Business Plus Baby

November 21, 2015November 20, 2015

Running a business around your family has never been easier!

Being a mum and a business owner is hard work, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. Running a business and raising a child are the two things I’m most passionate about in the world. A lot of people think that the juggling act is a difficult one, and they aren’t wrong. However these days it’s easier than it ever has been to build a business around your family. And I’m going to tell you exactly how to achieve this.

Do as Much as You Can From the Armchair

When you run a business around your family, you need to stay home as much as you can. If you have a toddler or infant, it’s not practical to be heading into the office every day. And that’s why I would advise trying to do as much as you can from the armchair. That’s the metaphorical armchair, of course. What I mean is try to do as much as you can from home so you can balance looking after the family and the company together. Bits and pieces that have to be done away from home can be sorted at a later date.

Use Software to Make Things Easier

Running a business is fun and fulfilling, but it’s never straightforward. As a mother, I like to use tools that will help me be more efficient and streamlined as a business. As a mumpreneur, I always make sure I research software that can help me with important areas of the company. For example, if you need to learn about utilising keywords and SEO check out the Keyword Canine 3.0 review. This helps me understand how the software works and how it will benefit me. If I’m looking for teleconferencing software, I will compare Skype and Viber and see which is more user-friendly. I want the easiest software that can help me grow my business.

Be as Productive as Possible

The fact of the matter is that being a working mum you may only have limited time to work each day. So it’s important to make the most of this. When you do get the opportunity to work interrupted, i.e. when the kid is asleep, knuckle down. Try to be as productive as you can with the times you have available. If you can be disciplined and structured you might be surprised by how much you can get done.

Don’t Try to Do it all Yourself

We all know how time-consuming it can be running a business these days. There are so many different facets to it, and trying to juggle that with motherhood can be too much sometimes. The trick is to let go of your pride and accept that you can’t do everything yourself. In fact, I don’t think you should even try. You’re not going to have the time or resources to carry out all your business tasks properly. But that’s okay, no one expects you too. And that’s where the wonderful world of outsourcing comes to the rescue! Anything you can’t do yourself you just need to outsource. This will help the business run effectively, and give you more breathing space.

As you can see, there are quite a few things you can do to run the company effectively. These will allow you to give your child the attention they need, and still run the company. Make use of my suggestions, and if you come up with any of your own feel free to let me know!

November 20, 2015

The beginners guide to the property market: how to have an effective sale

If this is your first time putting your much loved, first home on the market then you might feel a little daunted at the prospect of estate agents, fees and dealing with buyers who want something for nothing (and there are plenty of those out there!)

Here’s how to have an effective sale with minimum stress and maximum asking price (hopefully):

Choose the right estate agent

Your choice of estate agent will make all the difference to the sale of your house. Some are more proactive than others and ensure everything is informed and perfect before going ahead with any marketing or listings. The Telegraph advises that you look for an estate agent who is not biased towards the buyer, because this can have an impact on the final value of your sale as they know why you’re selling and disclose information to the buyer that will encourage them to ask for a lower price and pressure you.

Alternatively, if you want to get out of your property quickly for whatever reason you could opt to sell your house fast with We Buy Any Home, a service that aims to offer you a cash buy on your property, at a price as close to the market value as possible.

Prep your home properly

When selling your home it’s important to take some time to clean your property to ensure it appears welcoming, tidy and in order. Buyers notice things like an unkempt front lawn, weird smells, peeling wallpaper and missing door handles – and these odd jobs can easily be wrapped up on a Saturday afternoon after a quick trip to your local DIY store.

Don’t remain emotionally attached

It will be hard when it comes to selling your first home, after all, you invested a lot of time, money and love into the house and so leaving will be hard. However, try not to remain emotionally attached – especially when people are viewing the property and perhaps comment on how much they hate a feature you particularly love. It will make things much easier down the line.

Double check the value of your house

Your estate agent will estimate how much your house is worth, but to be sure you’re getting the best deal check what other properties on your street or in the area have gone for in the past six months to determine if they are making the right call. If you feel like your valuation isn’t quite right, be sure to query it.

Sites such as Rightmove and Zoopla now show you how much properties are valued at in the area or you could head to the Land Registry website for in depth details on property valuations. Being informed and doing your research is a big part of a successful property sale, no one likes to find out six months down the line that their house was undervalued to ensure a quick sale that got the estate agent a nice bonus.

When it comes to selling a property it’s imperative you take time before making decisions, read the small print and query anything you aren’t unsure of and also plan in advance for issues and extra costs. Careful consideration and knowledge is key to guaranteeing a successful first sale.

November 18, 2015

SMS marketing is the way forward. Here’s why…

There are many different ways you can market your brand. In fact, there are so many options out there you could easily get confused! We all know that not all marketing options work for every business. But there are some that just seem to work well with any industry.

Today I’d like to talk to you about SMS marketing. As you may have guessed, it involves sending text messages to people. It’s a strategy that can be used to great effect. Here’s why:

It’s cheap

One of the main driving forces behind any business’s decision to use SMS marketing is the cost. Compared to conventional strategies, sending text messages to your clients could be very cost-effective.

You may be able to afford to spend money on a budget-busting campaign. But, would you receive the value for money that you would with SMS marketing?

It’s easy

Of course, you need don’t spend all day sending individual text messages to your clients. If you use a SMS marketing service, you can send texts out to multiple customers all at the same time. Take a look at SMS marketing with SMS Tech to see how it works.

This is far quicker and more flexible than say sending a bulk text message using Microsoft Outlook on your PC.

I get instant results

One of the huge benefits of SMS marketing is that you can get instant results. You could even text out a lunchtime special in the morning and boost your sales later that same day! Mailing out discount coupons in the post could be a thing of the past.

