5 Advantages Text Messaging In Small Business

To some small businesses, the owners will think that text message marketing is preserved for a larger corporation only. However, it shouldn’t be a limitation and therefore, they have to also adopt SMS campaigns that will help in growing the business. Besides, it will take advantage of the reliability and SMS efficiency.

So, for small businesses, you should consider these benefits that will give a direction on what you decide to choose for a marketing campaign:

1. SMS generates results.

The best thing is that text messaging service for business works. These messaging services work well for both small and large organizations and even nonprofit ones. For example, you can use SMS promotions to your customers who have trained to win. You can tell them to win a wine tasting session that takes place at a tasting bar.

When you run the campaign after a few months, you will get some messages. It is the time that you will know whether the customers added value. So, SMS generates results.

2. SMS is affordable.

The other benefit you need to use SMS in your small business is because it is inexpensive. For small businesses, they will always offer small budgets. The good thing is that it is a cheap service they can get.

On the other hand, if you want bulk texting services, they can be offered to you at affordable flat rates. So, you will get the chance of sending thousands of these messages without breaking the set budget.

So that you can get the best, you can start by growing the SMS database list. It should start by promoting the campaign over advertising platform.

3. Suitable for customer service.

The small businesses you see have natural lead compared to the big companies in their customer services. According to the study, it shows that small businesses will have a greater emphasis on their customers. However, most people would also like to spend their money on such companies that are offering top-notch customer services.

Text messaging is essential because you can send relevant pieces of advice and tips to the clients that will add value to the customer service. Besides, you will also improve the customer’s experience.

Moreover, texting is a fast method of communication and you can easily solve any problems. So, simple problems are easily solved with SMS quickly instead of making calls or sending emails.

4. Personalization.

When you are sending text messages, you can address the customer by name. so, the text will be essential in helping you to personalize your message.

However, when you send customers with messages having deals and promotions depending on their purchase history will increase their loyalty. So, text messaging is an affordable way of getting better results and also excellent customer services recommendations.

5. Fast communication services.

Lastly, the benefit you can get with text messaging services is that you can communicate fast. For example, the travel agencies will benefit from this texting because it will advise the customer on delays. It is something that will help them save a trip to the airport saving the need for inconveniences.

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Superhero Mentality – Three Steps To Turn A Negative Into A Positive

by Hernani Alves, author of “Balanced Accountability: 3 Leadership Secrets to Win Hearts and Maximize Performance“

Steve Young, the former NFL player and MVP of Super Bowl XXIX, threw 202 interceptions in his career. That’s 202 opportunities he had to receive backlash from fans, critics, coaches, and teammates. No man is an island so he could have probably handed his teammates some strong notes on their own play, but that wasn’t Young’s style.

He knew that getting defensive would only create resentment. His ultimate goal was to win, so instead of making excuses, he’d focus on his own mistakes while doing whatever it took to motivate his team. Young was a leader in his organization and a champion to millions because he understood exactly how to turn a tough situation into a victory. He worked with a true Superhero Mentality.

Here are my top three steps that you can use in your day-to-day to be the hero your staff needs and deserves.

1. Take the Hit.

The difference between a leader and a full-blown workplace superhero is who will take the hit. When issues like missed deadlines, low sales, etc., need to be accounted for, that person needs to be you. There might be legit reasons why you’re facing particular challenges (including some that aren’t your fault), but if you want your team to win, you, the leader, have to take the hit. It’s part of the job. Just as a quarterback takes responsibility for his throws, you take responsibility for your employees.  You’ll start winning your team’s hearts and they will want to follow you even more.  Don’t be shocked when your team starts to own their mistakes as well.

2. Eliminate Excuses.

Taking the hit = stopping the excuses. This idea was drilled into me on a snowy soccer field in Idaho when I was nine years old. It was half time, and my team was losing 0-3. It was snowing, but not that fluffy fun kind of snow. More of a piercing, icy, slippery kind of downpour. We were miserable, but our coach was at a loss as to why we were losing. When asked just what was going on out there, I spoke up “We don’t play well when it’s snowing. The field sucks. And it’s cold.” Coach looked at me and said, “Are you kidding me? You’re playing in the same weather, on the same field, as the other team. No more excuses.”

It was brilliant and opened us up to the fact that we weren’t powerless. After that, we were all for playing in bad weather. We knew it would get to the other teams, but not us. Instead of making excuses, we focused on what we could control on the field.

Do you make excuses for not performing at your best? Whatever problems we’re facing, it’s human nature to look for an outside source to blame. But excuses are part of the victim mentality which is the complete opposite of the Superhero Mentality. It’s dwelling on what went wrong or who’s at fault instead of mending the problem. Of course, there’s a time and place for considering what went sideways, but a hero will always focus on solutions while a victim will wallow in the injustice of it all.

3. Hero Power.

When you stop making excuses, you are in control. It gives you the power to command any setback that might arise with grace and patience as opposed to anger. If your nature is to fall into a victim mindset, you must address this to become a great leader. It’s not easy, especially when someone truly does wrong you. However, learning to take the hits as they come can have a life-changing impact on your employees. It may even be the trigger that helps them win, just as Steve Young so often did with his team.

Young once said “The principle of competing is against yourself. It’s about self-improvement, and being better than you were the day before.” When you pledge to ditch victim mentality, you gain the upper hand against whatever you’re facing. You have to decide right now if that’s something you’re ready to do. Not tomorrow, not at the next meeting, now. If you want to be a leader that others will love to follow, you must understand that this is the moment that will decide the foundation of your future success.

As Optimus Prime said in Transformers: Age of Extinction, “Often, the most important moments in life come to this exact moment. What are you going to do?”

 

Hernani Alves is an entrepreneur, author, international speaker, and executive consultant with over twenty years of business experience as a sales executive for a $3 billion company. He’s the founder of Balanced IQ, a company that helps leaders build world-class teams focused on getting sustainable results in varying economic climates. He is author of “Balanced Accountability: 3 Leadership Secrets to Win Hearts and Maximize Performance“.

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How To Make Your Products More Accessible To Online Customers

There are over 25 million eCommerce sites worldwide and it is estimated that the business will be worth $4.5 trillion by 2021. In the face of such awesome figures it is perhaps understandable that the task of reaching potential customers can seem insurmountable; whatever it is that you market, there is just so much competition.

The reality is of course that there are plenty of customers to go around. The problem for the retailer is not a shortage of potential customers, it’s getting in touch with them. There are two parts to the problem, firstly, getting potential customers to your site and secondly, converting those visits into sales.

Getting customers to your site through social media.

