. Make use of things like lead capture forms like Leadformly on your website that can hopefully help get you a little more detail on the people that will become your customers and clients. This way, you can adjust your pitch to better suit their own needs and circumstances. You don’t want to be talking to them as if they’re just a part of a target market, you want to be able to individualise your pitch to them as best as possible. Have answers for the tough questions Before you get in touch, make sure that you have considered the potentials problems and barriers between your customers/clients and your products/services. Unless you’ve done a world first and created the perfect product or service, these are going to exist. You can also look at barriers and problems with competitors. It’s likely that your leads are going to have tough questions about exactly these and going in without any research or answers prepared is not going to look good on your end. Set the tone A little showmanship can make all the difference. This is, in effect, what’s at the heart of branding. With the help of teams like the brand design agency - Naked Ideas, you can make sure that your website and any marketing materials you have can carry across the tone and the voice of the brand that you want. A strong brand identity can help potential customers and clients feel like they know what your business is about before you get in touch. It establishes a level of trust and credibility that makes it much easier to make your pitch without as much scepticism. Be generous You can’t exactly bribe someone into becoming a client, no-one is going to be hoodwinked by a gift. However, free samples or souvenirs can help to establish a friendly and giving tone. If you show your potential clients that you’re willing to meet their needs in little ways, then they are more likely to believe that you’re willing to do it through your products and services, as well. Bringing a free gift can definitely improve your chances of winning new clients or, at the very least, keeping them around long enough for you to wow them with your pitch. Don’t rush into a pitch until you’ve had the time to make sure your potential customer or client can warm up to it. Lay the groundwork for your future success.  Image credit: Rodolfo Clix on Pexels When your business is operating at maximum efficiency levels, your productivity should increase naturally. As a result, you can boost your company’s profitability by enhancing efficiency at every level. However, finding the most effective ways to improve your efficiency can be tricky. To give your business the best chance of success in 2021, take a look at these top tips for maximizing efficiency now:
Set Firm Goals Unless you have clear goals in place, you won’t be able to monitor or optimize your efficiency levels. When you know what you’re working towards, you’re able to implement effective strategies that will help you to achieve your targets in the quickest timeframe. By using SMART goals, for example, you can ensure that your business targets are specific, measurable, achievable, time-bound, and realistic. Increase Automation When you automate business functions, you can reduce the amount of time it tasks for tasks to be completed. In addition to this, increased automation eradicates potential inaccuracies caused by human errors and reduces the need for staff, thus reducing your costs. People tend to assume that automation is only relevant in specific industries, such as manufacturing, but this isn’t the case at all. Every business can benefit from implementing automated processes, regardless of what sector you operate in. From invoicing and marketing to customer service and quality control, there are numerous ways you can increase automation within your business. Start Outsourcing If you aren’t outsourcing already, it’s time to start. When you outsource certain tasks or functions, you can operate more efficiently. Outsourcing gives you access to specialist expertise that you don’t have in-house, but it also enables your core staff to focus on their main roles. By taking advantage of outsourcing opportunities, you can also minimize the need for full-time, in-house staff, which can enable you to operate with fewer outgoings. There are plenty of ways to incorporate outsourcing into your business model. Using third-party managed IT services or professional translation services is a form of outsourcing, for example. Similarly, working with an SEO agency or a content production company enables you to outsource important business functions and improve your efficiency levels. Prioritize Tasks When your To-Do list is getting longer by the minute, don not simply work through it starting at the top. Instead, grade tasks based on how important and time-sensitive they are. By doing so, you can tackle the high-value tasks first and leave the less important issues until last. Using scheduling software or a task management platform is a good way to plan your working day, as it enables you to modify your schedule quickly and grade tasks according to their priority. Becoming More Efficient People tend to assume that maximizing efficiency means working harder but it doesn’t have to. By altering the way you work, you can significantly increase your efficiency and productivity, without working harder. In fact, you might find that making modifications to how you work allows you to reduce your working hours while still boosting your efficiency levels!  Image credit: La Miko on Pexels It goes without saying that in order for a business to attract more customers, continue to grow, and make more profit, they obviously need to devise an effective marketing campaign. This is something which is even more important when one considers the state of the economy around the world at present. Businesses don’t have as much money to spend; therefore, it is crucial to get their advertising plan right the first time around. Moreover, people don’t have much money to spend and therefore marketing methods need to be even cleverer and well thought through.