How many marketing strategies have you used where you got real-time results? Hardly any, I’ll bet! One other great benefit of SMS marketing is you can receive delivery reports. That means you will know when your recipients get your message.

You might be wondering how else you can track the results of each SMS campaign? The simple way to do that is by including a URL link in your messages. You can then track your visitors using software like Google Analytics on your website.

Everyone of your clients now has a mobile phone

Let’s face it, mobile phones are cheap to buy these days. There’s no reason your clients couldn’t afford to have one.

Even better, you don’t have to worry which phones people have because all mobiles support SMS messaging, even those people without smartphones!

You can schedule SMS campaigns

Last, but not least, you can set the date and time when a new campaign should start. For instance, you could experiment by sending messages in an evening rather than during the day. Or you could select a particular day of the week.

With SMS marketing, you have total control over when your messages are broadcast. Why not try it out in your business?

November 16, 2015

Are your overheads too high? Try these ideas

If your business is spending too much, it can have a big impact on the long-term prospects of the business. Here are some ideas to help reduce your business’s overheads.

Use the Phone Less, and the Internet More

In this day and age, you don’t need to pay a fortune for an office phone service. In fact, landline phones in the office should become a thing of the past if you ask me. It’s much more cost-effective to use the internet to talk to people. You can use services like Skype to make video calls to people. And you can use a VoIP phone to make calls. These are so much cheaper than ordinary landline phones, so makes a lot of sense to switch to them. Embrace the internet, and stop throwing away money!

Decide What’s Needed and What’s Not

There are some things in the business that are simply essential. For example, every business needs to hire core staff, and every business needs to look after its accounts. But, on the other hand, there are things that are not so important. These are things that you could cut when your overheads are too high. Take a look at your business and ask yourself what’s vital and what can be gotten rid of. If something isn’t necessary for the functioning and success of your business, get rid of it!

Get External Support

You can’t do everything in the office by yourself, so it doesn’t make sense to. Hiring new employees is something that costs an awful lot of money, so instead of doing this, you could outsource. This is when you use the services of an external company and pay them to carry out certain services on behalf of the company. Things that can be outsourced include integrated supply solutions, computer support and printer services. It’s a great idea to do this if you’re looking for dramatic ways to cut costs. It will mean not having to hire so many people, and that will take a huge chunk out of your monthly outgoings.

Ditch the Paper

There’s no excuse for carrying using lots of paper in the office. Nowadays, it’s perfectly possible for companies to ditch the paper and use computers instead. I’m sure you already have lots of tech and gadgets in your office, so why not make better use of them? This will stop your business spending so much money on paper every month. Computers store information faster and more securely, so it no longer makes sense not to use them. It also makes it much easier to share documents with colleagues.

Know When to Stop Cutting Costs

You can’t keep cutting forever; that’s an important thing to remember. You need to know what your limits are when it comes to cutting costs. If you’ve cut a lot, and you still have problems, that might be a sign that the problem lies elsewhere. Instead, you could try increasing the number of sales the business is making. Sometimes, it’s better to focus on making more sales than paying out less. And, remember, investment is sometimes essential if you want the business to grow and expand.

November 14, 2015November 13, 2015

Outsource your way to success

Anybody who has ever run a successful business will tell you that it’s impossible to overlook the entire project with just one pair of hands. Delegation is a key role of any entrepreneur, and using the help of many people will give your company a far greater chance of reaching its goals.

That can feel particularly difficult when running a small firm, especially if it’s a home-based venture. Hiring people to turn up your property each morning isn’t realistic. Meanwhile, small office spaces often can’t accommodate the number of staff needed to drive a business forward.

The answer is simple: outsource. And here’s how the phenomenon can help your modern day business.

Admin

Running a business requires a lot of admin. While it might not always be difficult, it can be very time consuming. Quite frankly, you’d have to be very foolish to think this is a great way for the owner to spend their time.

Instead, the internet is packed with willing freelancers that are ready to take care of basic tasks. You can pay them for the job rather than their time too, which means you know exactly what you’re getting in return for your expenses.

Incorporate cloud computing to make the process easier, and you should see great results.

Handling Customers

The customer is the most important aspect of your business. Without them, you cannot achieve anything. Therefore, it’s imperative that you handle this aspect in the best way possible. In most cases, that will mean outsourcing.

CMITsolutions.com customer support experts can help you provide the best services for your clients. Not only will it bring better output, but it should also save you a lot of time in the process. Those hours can be spent actively driving forward.

The needs of your customer should always rank as your number one priority in business. If it requires outside help to provide the best results, don’t be afraid to embrace it.

Marketing

Treating existing customers isn’t the only important issue, though. You also have to find creative ways of enticing new audiences to use your business. Otherwise, your sales figures will never increase.

As with customer care, this is a crucial aspect of the business. Therefore, your best bet might be to use experienced professionals to ensure the desired outcomes.

The competition for new customers is fierce, and you must do everything possible to stand out from the crowd. In truth, there’s no point wasting time and money on ideas that won’t work. Not when someone else can produce better results on your behalf.

Finances

Monitoring your finances is a crucial aspect of the business. You’ll probably be unwilling to disclose those details to an online freelancer. But that doesn’t mean you can’t use professional help to complete these tasks.

Finding a reputable accountant can serve your business well for many years to come. Not only will it save you the hassle of doing this work yourself, but is will often save you money too. As a novice, you don’t know the finer details. Let the expert help you.

Whatever way you look at it, the business essentially boils down to money. Make sure you get these aspects right. Otherwise, you’ll never know where you stand.