Understanding how to use social media to promote a product and acquire customers is an essential skill for any serious eCommerce trader. This is never going to be just a one-off acquisition of a set of skills, you are going to have to evolve with the media and that evolution is going to be rapid and it’s going to be diverse, so you had better get used to it.

Facebook – Set up geotagging on your Facebook Business page so that when someone checks in, all their friends will see.  The average Facebook user has 100 friends.

Capture leads on social media – Create a contact form or email subscriber form.  Keep it as simple as possible, no one wants to fill out lots of fields.  Offer some sort of freebie to encourage people to give you their contact details, this could be an infographic, a discount code, an eBook or entry to a lottery.  Create images or videos for Instagram and Pinterest and then add a clickable link through to a contact form on your bio.  You don’t need a huge social media following or a presence on every platform, you just need to ensure that your social media content is continually attractive to your potential customers.

Use an influencer.

Influencers are social media experts, so if their audience are your potential customers it makes sense to get them promoting your product.  Judicious gifting of the article you wish to promote and/or a one-off payment can generate a startling increase in traffic to your website.

Aggregate or Affiliate marketing.

This is where one company brings together many brands in order to market them more effectively.   For example, on glasses.com you can find all the leading glasses brands, and on watches.com you can find a selection of watch brands.  Traffic is directed to your site and in return you pay a percentage.

Converting visits to your site into sales.

It is crucial that your website is visually appealing and that it is easy to use.  Design should be consistent from page to page and customers should be able to search categories without confusion.  Every clickable image should have ALT text so that it is clear what the link is. Well over half online shopping is conducted through mobiles, make sure your site is responsive to them.  Competitions and discounts are a way of engaging browsers, getting them to linger and getting them to commit to that all important first purchase. 

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Why Product Packaging Important For Your Startup

Starting a business goes beyond having an idea. There is a lot of research that needs to be done in terms of how to run the business efficiently as well as how to make profits. If you are planning to start a product line, it is imperative to know the basics and importance of product packaging. The same way people are identified by their names is the same way you need your brand to be recognized using their packaging. The product packaging you use can make or break your business. As a startup, you can either decide to come up with the packaging or even hire professionals to do that for you at an affordable rate. Whatever decision you choose, ensure that the packaging is up to standard.

Below are some of the reasons why product packaging is vital for your start-up company;

1. It is a good marketing strategy.

Marketing is an indispensable tool for any business. The business market is competitive and extremely dynamic, meaning that you need to put a lot of efforts into marketing your products. And one way to efficiently do products marketing is by ensuring that the packaging is well done. Make sure that your brand name is visible and is attractive as well. Get creative with the logo in that the moment someone sees the logo, they can be able to tell what product is all about. Also, the colors on the packaging material should blend in well.

2. Maintains the products safety standards.

Perhaps one of the main reasons you need to package the products is to keep the products safety standards. Products need to be safe while being transported to the consumers as well as when they are on the shelves in your shop or on the shelves of your distributes. For example, if you are selling foodstuff like crisps, you need to ensure that you seal the packaging well to ensure that they do not get soggy or even start developing mold due to poor packaging. Additionally, to avoid landing on the wrong books of the food safety officers, it is best to comply with the safety packaging standards.

3. Builds your brand.

Have you ever wondered why other brands are well known compared to others? Well, the packaging is one of the reasons. A consumer will be more inclined to buy a product that is well packaged compared to one that is poorly packaged. Why? This is because, for one, it becomes convenient for them to carry the product without the hassle and secondly, they are also assured of the safety of the product when it is well packaged. Proper and attractive packaging is one way to build your brand and in turn, grow your business.

4. Influences purchasing decisions.

Let’s face it; most customers, especially first time users, will buy a product due to its attractiveness. And proper packaging does that for you. As aforementioned, ensure that you make your packaging unique and that the colors blend in. Think out of the box, for example, if you deal with children products, use bright colors, and you can also decide to have cartoons drawn all over the packaging materials. Also, do a lot of research on colors. Studies have shown that different colors have different impacts on the brain and in turn, affect the purchasing decisions of customers. For example, products with black packaging display a lot of sophistication and power, white evokes simplicity and purity, whereas pink evokes beauty. Therefore, before coming up with a color scheme for your products, ensure that you consider your target market as well.

5. Provides product information.

Products without proper packaging or with plain packaging leave the consumers wondering what the product is all about. The packaging you come with is one way to provide products information such as the ingredients used, manufacturing date, expiry date, how to use the product, company’s contacts, and so on. Also, ensure that the product information is visible and bold. It becomes way easier for a customer to purchase a product when they have all the details of what the product is all about. And in case of any issues, the customer might also be able to reach you through the contacts on the packaging.

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6 Major Benefits Of Injection Molding In Manufacturing

Injection molding is one of the most popular methods for manufacturing plastic parts. It is simple, versatile, and time tested. However, those are not the only reasons why injection molding remains one of the more common methods for making plastic parts.

Here are six major benefits of injection molding in manufacturing. We’ll also explain how injection molding has improved over the years to further these benefits.

High Production Speeds.

Injection molding is efficient and effective, resulting in a fast production rate. Its high production rate (averaging 15 to 120 seconds per part) makes it ideal for mass production. There’s little that can go wrong with it, and there is rarely a need for finishing steps. Just inject into the mold, cool, release and send on to the next step in the manufacturing process. All of this is achieved with relatively little labor output. Most of the molding equipment runs with self-gating, an automated system that keeps production both efficient and fast while minimizing wasted material and supervision requirements.

Low Cost.

Because of the simplicity of injection molding technology, it is a low-cost plastic forming process. More time and effort goes into the design of the mold and selection of the plastic formulation than anything else. Once the molds are made and assembled, the production line can be up and running in short order. Then the production line can ramp up. Each mold can be used to make a huge number of parts, resulting in increasingly cheaper final products.

Companies like Rapid Direct are notable for offering both affordable high volume and low volume injection molding. They offer custom injection molding and prototype molds. They can make rapid tooling and prototype molds, so you can go through several generations of injection mold designs before you find the ideal mold for mass production. They are the injection molding China experts, and China’s lower cost of labor means you can afford to make injection molded prototypes to show to your customers and investors.

Flexibility.

Injection molding is an option for a variety of plastics, though material selection that affects the strength of the part and the ideal mold design. Injection molding is a great choice if you may want to change the color of the part. You’d simply change the chemical additives to the plastic to get a new color without altering any of the other performance characteristics of the part.

You can also switch between liquid color additives and pre-colored resins to get a consistent finish. If you find that part quality isn’t high enough, you could add fillers or alter other aspects of the design to improve impact strength, tensile strength, elasticity or water absorption. This flexibility minimizes the speed and cost of process changes until you get things just right. Injection molding is also the only option that allows you to use multiple plastics simultaneously via co-injection molding.

