Archives for May 2018

How Tech Can Save Your Small Business Money

May 29, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Every small business owner has to deal with a myriad of costs and expenses when they are running their companies. In the modern world, it is technology which is accounting for a bigger and bigger proportion of these expenses. However, many small business owners see tech as a necessary cost that can also end up saving them money as well by improving efficiency. If you are still not convinced, we will run through just a few of the ways that tech can make your business operating costs cheaper.

Excessive Paper Usage

Not only is cutting down on your paper usage good for your business, it is also good for the environment. Digital communication means are so much better that you don’t necessarily need to mail documents that you used to. And with cloud-based storage systems, you can also store all your important files without fuss. Printer ink can be fairly expensive, and cutting back on using this is always going to be a good thing.

Digital Marketing

Nowadays, more and more companies are channeling their efforts into digital marketing techniques such as SEO, email marketing and the like. This tends to be the much more cost-effective approach than printing off lots of documents like posters, brochures, flyers etc. Not to mention all the cash that you have to pay to put adverts in print-based publications. Of course, this isn’t to say that all digital marketing is going to cost you nothing, but it tends to be much more affordable.

Communication

As time goes on, communication systems are getting more and more advanced, and as they do, they are often getting cheaper or even becoming available for free. But you also need to think about investing in the tech that is going to make it easier for customers to get in touch with you. At the moment, instant chat is a highly popular means of contact which many companies are now looking at installing. Obviously, as well as the software itself, you need to have staff members on-hand to respond to the needs of customers. However, making yourself more contactable as a business is one of the best ways of inspiring customer loyalty. Many business owners see this as an expense which is worth paying.

Security

The criminals of the modern age are operating more and more in the digital world. If you are not investing in the right software such as virus protection and firewalls, you will be giving them a chance to disrupt and damage your company. You may also want to hire a professional IT company like CCC IT. You also need to think about the system that you are using to store all your files as you don’t want to risk them becoming compromised. Ensuring business continuity will certainly save you money in the long-run.

Technology continues to advance at a rapid rate and it is the companies that are investing in modern solutions which tend to stay ahead of the competition in various different ways.

The Basics of Branding – Getting Memorable

May 28, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

There are a few things you can do to make your brand memorable and exciting. It can be more than easy to get a little bit lost in all of the information from bigger companies that have already made it. Often they will miss out the essential ingredients of what made them a success. Some of this will depend on if you are a solopreneur or you’re building a business that you intend to be the umbrella for many, some of it applies to anyone who is starting a business.

Business Branding

So let’s tuck into the meat of the subject.

Branding should show some personality, preferably your own, but it should be relatable in such a way that people respond emotionally to it. Great examples of how a simple branding decision can lead to being instantly recognizable are Innocent smoothies, and Tom Ford. Both have very clean fonts, simple colors, and straight away are associated with their products.

Pick bold, solid colours. According to a study by the secretariat of the Seoul International Colour Expo, 92% of people think that the visual aspects of the brands are most important. And, no obvious factor is more important than the colour of the logo itself. Colours provoke specific emotional and mental responses to the point where tone can be a second language. Good examples are how red is associated with romance, passion and love ( think valentine’s day), white is connected with peace and purity. There is a long list which is really worth taking a look at depending on what you want your brand to say. Here are seven design tips to help you when it comes to your packaging choices and how the colour choice will impact that too.

“Branding demands commitment; commitment to continual re-invention; striking chords with people to stir their emotions; and commitment to imagination. It is easy to be cynical about such things, much harder to be successful.”

– Sir Richard Branson

Use Social Media to reinforce your message and ethos continually. The utter beauty of social media is that usually the people using it are in a receptive and open mood. Meaning that if you approach them with a relaxed and friendly tone, the likely response is that the will click the link you have shared or share it with their own followers. Social means social, and although it is a robust platform for marketing, you shouldn’t approach it just as a marketing tool, it should be thought of more as a way to connect and communicate with your audience WITHOUT the continual force-feeding of adverts. Of course, this is actually a delicate balance of visuals, conversational content, easily shareable memes and curated content from other media sources. Once you have done all of that, then you can add more advertorial items.

