How Abandoned Carts Undermine Potential Revenue

Abandoned carts are precisely what they sound like.

They’re the digital equivalent of filling your cart with items at a store, changing your mind about buying your cart’s contents, and walking out without making a purchase.

It’s worth pointing out that, in this case, it’s even worse. It’s much easier to add items to a digital cart, close out a window, and never look back.

It should come as no surprise that abandoned carts are a common issue for online retailers. This is easiest to explain via a retailer’s “abandonment rate.”

Customer Cart Abandonment Rate in Simple Terms

Your abandonment rate reflects the number of carts visitors generate on your site. The abandonment rate compares that to the number of purchases they complete.

For instance, consider if 100 people visit your Etsy site on a given day and create a shopping cart. If 36 of those people complete their purchases, your abandonment rate is 100 – 36 = 64%.

That number may sound high, but Baymard Institute begs to differ. The research organization reports that the average documented abandonment rate for online shopping carts as of August 2022 was 69.99%.

Steering Clear of Making Hasty Assumptions

The good news is that this number doesn’t represent potential customers who have definitively decided not to patronize your brand. On the contrary, there are many reasons for people to abandon carts while online shopping.

Statista lists things like slow delivery, excessive extra costs (like shipping), and the need to create an account as the primary reasons people didn’t cash out in 2022. It isn’t until the fourth reason on the list (just 18% didn’t trust a site with their credit card information) that the issue becomes more connected to specific failures on the part of the retailer.

In other words, in most cases an abandoned cart isn’t a burned bridge. It’s simply a failure to complete a purchase. This naturally implies that, if handled correctly, following up on abandoned carts can be a legitimate (and profitable) source of revenue for an e-commerce company. The question is, how?

Reclaiming Cart Abandonment Income

With so many abandoned carts out there, it’s important to consider multiple ways to reclaim that unrealized cash. Here are some different strategies to consider heading into 2023.

Send abandoned cart emails.

This is one of the most tried and true ways to follow up on an abandoned cart. If a potential customer gives you enough information (including an email address), you can send them an email reminding them about an abandoned cart.

When a shopper is a repeat buyer or an older customer with an account or purchase history with your brand, you can even personalize the message.

Retention.com points out that there are also ways to engage with anonymous cart abandoners. On-site software can collect first-party cookies, allowing you to reach out to unknown website visitors who filled a cart and left it behind.

Fire off a text message.

E-commerce website giant Shopify reports that nearly a third of all U.S. internet users used mobile devices to purchase something every week in 2021. The significant number of mobile shoppers makes text messages a solid alternative to an abandoned cart email.

When a mobile shopper leaves items in their cart in your app or mobile site, sending an SMS notification can be a perfect way to draw them back in. These are quick, subtle messages — and they aren’t seen as spam, either.

Try exit popups.

Abandoned carts are a time-sensitive issue. If someone leaves your site, there’s a good chance that they’re still shopping and want to find a better deal or an easier checkout process. This sense of urgency means the sooner you connect with a customer after they leave a cart, the better.

Exit intent popups allow you to do exactly that — before they even leave your site. These popups trigger when a user is about to leave a website. Hubspot explains that these should include offers or information that can draw potential customers back to their carts, such as a discount or free shipping.

Reclaiming Abandoned Cart Revenue in 2023

Customer cart abandonment revenue should never be an afterthought. It’s a significant source of potential revenue growth for most businesses.

Remember, a consumer who has gone as far as putting an item in a cart is close to being sold. They are much closer to the point of purchase than a new lead. They are far closer even than someone at the beginning of the customer journey.

Make sure to keep this dormant income in mind. Leverage it as you create and adjust your e-commerce strategies for the year ahead.

The post How to Reclaim Revenue by Reducing Customer Cart Abandonment appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

However, there is one thing that your sales team alone cannot cure. And that is customer churn. If customers don’t return, no amount of new customers can help achieve a steady growth rate for your business.

Yet many sales and marketing leaders in organizations are always busy looking “out there” for new customers instead of introspecting and improving customer retention. In fact, a paltry 40% of businesses are equally prioritizing both customer retention and acquisition.

Don’t let your company fall into the same trap. You should find ways to delight and generate more revenue from your current customers than relying solely on acquiring new customers. Below, we’ll look at the top reasons why.

Why You Should Prioritize Customer Retention

There are several benefits that make customer retention critical to your company’s bottom line.

Every loyal customer presents an opportunity to develop a brand advocate, get more referrals, and encourage word-of-mouth marketing. Let’s take a closer look at each key advantage, one by one.

Get positive word of mouth.

75% of customers loyal to a brand will refer their friends and family to the same. And this desire to spread the word comes from the customer retention efforts of the brand.

A decision to prioritize customer retention initiatives has the power to convert customers into brand advocates, increasing your likelihood of gaining referrals. A recommendation from a third party can be the final nudge that moves a prospect to action and persuade them to buy from you.

When customers are happy with your brand, you can even launch a referral program to realize their full potential in promoting your business. Ellevest is a great example. The company rewards both the referrer and the referee for each successful transaction.

To launch a similar program, you can use a tool such as Early Parrot. It lets you create referral marketing campaigns. These can seamlessly integrate with any of the major website builders in the market.

However, you can’t expect such an initiative to work without a focus on retaining customers. Disengaged customers are less likely to tell others about you, even if you reward them for doing so.

Boost conversion rates.

A customer who has bought from your business twice is 9 times more likely to purchase again than a new buyer, as per a study by Adobe. In other words, current customers help you get more conversions and make more money.

CVS Pharmacy is great at targeting present customers, for example. The company sends customers personalized email messages with deals and coupons based on what they have purchased before.

An email campaign is not the only way to target current customers. You can also insert Google Ads or Facebook pixels within your website’s code. These snippets can be used to run advertising that targets people who have already visited or purchased from your website.

Since the customers are likely to need similar products again, a retargeting campaign allows the company to bring customers back and sell more in the process.

Increase your customer lifetime value (CLV).

In case you’re unaware, customer lifetime value is the total monetary worth of a customer during the period of their relationship with your business. And it’s an important metric that speaks to the overall financial health of your company.

A recent study suggests that 37% of buyers will shell out more money on a business if they’re loyal to the brand. So repeat customers are not just more likely to buy from you as we discussed above, but they are also inclined to spend more.

The result? High CLV and low cost of marketing, which brings us to the next benefit of prioritizing customer retention.

Reduce marketing expenses.

It is widely agreed that customer acquisition costs more than customer retention.

When you acquire customers, you also get to learn about the best ways to reach them. And you have the contact information to reach them again and again in a cost-effective manner.

Acquiring new customers, on the other hand, requires you to allocate a dedicated budget to sourcing new leads, advertising your website, lead nurturing, and customer onboarding. No matter how careful you are, you are always left with a huge dent in your pocket.

Get predictable revenue.

Running a business is a game of risk and uncertainty. But that doesn’t mean you can overlook ways to minimize them as much as possible. And that’s another aspect where customer retention shines more than customer acquisition.

As we discussed above, happy and satisfied customers will keep buying from you again and again. As a result, your overall revenue is more steady and predictable.

In fact, annual subscriptions — a recent business model that has taken the world by storm — relies solely on a business’s ability to retain customers as the main source of growth.

When a customer pays for the annual subscription, the business has a certain amount of assured income for the whole year. And at the end of 12 months, customers renew their subscription based on their needs and level of satisfaction with the product or service.

The global SaaS market (subscription software) is projected to touch $437 billion in 2025, at a CAGR of 12.5%. So you can imagine the kind of growth possible with retaining customers for the long-term.

By retaining customers, you can say goodbye to your day-to-day sales worries and focus more on the future vision of your brand.

Shield your business from the competition.

The more customers connect with your business, the more habitual they get in terms of preferring your brand. They do not get easily swayed by other brands as long as your product or service is working fine for them. And this is a huge competitive advantage to have in a fickle world.

A brilliant example of a brand that builds customer loyalty with an authentic connection is Bombas. The company openly communicates its philanthropic mission of donating to the needy, which plays a big role in customer retention.

When customers are served with stories that help them connect with a brand’s mission and values, they experience a strong sense of loyalty.

Improve business operations.

82% of consumers agree that they would move to another brand if they experience poor customer service from the brand they were loyal to. As scary as it seems, the truth is that it takes just one bad experience to push buyers away from your business.

That means you must do everything in your power to ensure that your business operations are aligned with customer preferences. And that’s another area where customer retention can help.

Loyal customers give you a valuable source of feedback that helps improve your products, services, and overall customer experience.

Case in point: Southwest Airlines. The company quickly follows up with customers who voice a negative experience or a piece of feedback, even on social media platforms. In doing so, it gets insights straight from the customers instead of relying only on internal research and development.

Wrapping Up

The value of acquiring new customers can’t be denied. However, it’s equally important to level up your customer retention strategy. If you’re focusing only on empowering your sales reps while your customer success team is grasping at straws, then you’re compromising your organization’s potential to succeed.