High Quality.

Injection molding allows you to create incredibly uniform parts at high speed and with minimal handling. This results in extremely high quality, whether you’re making a simple toy or a complex part. Injection-molded parts can be as strong or stronger than nearly any other plastic part on the market if you use the right ribs and gussets to reinforce the part relative to the stresses it is placed under. If it almost never cracks or fails, your customers will consider it to be high quality. A secondary benefit of plastic injection molding is that you can often eliminate other finishing steps like assembly and painting, each of which creates the opportunity for errors that hurt your quality metrics.

The Ability to Handle Complex Parts.

Injection molding can be used to make very complex parts. For example, you can add a lot of detail to the part as it is made, and it is literally part of the final product instead of something you have to add to it later. Better yet, injection molding does so with high levels of quality and speed compared to multi-stage finishing processes. However, key design elements need to be taken into account to create solid, durable injection molded parts. For example, insufficient wall thickness, poor rib design or bad gate placement will create defective products. This makes good part design essential to seeing the high levels of quality from injection molded parts.

Reduced Waste.

One of the greatest points in favor of injection molding is that it produces relatively little waste. Some injection molding companies are able to reduce their waste production even more by recycling any excess plastic generated. They simply grind up the waste and add it back to the plastic resin stream. This is aside from the most eco-friendly firms using state of the art machinery that produces as little waste as possible. Between computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing, the best injection molding facilities rarely need to recycle bad parts.

Conclusion.

Plastic injection molding is simple, fast, cheap, efficient and almost everything else you need your plastic part production to be. The ability to make complex parts, the level of quality and environmental friendliness of operation varies between manufacturers.

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Fundraising Debt And How To Avoid It

by Anish Sebastian and Juan Pablo Segura, co-founders of Babyscripts

Ten years ago, Ward Cunningham published a Youtube video that introduced the concept of “technical debt” to the world. It has become an established term in the software industry to indicate the short term fixes of quick and dirty coding that can create problems down the road — problems that come knocking at the door to collect with interest. Cunningham’s term was coined to identify a specific problem in the tech industry, but the fundamental concept is universal — Ben Horowitz, for example, took Cunningham’s concept and applied it to management structures. 

Essentially, the concept boils down to making a decision that solves the problem of the moment but is not ultimately scalable, borrowing against the future to fix the short term issues. The kicker, of course, is that at some point you have to pay that debt down to actually scale. 

For start-ups in hot markets, the problem also manifests itself in fundraising. Billions of dollars are being poured into companies that have yet to clear the value chasm, as entrepreneurs use early traction that isn’t necessarily financially-oriented, but shows a certain level of uptick or success, to raise capital and convince early stage investors that their horse is the one to bet on.

Of course, a certain amount of initial capital without financial performance is absolutely necessary to get a business off the ground, especially in regulated industries. Founders need seed capital to get their operations up and running, and to begin generating revenue. They need to comply with laws, create back-end processes, and build prototypes — all of which cost money.

But “fundraising debt” comes into the picture when you raise too much too early, diluting your business at the beginning of the venture, with no real plan or unrealistic projections for how your business will scale. When founders are wrong (which happens often), that initial seed round runs out quickly, requiring another round of funding — typically referred to as a bridge round.

For first time entrepreneurs or new entrants in a market, most initial problems start with failing to meet revenue projections — when product roll out is delayed, for example, or when it takes longer than expected to get revenue traction. In these scenarios, most founders will have trouble tapping the institutional Venture Capital market and will have to do a bridge round or multiple bridge rounds. 

Exacerbating the problem are the subjective standards by which many young companies are evaluated. Instead of looking at traditional metrics such as EBITA (earnings before interest taxes and amortization) and MRR (monthly recurring revenue), early investors are compelled by intangibles such as charismatic leadership, a loyal team, exciting IP, an important name on an executive board, news coverage, etc. — betting on the future value of these young companies instead of their current traction. 

Result? Fundraising debt. A compelling story or ancillary proof points may enable bridge rounds of $250K, $500K, or $1 million; but without financial traction, these companies cannot transcend to much larger, institutional rounds of capital. Compounding the problem, founders often ramp up expenses and their burn rate as they collect fundraising debt, always expecting better performance to be just around the corner, and being prepared for the next round.   

Healthcare is a prime example of a field where businesses are forced to leverage fundraising debt to clear certain situational or industry-imposed chasms. Take the Pharma industry, for example: entrepreneurs in Pharma typically raise millions of dollars before they sell one pill. Initial evaluations are tied to success in clinical trials and in clearing regulatory hurdles, not financial performance.

Many would argue that even the most theoretically scalable products in healthcare, i.e digital health products, have abnormally long “valleys of death,” because founders have to invest in HIPAA-oriented compliance, build cross-functional teams with technology and medical expertise, and often develop several reference customers/sites before they can truly start to scale their business.

Every industry has its own challenges and barriers to entry, but certain truths are consistent across the board. Every time capital is raised that isn’t tied to traction or growth in MRR, founders need to fully comprehend the fact that they’re punting on the opportunity to raise a greater amount or be acquired, because sophisticated investors ultimately use revenue as the benchmark to invest in or acquire a business.

This also applies in acquisition conversations. Obviously, strategic acquisitions have additional considerations and motivations, but most acquirers will not venture too far from industry norms in revenue multiples and the ultimate enterprise value.

But like all debt, fundraising debt needs to be paid off, which requires forethought, a certain amount of self restraint, prudent management, organizational discipline and a conscious recognition of the situation. 

While visionary and optimistic projections of cost is standard in the start-up space — and key to the success of many — a realistic assessment of what it will take for a product to hurdle the value chasm can be the difference maker in making sure burn rate  doesn’t lead to burn out. That means making sure that initial rounds of capital give you 24-36 months of run rate, rather than the typical 12 to 18 — enough to build a sustainable and healthy business. 

 

Anish Sebastian and Juan-Pablo Segura cofounded Babyscripts in 2013 with the vision that internet enabled medical devices and big data would transform the delivery of pregnancy care. Since the company’s inception, they have raised over $15M and gathered the support of more than 40 health systems around the country to further their vision of a data centric model in prenatal care.

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11 Business Ideas For Making Extra Money After Work

by Luke Loftin

No matter if you are saving up for a down payment on a house, to take your dream vacation or just need help paying the bills, a second job can help you put extra cash in the bank. While you could moonlight at a retail store or restaurant to bolster your income, there are also plenty of job opportunities out there that will let you set your own schedule, including some you can perform from the comfort of your own home.

Here are a few suggestions on some side hustles you can try to help pad your income, ranging from starting your own freelance business to taking online surveys in exchange for cash.

