Archives for April 2021

Watch Out For These Surprise Business Costs

April 30, 2021 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

It should be clear to anyone wanting to get into business that you need to have a strong head for numbers, and that you need to avoid a huge number of potential costs that can appear every year. In fact, there are a number of business costs which are somewhat hidden or otherwise surprising which often catch out business owners who don’t know better. In this article, we are going to take you through some of these costs, so that you can be better prepared for them in the long run.

Image Credit – CCO Licence

Overrunning Project

Whether it is a new construction job or something much smaller in-house, having a project overrun can often be one of the most devastating ways in which you run into surprise business costs. What’s more, often these costs are not going to be quite clear until you are some way down the line, which can make it a lot more difficult to plan for them and include them in your updated budget. The best solution is to use a decent project manager and to ensure that you are planning as finely as possible along the way. That way, you should find that you can avoid most of these issues.

Insurance Claims

There are many kinds of insurance that you would do well to have in business, but sometimes you are going to be the one footing the bill. A perfect example would be when you have to pay out for unemployment insurance. In situations like this, you are going to be in a much better condition overall as a business if you use the right service and the right software to minimize those costs and fees – take a look at https://unemploymenttracker.com/software/ for an example of how you can approach this kind of position head-on.

Supply Chain Demands

Sometimes the issue is with someone or something further on down the supply chains that suddenly makes demands on your finances. There are a lot of reasons this can happen, whether it’s due to breakages or a customer demand changing. But you need to make sure that you are making use of suppliers that you can trust, every time. If you do that, you should at least be able to avoid the worst of these surprise costs, and sometimes you might even be able to do away with the rest by coming to an agreement too.

Image Credit – CCO Licence

Shrinkage

Then there is shrinkage, which is simply the accidental loss of stock or cash through unknown means. More often than not, this is theft, and it can very often be internal theft, so you need to ensure you are running a tight ship in order to avoid this particular problem. Beyond that, just make a point of keeping your premises protected and looking after your stock and cash, and that is going to help things along nicely. This way, you should be able to avoid having to pay out for replacement stock, which can be a surprisingly big cost much of the time.

Outsource These Jobs and Watch Your Small Business Thrive

April 29, 2021 by Katie Conroy Leave a Comment

Hiring people costs money. That’s why so many small business owners are reluctant to outsource some of their tasks or projects. But the thing is, outsourcing can create opportunities for growth that you would otherwise miss.

Just think of how much time and energy you spend on jobs that other professionals could do—time that could be spent on running your company and chasing down your vision. And when a qualified professional is handling the tasks you don’t have the time for, it increases efficiency in your entire operation.

Simply put, outsourcing can end up making your company much more money than you will spend on hiring. Here are a few of the best jobs to outsource to other professionals, along with those that should never be done out-of-house.

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Accounting

Accounting tasks require a lot of time, even when you use the latest bookkeeping software. And if you’re like most entrepreneurs, bookkeeping, tax preparation, and other accounting jobs are not your area of expertise. Hiring an accounting professional not only can save you lots of time but can also relieve stress.

Web Design

Having an attractive, functioning website has never been more critical for small businesses. While hiring a web designer is a significant investment, it’s much cheaper than not hiring one when you consider the consequences of not keeping your site maintained and other mistakes. Outsource your web design to ensure your site loads quickly, is easy to navigate, and provides an excellent overall customer experience.

Graphic Design

Graphic design is a special skill that few business owners possess. Even if you have some experience in this area, the work itself is time-consuming and burns a lot of brain calories. Consider outsourcing your graphic design jobs—including your logo, advertisements, website, mobile, and more.

Writing

As with graphic design, the copywriting your business uses is essential to your brand and reputation. Whether it’s website copy, blogs, or any other type of writing, you want to ensure the writing is clear, engaging, and unique. Professional writers can get that done for you.

IT Services

These days, few things are more important to small businesses than digital security. A cyberattack, or inefficiencies in software/hardware support and database management, can lead to devastating consequences. Outsource your IT tasks to professionals who do it every day.