The solution? Give equal weightage to customer retention. As we discussed above, customer retention is crucial for the long-term sustainability of your business. Moreover, it gives you new opportunities to leverage the trust you have built with current customers to take your business to the next level.

After all, customer retention is what differentiates one-hit wonders from strong and stable brands that dominate their industry for decades.

The post Why You Should Prioritize Customer Retention Over Customer Acquisition  appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Larger businesses may have more than one leader for different areas. However, the productivity of the team, processes, and organization is affected by how good these leaders and managers are at their jobs. You can start working towards becoming someone who can effectively manage and lead a business with ease. This guide will give you all the answers you need.

What Is a Business Leader?

Business leaders are at the heart of the company. However, there can be more than one within any organization.

Despite the obvious business leaders being in positions of power — such as the CEO, director, or president — smaller team leaders and managers are also business leaders. They may be responsible for different elements of the company. However, they are there to motivate employees, set goals, and achieve targets to work towards the overall aim of the company.

5 Key Traits of an Effective Business Leader

Of course, goals and outcomes will differ between business and industry. However, there are some key skills that will be present in all effective business leaders.

1. Excellent Communication Skills

Communication is the foundation of success, not only in business but in most aspects of life. Effective business leaders are able to communicate expectations, goals, and instructions with clarity and assertiveness. Likewise, they are also skilled at creating a space where employees feel comfortable to ask for help and guidance.

2. Creativity

An effective business leader is creative in the way that they approach challenges and problems. They are able to develop innovative ways to improve processes, organization, and productivity within their team. On top of this, they can influence employees to also begin thinking through this critical lens and solve problems for themselves.

3. Ability to Give — and Receive — Constructive Criticism

Nobody is perfect, and a business leader knows this. They have the ability to give constructive feedback to their staff in a manner that is not demoralizing. After all, they want their employees to grow, learn and develop their skills too. However, effective business leaders do not just give constructive criticism. They are also open and eager to receive it, using it to better themselves and their leadership style.

4. Ability to Self-Judge

Whilst receiving feedback from others is very useful, an effective business leader can notice their shortcomings themselves. They are able to pick up on areas of themselves that require improvements and work on them. Not only this, but they are not afraid to admit when they make mistakes. Mistakes lead to growth and growth leads to better business outcomes.

5. Works to Motivate and Encourage

A good business leader knows their employees’ professional strengths. They set goals and targets that are achievable and realistic, keeping team members motivated and giving them a sense of achievement. Additionally, effective leaders praise and thank their employees regularly. When people feel appreciated and rewarded, they work hard. An effective business leader knows how to use this to encourage productivity, loyalty, and determination.

Becoming an Effective Business Leader

You will not become an effective business leader overnight. The journey is a learning curve that twists and turns the whole way through your professional career.

And you must never forget that you cannot be perfect. There is always something to learn and further growth to be pursued. However, these methods will have you marching down the right path.

Practice clear communication.

The importance of communication cannot be highlighted enough. If employees aren’t sure what you want from them, you are not going to see the results you want.

Whilst communication is a two-way road, as a leader, you have to set the foundations. Organizing regular team meetings where clear goals can be set and people can provide updates on progress is a great place to start.

Communication as a leader is also about picking up on subtle hints and needs of employees, showing empathy, and being aware of your non-verbal communication. Take note of your tone of voice and body language when talking with employees. You want to be encouraging and open to make them feel comfortable and engaged.

Always look for ways to improve yourself.

You can always make improvements! This is true both personally and as an organization.

For example, studying for a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) will give you the advanced knowledge and skills to be able to solve complex business problems and develop professionally. Ashton University’s online DBA course has been designed for business leaders, professionals, and future executives to develop an understanding of processes through links to theory, applied research, and in-depth analyses.

Always take the initiative to make improvements to yourself. No matter how big or small, consistently make self-improvements to work towards becoming an effective business leader.

Listen to others.

Listening is a large part of communication. Honing this skill is absolutely critical. As a leader, listening covers a wide range of aspects.

You have to actively listen and respond to your employees. All of them. Whether they are asking for guidance, voicing their concerns, or putting forward a potential idea. You want them to feel respected and valuable, so make time for them and their concerns.

They are coming to you with hopes of change, improvements, or growth. You need to respond in a way that shows they are heard, their contributions to the company are important, and how they are feeling matters to you.

Lead by example.

Everyone has had or has heard about the lazy manager type that barks out orders to everyone else and then floats around not really doing anything. Don’t be that person.

You are the business leader, and if you aren’t working hard, why should your employees? Seeing you actively taking on tasks yourself, working towards the company vision, and putting in effort sets an example to everyone else. You show what is expected. You motivate them to want to work hard for you.

There are some key skills that all leaders possess. Now you know what they are and how to develop them. You are well on your way to becoming an effective and admirable business leader.

The post A Guide to Becoming an Effective Business Leader appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

After hearing about its benefits from many other companies, a small firm decides to invest extensively in new technology. Including AI. Despite this, days, weeks, and even months pass without the corporation receiving a complete return on its investment. The issue, among entrepreneurs, has only intensified due to the pandemic and the hasty adoption of technology that resulted.

So, what’s the real story behind that? There might be many explanations for this. For starters, the technology implementation may not be as excellent as you had hoped.

Maybe your employees weren’t adequately trained. Perhaps the technology wasn’t a suitable match for your specific requirements.

It’s possible that the technology isn’t all that useful in the first place. And in the context of the pandemic, hasty digital transformation efforts often result in poor technological outcomes.

Unfortunately, anybody dealing with today’s challenges will find that solving them without technology is challenging. (In truth, every business should now be a technology business, but that’s a discussion for another day.)

Fortunately, you can make efforts to ensure that the technology you choose provides you with all you need. Remember that these aren’t fail-safe formulas for success, but rather a set of suggestions that will help you get closer to the results you want from technology.

1. Choose your technology carefully.

This is one of the most often repeated tips, but it bears repeating.

Why? Because you don’t have to employ every single piece of technology available. Sure, some IT basics may drastically transform your business. Meanwhile, you must be reasonable in how and where you use them, even in such circumstances.

When deciding which technology to use, there are a few considerations to consider.

You must consider specific demands, industry circumstances, competitor movements, and future business prospects before making a choice.

However, there is a mentality that may assist you in making better tech decisions. Choose technology that will help you become a more agile and fast-paced firm. Combining DevOps and CI/CD principles with decoupled data, infrastructure, and digital solutions may go a long way.

2. Include cloud computing in your infrastructure as a must-have.

The advent of the everything as a service (XaaS) paradigm allows you to tap into the power of various technologies.

Moreover, without having to make significant expenditures. As a result, you may (and should) use cloud computing to implement technologies.

Utilizing things like artificial intelligence, analytics, and big data can help your company grow.

Yes, cloud computing is ideal for storing data and even running customer relationship management software on top of it.

However, there’s more. Cloud computing allows you the freedom to scale up or down your tech demands at any moment. Meanwhile, you gain access to technologies that would be significantly more expensive if you developed them yourself.

3. Use data to make decisions and track progress.

You must already be aware that you base your selections on the information available to you.

Adopting big data strategies, as well as analytics and artificial intelligence, may help you maximize your company’s potential. This involves technology adoption and performance considerations.

Looking at the correct data may help you figure out which technologies are good for you. Consequently deciding when the optimum moment is to implement them.

Furthermore, when assessing the output and performance of new technology, data should be at the core of your monitoring activities. Data collected from the technology you adopt will offer you insights that will assist you.

Furthermore, you can determine what to alter, adapt, and scale up or down.

4. Invest in technology that will benefit the whole firm.

Because technology can empower your whole business, you should ensure that the digital solutions you implement benefit employees from all departments.

Doesn’t that sound natural? However, you’d be amazed how many firms acquire a specific technology, such as AI-based analytics solutions, and use it solely in one department, such as sales.

The concept is simple. Make as much use of technology benefits as possible.

Even if your new technology doesn’t seem helpful in a given area, try to conceive of other ways it may help you. At least, utilize the output to inform and connect with the rest of your firm. That way, everyone benefits — even if the production is a source of information.

5. Pay special attention to your workforce’s training.

Finally, you’ll need your team members to be well-versed in your new technology.

If you expect to install a new technology without providing extensive and continuing training to the individuals using it, you will be disappointed.

You’ll need extensive training to ensure that your staff understands making the most of the new digital solutions. Perhaps most significantly, the training should be continual rather than a one-time event.

That’s because you could discover new applications, or you might upgrade the solution with new features and capabilities that you wouldn’t have known about if you hadn’t informed other colleagues about them regularly.

If you don’t want to repeat the errors that others have made, do yourself a favor and think carefully about these tips.

The post Five Ways to Maximize the Benefits of Technology appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

They serve no practical use and the firms who offer them prey on our emotions and persuade us to buy them.