1. Freelance Writer.

If you have a flair with words, taking on freelance writing gigs can be an easy way to earn extra money. There are countless businesses in need of dependable writers who can reliably churn out fresh content, including:

• Blogs
• Website copy
• Social media posts

Attending networking events is one good way to find clients, as many small business owners don’t have the time or budget to do all their own writing or hire a full-time writer. Another good source of writing jobs are sites like Upwork or Fiverr. These companies will take a cut of your earnings, but can also help you easily connect with potential clients.

2. Virtual Assistant.

If you have excellent organizational skills, you can bolster your bank account by handling various tasks for business clients. This could include scheduling meetings, taking phone calls, making reservations, data entry, responding to emails and other administrative duties. Try sites like FancyHands or ZipRecruiter to get started and see if remotely supporting busy business professionals is a good fit for you.

3. Webmaster.

Skilled at coding and have a good eye for design? Consider setting up your own affiliate website business on the side. There are plenty of companies who have affiliate programs, and personal loan affiliate programs are among highest-paying one.

4. Transcriptionist.

Are you a fast typist? One way to make cash from your living room is by transcribing phone calls, dictation or meetings. Clients will send you an audio file, then it’s up to you to commit the conversation to (virtual) paper. Fast, accurate typists who can type at least 60 words per minute can earn $25 to $30 an hour (or more!), making this an appealing gig for anyone with excellent keyboarding skills. You can get started by signing up on sites like TranscribeMe! and SpeakWrite.

5. Professional Tasker.

Are you handy with tools, a whiz at packing or a cleaning pro? You can easily make cash on the side by performing everyday tasks for people who lack either the time or know-how to take them on. Websites such as TaskRabbit can connect you with people in your area who need someone who can:

• Assemble furniture
• Hang drywall
• Mount a television
• Help them move
• Give their kitchen a deep clean

If you prefer running errands to doing heavy lifting, other options including delivering food or other basic household items for companies such as Postmates or Doordash.

6. Rideshare Driver.

Enjoy spending your free time behind the wheel? You can make money when you’re off the clock as a driver for popular ride-sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft. You don’t even need to own a car – both companies offer options for you to rent a ride to use while driving for them. The best part is you have complete freedom over your schedule, so you can drive when it’s convenient for you, not the company. Own a car but don’t want to drive strangers around? You could always rent out your parking spot through SpotHero, or even your wheels on car sharing companies like Turo or Getaround.

7. Event Staff.

Do you have experience in the restaurant industry? You might want to consider picking up work at special events. From weddings to conferences, there is always a demand for skilled waitstaff and bartenders who can expertly serve hors d’oeuvres or mix martinis. Check with local catering companies, hotels and event centers to see what events fit in with your schedule. Indeed is also a good source for event jobs.

8. Seller.

Depending on your interests, the options to become a part-time salesperson are virtually endless. You could sell for well-established companies such as Amway or Avon, or by opening up your own online store on eBay or Etsy. Just make sure you do your homework before committing to a sales role, as some companies will require you to purchase product in advance. That means if you decide the world of sales isn’t for you, you might find yourself stuck with hundreds of dollars of goods on your hands.

9. Dogwalker/Petsitter.

Love animals? You can get paid to play with pooches or give belly rubs to cats while their owners are at work or out of town by becoming a dog walker and/or petsitter. Craigslist is a good way to promote your pet services or to find people in need of care for their four-legged friends. You can also find pet care jobs on Rover or Petsitter.

10. Tutor.

If you are fluent in French or majored in math, you can tutor students on the side to bring in some extra cash. You can work with students either in person or online to help them improve their grades, or prepare for a major exam, such as the SATs. Sites like Tutor and MeetATutor allow you to create a profile listing your skills and can help connect you with prospective students.

11. Survey Taker.

Believe it or not, you can actually make money by taking surveys online. There are several major survey companies eager to get a peek inside the mind of the average consumer. You can maximize your chances for earning by signing up for multiple survey companies. Some of the most well-known include Survey Junkie and Swagbucks.

While the companies we have mentioned are considered reputable, there are many other businesses out there that promise quick, easy money for very little work. Before you sign on for any jobs, make sure you research the company to make sure that they are legitimate. And remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. However, if you spend a little time investigating a company upfront, you should be able to find plenty of opportunities to earn some extra cash. 

 

Luke Loftin is a writer and editor based out of Los Angeles. He specializes in finance, as well as health and wellness. In his free time, he enjoys watching Astros baseball. You can find him on LinkedIn.

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Ways To Increase Employee Experience

The staff are the driving force of the operation so no business can succeed without an excellent team in place. This means that a business needs to be able to attract, recruit and retain the top talent which can be a huge challenge particularly for smaller companies and startups.

Read on for a few tips.

Interim Management.

One of the most effective ways to bring in expert talent to a small company or startup is to use interim management. This allows you to bring in a talented and experienced individual in the short term to help the company to achieve a particular goal or to oversee operations until a permanent solution is found. Bringing in experts, even if temporary, can have a great impact on staff and put the company on the right path to success.

Create an Attractive Work Environment.

Of course, in order to bring in expertise and the top talent you will need to create an attractive work environment. You might not be able to match the wages that the top talent can command elsewhere but you could entice prospective employees in other ways. This might include flexible working, benefits, career progression opportunities (more on this below), an attractive office, relaxed environment etc.

Career Progression.

The best employees are the driven ones that want to climb the corporate ladder. This means that you need to be able to provide progression opportunities within the company as otherwise they will look elsewhere and you could lose existing staff when they need a new challenge. You should provide training, guidance and new opportunities for staff which will help you to attract motivated employees while also benefiting from the skills and knowledge that you provide them with. This creates a learning ecosystem that every business can benefit from greatly.

Engage With Employees.

Employees also need to feel valued and listened to in the workplace. This means that communication must be excellent and there should be an effort made to make sure that employees are listened to. This might include asking for help with company challenges and listening to feedback, implementing stay interviews to make sure that you retain staff and taking action when an employee needs support either in the workplace or in their personal life. An open-door policy can be effective and create a friendly yet professional work environment which everyone can benefit from.

Attracting and retaining talent is vital to success no matter what industry you are in, but this is no easy feat particularly for smaller companies or startups. The information in this post should help your company to start attracting the top talent which will bring more expertise into the business which should drive greater success.

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VoIP vs Landline Phone Systems For Small Businesses

A reliable and easy to use phone system is an essential part of business infrastructure.

Without the ability to contact clients and properly route information, operations would quickly come to a standstill. Many business owners unfortunately struggle when choosing between VoIP systems and traditional landline phone systems.

This article will cover some of the biggest differences between VoIP and landline systems and help you discover which one is right for you.

Reliability.

