Category: Tips and Tools

Starting a business is a huge decision. It takes business plans, financing and a lot of research to be able to go forth and own a company with staff and make a profit. However, if you don’t have any skills, money or even a product, you can still open a successful online company. It may surprise you to read that, given most of the information you find about people opening their businesses is the finances needing to support it.

Photo: Kaboompics

A lot of businesses use their websites as a way to make extra money, but there is a huge growth in businesses that choose to stay purely online. So, what makes a great online business? How can you crack the business world without actually having a physical shop?

Marketing. Your business staying solely online usually means less risk, less overheads and less general effort than a business on the local high street. Marketing is crucial to your business when it stays exclusively online, and ensuring you effectively conduct market research is important. You don’t want to have a business that misses the target market completely, and marketing is going to determine the success of your website. Make your marketing instant with SEO and PPC, allowing scheduled Tweets and Facebook updates to constantly keep your customers in the loop.

Site Creation. Checking out the domains for sale that are available for your business is going to make a big difference to your company. You need to decide whether you want to have a professional write and launch your website for you, or whether you want to do that yourself. Doing it yourself will, of course, save you money. It’s a big draw of doing your site yourself. However, it would be something that could go downhill very easily if it goes wrong. What you invest in your website in the beginning may seem steep, but this initial outlay will come back to you in kind later on, when your business is a success.

Find A Niche. The internet is a huge place and there are thousands of businesses online. Making yours a success is going to come with finding your niche and exploiting your own strengths. Competition can slow your business down, and while you will find an element of competition whatever your company is selling, you need to be better,

Customer Service. As an online business, your customer service will always be a computer screen rather than a person. Understanding that your customers want things to happen instantly and while that may feel demanding, you’d need to ensure you can offer a fast service. Reviews can make and break your company and if you have impeccable customer service, you will get fantastic feedback. This feedback will generate more leads and more sales, which in turn will give you more customers.

You can run a fantastic company all from the comfort of your computer with barely any overheads, you just have to put your mind to it and work your socks off!

In the modern age, it seems as if nearly everybody is working from home. That isn’t too far off the mark, as the possibilities presented by the internet have opened the door for more and more employees both employed and self-employed to work remotely rather than in a city office. Of course, it’s also opened the door for self-employed workers to start businesses of their own more easily than was ever possible before.

You could build an empire in your pyjamas if you have entrepreneurial drive and you’re not just working from home because you’re lazy. Perhaps you’re still skeptical about the possibility of a stable or fulfilling career as a freelancer who’s trying to make it big from a home-based office, but successful startups are swarming the market. Here are some pieces of advice which might help you build a huge brand from home if you have innovative ideas and dreams that you’d love to turn into a successful business empire.

Photo source: Startup Stock

Create a plan.

You need to view this venture as a real business opportunity, and every real business starts with a strong plan. The plan may change over time, of course, but you need foundations on which you can build your empire; especially if you’re starting this venture alone or with the help of only a few friends. You need a clear objective so that you remember what the business is trying to achieve, and this will drive you through every step of the business-building process. If you’re struggling to begin then you need to focus on your talents and figure out how your skill set might lend itself well to a business model or any existing idea you may have.

You might feel as if you don’t have any creative talents or that you don’t have any inventions up your sleeve which could revolutionize your industry of interest, but customers don’t always want new and exciting inventions. They want the best products and the best services an industry can offer, so finding the gap in the market needs to be your goal. If you’re a friendly person then this is your talent, as you can use your social skills to attract customers. Perhaps offering services which go above and beyond your competitors or a loyalty program which rewards regular customers could be your angle. Showing that your brand is different doesn’t mean you have to reinvent the wheel.

Craft an enticing image.

The way in which your brand presents itself to customers is everything when you’re a freelancer looking to prove yourself in the competitive business world. You’ve made your plan, and you have strong objectives, but now you need to portray those strong aspirations to your customers. You need a marketing campaign which shows that your home business is just as good as the other big brands in the industry; in fact, you could say that you’ll do more to help your customers because you’re just an average person like them.