However, valuable objects may also fulfill emotional demands, such as a sense of pride, belonging to a group, imitating trendsetters, or the delight of becoming a trendsetter. For example, consider those who wait in line all night to get the newest smartphone.

They do it for various reasons, one of which is their desire to be ahead of the curve. That isn’t a problem at all. A phone, for example, is a practical object that serves an emotional purpose.

The majority of functional items compete on price and feature trade-offs. Adding an emotional component to a practical product is a terrific approach to set it apart on a whole new level. Many B2C technology products appeal to similar feelings.

Nokia recognized that the mobile phone had evolved into a fashion piece and its communication role when it pioneered color choices for cell phones. The initial Apple Macintosh’s famed “hello” in 1984 established an emotional connection with this humanized new machine. However, many of us work in the IT field on a B2B basis. One would believe that B2B’s decision-making is intellectual and devoid of emotion.

Above all, because B2B decision-makers are people, they may sometimes include emotional impulses into their decision-making process. Job security, technological curiosity, personal motives, and, believe it or not, greed are some of the emotional aspects in technology B2B.

Job security emotions are paramount.

IBM’s marketing slogan back when it was the dominating force in the computer business was “Nobody Ever Got Fired for Buying IBM,” and it worked.

Even when the clone XYZ seemed to be more appealing due to cheaper cost or higher performance/functionality, IT managers were unwilling to give XYZ a chance since their jobs were at stake.

For example, if they choose XYZ they risk losing their job if it fails. Above all, purchasing IBM was a sure bet for job stability.

We can leverage curiosity about emotions technology.

Someone may pick the most up-to-date XYZ technology even though their company doesn’t need it because they want to be current and cutting-edge or because XYZ’s experience will look good on their résumé. But even a small business may find NFT technology useful.

Uncover the personal reasons for doing anything.

One of the most successful product launches lately did a fantastic job with that approach.

R&D engineers working for some B2B clients were the decision-makers for this innovative technology. The warning to these engineers was that if they didn’t learn about the new technology, they might become outdated in a few years.

It was a powerful argument that helped make this product launch a huge success. They didn’t do anything dishonest. They were sure that this new function would become a popular trend in the future, and we were right. The plan was to use personal, professional motivation to kick-start our campaign.

Supplier XYZ provides a professional training session at a five-star resort in Las Vegas or Hawaii, affecting specific B2B decision-makers.

In the B2B technology business, this is standard procedure. Remember to add an emotional perspective while designing a new technological product or marketing campaign.

For example, because many B2B firms don’t do this, this technique is a great way to stand out.

Use emotion to secure referrals.

B2B recommendations account for 78 percent of all client leads.

Referrals are a terrific approach to get people to notice your brand without promoting it to them directly. Incentive programs for current customers are frequent for businesses to generate recommendations.

Whether in the form of a discount on their next purchase or another sort of reward. Therefore these incentives aid in the purchase of goods and services.

The following are some of the reasons why referrals are effective.

• They allow good word-of-mouth marketing to flourish.
• This will bring in new consumers.
• Referrals can increase the number of referrals.
• They can help you boost your closing rates.

Engage in conversation.

Conversational marketing is a term used to describe a kind of marketing.

Customer communication in real-time is critical for overall engagement. Chatbots or live chats provide communication gateways at their fingertips. In other words, it is particularly important given the worldwide pandemic of the last several years.

90% of consumers prefer texting over filling out a form because it is faster and more genuine discussions. Because people are answering fewer phone calls as a means to manage their emotions. Therefore, texting is less emotional as well, which is an important way to provide that customized experience in 2022.

ABM stands for Account-Based Marketing.

Account-based marketing consists of personalized, planned programs that target specific accounts.

ABM delivers the following benefits to sales and emotion marketing teams:

• optimized performance;
• improved reporting;
• increased participation; and
• a higher return on investment.

We use cookies as part of a successful ABM approach to determine where consumers spend their time. Online businesses may use cookies in retargeting to find new consumers based on their previous emotion online activity.

However, using ABM tactics like cookies to retarget clients is becoming more challenging. Third-party cookies will be phased out beginning in 2022, forcing B2B marketers to rethink their approach to ABM.

Finally…

It’s critical to generate leads as a B2B marketer.

However, generating the right leads is critical. Supported by good strategies and methods, a marketing strategy serves as a template for creating initiatives with lasting effects. These marketing tactics are some of the most successful B2B marketing methods.

The post Emotions In B2B Technology Marketing appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What can a small company owner do to prepare for growth in the New Year, given that 99 percent of all U.S. enterprises are tiny, almost 32 million as of March 2021?

What kind of small enterprises is growing now? It’s possible that now is the best moment to start a new business. In the New Year, certain services and goods may be in higher demand than ever. This list is by no means exhaustive, but if you work in one of these fields or want to, this may be a good year for you.

• Physical Therapy
• Wellness
• Mechanic
• Carwashes
• Curricula
• MBA Marketing Courses
• Business Advice and Coaching
• SM Management
• A/R (Accounting)

If indeed these careers are now the most successful, it’s clear that customers are intensely focused on self-improvement and business-to-business services.

So, you’ve been bitten by the entrepreneurial bug and are joining the ranks of other business owners who have gone solo. Are there risks to becoming your boss? Sure. You can’t expand without bruising yourself a few times. But do the rewards justify the effort? Ask the almost 32 million small firms that comprise 99 percent of all U.S. businesses.

Where do you expand if you’re new?

Then how do you go about it when you don’t know what you don’t know?

Decide on a business structure.

The importance of choosing the correct sort of company entity cannot be stressed. Consider it to be like cooking. Before you start, decide what you’re going to make and what utensils and supplies you’ll need. Not every tool or instrument will work for you.

Make a stew on a grill to understand.

When beginning a firm, you must explore several business structures and choose which one best suits your needs. Understanding that each entity type has unique legal requirements is critical, not just during the creation phase but also as you develop and expand.

If you’re like most people and motivated more by ambition and caffeine than a solid business strategy, you’ll need to decide if you want to do it alone or with a partner. Whether you need investors. How much ownership do you want to give up in exchange for financial aid?

You must also decide how you will run the company, who will make decisions and over what, and how you will be compensated and share in the profits and losses.

A wise business owner also learns about putting up precautions such as insurance and hiring professionals such as lawyers for contracts, employment difficulties and guidance, and accountants for tax and bookkeeping.

Very often, companies fail to create procedures and processes for handling conflicts, differences in management style, and settling disputes, which harms the business, earnings, and relationships. Every facet of a business is influenced by how it is legally created.

Expand systems to address roadblocks.

Sole proprietorship or joint ownership of a firm involves a shared commitment to doing activities that strengthen the business.

Running a business requires following local, state, and federal regulations. Establishing internal processes that help you succeed.

Consider how you greet customers in person, over the phone, or via email. The information they have access to when considering signing up or buying. Then the policies you create and implement communicate the business’s objectives.

Consider whether you will train employees to deliver the intended customer experience or handle problems that arise. Billing practices complicate things. Also, use the information that appears on a website or social media to showcase and market the business’s strengths. These are all essential touchpoints that may make or kill a business.

These moments also shape its reputational identity, which is how the public and rivals see it. Customers and clients alike expect and require an experience worth their time and money.

Get set…grow!

If you’ve been around the block at least once and can include a successful business among your accomplishments, it’s time to pause and reflect on your past and future growth.

Uncertainty has taught American firms that they are more susceptible than they believed when it comes to the epidemic and all the issues it brings. To prepare for future difficulties, company owners may take action to ensure their workplaces are safe for employees and customers and to comply with local government regulations.

How can an established business owner make up lost ground or stay up with the changing tides long enough to see a better New Year?

Love your squad.

Remember that creating relationships pays off. If you have loyal employees, remind them why they joined in the first place. As things improve, a motivated workforce with high morale is an organization’s most important growth asset.

Everyone will remember that the unit survived difficult circumstances by working together toward a shared objective.

Get assistance where needed.

Our reliance on technology may have made the world smaller due to increased access to information. But be aware that not all information is good information.

Don’t rely on social network pals or generic web forms to inform you what your business contracts state or what standards to follow. Do yourself a great favor and get legal advice that is conversant with the subject and can assist you in avoiding legal growth issues. And, when it comes to taxes, be sure to consult a financial specialist.

“Professional services” are not a misnomer as long as you spend time finding trustworthy assistance.

The post Are You Ready For Growth in the New Year? appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

If you’re considering scaling your small business, especially as quickly as possible, you want to go about it the right way. Here are a few essential steps that you should take into consideration before you start.