Comparing business VoIP and landline reliability brings two totally different systems together. VoIP relies on internet bandwidth to transmit digital calls. Because of this VoIP calls are sharing the same network with all the rest of your business’s internet traffic.

It affects the call quality and sometimes also leads to dropped calls. As your internet speed raises so does the reliability of your VoIP system.

Landline calls rely on the dedicated copper wires of the telephone network. These are designed solely with making calls in mind. Because of this the call quality of landline networks is generally excellent.

Another important point regards power outages. Because landlines are transmitted on copper wires they’ll function just fine without power. VoIP systems will not.

Features.

When you’re comparing VoIP and landline business phone systems features always come into play. For most businesses there are a set of basic features they have to have plus some new ones that can be really nice when used properly.

In-demand features for modern businesses include things like:

• Call Forwarding
• Number Portability and Mobile Use
• International Calling
• Software Integration

Portability and Call Forwarding.

Number portability and call forwarding refers to the ability to have calls sent to your work number instantly forwarded to another phone. This can be achieved either through the use of digital switchboard systems or an application.

VoIP.

VoIP systems are designed to be as mobile friendly and portable as possible. Most business VoIP solutions have smartphone apps you can download and use. They allow you to take a single number with you no matter where you end up in the world.

Landline.

Landlines have limited call forwarding abilities within an office setting but no mobile portability options. If you choose to go with a landline system you’ll also need to get a business cell number that you can be reached at when out of the office.

International Calling.

With the rise of globalization, the ability to call anywhere in the world is more important than ever. VoIP and landline systems both allow international calling, but at vastly different prices and capabilities.

VoiIP.

VoIP systems were designed from the ground up to be friendly to any type of call. Because they rely on the fiber optic network that runs the internet there’s no real reason international calls should cost more than local calls.

VoIP services even offer things like international specific numbers for people to call you from their home countries. There are tons of different ways everyday people can use VoIP to make free international calls, with businesses paying just slightly more.

Landline.

While landlines have been making international calls since the invention of the telephone, they don’t do it as well or as cheaply as VoIP. Trying to call an international number from a landline will cost you significantly more on a landline than it will on VoIP.

Software Integration.

One of the places where VoIP has completely surpassed landlines is in software integration. Because VoIP is entirely software based itself it’s easy to connect useful programs like CRM to your phone system.

This allows you to maintain detailed records of incoming and outgoing calls and customize your phones to fit your needs.

Cost.

In just about every situation a VoIP phone system will beat out a landline. Because VoIP runs on top of your existing internet connection there’s no expensive infrastructure to install.

VoIP is substantially cheaper than landline phone systems basically across the board.

The Takeaway.

When you sit down and compare VoIP to landline phone systems it’s pretty clear who the winner is. As long as your office has enough bandwidth to support a VoIP system it’s pretty much always going to be the better option.

It’s cheaper, includes far more added features, and gives you substantially better service.

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4 Pieces Of Software Every Startup Needs

In today’s society, new technology and software have impacted pretty much every aspect of how modern businesses operate. Businesses can use technology to connect with their target audience, provide better customer service, increase sales and revenue, and remain competitive in the modern business world. All businesses should, therefore, be taking advantage of technology and looking for ways that new software can benefit their business.

With this in mind, here are four pieces of software that every startup needs.

1. VPN Software.

Virtual Private Network (VPN) software allows businesses to communicate securely online via private computer networks that use a technology referred to as tunneling. The main benefit of VPN software is improved security; this technology significantly increases online safety and allows companies to maintain their privacy and confidentiality when using the internet. A VPN helps keep a company’s valuable and sensitive data safe from hackers and other cyber threats. Another benefit of VPN software is that it can be accessed remotely. It can help increase productivity in the workplace by allowing employees to access and edit information from anywhere. You can easily compare the best VPN software available on the market right now by searching online.

2. Inventory Management Software.

Inventory management software can help increase productivity and revenue by streamlining key business operations. This technology can be used to generate useful data that helps businesses determine which products are selling quickest through a variety of sales channels. It allows business owners to make more effective purchases and manage their stock more efficiently. What’s more, inventory management software helps businesses maintain an organized warehouse by ensuring that products are restocked on time. It should help streamline and improve the order fulfillment process, enhancing the customer experience and increase sales and revenue.

3. CRM Software.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software is a broad term used to describe technology that manages interactions between businesses and their customers. The software can be utilized by businesses to help develop customer relationships, improve customer experience, and increase sales and revenue. CRM software works by automating a number of tasks in order to enhance the efficiency of customer management. It provides businesses with valuable data, so they can better understand their relationships with customers and find ways to improve how they communicate with their target audience. Take a look at this article for some more significant benefits of using CRM software in your business.

4. Customer Service Software.

Customer service software is used to enhance the customer experience and brand image of a company. For instance, live chat software is commonly used within businesses to provide customers with round-the-clock support with any questions or queries. This software provides quick and convenient problem resolution and gives businesses a competitive advantage over similar companies.

Final Thought.

Software offers businesses a number of fantastic benefits – from streamlining business operations and increasing productivity to improving the customer experience and enhancing network security. Make sure that you’re taking advantage of new technology and looking for ways that software can benefit your business.

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How To Hire Scrum For Your Startup

Imagine a situation where you wanted to recreate the most popular Instagram application, and the problem is that you don’t come from an IT background. So, what you do now is that you basically approach a development company, you put up your requirements to them and then after discussions the company promises you to deliver the app one year later.

Finally, when you get your app delivered, do you really think you would have recreated what you wanted to? No, because within a year’s gap, Instagram itself would have been upgraded with a lot of features. But now when you approach the company and ask them to do changes with the application, you’ll probably get back a doubtful reaction.

This is because the company might have followed the waterfall method to build your solution. This waterfall methodology follows a few consecutive steps, including analysis, designing, coding, testing, deployment, and maintenance.

The detriment here is that when you switch from one stage to another, it is not a cakewalk to head back to the previous stage. So, when you build software, it is almost like building a house of cards. The disadvantage with waterfall is that the time to market is low because it takes time to build the software and by that time the market has reached somewhere. Second is that you really can’t make any changes to your code phase.

So people came up with a solution to these issues. This solution is a philosophy, and this philosophy is AGILE. Agile is a manifesto that has been put forth by a bunch of people and to implement it. We use SCRUM.

SCRUM.

As its official website suggests, it is a better way of building products. It is a lightweight framework, easy to understand but difficult to master. Moreover, scrum and agile aren’t the same thing.

The first and foremost shelf of the scrum framework is the product backlog. This is a place where you could break down your requirements into smaller parts for the current week. Next is sprint planning. Now if you have a module that you could finish up within a week or two, then that defines your sprint time. What you do is that you take a few elements from your backlog and place it in your current sprint backlog.

