Contributed Post | Mike McRitchie | Resume and LinkedIn Profile Writer | Telecom Marketing Content Writer

Have You Got a Business Exit Strategy?

January 11, 2019 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

If you have been running your business for a while to build up your assets, and to retire early, you might need to start thinking about your exit strategy. To successfully pass on, sell, or create a residual income off your business, you will need to plan your finances, protect your assets, and create value in terms of knowledge and reputation. Below you will find a few tips on how to get started with creating an exit strategy for your business.

Your Books

To successfully exit your business at a profit, you will need to ensure that your books are in order. After all, it is crucial for investors and potential buyers to know that there are no hidden risks in buying a business. You should always consult with a financial planner and an accountant who will tell you what you need to improve on if you would like to exit your business and get more money for it.

Your Strategy

Without a clear strategy, a buyer will not know what to do with your business. You should always create an exit strategy and showcase how you are looking to build more assets based on opportunities you have spotted. This will make your company more appealing to other people in your industry, and you can create a valuable asset to pass on. If you are thinking about planning your succession and carrying on with the current strategy, you will need to train people to do your job.

Market Share

The greater your market share is and the better you can demonstrate your brand’s strengths, the more money buyers are likely to pay for your company. Even if you would like to retain the shares in your company and get profits on the trading income, your influence after the transition will be limited, so you should improve your brand’s strength and visibility continuously. If your business is struggling to maintain its market share and you need to exit early, you will need to get in touch with a commercial litigation lawyer to get an overview of your different options.

Organizational Knowledge

One of the main assets of your company will be the organizational knowledge you built up. Your experience and skills have a lot to do with the success of the business. Passing this on and sharing knowledge in the organization will help you maintain the operations even after you take a step back from your company.

Reputation

Another valuable asset you can turn into cash when exiting your business is your reputation. You need to protect it at any price. No matter if you are no longer taking an active role in day-to-day management, you will need to monitor what is going on in the industry and check whether or not the company is still holding on to its original value and mission.

There are several ways you can build an exit strategy, but your financial standing, your brand visibility, and the market share will determine the success of your project.

3 Mistakes That Will Kill Your Farming Business Before It Grows

January 9, 2019 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Starting your own farm is a big decision and there are a lot of challenges to face along the way, but there is also a lot of government assistance available to help you get it started. It’s also a very good industry to get into if you’re fed up with the business world. If you can build a sustainable farm, you can make a decent living from it fairly easily. Everybody needs to eat after all. However, farming is a skill that you have to learn and there are a lot of things that you can get wrong in those first few months and years. If you’re considering starting your own farm, make sure that you avoid these basic mistakes.

Buying The Wrong Farm

Choosing a farm to buy is the first step and if you get it wrong, you’re never going to get anywhere. Finding somewhere that has a good amount of land and a decent property (if you plan to live there) is the bare minimum. What a lot of people don’t realize is that they need to find out what they’re actually going to be able to grow there. You can’t assume that every farm is fertile because it might not be. Before you agree to anything, you need to have soil testing carried out on the farm. That will tell you which crops are going to thrive on your farm, if any. Then you need to look at the markets for those crops and make sure that you can actually build a business on them. If you just blindly buy a farm without checking the soil, you might end up with a very expensive plot of land that you can’t do anything with.

Location is important too because you need to think about how you’re going to distribute your product once you’ve grown it. It’s always a good idea to find a farm that has a town or city fairly close so you’ve got a local market for your produce.

Disease Prevention

If you’re farming livestock, you need to be aware that they’re prone to disease. Outbreaks of disease are one of the biggest causes of financial disaster in the farming industry so you need to know how to prevent it. Usually, it comes down to how you manage your livestock; keeping them indoors is a more cost effective way of farming but it does increase the chances of disease outbreaks.

Spreading Yourself Too Thin

You might think that it’s a good idea to start planting 3 different crops and farming cows at the same time. For an experienced farmer, that’s manageable, but for a beginner it’s going to be tough. In most cases, if you spread yourself too thin like that, you’re not going to end up with a good end product. Start slowly with one simple crop for the first season or two and then gradually build it up as you become more confident.

Another way you might find yourself being spread too thin is by over-using materials and equipment, which can cost you a lot more money than you might have thought, and end up bringing your farm into a troublesome position. In order to avoid that situation, you are going to need to make sure that you are keeping stock of everything you have, from the smallest piece of baling twine to your tractors and other larger machinery.

As long as you do that, you’ll find that you are in a much better financial position with regard to your farm.

Any one of these mistakes could kill your farming business before you even get it off the ground so make sure that you avoid them.