1. Identify the Need

Scaling a business is a normal activity. Doing so quickly, though, can add significant stress and strain to your operation. That’s why the first thing that you want to do is slow down and consider if scaling at a rapid pace is the best decision for your business at this moment. Here are a few questions to ask yourself to see if now is the time for quick growth:

• Do you have a brand new startup or is your small business fully launched and well-established?
• Do you have consistent business processes in place?
• Are those processes and your other business tools scalable, or do they need to be upgraded or even replaced as you grow?
• Do you have a solid team of employees that have bought into your vision?
• Do you have funding and/or revenue that you can count on as you scale your operation?

It’s important to ask these questions before investing in growth. If you find that now isn’t the time to grow in an aggressive manner, you can avoid wasting resources or, even worse, setting your new business back.

2. Start With Your Brand

If you find that you are in a prime position to grow, the first place you should start is with your brand. Your company’s brand should be a consistent and clear reflection of your vision, mission, and goals. As Bob Goldwater, partner at Goldwater Law Firm, concisely puts it, the concept of branding boils down to “clearly communicating what we are all about and then standing behind those statements.”

Goldwater goes on to connect branding to things like authenticity and focus. A clear brand helps you avoid drifting from your objectives (more on that further down). It can also differentiate you and help you stand out from the competition.

If you want to scale your company, start by ensuring that your brand is developed, fleshed out, and on point. This gives your organization a clear identity as it begins to grow and change.

3. Create a Plan and Set Goals

Branding is an important high-level aspect of successful growth. However, when the rubber hits the road, you’re also going to want to have a clear plan in place. This helps you stay on track and remain efficient as your organization gains momentum.

A growth strategy can consist of many different things. Your sales team, HR department, marketing reps, back office, and many other areas of your company will need clear direction as you grow together. Creating a comprehensive growth strategy is a critical part of successfully growing your enterprise. This should include things such as:

• Identifying and building on your existing strengths;
• Conducting market research to define your ideal customer and find new market segments worth pursuing;
• Studying your competition to see how they’ve managed their growth;
• Securing existing revenue streams and finding areas where you can gain new income.

Along with these, you also want to set the metrics that will define success. Find key indicators that allow you to measure the success or failure of your growth efforts. This could be sales growth, new SKUs, or any number of other activities. However you choose to set your goals, always remember that the most efficient growth is measurable growth.

4. Review Your Internal Systems

Scaling always puts pressure on how your business runs. A tool or method that works well now may not work well in a larger organization. With that in mind, always consider how you can prep your internal activity for the demands of a scaling operation, such as:

• Outsourcing activity: Find the areas of your business, such as distribution or marketing, that you can outsource as the demands of your company grow.
• Investing in tech: There are countless pieces of tech that can make scaling easier, such as finding an automated small business payroll solution to help your accounting team.
• Hiring the right people: Creating a recruitment strategy is key, as you want to invest in quality talent that also lines up with your vision and can support your growing business’s needs.

There are many ways that you can prep your company’s internal operations for a season of growth. Once you begin growing, you’ll be glad you put in the effort ahead of time.

There’s no end to the number of tips that you can find when it comes to scaling a small business. However, any growth strategy should always start with these four considerations. 

Assess if now is the right time to grow. From there, review your brand’s readiness for growth. Then create a thorough growth strategy and set achievable goals. Finally, review your company’s internal systems and consider where you can use tech, outsourcing, and hiring to smooth the path to future growth. These four tips can help you start your next growth cycle in the best position possible.

The post 4 Tips for Scaling Your Small Business Quickly appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Landing a corporate customer offers a ton of revenue security. Large enterprises are more financially stable than small or midsize businesses. They’re also likely to buy your most elite product or subscribe to your most expensive pricing tier. At the same time, cross-selling to other silos within their organization also becomes a possibility.

Make no mistake, all of these will transform your business. It will benefit your cash flow, your growth prospects, and your ability to attract other high-value customers.

In this article, we’ll take a look at ways you can remove common obstacles many businesses face as they pursue their first enterprise client.

1. To Win an Enterprise Client…Know Their Business

First thing’s first. You must understand your prospect’s business or your pitch has no chance of success. And I’m not talking about just being familiar with their history, their marketing material, and their roadmap.

If you want to show how you’re going to be valuable to an enterprise, you need to have remarkable insight into their operations and strategy. You need to know the objectives that drive them. You need to demonstrate that you understand the mechanisms required to get them there.

Fortunately, publicly traded companies always have highly detailed information available via their investor relations (IR) departments.

Another approach would be to Google the company’s name and look at their News results. Big business makes big news, so there’s likely going to be a wealth of up-to-date information on your prospect.

2. Understand and Articulate How You Can Add Value

Once talks with your prospect start picking up momentum and you get face time with decision-makers, the conversation should not be about you and what your company offers. This is not the time to go through a rehearsed sales pitch where you quote figures and cite case studies.

Yes, there’s a time for this spiel, but once you’re sitting in front of someone working in procurement, that time has gone.

The deeper you get into discussions, the more you need to steer the topic of the conversation toward the specifics of how your product or service will benefit them. At this point, they don’t care that you reduced administrative overhead costs by 15% for one of your other clients.

What they want to know, whether they’ll say this to you or not, is: 

• How can you make our lives easier?
• What will you do to you make us more profitable?
• How will you protect us from the risks that are unique to our industry?

In short, you have to speak their company’s language. To do this, you need to have insight into their world. You’ll also need remarkable knowledge of your product’s capacity to make it better.

Practice these conversations. Meet with your colleagues and other industry specialists. Be ready to preempt every single question they may throw at you. Have smart, insightful, non-generic answers prepared for them.

3. Fine-Tune Your Company Image

Involve a branding specialist to ensure that your company’s public-facing presence is up to standard. This process typically involves a thorough audit of everything “out there” that could shape the public’s perception of your company and its reputation.

There’s a lot to this. There are websites, social media accounts, news mentions, press releases, the tone and content of your blog, even the online profiles of your management team.

In some cases, it might be worth the effort to start positioning your CEO as a thought-leader in your industry. 

Yes, this could take a while. However, the positive reputational impact of speaking at a conference or taking part in a round-table discussion with other experts can be huge.

Even simply building a solid, thought-provoking presence on Twitter will sometimes be enough to make your prospects take your brand a little more seriously. Make no mistake, your company’s leadership will be Googled.

4. Be Prepared for Serious Scrutiny from an Enterprise Client

Large organizations are extremely cautious when integrating their systems with an external party. Corporate governance often dictates that an absurd amount of auditing has to happen before a deal with a vendor is finalized.

This is most keenly visible in the digital security arena. If your company offers a solution that needs to be integrated with your prospect’s technical environment, be prepared to be placed under a very powerful, very intimidating microscope. Onboarding a new technology vendor is a lengthy process that typically kicks off with something called an Enterprise Security Questionnaire.

Don’t be fooled by the term. This is no one-pager with Yes/No answers. Your commitment to cybersecurity will face a level of scrutiny you may not be ready for.

Experts in cybersecurity cite this as the number one reason new customers contact them. Any potential enterprise client will assess your technical environment and, often, a small business is simply not ready for this.

It’s often a good idea to involve a consultant even before the questionnaire hits your CTO’s desk. As negotiations start heading into the closing phases, be proactive. Hop on the phone with a company that knows the questions enterprise clients are going to ask.

5. Understand the Impact a Long Sales Cycle Will Have

This is a biggie. Be prepared for many of your resources to be tied up in negotiations that can go on longer than expected. Much, much longer.

A long sales cycle will affect every company differently. It’s not always possible to preempt how this will impact other areas of your operations. The best approach is to stay aware of the risk and to never base any predictions on having the deal finalized by a specific date.

Also, tread carefully if your company somehow becomes dependent on closing the deal with an enterprise prospect. It’s understandable that this could happen. If it does, do whatever you can to avoid letting your prospect finding out. Desperation is not a good look in the business world. What this scenario says about your company’s ability to plan (amongst other things) isn’t great.

Signing Your First Enterprise-Level Client Will Require Patience

The sales cycle for landing a big fish is lengthy. Things move slowly at big corporations for a variety of reasons that can be both understandable and infuriating.

The truth is that large organizations are immensely risk-averse. They take new partnerships incredibly seriously as accountability is a big deal for them. As a result, the tactics we talk about in this article represent a lot of effort on your part. Get comfortable with this.

To create the optics you need to be taken seriously could take months, if not a year. You might have to make some challenging internal changes to align your operations with your prospect’s regulatory needs.

This is the price smaller businesses have to pay as they start wading toward the deep end of the corporate swimming pool. Know what the sacrifices are and be prepared to make them.

Fortunately, the benefits of succeeding in your pursuit of an enterprise client are immense. There’s no doubt about that.

The post How to Win an Enterprise Client to Transform Your Small Business appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

As workplace technology continues to advance, we expect to see three major technology trends emerge for SMBs in 2019.

Using technology and internet to manage your business is the best thing that you can do, Then obviously it’s much better to do your HR in the cloud and there are lots of great HR software that is completely based in the cloud so we recommend looking at those if you need a new HR systsem.

1. Small businesses will increasingly incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) into their services and solutions.