Eventually, you also get to plan your requirements for the module to be completed within the decided sprint. Once you are done with your sprint backlog and you have two weeks to complete it, you will have to start to build up the product, and for the development, you need a scrum team (8-10 people max).

So, after two weeks, you’ll give the product its increment which is basically turning it out into a potentially shippable product. After this, a sprint retrospective is done, which is almost like doing a SWAT analysis. There is also a stand-up meeting for a maximum of 15 minutes where we have a sprint review. Now that all of this is set, who is going to manage the scrum team? And here comes the role of scrum master.

Startups and SCRUM.

You might have heard about start-ups, either from your friend or your cousin who is all pumped up and electrified to begin his work journey right after his graduation. With so much zeal and dedication towards starting business online, all that he has to do is to get a solution for a problem or basically build a product.

Either the waterfall or the scrum method could be used. But since there are no turning back scenes with waterfall, it is fair to always stick on to scrum, which is a kind of agile project management methodology.

Why SCRUM for startups?

• During the initial times there might be a lot of noise with your start-up, but to cut through all of that and to focus on something that absolutely changes how you run your team, your company or even your own life we need scrum.
• As an entrepreneur, you might always be concerned about execution, speed, and pivots, and scrum provides you all of this.
• The best strategy is being offered by scrum, and that’s what you actually need in the line of building a product.
• The scrum methodology helps you in bring out quality in every sprint which isn’t achieved with waterfall.
• Management using scrum is very flexible as you could also bring in some changes to your product plan i.e., your product backlog could be updated with new elements too.
• Easy to manage with delays since the leftovers of your previous sprint could be added to the upcoming one.
• Each sprint is reviewed to minimize the errors so that the confusions during the later stages are avoided.

Employing SCRUM for startups.

There are only three groups in the scrum team that includes the product owner, the scrum master, and the scrum team. So, in the scrum, there isn’t much chaos.

Talking about the product owner, they are the link lines between the client’s visionary and the scrum team. He must be able to bring out the abilities of the scrum team and make sure that the team is heading in the right path. For a start-up, a good head start is essential, and it is more essential to continue to be on the line until the end.

Next is the scrum master, who is in charge of clearing obstacles for the scrum team. As a product developer, there won’t be a day where the company doesn’t face any issue. And when it’s a start-up, every decision made is extremely important for the future of the company. One more important job that the scrum master has got is to arrange for the daily stand-ups. He has to focus on the keywords: yesterday, today and tomorrow

The scrum team is baked by its team members. They should be cross-functional, cooperative, and organized. Finally, the scrum is not just a part of the project, and they have to help the entire team by building a shippable product.

Final thoughts.

Instead of having Trello or any productivity app, scrum helps you with meeting your tasks with a specific timeframe and eventually making sure that you don’t carry forward your mistakes.

In start-ups, nobody really wants to make any costly decisions at the final stages, so the scrum is very much helpful in protecting your entire team from issues. It plays a dominant role in establishing a fresh and effective environment where all your team members work with a good relationship, and after all, that’s what is needed for start-ups.

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Important Branding Lessons From The Top 5 Retailers In The US

by Katie Lundin of crowdspring

The top 5 retailers in the US made nearly $230 billion dollars in 2018.

($228.4 billion to be exact.)

They must be doing something right.

Walmart, Amazon, Costco, Walgreens, and Home Depot have each built strong brand identities and all benefit from powerful household recognition and strong brand equity.

As we wrote previously:

A brand is the sum total of the experience your customers and customer prospects have with your company.

A strong brand communicates what your company does, how it does it, and at the same time, establishes trust and credibility with your prospects and customers.

Your company’s brand is, in many ways, its personality.

Your brand lives in everyday interactions your company has with its prospects and customers, including the images you share, the messages you post on your website, the content of your marketing materials, your presentations and booths at conferences, and your posts on social networks.

These top retail businesses know that their brand is invaluable. These are the businesses that we should be learning from.

So, we’ve studied what these mega-brands are doing right… and wrong.

We’ve cultivated a list of 5 actionable lessons that apply to retail businesses of any size – not just mega-retailers.

And, now, we’re here to share the results of our research with you. Let’s get started.

1. Walmart – Build a better brand through meaningful change.

Walmart has long been a top name in US retail. But, the biggest box store hasn’t always had a flawless reputation.

For a time, Walmart was making headlines that reported their less-than-stellar treatment of employees and the negative impact their mega-brand’s presence created for small businesses across the country.

Walmart’s leadership team realized that their brand was suffering and chose to make a change. In the years since Walmart has made real efforts to chart a new course.

In a 2017 Harvard Business Review interview, Walmart CEO Doug McMillon explained,

We start with reality and try to focus on what we can do to make Walmart an even better company.

Over the past 12 years, Walmart has made environmental and social sustainability a priority. They’ve also revisited their wage structure (increasing overall wages by $2.7 billion in 2017), employee training, and advancement structure.

While Walmart may still have flaws, they’ve improved their brand considerably by acknowledging their flaws and working to fix them.

Simon Mainwaring, branding expert, and entrepreneur, shares in his Walmart Case Study:

The key takeaway is that purpose is essential to the way stakeholders view your brand. Investing in positive impact within the communities you touch is an excellent way to strengthen brand image.

What You Can Do.

Get real about the ways in which your business is failing to meet expectations. It’s only through self-awareness and brutal honesty that you can really see how your brand is perceived.

• Ask customers where you’re falling short in serving your community and being a brand people want to support.
• Poll your customer support team – what are the most common complaints they receive?
• Ask your employees for their observations – they may have insights you don’t
• Then make plans to do better – and follow through.

Don’t sugarcoat any failing. Every single problem that you identify is an opportunity to improve your business and brand in a meaningful way.

This is especially true for new businesses. In our guide on how to start a business, we emphasize that a strong brand is more important than ever.

As Mainwaring puts it:

…businesses that invest in and share stories about their measurable social contributions increase brand value and carve out a competitive advantage.

So, look for ways that you can give back to your community. Embrace integrity and socially ethical practices. As a side effect, your brand will get a boost, too.

2. Amazon – Develop a consistent, reliable multi-channel brand.

Today, it’s hard to imagine a world without Amazon.

But, when Amazon first issued its mission statement in 1995:

…to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices.

…no one could have foreseen the colossal eCommerce giant it would become.

You can see the key to Amazon’s success in that mission statement. The brand has delivered on their promises – and in unexpected and innovative ways.

Twenty four years later, Amazon is still working to find new ways to be customer-centric and deliver anything anyone might want to buy online.