State Registration

The legal structure of your business determines many essential details of your business, such as taxation and personal liability. You can register your business with the state by yourself, but it’s another thing to worry about that takes time and energy. Working with an online formation service is well worth the investment, as it will require minimal time or energy on your part. Make sure to do your research and read reviews before deciding on a service.

Roles to Keep In-House

There are some jobs that a small business owner should never outsource. For one, don’t hire outsiders to fill roles that are critical to the core of your company. If your company specializes in software development, don’t outsource your coding responsibilities. If you run a clothing store, don’t hire someone to come in and transform your inventory. Figure out what tasks power your company’s mission, and do those in-house.

Also, you don’t want to hire an outsider to handle terminations. When it comes to delivering major news—good or bad—managers should take up the responsibility. Speaking of managers, don’t outsource those either. To thrive as a business, you need managers who are dedicated to the long-term well-being of your company, not managers who come in for a project here and there.

When you outsource the right tasks, it can put your business in an excellent position to grow. Along with considering the jobs above, keep brainstorming and researching any other jobs that would be better off handled by outside experts. You might be surprised by how much time and energy it leaves you for the most essential aspects of your business!

3 Ways You Can Make Serious Money from Your Land

April 29, 2021 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Image Courtesy of Pixabay

The only thing they can’t make more of is land, and if you just happen to own some you could be sitting on a potential goldmine. Around 60% of US land is privately owned and owning land can make you an excellent second income and apart from the obvious usage for building homes or expanding your existing property, there’s a multitude of things you could do with your own private land.

With the Covid-19 pandemic still hanging around then, some uses of your land might be temporarily limited to activities with small groups of people, if allowed at all, but infection rates are dropping, however, your land could be used for something completely passive as well.

Some of the best methods of making money from your land could include:

Lease to a company
Farming, hunting, or fishing

If you don’t want to be involved in anything but simply want to get paid then you could lease the land to a third party for whatever they need to do while camping activities or farming will open it up to the public.

Lease to a Company

Whether you are busy with a career, keeping a home, or just don’t want to be involved, making money from land that you own can be a very easy endeavor indeed. One of the easiest ways to use it for income is to simply lease the land to a third party for their use in whatever business they operate.

Depending on the size of the land and any geographical constraints, what the land can be used for will vary greatly, but one of the most common uses of land in the 21st century is to expand cell phone coverage. Verizon cell tower lease rates vary depending on what the company needs to do but they can provide very generous passive income.

As the 5G network expands Verizon is adding to their 2,000 cell towers and 4,200 rooftop antennas across the United States. However, to negotiate a contract with a third party such as Verizon you will need a specialized lawyer to make sure you get a fair deal and some landowners have seen a rent increase in excess of 300%.

Farming, Hunting, or Fishing

Most empty land is used for farming and should your land exceed 250 acres it is perfect for starting a farm. However, the hard work involved in farming means that you probably won’t be able to generate passive income and instead might have to become a farmer yourself. Pasture land is the easiest since animals are left free to roam, but for serious money, you will have to grow something, however, some people have found success with 2-acre micro-farms.

Even today, hunting is still a popular sport and in the US alone there are approximately 15 million regular hunters that hunt game such as deer, rabbits, and woodland birds. Only around 12 acres of land is needed for a deer hunting range, although this would be very small, however, it could be populated with other smaller animals used for cooking or crafts. Hunting rights can be leased for passive income so you won’t need to do much to make money from the land.

Additionally, should your land happen to contain a freshwater river or something similar you could charge people to fish the waters. Fishing can be fun for all ages, all levels, and at any time of the year, and as such fishing is an extremely popular hobby and a classic pastime in many countries, with over 100 million active and regular fishing hobbyists in America. Both hunting and fishing come with strict licenses and regulations however so legal advice should be attained before going ahead with any plans.

How Entrepreneurs Can Find More Time For Family

April 28, 2021 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Having enough time for your family when you’re an entrepreneur isn’t always easy. When your business is just starting out and you’re in the early growth stages, it can feel as though you need to spend every moment working on it it. This isn’t good for your family life, especially when you’re a parent. Here are a few hints to help you balance work and family.