Due to their size and flexibility, small businesses will be some of the first to employ cutting-edge AI- and ML-driven technology to improve their stance against larger companies. AI and ML allow SMBs to effortlessly scale without causing constraint or adding exorbitant amounts of headcount.

With conversational interfaces being one of the fastest-growing ways to implement AI and ML, we will see SMBs leverage chatbots to provide 24/7 customer assistance while keeping costs down. This could take the form of a bot reading Soda PDF documents, then “learning” and answering common questions, to create efficiencies and free up valuable employee time.

Given their focus on cash flow management, SMBs will also use AI and ML to detect anomalies in financial data, such as in expense reports or invoices, to prevent erroneous, fraudulent, or duplicate payments. ML can also be used to essentially “read” text—like that on a receipt or invoice—and pre-populate information to eliminate human error.

2. Small businesses will grow at a faster pace by tapping into their professional networks to learn from thought leaders and crowdsource insights that previously weren’t available.

Technology allows small businesses of all industries and geographies to connect and work better, together. In 2019, we will see SMBs take this to the next level and create communities to power their businesses with pooled knowledge, insights and data previously exclusive to larger companies.

SMBs will use these newfound business relationships and broadened networks to learn best practices for common business needs, such as marketing, customer lifecycle management, manufacturing, and finance. They’ll also team up to purchase and share physical resources, like tools or equipment that’s only needed a few times a year, to reduce capital expenditures and create major savings. Pooling resources for items like

• vehicles,
• specialty printers,
• presentation equipment.

can also spread out storage and maintenance costs.

With SMBs gathering industry-specific data and working closely with each other, innovation will flow from these organizations. The one-two punch of technical solutions and practical application will poise them for unprecedented growth and success. Small businesses will also work with peers to give back to their surrounding communities and organizations.

3. Small businesses will become increasingly diverse. We will see a rise in women, minority, and millennial business ownership.

The American workplace is becoming increasingly diverse.

• Women-owned businesses account for 20 percent of businesses with paid employees
• approximately 11.1M businesses are minority-owned,
• and almost half of millennials intend to start their own business in the near future.

These numbers will only continue to grow as SMBs harness technology and the power of their communities and put an emphasis on diversity and inclusion. Through bourgeoning community networks, we will see different backgrounds and perspectives converge, bringing together diverse viewpoints, spurring open discussions and supporting healthy, constructive debates.

As each of these technology trends come to fruition, we’ll see small businesses break barriers and create greater opportunity. These trends, partnered with athleticism, innovation, and entrepreneurial spirit, will cement 2019 as a marquee year for SMBs

Authored by:

Christal Bemont, SVP & GM of the Small, Midsize and Nationals business unit, is building a thriving and connected global community of SMBs within SAP Concur. By expanding the customer relationship beyond Travel, Expense and Invoice, Christal’s vision is to improve customers’ economic and financial viability, help them unlock new opportunities and promote social and environmental good. Christal’s personal connection to the industry started as a young girl, helping her mother with several small business ventures. Since joining SAP Concur in 2004, she’s grown her career from individual contributor to a leading sales executive and company spokesperson. In her free time, Christal serves her community by volunteering at organizations, such as the Anderson Animal Shelter, the local women’s shelter and Feed My Starving Children. For more about Christal, please visit her LinkedIn profile.

The post 3 Small Business Technology Trends to Watch for in 2019 appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

CRM Platforms

If you don’t think your business could benefit from CRM software, think again. One of the top tech tools you can employ in the growth of your business, Customer Relationship Management Software helps you get organized and keep track of contacts, give you a comprehensive overview of sales performance, and is key to marketing segmentation and personalization. When you’re shopping for a CRM platform, look for things like:

• Affordability—cost efficient options are king in the small business and startup world. Make every penny count by choosing a budget-friendly option. Some of the best CRM platforms, like HubSpot, don’t cost have to cost an arm and a leg.
• Customer Support—choosing a system that offers robust customer support, like Zoho CRM, is essential for SMBs that don’t have large tech support teams.
• Easy to Learn—as a small business owner you likely don’t have tons of time to spend learning the ins and outs of a new system. Choose one that’s “out-of-box” like Salesforce.
• One That Integrates Well—If you’re already using other tools to manage your business, make sure the CRM platform you choose integrates well like Base CRM—the results will be worth it.
• Customization—Decide whether you want a tool that’s standard, but ready to go or customizable to your each and every need. We love Insightly and Apptivo for their customization options. We love Insightly for its customization ability.

Analytics

Another top tech tool we love is analytics. Nowadays, customers are all too quick to switch brands or products due to a bad customer experience. However, with analytics, there is no excuse not to deliver individualized and exceptional experiences to keep your customers coming back time and time again. By implementing data analytics you can improve your customer experience by:

• Anticipating customer needs
• Delivering relevant services and products
• A highly personalized experience
• Increased efficiency and targeting customer pain points

If you’re thinking that applying data analytics to your operation is going to cost you, don’t worry! There are tons of free tools to help you refine your customer experience like Google Analytics, MixPanel, and social media insights.

Marketing Automation

Marketing automation helps businesses grow. There are only so many hours in a day and marketing automation helps you do more with less. Here are a few reasons marketing automation is one of the tech tools we love for fueling growth:

• Campaign Data—we already touched on analytics to shape the customer experience, but you also need analytics to measure your campaign success, track email performance, and prove ROI
• Personalized Messaging—I don’t know if we’ll ever be done talking about the importance of personalization. Your competitive advantage over large enterprises is your ability to personalize effectively! Personalizing your marketing messages is a way to stand out among the noise in your marketing space.
• Increased Client Retention—loyal customers are so incredibly valuable. According to research done by Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company, increasing customer retention by just 5% increases profits by 25% to 95%. Don’t get so caught up chasing new leads that you forget about your existing customers. They are where the money is.

Some marketing automation tools we love include Swiftpage, ActiveCampaign, and Ontraport.

A Good Website

One tech tool you can’t live without is a good website. It’s where customers go to find out who you are, what you’re about, and basic information about your business. If a customer can’t successfully navigate your website, the chances they’ll actually buy something from you are pretty slim. But, come on guys, putting together a great website really isn’t that hard and it’s easier and more affordable than ever!

If you’re on a budget, WordPress is a great option. In fact, it’s one of the most popular web platforms out there with over 30% of all websites running off of WordPress, including big brand names like Facebook and Vogue. With the exception of domain and hosting expenses, you can essentially run a completely functional site for free.

Looking for something really elegant? Look no further than Squarespace. Designed specifically for businesses who want to focus on visual content, Squarespace gives you access to over 40 million high-quality images to incorporate into your site. Having a gorgeous site on Squarespace will put you back a few more dollars, but having an aesthetically pleasing and functional website makes it all worth it.

If your customers conduct most of their business with you on a mobile device, consider a platform that’s optimized for just that. While Duda is at the high end of the price range, their mobile-friendly templates and the ability to create your sight in multiple languages is invaluable.

The post Top Tech Tools We LOVE appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

A Growth Plan

By now you’ve got some experience under your belt. Your business is finally profitable. You have a good customer base. Maybe you’ve taken on a few employees. That’s fantastic! But, allowing your business to grow haphazardly without a growth plan can actually be dangerous. That’s why you need to have a growth plan. Similar to your business plan, your growth plan identifies your long-term, strategic goals. More importantly, it includes how you will fund those goals. Jumping ahead on growth without the necessary funding can be bad news for your business. 

Liautaud believes “different strokes for different folks.” What works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for another. He realizes how fortunate he was to get a $25,000 loan from his father, but he also knows that hard work and some good luck are why he succeeded. “If you have a job,” he says, “get to work earlier and stay later than everyone else in the office. Outwork your teammates and always know exactly where you are financially. Those two things alone will get you further than most. In 2002, the company had 160 stores, and 70 were failing. Married with three young children, Liautaud stopped selling franchises and he and his president, James North, traveled the country, working with Jimmy John Owner and retraining them on the Jimmy John systems and procedures. In 18 months, they turned around 63 stores and closed 7. From that point on, he decided to be the best rather than the biggest. He tightened the franchisee selection process and became transparent about the long hours and lifestyle of a Jimmy John’s franchise owner. He grew the chain to 2,500 units by 2016 and He grew the chain to 2,500 units by 2016 and then sold a majority stake to Roark Capital Group. Liautaud remains the largest individual shareholder and chairman of the board. He has never made a business plan and never intended for the company to be as big as it is today. 

A Marketing Strategy

Another way to take your business a step further is to up your marketing game. You can’t afford to miss out on some of the great opportunities that can come out of things like:

• Updating your website frequently- having an up-to-date and fresh-looking website can make such a difference in making your business look like the real deal. Give customers a place to go where they can find out all of the info they’d ever need to know about your company, your products, or your services. Use a professional looking design that matches the personality of your company. There are many great web platforms out there, so be sure to choose the best one for your business using this guide.
• Including customer testimonials- including customer testimonials on your website give your business instant credibility. Ask your customers for permission to post their full name and position if it would add value to the testimonial. Here’s an example of a strong customer testimonial:
• Custom email address- this is such a simple way to take your small business a step further. Including your business name in your email address lets customers know you take your business seriously and so can they.