In addition to the core Amazon website, Amazon has a robust mobile app, an army of AI home assistants (I’m looking at you, Alexa), the Amazon Prime subscription service, and Amazon drop-off lockers all across the country. And, those are just the services that most people know.

This versatile brand has made it easy for customers to interact with them virtually anywhere. Amazon has mastered the art of meeting its customers wherever they are. And that multichannel approach has defined their brand.

What You Can Do.

While you may not have the resources to launch your own household AI assistant, there’s still plenty you can do.

• Survey your customers to gain their invaluable insight. And be sure to reward them for their time with a discount or gift certificate toward a future purchase.
• Build a user-friendly and reliable mobile app if you offer eCommerce.
• Create strong social media relationships with customers. Treat your social media profiles as extensions of your support and sales teams. If a customer reaches out to you there, be sure to respond in kind.
• Make it easy to communicate with your business through various channels. Provide prompt customer support via phone, email, and chat – as well as in store – whenever possible.
• Maintain a consistent brand voice and user experience across all channels. Customers should experience your brand consistently whether they’re on social media, a mobile app, your website or in your store.

Get on the same page as your customers. Find out how, where, and when they want to do business with you. Then figure out how to deliver those conditions with as little friction as possible.

3. Costco – Invest in your signature brand.

Many retailers offer a signature private label brand.

Walmart has Mainstays, Safeway grocery stores have Safeway Select, and CVS pharmacies have CVS Health. But, most of us don’t head to the store specifically to find those brands.

However, Costco’s Kirkland Signature brand is breaking that mold.

In 1995 Costco consolidated all of their private label products under the Kirkland Signature brand. And, in the years since, they’ve carefully curated the brand’s offerings to ensure quality and customer appeal.

This careful handling has paid off. Today, customers trust Kirkland Signature as a quality brand at a competitive price. It’s become a motivating factor that drives consumers to Costco.

And, as a result, the Kirkland Signature brand accounts for nearly a third of Costco’s revenues.

What You Can Do.

If you offer a signature brand, invest the time and effort to make it a draw in and of itself. We recommend that you follow Costco’s lead and curate your store’s signature brand carefully.

• Make sure every item you offer under your signature brand is a strong match for your customers and your existing brand.
• Focus on quality as well as price – today’s consumers expect a balance of both.
• Find a differentiating factor for your signature brand. Make sure you offer products with unique value and create distinct packaging design and package graphics for that signature brand.
• Market your signature brand. Customers can’t care about your brand if they don’t know about it.

Cultivating a unique, high quality, and exclusive signature brand will give your retail store a hook too good for your customers to pass up.

4. Walgreens – Branding is more than a tagline.

In December of 2017 Walgreens revealed a new direction for their brand.

Taking a sharp turn at the corner of happy and healthy, they revealed their new tagline: “Walgreens. Trusted since 1901.”

This change came shortly after Walgreen’s competitor CVS made a major acquisition of a health insurance provider. This lead some to wonder if the rebrand was a response to this perceived threat.

Jim Fosina, founder and CEO of Fosina Marketing Group, observed at the time:

If Walgreens thought that a rebranding effort focusing on longevity was going to be competitive with the CVS moves … they are sadly mistaken … and really missing an understanding of what motivates today’s consumer.

It’s possible that Fosina is right – nostalgia may be the wrong fit for a major pharmacy brand. On the other hand, Walgreens made it into the top 5 US retailers for 2018 while their larger competitor CVS didn’t.

I’d hazard the guess that this is because Walgreens new tagline didn’t have much of an impact on their brand. In the year since Walgreens announced that their brand has changed, I’ve visited their establishments a number of times. My experience as a consumer has been exactly the same regardless of a change in tagline.

A brand is more than its business tagline or a company logo. A retail brand is a sum of what your business claims it is, what your business actually does, and how your customers perceive your business.

Walgreens brand has already earned enough goodwill to weather any minor blips like a weak tagline – as long as those blips don’t impact customers’ actual experiences.

What You Can Do.

Don’t assume that telling your customers what your brand is will actually make it so.

If changes are to be made, be sure to make them where the rubber meets the road – not in a company memo. Real branding change must come from action.

• Get employee buy-in on your brand. If your employees don’t buy it – neither will your customers.
• Execute new company policies that will support the branding choices you’ve made.
• Plan your customer’s experience to reflect the changes in your brand.

Attack any changes in your retail brand at all levels of your business. Take a holistic view of your brand and make holistic actions to affect real change.

5. Home Depot – Don’t let what you think you know lead your brand astray.

Home Depot knew that the majority of their customers were men.

Except, they were wrong.

When Trish Mueller (former Chief Marketing Officer) signed on with Home Depot in August 2009, the accepted wisdom was that women just didn’t shop at Home Depot. And, as a result, Home Depot’s brand was very male-centric.

However, Trish offered insights that allowed Home Depot to correct what they thought they knew – and adjust course accordingly.

Home Depot’s willingness to take a second look revealed that their consumer base was more of an even split between genders. Knowing this, it became apparent that their brand was misaligned – it was time for their brand to embrace female shoppers.

Don’t let what you think you know get in the way of your business’s growth.

Accepting their new reality allowed the brand to intentionally recalibrate – and begin to create a more welcoming environment for the customers they’d had all along.

What You Can Do.

Take regular stock of your brand – and, don’t trust any assumptions.

• Conduct a SWOT Analysis to get a high-level view of your brand health.
• Question even your most basic assumptions about your audience, what they want, and how you can best deliver it.
• Seek outside opinions and pay particular attention to the answers that surprise you or don’t fit in with your perception of the situation.

It’s vitally important to keep an open mind and welcome fresh perspectives. This is how you can keep your brand aligned with your audience as you both evolve.

 

Katie Lundin is a marketing and branding specialist at crowdspring, one of the world’s leading marketplaces for crowdsourced logo design, web design, graphic design, product design, and company naming services. She helps entrepreneurs, small businesses and agencies with branding, design, and naming, and regularly writes about entrepreneurship, small business, and design on crowdspring’s award-winning small business blog.

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How To Improve Software Project Management Efficiency

Software project managers have it rough: from fulfilling the interests of stakeholders with limited resources and time, constantly-updating technologies – it seems like a never-ending battle.

To keep yourself from drowning in the project management swamps of despair, here are several tips for making sure your team and organization is as efficient as possible.

1. Team Satisfaction.

Nobody enjoys working hard for little reward or recognition. Having team members who feel like they’re taken advantage of for peanuts will be less likely to follow the goals of the business and stakeholders. That’s why it’s important to make sure that team morale is on point. Think of your team as rowers in a boat: when everyone is happy and feeling fulfilled, the boat will move more quickly. When just one rower feels empty, neglected or exhausted, the boat will move slower.

