It’s challenging for local business owners to focus on core activities when they have to juggle a hundred different balls at the same time. How can you focus on networking when you’re wrapped up by IT requirements? What about local partnerships and social media?
As local businesses operate with smaller workforces compared to corporate giants, staff members are pushed all the times, and the growing demands of business can often make you lose track of core business operations.
Fortunately, there’s the option of outsourcing.…
There are many ways to measure the success of a startup. Profitability, value, how many people use the service or buy the product. One club that includes the cream of the crop is the “Unicorn Club,” those startups that are valued at over a billion dollars.
But what about the speed in which startups get unicorn status? While it doesn’t mean they will remain successful for life, it does prove that at one point they caught the proverbial lightning in a bottle.…
The most recent UN Climate Summit has many business owners wondering about the best ways to incorporate green ideas into their own businesses. For those currently looking to invest in new commercial properties, you may be wondering if limiting your search to those with green technology built-in is worthwhile. Here’s what you need to know about both the advantages and disadvantages of the situation.
What Are the Advantages?
When buying a property that has been built with its green credentials in mind, whether it be from installing solar panels or improving its cavity wall insulation, you should expect the annual utility bills to be heavily reduced.…
With new technological advancements constantly being made, we are now able to do things that once seemed impossible. We are able to communicate with people around the world instantly; we are able to send information to one another instantly; we are able to store information virtually that can be accessed at any time from any place, and that’s the number one reason you need cloud technology.
Technological advancement has changed the way we live our lives. It has also changed the way businesses operate.…
Your website is potentially the most important way that customers or prospects can engage with you as a business. If you don’t have a physical site or shop that people come to, it may even be the only public facing aspect of your business. You therefore need it to perform reliably and support all of the people who may want to be using it at any given time.
Even if your website is not the friendly face of a business, but a blog or other online-only venture, it still needs to be well managed and maintained, and of course up all of the time, to win you the visitors and readers you want.…
When it comes to marketing you probably believe that you need to take out a hefty chunk of your annual budget to account for all those paid ads and sponsorships and giant banners that scream the name of your brand at passers by. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be that way.
Here are 10 low budget marketing techniques that deliver real results – branding-wise and profits-wise.
1. Create great content
If you’re an expert in your industry, it’s time to get typing up blog posts that feature informative content about things your customers are searching for.…
Running an online business, especially if it’s an eCommerce site, is very challenging, especially when it comes to return and refund, goods delivery, and everything that’s related to order fulfillment. While we want our customers happy, we can’t always do that, for one reason or another; moreover, not trying to point our fingers to our customers, some of them are using the ‘loopholes’ in the T&C (Terms and Conditions) – e.g. returning purchased products after the deadline, claiming for flaws in products even though they are caused by careless handling of the customers, etc.…
Trying to keep up with technology is a bit like try to run next to a bullet train. While you might be able to for a small while, you’ll very soon be eating dust as it speeds away from you. Although that isn’t too much of a problem for your personal life, a lack of hi-tech equipment could prove disastrous for your business.
In only two decades we’ve entered an information age which is almost entirely reliant on the most modern technology.…
It is the dream of millions of business owners to one day turn their company into a global franchise, a name known in every country throughout the world. Evolving into a franchise is a great opportunity for any business to grow and there are countless examples of those which have become incredibly successful.
However, franchising doesn’t guarantee success for every business and there are many ways in which it can fall through. Consider all the following factors first if you’re thinking about starting up a franchise or turning an existing business into one.…
If your business is booming you may well consider overseas expansion. This can be a great way to break into new markets and to increase your turnover. However, it also comes with a level of risk and major expenses. Therefore, it’s worth doing some careful research ahead of time to ensure the move is successful.
The first step is to assess the availability of viable office space and to weigh up the associated costs in-country to see if the idea is viable.…