You could look into sites which might help you build a logo for your brand, because something as simple as captivating imagery can be the difference between a potential customer breezing past your company or stopping to see what you’re all about. Presentation is everything in business, as the right imagery and the right wording could portray your home company as something just as professional as the other big brands in the business.

Figure out the financial side of things.

Most freelancers worry about money and stability because the early days of running your personal business from home will be the most unpredictable. You need to build a client-base for yourself, but you also need to ensure that you’ll be making more money than you put into the business. You don’t want to become broke before you’ve even made it. If you’re selling a product online then you need to ensure that you’re making more than you spent on materials. If you’re offering an online service then you need to think about whether you’re making enough money for the time you’re putting in. It’s as simple as that.

Photo: Freestocks

Master digital marketing.

The internet will be your best friend whilst you built your home business into a huge brand. It’s the gateway to your market of potential customers, and you need to be using the platforms available to you sufficiently. Rather than pushing your business in people’s faces and putting them off your brand, you need to let potential customers find you if you want to increase sales. Using optimization techniques to rank highly on Google will attract people to your business on a local or global scale when they search for terms related to your company. You’ll also want to use social media to promote offers, deals and schemes which will benefit the customer in order to prove that your business truly cares.

Create a professional workspace.

We’ve talked a lot about building your brand online and impressing customers with your image, but your freelance work might expand to include interactions with customers in real-life or even hiring friends and employees to help run the business as it grows. Depending on the size of your business will depend on the requirements in terms of a workplace, but before you rent out an office in your local town or city, you might want to create a professional working area closer to home ready for the possibility of real-life interactions with people.
The point is that your brand needs to be impressive in the physical world as well as the virtual one. Whether your office is based in a small study or your shed in the garden, professionalism is about the effort you put into your work. If you put in the time to design the interior of your home office with sleek, stylish curtains, pictures or paintings on the walls and a contemporary sense of minimalism through white walls and a neat layout then you’re going to present the desired professional image to any potential customers or future employees who might step into your home empire.

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Contracts are wonderful things. They protect businesses and customers alike; offering a way for agreements to be made legal. Without contracts, it would be possible for customers to get away without paying you. But, it would also enable you to take back the product once you’ve received their money. Obviously, this wouldn’t be the best. So, for the most part, contracts are great for businesses. The few little things that are bad about them can have dire consequences; if they’re left unchecked, though. This makes it paramount for companies to make sure that they protect themselves. And, to help you out, this business will be helping you to do just that.

To start with, you should never sign something that you don’t understand. It’s very typical for contracts to be written in such a way that they trick the other party into something negative. For instance, contracts will often stipulate that any and all work done on their time belongs to them. Regardless of the actual project you’re working on. This could present issues with your ownership of a product. And, it could even cause conflicts between you and other clients. To avoid this sort of issue, you should have your contracts read over by a professional solicitor. This sort of service will ensure that you never have to worry about being scammed by a contract. You should also have this sort of professional help you to write your contracts. It can be just as bad for a company to have a contract which is missing things.

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Sometimes, problems are unavoidable. And, these are usually the biggest ones of all. If you find yourself in court over a contract, you need to have some protection in place. This instance will be very expensive for you. And, to cover the costs; you need some insurance. There are loads of companies out there that offer different types of insurance for loads of types of business. For example, if you are a contractor; getting your hands on some indemnity insurance from £159 would give you great protection. A lot of these sorts of contracts have to stipulate that a degree of quality is being promised. If this isn’t met; customers can claim money back. This could be a very expensive ordeal without the right cover.

Of course, you can usually avoid contract issues altogether with one simple rule; work with people you trust. It’s impossible to know if someone is genuine or trying to pull the wool over your eyes. When you first meet someone, you should use your gut instinct to decide whether you trust them or not. But, if they have a track record for being unreliable or unhappy with work; don’t go into business with them. You won’t be able to avoid all of the issues out there. But, a lot of them can be transcended with some simple judgement.

Hopefully, this will give you the inspiration you need to start better protecting your company. It can be incredibly difficult to avoid issues like these. So, having protection and working towards solutions is the best you can do. But, it’s still worth it.