2. Define Success.

Do your stakeholders know what a successful project is? Find out. It is crucial to make sure they—and your organization — understands the criteria for what a successful project is. Finding these definitions early in the game will prevent them from feeling like something is lacking. Ask your stakeholders what their interests and expectations are, as well as some measurable business goals that everybody can get behind.

3. Time.

Can you quickly figure out which tasks need to accomplished? Can you consistently monitor your work plan? If not, the software project will take longer to complete. A development platform that is fast and accurate drastically helps speed this process along. BMC Helix delivers cognitive service management with a variety of services that can help you in more ways than one.

4. Commitments.

It’s easy to make commitments. It’s even easier to make commitments that are beyond the realm of possibility. To increase your team’s overall efficiency, don’t promise everyone everything under the sun. When there is a gap in the schedule or project functionality, commitments to customers or stakeholders are put on the line. That’s why it is imperative to never make a commitment to someone for the sole sake of keeping them happy.

5. Scope.

More often than not, stakeholders tend to request changes quite frequently. These changes usually happen while the project is already underway, which can be frustrating. They may typically be major or minor additions outside of the original scope everyone agreed upon during the initial stages. Be wary of requests for changes, and negotiate with stakeholders that if you agree to their changes, doing so will push back the completed product/software. Any additional work always means additional time. Show evidence.

6. Plan.

Building a solid plan involves mental agility more than anything else. You have to think extensively about goals, outcomes, solutions to problems and their alternatives, listen to team members, etc. – it is a delicate balancing act. Writing a cohesive plan could be considered an art form. This is because building a plan reduces the amount of surprises that could setback your organization or software development team. This means taking the following into account, and planning possible tragedies accordingly:

• Analyzing (and adhering to) a realistic budget
• Calculating resources
• Defining team role responsibilities
• Finding possible risks
• Defining target dates
• Subcontractor relationship management

Adopting the IEE Std 1058-1988 “IEEE Standard for Software Project Management Plans” template will make the process a lot smoother for everyone involved.

7. Constant Communication.

If miscommunication occurs during any part of the project, the entire thing could come crumbling down. This can be prevented by keeping everybody (from stakeholders, team members and even management) in the loop. Make sure everybody is on the same page.

Conclusion.

These strategies for improving software project management is by no means exhaustive, as people (and software) is forever “upgrading.” Remember that no paycheck is worth sacrificing your health over a project, and that no software is ever set in stone.

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Find Your Ideal Job And Build Your Dream Business

by Kedma Ough, MBA, author of “Target Funding: A Proven System to Get the Money and Resources You Need to Start or Grow Your Business“

Is it possible to have your cake and eat it too? If there was a way to find your ideal job and build your dream business, would you consider both? Most people see this dichotomy and feel that they need to choose one dream over the other. The reality is that you can have both dreams so long as each doesn’t harm the other and enhances your lifestyle.

Having worked with more than 10,000 entrepreneurs, innovators, inventors, hobbyists and side hustlers, they often struggle with when it is appropriate to leap from the job environment into the entrepreneurship maze. The presumption is that one has to sacrifice entrepreneurial dreams in order to be successful at a specific career choice.

The truth is that you can have both and I strongly encourage aspiring employee-preneurs to review the following five reasons to consider maintaining your job in the first few years of building your business.

1. Learning from Both Work Environments.

When you work as an employee and have a side entrepreneurial business, you can learn from both environments and both environments can benefit from each other. Often the entrepreneurial pathway is a lonely pathway and sole-preneurs in particular find themselves trying to navigate, learn and network to gain knowledge while building their business. Realizing that you can gain education from both environments allows an opportunity for you to thrive as an employee and manage a successful side hustle.

2. Business Ownership Strengthens Your Employee Net Worth.

In most positions you rarely get the opportunity to experience the functions associated with the roles of a Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Marketing Officer, as well as manage the day-to-day requirements for customer engagement and retention. As a result of limited job functions in a large corporate environment, it doesn’t give you the full breadth of work involved in successfully managing an enterprise. By exploring the entrepreneurship maze you will quickly immerse yourself in all these functions, which will give you a better picture of the business itself, as well as an appreciation for the company that employees you.

3. Position Yourself With a Better Financial Portfolio.

Quitting your job and then applying for a small business loan is a recipe for disaster. Often lenders expect borrowers to be fully collateralized. Having a successful employment position strengthens your probability of obtaining a loan or line of credit. While there are a lot of targeted small business funds that don’t require full collateralization, obtaining funds from your financial institution will be challenging if your debt to equity ratio does not meet their criteria and you don’t have a secondary source of income they can secure against the loan. In addition, being employed allows you the flexibility of investing in your small business without the stress of adding more debt into your current financial portfolio. Having the availability to set aside a few hundred dollars each month towards your business is significant when you have to consider paying for licensing, website development, social media support, etc.

4. Don’t Put Your Financial Eggs in One Basket.

Diversifying your income allows you to mitigate financial risk and maximize your ability to make more money. Most people rely on their employment position for sole source income and if that position is compromised they may have a difficult time replacing those funds in a short period of time. Creating other opportunities to generate more money provides an additional financial cushion for investments or as an emergency fund program. The key is to target business concepts that don’t impose too much time on your part but produce a sizable financial return on your investment. Examples may include selling products online, starting a consulting business, or purchasing a semi-absentee franchise opportunity.

5. There Is No Need To Rush The Process.

Most entrepreneurs believe they have to rush things to launch a company because they may lose out on the business opportunity. This may actually be a recipe for disaster. Rushing into a business concept without a proper feasibility review including competitive research, market analysis, and customer input is rushing to an unproven plan. Spending time building the foundation of the business allows for validation and a chance to identify the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats of the proposed concept. Once the business has reached a certain consistent income you can decide whether to leap into the business full-time or hire others to manage the business.

Ironically many of the Fortune 500 companies today began with entrepreneurs that started their business concept while working for an employer and then transitioned to their business slowly. Skin in the game does not mean you have to quit a job to explore a business. It means you have to be willing to invest time, money, or both in order to build your side hustle into a fledging small business operation. The great news is you don’t have to sacrifice either opportunity to benefit from both opportunities. You can have your cake and eat it too.

 

Kedma Ough, MBA is the author of “Target Funding: A Proven System to Get the Money and Resources You Need to Start or Grow Your Business“. One of today’s most respected authorities on small business funding and entrepreneurship, she is a nationally renowned business coach and funding expert and winner of the Small Business Administration (SBA) Small Business Champion of the Year Award.  As a small business consultant and educator, she has guided more than 10,000 individuals through a wide range of business advising and is a past contributing writer for Entrepreneur. Ough is a proud fifth-generation entrepreneur.

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