Delegate

This has got to be simultaneously one of the easiest and hardest ways to take your small business a step further. You’re in the position where you now have more than enough work and enough revenue to take on some help. Of course, you want more help, but giving up some of the control admittedly can be tough.

Gwen Turner, a Princeton, New Jersey-based business consultant tells Thrillist.com, “CEOs want to do it all and that’s just an impossible ask…Hiring great people and allowing them to make decisions is in the DNA of strong leaders.”

If you’re ready to bring on some new talent, a good place to start is with a freelancer. Freelancers are independent contractors so you can pay for projects as you need them completed without having to worry about paying someone long term in case your revenue slows down. Hiring a freelancer can be great for things like web design, social media marketing, or blog content writing.

Hiring a virtual assistant is another way to delegate and take your small business a step further. You can hire a transactional virtual assistant or someone who is more of a digital operations ninja who knows the vision of your company and can help you achieve your goals. (Need help hiring? Try this article)

Adding a position such as a human resource manager, IT support, or training manager, or accountant can free up your time and help your employees feel like they can get the help they need instead of relying on you or taking up your valuable time.

The post 3 Things That Will Upgrade Your Small Business appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Pros

1. It will Save You Money

One of the biggest benefits when it comes to using freelancing is the cost savings. You only need to hire and pay a freelancer when you have work you need done. This is much more cost effective than having a full-time employee on your staff to do a task that’s only needed intermittently. You also save money by using freelancing as opposed to full-time employees in regard to health insurance, paid time off, and sick days. Since most freelancers work remotely, you don’t have to provide a workspace, computer, internet access…etc.

2. Specialized Talent

Freelancers come in all shapes and sizes in terms of their specialties. You can take advantage of freelancing talents for just about anything. Freelance services on sites such as Upwork, Fiverr, and LinkedIn ProFinder that help in remote hiring, range from tender writing, artists, photographers, musicians, graphic designers, computer programmers, and marketing professionals. If you need some help with your WordPress site, instead of spending hours learning how to code, simply hire a freelancer who specializes in WordPress design.

3. Go Getters

When you utilize freelancing services, the person you are hiring is an independent contractor. They work on their own and are responsible for creating their own success. That self-discipline often bleeds over into the work they do for you as their client. Freelancers also only get paid when they finish an assignment that’s up to par. Since time is money, most of the time they are going to do their best to get it done right the first time rather than spending precious time reworking and retooling. Freelancers also get taxed, and every so often they seek help from professionals who deal with freelance taxes such as this one http://daveburton.nyc/taxes-for-freelancers. They help lower taxes and help the freelancers to save hundreds or even thousands of money on taxes.

Freelancers also usually strive to get work done as soon as possible in order to free up more time for other contracts.

4. They Are Easy to Hire

With the boom of the gig economy, hiring a freelancer is easy than ever! There are tons of sites out there that make hiring and paying a freelancer easy. Using these freelancing platforms can save you time and money that would be better used somewhere else in your business. You can read about some of our favorite freelancing platforms here: [link to Hiring a Freelancer article?]

5. Working with Freelancers Is Flexible

Corporate America is losing more and more highly skilled professionals every day as talented employees are fed up with the grind. This is good news for you as a business owner. It means those knowledgeable employees-turned freelancers are now at your disposal. And you didn’t even have to pay to train them. Also, because most freelancers you will come across are remote employees, you have access to infinitely more opportunities and options than if you were to hire someone local to work in a physical location.

Cons

1. Lack of Supervision

While hiring a remote freelancer can be a huge pro, it can also be a con. You don’t have the ability to check in on a freelancer as you do with a traditional employee. This means that you will need to have trust that they will be open and honest. Freelancers are also not required to work the same hours as you unless you specify so in their contract, so communication can be a challenge, especially if the freelancer you hire is slow to respond or lives in a different time zone.

2. Less Loyal than a Traditional Employee

You aren’t paying benefits or other company perks. A freelancer may be quicker to cut ties than a traditional employee. If they don’t like the projects or feel they aren’t being paid fairly, they might be quick to jump ship. Freelancers who seek out better-paying opportunities with little to no notice can leave you with an incomplete project and you’ll find yourself back at square one.

3. You Probably Don’t Have Their Undivided Attention

Almost all freelancers work for more than one client. This means they aren’t focused on your business 100% of the time. This isn’t a deal breaker, but it’s a conversation you should have upfront when you are in the hiring process. How available do you need your freelancer to be?

4. They Can Sometimes Drop Off Your Radar

Just like online dating, you could get ghosted by your freelancer.

There were definitely sparks flying during the interview process, but as soon as you assign them the first project, you never hear from them again. Maybe they don’t like the assignment, how to order accutane online maybe something more lucrative came up. Either way, not all freelancers will give you two-weeks’ notice. Keeping compensation and open communication can help avoid this issue. If you ever need to resolve a quick workers compensation quickly, then consider contacting a workers comp attorney for assistance.

5. Upfront Risk

If you do end up with a freelancer who decided to call it quits with no notice, you are the one who is out of luck (and possibly time and money). It’s important to take the time to do your research, read previous client feedback, and only hire freelancers with positive work history.

The post Using Freelancers to Jumpstart Your Small Business Idea: The Pros and Cons appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Paul started working for himself in the 1990s. For about 20 years, he worked as a web designer for companies like Mercedes Benz, Microsoft, Warner Music, and various online entrepreneurs. But, about 6 or 7 years ago, he shifted his business to focus more on products like books, podcasts, courses, software.

He laughs, “right now it’s hard to really say what my job is.”

He’s recently developed a blogging platform, similar to Medium, but without all the “stuff.” It’s nice, calm, easy to use writing platform. He’s also created Spasm Analytics which is like Google Analytics but according to Paul, “far easier and simpler to use. It focuses on privacy. Yours and your site visitors. Stores zero personal information. Stores data as an aggregate.” He emphasized that we don’t really need to store users’ personal data.

Slow Down

To quote Peter Shankman, “slow down.” Paul dished out some serious wisdom for entrepreneurs:

“I feel like I’m doing something wrong in my business if busy is my default state. If that’s the case, I have not prioritized things in my business well enough or I’ve just taken on too much.”

I think that’s advice we all needed to hear. Small business owner and entrepreneurs are so often grinding away, but Paul doesn’t think it has to be that way. You don’t have to be an Elon Musk who sleeps on the couch in your office because you have so much work to do.

You’re the Boss

You are the owner of your business and that means you get to make the rules. You get to say how much work is enough. “If I was working all hours of every day for 20 years I would have burned out. I would probably dislike my business even.” Of course, Paul affirms that your business needs to be profitable, but it should ultimately be set up in a way that suits the kind of life you want to have. If your business isn’t working for you, you might as well just go work for somebody else.  

Paul cited that Pew research confirms that people aren’t productive after working 50 hours a week. Paul’s advice: “If you’re working a 90 hour week, maybe you need to get more efficient with your time instead of sitting at your desk and thinking that you get a badge of honor for working 90 or more hours.” It’s time we started taking a more balanced approach to the way we approach entrepreneurialism.

Is Busy Inevitable?

Ramon posed the question to Paul that we’re all asking ourselves: But are there different stages of business where you will you have to spend 2-3 years of sleepless nights?

“We develop habits that stick with us. If we learn to golf and our swing is poor in the beginning it takes a lot of work to correct it. Whereas if we started golfing with the right swing and the right habits from the beginning, then we’re in a good place,” states Paul.

There are times when you’re going to be busy, and that’s ok. But Paul reminds us that, “It’s ok that I’m busy sometimes. It’s not ok that I’m busy all the time. Being busy as a default state is very difficult to maintain in the long term.”

Paul Jarvis Encourages You to Say ‘No’

Part of managing how busy you are is learning to say, “no.” Not every opportunity deserves your attention. Paul shares that, “every opportunity has an associated cost, and I think sometimes opportunities are great and are well worth the cost, but sometimes they’re not.” We should be focusing on what opportunities makes the most sense for the business that we want to have. Could your time be spent better doing other things to serve your business and the direction you want it to go?

It can be downright scary to say no to opportunities. But Paul reminds us that, “it’s not personal to say ‘no’,” and emphasizes the importance of setting boundaries for yourself and for your business. “If we don’t set boundaries in our own business, we’re left with the boundaries that other people set for us and that can be scary because it can be a line past what we are comfortable with.” For people pleasers, this can be one of the hardest things to overcome.