Aside from making sure you are catering well for your audience concerning engaging content, you need to check on which platform you are performing the best on. If you a highly visual brand with visual products, Instagram is going to be a strong point for you, and if it isn’t it is worth the time to make sure it is. If you are great at conversation, then Twitter will be your bag. Use Facebook primarily to drive traffic to your websites and other social media.

Make it accessible to your audience. There is no point having a product ready to go, but charing too uch. Your audience needs to be able to afford your product, as well as know where to get it. You also need to convey that to them in the straplines, try and think of a tagline that is short, snappy and informative.

Don’t think of it like just a product think of it as a lifestyle you are selling. The brand is something people buy into to belong to a particular class, group or ‘type’ of person. Consider how Ray Ban use the images of celebrities and influencers to promote who is wearing specific items, on their Instagram – to sell the high-flying lifestyle of Victoria Beckham, Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio. It is about how the product or service makes you feel, and what they say to others about you.

Everything you send out will have your branding on it, so a few things to think about when it comes to your printed stuff. The stronger your contrasting colours, the more powerful your message will be. The trinity, use three colours are imprinted in people’s minds more efficiently and for longer.

Simple Ways to Make Your Auto Business Greener

May 28, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

While you probably have a lot to think about already, the idea of making your dealership greener can actually boost your sales significantly. Customers are becoming increasingly interested in buying the most environmentally friendly cars and ensuring that the carbon footprint they leave behind is as small as possible – by allowing your business to do exactly this, you might be able to gain an advantage over your competitors.

Business Greener

Here are a couple of ways you can make your automotive business a lot greener and friendlier toward mother nature so that your customers can feel a bit safer about choosing you over your competitors.
Greener car manufacturing

In the early days of green initiatives, car manufacturing was sorely lagging behind. Until the incorporation of recyclable materials into car productions, that is, as well as choosing fuel alternatives that allow companies to reduce their fossil fuel intakes. Today, it is actually quite simple for your business to provide customers with green alternatives when buying a car as many of its parts will be a lot more reliable and environmentally friendly.

Aluminum is an example that quickly comes to mind when considering recyclable material that makes the car lighter on fuel – and there are, of course, all the electric cars on the market which significantly reduces our carbon footprint. You can have a look at Flowmeters.com if you need some other ideas on how to make your business as green as possible and remember that you can easily find tyres that will be lighter on the environment as well.

Don’t know where to begin? Just start small

Going green may seem like a daunting task, especially when you already have a successful auto business up and running. Luckily, you don’t actually have to do an entire remodeling to build a more sustainable business; just start small and work your way up instead. The idea is that, by making an effort and giving your customers what they way, you are also boosting the morale of the community and showing them how easy it actually is to get started.

Try to limit the number of balloons and decorations you have on your next event; it will save you money too, by the way. Swap out the regular paper cups for coffee cups from recycled material, for example, or make an effort to go paperless.

However small it may be, the work you put in it will make a difference, in the long run, and you can pride yourself on having a business that works with the environment instead of against it. Check out Allaboutimports.com for even more ideas on how you can make the repair process a bit greener as well.

The great thing about the auto industry is that it is one of the few that have realized the fault in its ways and is making an attempt at correcting it. Surely, other businesses in your community will catch up with the green wave sooner or later so make sure your company is at the forefront of it.

How to Stop Wasting as Much Time with Your Business

May 25, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

So, you’re trying to do everything you can to stay on top of everything and you are probably more exhausted than ever. You probably think that this is the way that things are and that there is nothing that you can do to change this. The truth is that this is not the case at all and you would be surprised at how easy it is for you to stop wasting as much time with your business.

What’s Not Working?