Sadly, there is no magic formula and essentially whether a strategy will work or not all depends on the business in question. Every method in the book needs to be taken, adapted and edited in order to suit the company. The best idea is to go for something which seems to be successful across a lot of businesses and industries. There are not a lot of options which actually boast this desirable quality. Nevertheless, one that does is the utilisation of promotional products. This is basically where a company chooses to produce products with their name printed on, they then distribute these as gifts to potential consumers. The key to the success of this strategy all lies within what product is chosen. There are lots of different items a business can choose from however one which seems to have a whole host of advantages to its name is the use of promotional bags. This blog post will reveal what the benefits linked to this product in particular are. The first reason is that promotional bags are relatively cheap to produce and distribute, especially in relation to some of the other promotional products which a company can choose from. In fact, custom made bags are something which has decreased in price significantly as of late, especially when buying in bulk. It is important how crucial it is to highlight the fact that choosing a low-cost product is pivotal at present due to the recession and the need to have a strategy which is as low risk as it can possibly be. Another reason for choosing promotional bags is that it will add to the credibility of the company. This is because more and more people are caring about the environment and wanting to look after their planet. If they see that a company is distributing reusable bags then the company will go up in their estimations and they will feel more inclined to use it. Plus, reusable bags are great for exhibitions. If you’ve been looking at marquees for a promotional event or trade show, giving out a reusable branded bag can help people to keep all of their advertising gifts and brochures in one place while also advertising your business. A final and highly important point to note is that this is an item which has massive scope for potential. At the end of the day, if an individual uses their bag to go shopping then there is no telling how many people they will pass and thus how many people will see the details of the company in question. At the end of the day, it is really not hard to see why so many individuals are choosing to implement a strategy based around promotional bags.  Image credit: Burst on Pexels When it comes to your business, you should always be thinking about how you can improve it. This is going to mean that you take it to the next level as and when it is required. But, how do you do this? Well, we’re sure that you’ve done it before unless your company is relatively new, but things are a little bit different with the circumstances that we are in right now. In this article though, we are going to be taking a look at some of the requirements when taking your business to the next level. If you would like to find out more about this, keep reading down below.
The Best Employees The first thing that you are going to need is the best employees. You are going to need people who are willing to dedicate their time to helping you build your business up, and if you don’t have that right now this is going to be a problem. Your business is made up of many different parts, but your employees are a vital one and you are never going to be any better than your worst employee. Everyone needs to be working hard and continually doing everything in their power to get you where you need to be on the market. If you think that someone isn’t pulling their weight, you have two options. First, you can talk to them, see what the issue is and if there is anything that you can do to help. If this doesn’t work, then the only option you have left is to replace them with someone who will give your business everything that they have professionally. The Right Product Another thing that you’re going to need is the right product. You need to have demand for whatever you are selling, and you need to make sure that you’ve got everything you need to provide it. For example, if your business sells evaporative condensers, you need to make sure you’ve got a market for them. When you find it, you need to market heavily in their direction to let them know that you have what they need. If there isn’t any demand, then we suggest you find a way to generate some sooner rather than later The Right Idea Finally, you’ve got to have the right idea. When you’re moving your business forward, there is always going to be an idea in mind, and it’s got to be a good one. Without one of these, you aren’t going to have any hope of getting where you are headed. Take your time coming up with your plan of action so that you know it’s the best possible path for your business. We hope that you have found this article helpful, and now see some of the things that are required when it comes to taking your business to the next level. It is only going to be as complicated as you make it, but if you take your time and give it everything you’ve got, you’re going to be just fine. We wish you the best of luck.  Image credit: Cleyder Duque on Pexels Any business that sells products has to engage with manufacturing. Whether that’s directly or indirectly. At the end of the day, manufacturing is essential when it comes to bringing your products to life and giving you something to sell. Think about it. Even if you have the best product concept in the world - the best product concept that anybody has ever come up with - it's pretty useless unless you can bring the product to life and offer it for sale on the market. Consumers want to receive something more than an idea for their money. However, manufacturing is a relatively complex process and you have a fair number of options at hand. Whether you offer food products, jewellery, bedding, candles, kitchen accessories, gadgets or anything else you can think of, it’s going to need to go through some sort of manufacturing process and there are countless ways to go about it. Here are a few options alongside a little more information to help you to make the best choices when it comes to your own business and its manufacturing process.
What Is Manufacturing? Let’s start out by settling on what exactly manufacturing is. Put simply, manufacturing is the process of taking raw materials and combining them or joining them together in a way that will create your final product. Anything that comes off the manufacturing production line should be ready to be packaged and sent directly to the customer. It’s your product in its final form. In-House Manufacturing vs. Outsourced Manufacturing The two most common ways of going about manufacturing a product are outsourcing or bringing manufacturing in-house. Now, most small businesses start out by outsourcing their manufacturing, while larger companies with established and in-demand goods tend to bring manufacturing in house. The right decision will fall down to your individual business’ circumstances and needs. But here are a few things to take into consideration to come the right conclusion for you. Cost Your manufacturing process needs to be cost effective. If you are a small business with small means of investing, manufacturing in house can be costly and risky. You may change your mind when it comes to what you’re selling and be lumbered with lots of costly and specific equipment you no longer need. Larger companies tend to have solid demand for their goods and will use equipment and machinery indefinitely, which makes in house manufacturing more sensical. If you know your products will sell, it’s fine to invest in niche manufacturing essentials like carbide tool industries products and conveyor belts. Time Outsourcing tends to save time. You send your requests out and the work will be completed. If you manufacture in house, you need to train staff up. Again, whether this is worth it or not will depend on your business’ circumstances. As you can see, the logical option for most small businesses is to outsource manufacturing. But as you grow and experience success, you may want to consider bringing things in house! |
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