In 2017, it’s hard to imagine any business running without technology, isn’t it? Although 20 years ago, a lot of businesses did run without the use of technology. Over the past two decades, technology has come on a long way, so much so, that it’s become something that many of us could no longer live without. It’s hard to imagine a world where you couldn’t email information over to a client and instead would have to post it or courier it, isn’t it?

There’s no doubt about it; technology has made life much easier in many ways, especially for businesses. It’s improved efficiency, boosted productivity, and made communication much simpler and quicker. However, the issue with relying on technology as much as we do today is that when a piece of kit we use day in, day out throws a tantrum, we can be left in trouble. The good news is that beating those tech tantrums is doable, it’s just a case of knowing how to, that’s all.

Photo: Flash Alexander

A confusing website You can have the most visually appealing website in the world, but if it’s confusing to use and navigate, this is going to cause all sorts of issues for yourself and your customers. If you’re unsure how easy to navigate your site is, ask an objective friend to test it out and give you an honest report. This is worth doing, as the last thing you want is the difficulty of your website to impact your success. If your site is too hard to use and navigate, have the design and layout edited to prevent problems.

A slow-running website  

One of the most irritating tech problems that you can have is a website that is running slowly and taking a long time to load. Behind the scenes, when you type in a URL a ping is sent to the server that the site runs on, which should then load the site up. Now, sometimes a site or page takes longer to load than usual. Usually, the cause of a slow-running website is the web host and the server that’s being used, which is why it’s important to use a reputable website hosting company for your site. If you think that you’ve made a mistake and picked the wrong company, you could always opt to change your hosting. Not sure what to do? Your best bet is to ask an IT expert or web designer for advice.

Losing vital documents and data

Whether your servers are hacked or go down for one reason or another, there is a risk that you will lose vital documents and data. When this happens, this can mean your business comes to a standstill, as you may not know how to deal with the issue. This is why so many businesses are now opting to invest in IT support, either on-site or virtual, so that no matter what happens, there is support on hand to deal with the issue. Sometimes servers or computers go down for what seems like no reason, so having help on hand can be most useful.

There you have it, how to combat those technology tantrums and stop them impacting your business.

 

Pop-up stores are popular among family businesses and consumers. To consumers, they might appear as if they appear overnight, but the amount of planning that goes into opening one is actually quite involved. They seem spontaneous but, in reality, they’re anything but.

Where Should You Locate?

When considering a pop-up store, the first thing to consider is location. According to retail store designers, the most important factor is foot-fall. In other words, where are the people? The higher the footfall, the more successful the pop-up shop will be, all else held equal.

Photo credit: Bex Walton

It’s also worth considering where your target audience is likely to be. If you know your audience frequents a particular part of town, then it’s probably a good idea to set up shop there. It’s also worth finding out if there have been any pop-up stores in your area in the past and, if so, where were they the most successful. For instance, the best place might be near the local market where people are more likely to spend time browsing new businesses, rather than the high street where they’re primed to react to the big brands and little else.

Can You Set Up A Pop-Up Around Your Existing Work?

In theory, you can set up a pop-up store around your existing work, but it all depends on your timetable. Some people cope with juggling it around their family, and their existing job and others don’t.

One way to reduce the time commitment is to sell the idea of your pop-up store around the fact that it will be open for a limited time only. Perhaps you will only be opening for a couple of weeks in the summer or maybe the only time you have to open is a few hours on a Saturday morning. Whatever the case, make a fuss about the fact that you’re only open for a limited time and that customers need to act now if they want to buy what you’re selling.

What Should You Do To Get People Excited About Your Pop-up?

According to Ross Bailey, a man who has set up many pop-up shops in London, the best way to get people interested is to base the shop around a theme. That theme can be something local to a particular area, or it can be national. Either way, it’s a great way to get people interested.

By WestportWiki (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Bailey also recommends that businesses do everything they can to entice people to their store and get them spending. In his experience, this usually involves offering free food or drink. Once there’s a critical mass of individuals inside a store, numbers will often escalate as more and more people become interested in what you’re doing. Bailey also says that it’s a good idea to create “Instagram moments” that you can use to advertise your pop-up store on social media.

Finally, it’s critical to have good PR to let people know you’re setting up a pop-up store. Hand out flyers on the day and make sure you get in touch with local news organisations to advertise the event.