Being Satisfied—or Not

How often are we trying to keep up with the digital Joneses? In this day in age, it’s not the house or the car. It’s looking at everybody else’s company and thinking, “what’s their gross revenue, how many employees do they have?” Paul says the real question you should be asking is, “what kind of business do I want?” He also recommends combating the growth mentality at all costs.

While we do have to grow from the beginning to make our businesses sustainable and build revenue, there comes a point where we need to evaluate whether we have enough.  Paul explains that we need ego to start off. But, our ego doesn’t serve us when the point of growing our business is to sound important at a dinner party. “Am I running my business so I can sound good to other people, or am I running my business so that I can have a fulfilled life? That’s the counterbalance to keeping up with the Joneses.” He continues by asking, “what does success look like to you? 2 private jets or more time to spend washing your car?” It’s really about prioritizing what success looks like to you personally and using that as your measure. You won’t get very far if you are constantly chasing someone else’s version of success.

Fast Growth Businesses

Company of One isn’t meant to be literal, it’s meant to question growth and make you critically think about how much and what kind of growth makes sense for your business. Air B&B wouldn’t be a success if they only had two places in the whole world to book. Growth for them makes a lot of sense. If you’re planning an exit, it makes sense to grow as big as possible to sell for the highest amount. If you’re looking to be In it for 20 years, the goal is to keep your business lean as possible in order to have fewer expenses so you can be more profitable. Paul stresses that there is no perfect blueprint to be a successful company. In his book, he’s simply presenting businesses “tools to make better decisions in their business to get to the level of success that they actually want for themselves.”

Growth With a Purpose

The narrative for so long has been that growth in business is always good. But Paul says that that’s not always true. He shared that in a study by Startup Genome Project of 3,200 startups, 74% failed. They didn’t fail because of bad business plans or competition, but they failed because they scaled too quickly. “Unchecked growth or growth that doesn’t have a purpose doesn’t make sense and it’s damaging to our businesses in the long term. Growth [only] makes sense if there’s a purpose.”

The post Finding Purpose in Growing Your Small Business with Paul Jarvis appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

1. Use “immediate expensing” to make strategic long-term investments.

The recently-passed Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) now allows businesses to immediately expense depreciable tangible assets — things like manufacturing equipment, or computers — in the year in which they’re purchased. In previous years, small business owners were required to depreciate tangible assets over the life cycle of those assets. This means that now could be the ideal time for your small business to invest in the technology, equipment, or other resources it might need for expansion. The new allowance is currently only set to last through 2022, after which the “original use” provision will be reinstated. Under the old rules, only the first owner of a depreciable tangible asset is able to qualify for immediate expensing.

2. Eliminate debt and build up cash reserves.

With the corporate tax rate reduced to 21% earlier this year – plus a significant boost in available deductions for capital equipment — small business owners should have more cash on hand to continue to invest and grow their businesses. Savvy owners should use some of that cash to pay off credit card debt, mortgages, or Maine Fha loan . Doing so can help get businesses on better financial footing and can help secure additional credit when needed. Alternatively, businesses can build up their existing cash reserves to increase flexibility and ensure a better-stocked “rainy day fund.”

3. Keep current employees happy, and consider hiring new ones.

When the unemployment rate gets as low as it is currently, it can be a challenge for companies and small businesses to hire and retain qualified, knowledgeable employees. Business owners can get ahead of this challenge by keeping their current employees happy and motivated. Since the passage of the TCJA earlier this year, hundreds of businesses have passed corporate tax savings on to employees, through increasing wages, boosting contributions to 401(k) accounts, and/or adding new employee benefits. Moves like these can help businesses retain their best team members while simultaneously creating a more attractive work culture for potential new hires.

4. Take control of company financials and strategic planning.

It can be daunting to navigate the intricacies of tax requirements, deadlines, and tax strategies available to small-business owners. That is why it is critically important for entrepreneurs either to take a crash course in accounting themselves or to surround themselves with knowledgeable, creative professionals that can maximize their business’s potential and take cumbersome administrative tasks off their plate. At Infinit Accounting you will get a best outsourced accounting service.  Utilizing services like 1-800 Accountant can help small business owners concentrate more on developing new business and providing solutions to clients, while a team of qualified tax and accounting professionals manages the company’s bookkeeping, taxes, and overall financial health. Cindy Hoskey, the founder of Agile Dragon Consulting, said she felt “insecure and nervous” about the accounting side of starting her own business. After beginning a partnership with 1-800 Accountant, Hoskey says: “I have the confidence I need to know I can both succeed in my business as well as take care of my family.

Mike Savage is CEO and co-founder of 1-800Accountant. He was previously employed by PricewaterhouseCoopers. Mike received a 2018 Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Award honoring the Top CEOs in the category of small and medium-size businesses (SMB) in the U.S.

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1. First of all, who is Ramon Ray, and how did he become the successful businessman he is today?

Ramon got started on his way to success by starting four businesses. Two of these are still his today, including his web-based business, Small Biz Technology, and his magazine, Smart Hustle Magazine. Small Biz Technology is an online resource that small businesses can use to find out how to best use technology in their favor. Ramon mentions that he “works with large brands to help them better reach small businesses.” Essentially, Ramon works to connect small businesses with large corporations so that both benefit.

2. What is the number one most important thing that all small business owners should know based on what you’ve learned along the way?

Ramon admits that small business owners don’t always understand their audience. In order to correct this problem, he says that small business owners need to learn who they are targeting and make sure that their company is niche oriented. Ramon mentions that it isn’t a bad thing to begin small and expand later. An initially narrow market can be broadened later once a certain level of success has been reached. Starting a business on too large of a scale could end up being overwhelming and backfiring in the long run.

3. Between marketing, sales, and operations, or another aspect entirely, what area should a small business owner master before all others?

Ramon says that due to his own experience, he struggles with the right answer to this question. He says that he “normally would say sales or marketing,” but has discovered that operations is truly the root for all areas of the business to grow from. Without a solid system in place for your business, there is no room for growth. Small business owners need to have a solid foundation so that sales and marketing can be orchestrated in an organized and productive manner from this base. Ultimately, having the operating system for your business established will allow your business to run like a well-oiled machine.

4. What sales and marketing tricks would you share with small business owners to help them better those skills?

Small business owners must focus on the purpose and intent of their business first and foremost. They need to have a solid understanding of their goal, whether this is to sell a product or to simply get people into the sales funnel leading to sales and memberships or subscriptions.

Ramon mentions that it is also important for business owners to know where to best market their business. He isn’t on Snapchat himself, as his clients and network all tend to use other platforms, but Ramon says if your clientele are all on Snapchat, then go there for your marketing. If you see a large interest in your product or service on Twitter or Instagram, use those platforms as your marketing focus.

It does you and your users no good to market on platforms where there is little to no interest. Lastly, Ramon says that small business owners should experiment as they are growing their business, and if they aren’t able to spare the funds to do this, then they should reevaluate how their business is going altogether and regroup if necessary.

5. How can a small business owner best optimize their time?

Here, Ramon lets us in on his “day to day secrets no one else can know.” This advice is geared more towards those very small businesses – he says – those that have one to ten staff members. Ramon says that a small business owner needs an assistant. He says this is so important because this person can help you manage your calendar, make important phone calls, or just simply help to keep you on task so that you can best manage your time.

Next, Ramon says to build a team. Adding people to the administrative side of things can allow you to spread out the necessary tasks so that they aren’t all on your shoulders, which then works well with the tip to learn how to delegate duties among your team. A business owner cannot do everything themselves, and it is just fine to ask your team to take on some of the duties to clear up some time. Ramon also mentions that he personally uses a task management tool to keep everything in order for his day-to-day.

Most importantly, Ramon says that it is ok to learn how to say no. While we may not always want to, it is important to recognize when to postpone something or turn down something to save time and better utilize your time for business growth and development.

6. What are some common mistakes made in small business startups and how might others avoid these as they begin their journeys as small business owners?

Ramon states that he learned from being through the ringer himself that not planning ahead was the biggest mistake he ever could make in the business world. He mentions that he is very much a “shoot first, ask later…shoot first, aim next” type of person. To avoid doing this, Ramon advises that small business owners deliberately plan out their projects and be thoughtful in their goals.

It is important to take baby steps to get somewhere rather than running headfirst into something without having thought out the process first.

Second, Ramon says that another big mistake that a business owner can make is not being financially literate, or being irresponsible with their money. Small business owners need to have a focus on their accounts and funds at all times. If you aren’t aware of where your business stands financially, you take many a great risk with your business falling under. While you can hire an accountant or bookkeeper for your business, it is wise to be very involved in this process yourself as well.

7. Is there any additional advice you can provide for the small business owners looking to make their way in the business world?

Ramon says that most importantly, you should be having fun with your business!  He says that we all get into small business to do something we are excited about, that we want to do, so you must be having fun along the way to balance out the harder times. Ramon also emphasizes the importance of constantly learning while growing your business. While he says that he is just naturally curious, Ramon says that being able to continually learn in the process of your business will only better serve you and the business for time to come. Last but not least, Ramon says that it is imperative to network. He tells small business owners to leave their comfort zones and get to meeting people. You never know where connections could lead.