Become the Leader You’ve Always Dreamt of Being

January 9, 2019 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

There are a lot of things that you need to keep in mind if you want to be a great leader. Running a business is so much more than simply coming up with a name and an idea; you have to ensure that you set a great example and that you are focused on making the best possible decisions for the company. A startup business needs care, nurture, and attention, and it is important to ensure that you focus on yourself as well.

As the leader and head of the company, it is imperative that you look at what you can do to improve the way you run the business. This could be in the decisions you make, the way you treat your staff, and many other things as well. So, you need to make sure you work on becoming the leader you’ve always wanted to be. There are a lot of things that will help you achieve this, and these are some of the best ideas to keep in mind moving forward.

Leadership Training

Leadership training might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but there is no denying its importance when it comes to improving the way you lead in the business world. Leadership development activities can make all the difference when showing you the best ways of dealing with people, as well as helping people to view your leadership in the right way. This is most definitely something you have to keep in mind moving forward, and it can make a lot of difference in the future.

Set an Example

It is important to set an example to your employees and others in the business. As the leader, people will look to you to make a good impression and to set the standard they need to follow. Leading by example is the true essence of leadership, and this is something you need to get right as soon as you can when it comes to looking at the different ways of leading your team effectively.

Encourage Creativity

Creativity and originality play such an important role in the world of business as a whole, and this is something you need to make sure you get right. There are a lot of things that play a part in this, and it is essential that you encourage your staff to be as creative as possible. One of the best ways of leading is to make sure you encourage your staff to embrace their ideas and to get creative with their thinking.

Communication is Key

Communication is the true essence of business as a whole, and there are a lot of things that play a role in this. There are also lots of business communication pitfalls you need to avoid if you want to achieve the right amount of success. Think about the way you communicate with your employees, and how you can improve this as a business leader. There are a lot of things that have to play a part in this, and it is important to get it right as soon as you can.

You have a lot to think about when you want to run a business well, and to make yourself a better leader. It is important that you get this right moving forward, and there are so many things that you need to understand about leadership. If you can get these right, you should have no problem with improving your company long-term as well.

Creative Ways to Take Your Career

January 8, 2019 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Are you a creative kind of person? If so, you might feel restricted and restrained by monotonous jobs, or those that limit your visionary skills. If you’re unhappy at work and want a change, why not go for something that’s more suited to you? Here are some creative ways you can take your career, depending on your skills and interests.

Art and design

The term ‘starving artist’ need not apply in today’s world. If you’re talented in art, you don’t have to rely on selling huge commissions to make your profits. There’s plenty of call for those who can create beautiful visual pieces, for things like business logos and flyers, decorative prints, clip art for crafts such as card making and scrapbooking and so much more. Designers are always in demand to work on things like apps and websites, so if you have these specific skills it’s something worth looking into. Check out jobs in classified listings if you want to do it as a full time job, or sign up to a freelancing site if you’re just looking to earn some money with your skills on the side.

Writing

Earning a living through writing was once reserved for the best journalists and authors, but there’s tons of directions you can go with it these days. Freelance writing is a good way to earn money in your free time, there’s no upfront costs to getting started and you’re not contracted to any hours. You simply choose the pieces you’d like to do, and if you’re accepted by the client then you complete the piece by the given deadline. If you’re already a freelancer and looking for reliable ways to bump up your earnings when times are quieter then this is ideal, but could also be done around any full or part time job. If you work hard, it’s even something you could do full time, especially as clients will want to work with you again if you perform well. Blogging is another way you can earn money from your writing, while it will take time to get established it’s something that makes a great hobby so is worth starting anyway. In time, advertisers will contact you in regards to paid work, and it can be very lucrative. Another way to make money with your writing is by creating an e-book and self publishing. Sites like Amazon make this very easy, every time someone downloads it it’s money straight to your bank, if you create a few of them that end up being popular it can be a nice chunk towards your monthly income.

Food and drink

Food and drink careers and business ventures can allow you to get really creative. You could open a bakery and create all kinds of sweet and savoury baked goods. You could open a sandwich shop with interesting and exciting fillings on different kinds of bread. You could become a caterer, and come up with different menus for all kinds of events. If you’re planning on running this from home, chances are there are a few changes you’ll need to make to your kitchen. You need to have a fridge that’s separate for home and work, and you’ll need to ensure that no pets enter your kitchen. If your back door is in your kitchen, you’ll no longer be able to let your dog out this way for example. Of course, you’ll also need to make sure it’s kept very clean and tidy, once you’re registered as a food business yiu could have random checks made on you at any time. Invest in good countertops and flooring, concrete is a smart move as it’s very durable and long lasting. Products like carrdiamondpolishingpads.co.uk can help to polish the surface until it’s ultra smooth and really easy to keep clean. Renting a commercial kitchen could be an idea if your home kitchen isn’t suitable or you want more space. This is especially important if you plan on hiring employees.