If you want to stop wasting time then you need to try and find out what isn’t working. You need to identify any of your business processes that are not efficient, whether it is the communication that you have with your team or whether it is your buying and selling process. When you are able to get all of this sorted out and when you know where you are going wrong, you can then begin to plan out solutions that will help you to deal with this on a much more efficient basis.

Go Digital

If you are wasting time trying to fill out forms or if you are constantly trying to stay on top of your business paperwork then this could be compromising the overall efficiency of your company. You need to go digital as much as possible. After all, if you think about it, how easy is it to send an email to 100 people with a document? Now think about how long it would take you to do 100 photocopies of a document, and hand them out to everyone in-person. You can already start to see how digital assets can save you a ton of time, and this is especially the case if you integrate it into your business process. You can even digitalise your accounting process as well, by looking into accounting packages, Complete Accountancy Package – Qdos Accounting as this is a great way for you to get things back on track with your business finances.

Move with the Times

If you are not willing to invest in new strategies or if you are not willing to take on the ideas of others then this will really stall your business potential. If you are stuck in the past then you may find it hard to get the daily tasks within your company done and you may also be missing out on faster and easier ways of doing things. A lot of businesses don’t want to invest in new processes because they believe that the time it takes to implement them is just not worth the effort, but this is not the case at all. You could save hundreds of hours every year by being open to new ideas, and if it does happen to be a better solution then both you and your employees will be happier for it.

So there are so many ways that you can try and boost your business efficiency, and you would be surprised at how much time and money it can save you as well.

Super Easy Strategies to Boost Teamwork Efficiency

May 25, 2018 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Everyone knows that being a good team member is an important skill in today’s office, but what if the team is rather inefficient and hard to work with? Whether you are a business owner, a manager or an excellent member of this team, it’s a lot you can do to boost its efficiency and finally see the results you have been looking for.

Teamwork

Here are a couple of ways to do exactly this, improve the teamwork and, ultimately, increase the overall productivity of the entire business. One small step in the right direction can easily be what you need to prosper, in the long run, as long as you’ve got the rest of the team on your side. So pull up your sleeves, launch that group chat, and get to work.

Ensure proper communication

The problem with teams is that, even if everyone wants it to be a success ever so badly. it’s not going to be smooth ride unless you’re able to communicate with one another. That might be easier said than done; if your team is not connected or aligned around a common goal, it doesn’t even matter if you have all the right communication tools in order.

A set of team norms might help you a bit along the way and it’s a great reason for attending a few of those team meeting – just make sure they actually have a purpose, though, otherwise it will just be yet another timewaster.

To communicate efficiently, it is important to implement rules and standards that guide team members as to how they are expected to communicate and, most importantly, what they are expected to do. No interruptions, speaking politely, and implementing a productive document culture may help you steer them toward the goal and hopefully improve the communication once and for all.

Get to know the team’s routines

As a manager, in particular, it is necessary to understand how the team works in order to give them what they need in order to thrive. Use tools for feedback, make use of incentives to reward the team, and give them the breaks they need at the right time – otherwise, it will be impossible to get to the core of what works and what doesn’t.

Once you’ve mapped out the specific environment of each team, it’s time to give them the communication tools they need to collaborate properly. Make sure you’re up to date on all their habits before you swap out the tools they use for communication – and, by all means, talk with them about changing any software beforehand in case they’re happy with the one they already have. Nothing feels sourer than spending time and money on an upgrade that will actually set you back later on.

Get rid of distractions

Finally, you need to have a look at how your entire office works. If there are a lot of distractions, such as clutter or constantly noisy phones, it’s going to make an immense difference for the team if they’re allowed to work in peace and quiet. Make an honest attempt at mapping out the biggest distractions, eliminate as many as you can, and watch how the productivity increases almost immediately.

You will never be able to get the team to the place they should be if they’re not able to focus on the task ahead of them. The biggest productivity-killers are, undoubtedly, clutter and noise and it’s why you should give your office a proper clean-up sooner rather than later.