To see OnDeck’s Facebook Live interview with Ramon, click here.

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To understand the role, it’s crucial to explore the life cycle of businesses. While much of today’s conversation is focused on high-growth startups in the Silicon Valley, the reality is that many smaller companies that may never even hire employees are the economic drivers of the small business economy.

According to a report by J.P Morgan Chase Institute on 1 million SMBs, these businesses are not considered as a uniform sector because they differ either in cash flow management, growth, or a number of employees.

How are small businesses contributing to the American economy?

As it is clear that new ventures and small businesses are having a significant impact on the economy, cash flow, and employment, policymakers need to look to SMBs as an engine for future economic growth. Even in the future, small companies are not going to rely too much on financing or hiring employees; they’re likely to generate significant revenue which helps in the growth of the economy. As per JP Morgan Chase, the average life expectancy of a U.S. SMB is 5.3 years. The real estate firms have the longest life expectancy of 9 years, whereas the restaurants have the shortest life expectancy of 3.7 years. In the industry, the non-employer firms are 5x more likely to go out of business than those firms which hire employees. Also, each year, a small percentage of non-employers become employers, but the likelihood of their transition decreases as firms mature.

Different kinds of SMBs and how they contribute to the American economy

JP Morgan Chase classifies SMBs into four segments depending upon their size, dynamism, and complexity to understand the impact of the SMBs on the Americal economy.

1) Financed Growth

The share of the financed growth small businesses is 3%, and it includes businesses like a tech startup or a pizza chain, or other ventures, which will grow in the future using the external financing. The financed growth firms are more concentrated in some industries and cities. 20% of these businesses fail within 4 years of inception, but the contribution to the economy is significant in the years of operation.

2) Organic Growth

These companies enjoy a share of more than 50% of all the companies and are present in every industry and city. It primarily includes companies which are founded by people with significant industry experience such as the consultancy business. The future growth of these companies is dependent upon limited external financing. Furthermore, organic growth firms are responsible for generating revenue and small firm payroll but can cease to exist in the marketplace. The firms play a critical role in generating revenue, but are most fragile and still prefer to take bigger risks as 31% of these firms fail within 4 years of inception. Companies located in areas such as San Francisco and San Jose are 3x more likely to be financed growth small firms. The organic growth firms, on the other hand, is responsible for contributing to the economic growth. Furthermore, such firms share the advantages of the growth across geographies.

3) Stable Small Employer

These firms include a local lawyer or a doctor’s office, which employs anywhere between 5-20 people. Such businesses rarely seek external financing, and 12% of such businesses are likely to go out of business within 4 years of launch.

4) Stable Micro

Such type of SMBs hires no or very few employees, such as a dry cleaner’s shop. The small businesses under this category provide economic support to many households of SMB owners who otherwise might find it difficult to grow. 15% of the total stable micro firms exit the marketplace within four years of operation.

Why Small Businesses Exit the Marketplace?

Most of the small businesses never grow into mid-sized or large corporations because they run out of business within a few years. Here are a few reasons why they exit the marketplace so soon.

• Over time, new and small businesses usually have regular and extremely stable cash flow patterns, or else they will leave the marketplace.
• SMBs with volatile expenses will quickly exit than those with non-volatile cash flow patterns. It means for SMBs, massive and unexpected expenses are difficult to manage, which can lead to their early exit.
• The stable firms never go out of business, declining firms go out of business, and the growing, dynamic firms become more predictable. Also, new and dynamic small firms usually have irregular cash flows, making their survival tough.
• Financed growth firms have erratic revenues, and organic growth firms have both expenses, and revenue with improper timing. These types of irregularities always result in the early exit of the firms.

Until the recent research by JP Morgan Chase, the value and the role of small businesses in the economy was underestimated primarily because the businesses are small. But, on the contrary, there is nothing small about the impact they have on the economy. Right now, the owners need to channelize their energies to grow their business, reduce the challenges and leverage the opportunities that knock on their door.

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Focusing on small business “leaders” (those who are willing to innovate in order to grow their business), BCG identified three growth drivers:

Using Tech to Become More Efficient – Scalability has always been an issue for small businesses, but BCG’s research has shown that more companies are now harnessing custom spreadsheets and administration tools like bookmarks to manage their stuff, you can read it later for a detailed understanding. Additionally, the use of big data is also helping small businesses build up a better picture of their potential market and refine their services accordingly.

Online Networks for Greater Flexibility – Another reason small businesses have been able to thrive thanks to modern technology is through cloud services and networks. Backed up by a separate study by Deloitte which concluded that cloud services are the key to small business growth, BCG found that companies that utilize solutions such as infrastructure, platform and software as a service (IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS) are able to build scale without large capital expenditure.

Online Tech-enabled Business Models – Small businesses are now able to refine their business models by targeting customers in a more specific way using Google data analytics location services. Moreover, by launching online services, small businesses have also been able to adopt the “freemium” model in order to build up a customer base which can then be monetized.

The State of Small Business

So what’s been the result of this small business tech revolution?

According to the latest statistics from the British government, more than 600,000 start-ups were launched across the UK in 2015. Following on from a bumper year in 2014, during which 581,000 new businesses were registered with Companies House, the government was once again pushing more entrepreneurs to chance their dreams and set up their own business.

Indeed, thanks to initiatives such as Startup Britain, whereby small business owners can borrow up to £25,000 ($35,400) over five years at an interest of 6% (thanks to a government fund of £310 million/$439 million), the growth of the independent trader has been impressive in recent years.

Short-term trading is one of the most popular trading approaches adopted by retail traders, stock option advisory services gives really good strategies to retail traders,most of them choose to use a stock trading software from websites like us.tradezero.co. This is because it gives you instant gratification. Dyno Trading team at Trading Strategy Guides enjoys keeping their short term trading strategies that work. They also have an employee stock option plan to keep their staff motivated and rewarded for all the work they render for the organization. Stock options investing has been in trend for many years now with great returns.

Beyond the UK, it’s the same story in the US with independent traders springing up across the country to take on the major corporations. The US Brewers Association American craft breweries now sell more than 16 million barrels of beer each year (outpacing Budweiser), while the American Booksellers Association finds sales by independent bookstores in the US have increased by 27% since 2009.

Unsurprisingly, the small business boom is also apparent in Australia. Thanks to AU$20 billion fund from the Australian Federal Government, small businesses earning less than AU$2 million are now gifted a 1.5% tax reduction (taking the rate to 28.5%), moreover, business owners can also claim back 15%-20% of any asset purchased for less than AU$20,000.

This economic swing towards small businesses was reflected in the 2015 report by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) which stated that at the end of 2014 there were more than 2 million active businesses in Australia, with 20,496 being added since June 2013. And, of the active businesses across the country, 97% were classed as small businesses.

Small Business Owners Now Testing their Skills

Taking the findings of the BCG study and looking at the growth of small businesses in the UK, US and Australia, it’s possible to pick out two main innovations that have helped fuel this growth. Also identified by BCG and Deloitte, cloud services have given small businesses more ways to grow, but alongside these services there’s been a general increase in awareness among entrepreneurs when it comes to knowledge.

Indeed, there are number of companies now giving potential entrepreneurs a simple and efficient way to see if they’ve got everything in order before they embark on their business venture. By taking the Hiscox Small Business Quiz, entrepreneurs can get an acute insight into their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to business.

Crafted through a collaborative process, the test covers all the main areas of the business world, including strategy (with help from Incite), marketing (help from Luan Wise) and Law (help from Keystone Law). Using this resource has allowed prospective business owners to understand their strengths and weaknesses and make the necessary adjustments before they invest time and money into their project.

Way Up in the Clouds

As we’ve mentioned, the other driver for small business growth around the world is cloud services. According to research conducted by Konstantinos Giannakouris and Maria Smihily on behalf of the European Union (EU), 19% of business across Europe used cloud services in 2014.

Surveying 1.5 million companies (83% were small businesses) across 28 countries, the study found that countries such as Finland have cloud usage rates of almost 50%. Of those that use cloud services, 46% do so to manage various aspects of their business, including data storage, accounts and customer relations.

According to Business Insider, cloud computing will be one of the biggest small business trends in Australia in 2016 as these companies are now outpacing larger businesses when it comes to new technology usage. In fact, along with beacon and location services, small businesses are now able to more accurately target customers and store their data more easily. A virtual data room or Dataroom is a cloud solution especially made for the secure storing and sharing of confidential business information. Data rooms offer specific sets of features such as advanced permissions, Q&A tool, notes and bookmarks, as well as multiple factor authentication and watermarking.

Small business is now big business for many governments around the world and, as technology continues to improve and more tax breaks are offered, it seems as though this trend will continue well into 2016.

We’ve partnered with the Hiscox Small Business Quiz to share this research with you.

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