Music

There was once a time that you could only really make a living in music if you were a rock or pop star, or some other kind of musical celebrity. But you no longer need to sit around and wait to be picked up by a record deal! You could create jingles for businesses to be used on the radio, on their site or in their videos. You could create background music for video creators to utilise. You could release your own tracks and submit them to streaming sites like spotify. If they’re approved, you get a small amount of money every time someone listens. It probably won’t make you rich but it can all contribute towards your income. Live music in pubs, bars and at weddings is very popular. If you’re a skilled musician, look into joining or creating a band and playing live gigs as a way to bring in some good money.

4 Factors You Can’t Overlook During An Office Upgrade

January 8, 2019 by Contributed Post Leave a Comment

Many businesses will go through a time when it becomes clear that upgrading the office is the best next move. When it is time for your business to do this, you will of course want to ensure that you get it right first time. If you fail to do so, you will only end up spending more time and money than necessary getting things how you want them to be, and this is hardly what your business needs at any time. In order to make sure you upgrade your office in the right way, let’s take a look at some of the factors of the whole process that you can’t readily ignore. As long as you are taking care of the following, you should find that upgrading your office is much easier and more likely to be a success than you might have otherwise thought possible.

Timing

It is highly important that you choose the appropriate time to upgrade your office, as if you get this wrong it could actually spell disaster for the business in a number of ways. You must make sure that you are not going to disturb or disrupt the business too much, and that basically means that you need to be fully aware of what kind of time of year is likely to be best to carry out such an upgrade in the first place. There are many ways to make sure that you get this right, but mostly it is all about just making sure that you are paying attention to what your business needs and when. For instance, if there is a certain time that your industry is especially busy or vibrant then you probably want to make sure that you are avoiding that particular time. Or if you are about to launch a new product or rebrand, you are obviously not going to want to upgrade during that time, as you are going to be busy enough as it is. Good timing is very often the difference between success and failure, so make sure that you are aware of how to get this right when you upgrade your office.

Cost

Clearly, upgrading anything is always going to be something of an expense, and when it comes to your office you are bound to find that it costs you a lot of money overall. There are many ways to mitigate this cost, but the most important thing to do first of all is to simply ensure that you are aware of the likely cost of the project in total. To do that, you will need to plan it out well enough, so that you don’t expect to go too much over budget. However grand or humble it is likely to be, being fully aware of the likely upper and lower costs will ensure that you suffer no great surprises or that you end up wasting money anywhere – which is hugely important at any time for any business.

To really get to grips with the likely cost of upgrading your office, you will find it hugely beneficial to contact the relevant suppliers and contractors to get quotes for what you are planning. These quotes will always be estimates, but it can help you to get a rough idea of what kind of expense to expect in the first place. If nothing else, you can simply take that estimate and add ten percent, and you should find that you have a reliable figure at the end of it. If you fail to really account for the cost of upgrading your offices, then it is much less likely that you will be able to make it all work out, so this is something you want to be aware of from the start if you can.

Comfort & Ease

In terms of how to actually design the space, it will help greatly if you make a point of prioritizing comfort and ease throughout the office. The more comfortable an office is, generally the better it will be run – and the easier it is to get around and use the office space for what it is meant for, the more likely it is that you will be able to use it as effectively as possible. There are many things you can do to ensure that you are going to have a comfortable and easy to use office, and it all begins with how you design the space in the first place. If you have enough space and openness in the office, it is much more likely that you will end up with a comfortable office, so that is the first thing to try and be aware of.

As well as that, you will want to ensure that you are going to stock up your newly upgraded office with only the most comfortable office furniture, and that you are therefore ensuring that comfort is a real priority. Do this, and your staff will notice, and it will mean that the office is a much nicer and more enjoyable place to work on the whole. As you can see, comfort and ease will go a long way to ensuring that your upgraded office is much more viable to use.

Security

If you are going through the whole process of upgrading your office, it will only make sense to also ensure that you do whatever you can to make it more secure, so this is something to think about as well. There are many ways in which you can hope to make your new office more secure, and it is something which will make for a happier and more productive workforce, and therefore a more productive business on the whole as well. In general, you can use the upgrade to ensure that your office is going to be considerably more secure by replacing the doors, windows and other entrances and making sure that you introduce new security measures like CCTV or ID. Do that, and your business will function much more securely, with all the benefits that brings with it.