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Lighten The Load

Learn to delegate some of your to-do list, both at work and at home. It can be hard to let go enough to trust someone else to look after part of your business for you. However, if you’re trying to do everything yourself, you aren’t going to have the energy to invest in your family life.

For your business, it can help to hire a professional agency to take care of things like your marketing, or accounting.

At home, you can delegate to free up more time too. If you want to prioritize time with your children, hire someone to take care of the chores, whether that’s a cleaner, a gardener, or a company like Labor Panes. Don’t feel guilty about doing this.

Set Boundaries

Set working hours for yourself, and keep to them strictly. You won’t lose a client (not one you really want anyway) just because you didn’t immediately respond to an email that was sent at midnight. If you make yourself available at all hours, even if you’re sick or on vacation, you’re setting a dangerous precedent. Have clear boundaries for yourself to avoid getting burned out.

A good way to keep these boundaries is to turn your phone off. If you aren’t getting the notifications of emails or other messages, you won’t be tempted to reply to them then and there. Have a separate work phone, and turn it off when you’re not working.

Fuel Yourself The Right Way

A lot of tips for entrepreneurs are all about tips like getting enough sleep and having an exercise routine. Start small and think about the way that you’re fueling yourself. If you’re working long hours, are you powering through the day on too many cups of coffee and sugary snacks? Try to keep yourself going with healthy snacks instead, and swap at least a few cups of your daily coffee for water. You can get energy in a way that won’t cause you to crash later.

Schedule More Than Just Work

You probably schedule everything in for work, like meetings and deadlines, and you can do the same with your family commitments too. Blocking time out in your calendar for family commitments like movie night or date night can help you to see these as just as important as your work commitments. If they’re on the calendar it will be easier to make time for them and fit them in around your working hours.

A better work-life balance is better for your stress levels and will help you to do both more effectively.

Back To Business: Get Back On Track After COVID

April 27, 2021 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Governments are developing lockdown exit roadmaps to ensure that life can return to normal without compromising the public’s health and safety.

While this is all great news, the harm this pandemic has done to the global economy in just a few months cannot be denied. Millions of people lost their jobs, and a tremendous number of companies were forced to close; even large multinational corporations were unable to withstand the impact and went into administration. To put it mildly, it has caused a state of worldwide financial chaos.

It is not all doom and gloom though. As things have opened up, consumer spending has been high, showing that most people are ready to start going back to normal. If you have weathered the storm thus far, with a bit of planning and innovation, you can continue to thrive and perhaps even flourish when life eventually returns to normal.

Let’s take a look a couple of ways you can get your business back on track after COVID.

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Give your business a revamp

Only the fittest survive, as the laws of nature dictate. Instead of reflecting on how your company used to be before the Coronavirus and attempting to recreate it, use this situation to redesign various aspects of your business and give it a whole new look.

Whether it is obvious or not, the world has changed significantly as a result of the pandemic, which will obviously impact the way that you do business. You need to move with the times, so reach out to your customers and collect data about their buying habits and thoughts, and look at how you can accomodate them in your business model.

Take a look at your rivals’ marketing strategies and see how they are adapting to this new era. The sooner you recognise and welcome change, the sooner you can get your company back on track and put the pandemic behind you.

Tell people about your business

Marketing has always been one of the most significant aspects of a business – if people do not know that you exist, they cannot purchase from you. However, it is even more important now, especially if you have made significant changes to the ways that you do things. Be proud of your new strategies and how you have come through so far. One of the best ways to fo this is with a fabulous event. This is not a time to be shy and subtle – go big and celebrate and get your name out there. Use influencers and celebrities to promote, hire an audio visual crew to get it looking great and out there!

It can seem difficult right now to believe that you will get your company back on track. If there is something to be learned from this pretty awful experience, it is that humans are adaptive, and we still find new ways to move forward. So, keep your eyes on the light at the end of the tunnel and gp with it.