3 Surprising Ways Small Businesses Waste Money

/in /by

StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article |Managing a Small Business|3 Surprising Ways Small Business Waste MoneyWhen you are new to the business world, mistakes are an unavoidable element of your learning curve. You are still in the process of defining how to become a leader, how to run a company, or simply how to share your business ideas in a way that appeals to investors. Let’s get things straight from the start: Not everything you do will be perfect. It doesn’t have to be; nobody was born a knowledgeable entrepreneur. Mistakes are a stepping stone in building up your experience, and as such, you shouldn’t be afraid of them.

However, while some mistakes can be an opportunity for self-improvement, others can present dramatic risks for your business. Indeed, some errors can be costly. What makes them even worse is that money-wasting mistakes could easily be avoided if you were to work with an expert at your side. Indeed, if there’s one good reason why small business owners shouldn’t multitask, it’s this one: Every mishap caused by lack of knowledge or attention will drag your finances down!

Online marketing campaigns are easy to set and to scr*w up

Digital marketing campaigns are not only a popular strategy to launch your company, but the general feeling you get from a quick search on the Internet is that you can manage them in a few clicks. The truth is slightly different. While digital marketing tools are readily available for all to use and enjoy, it doesn’t mean that digital marketing is simple. On the contrary, unless you master essential digital skills such as web design, social media communication, and PPC, you can’t profit from your activities. You’d be surprised how easy it is to waste money in a poorly managed PPC campaign – we’re talking thousands! Leave those to someone who knows how to make the most of your digital presence.

Keeping on top of your bookkeeping and tax is HARD

Most small business owners choose to keep their books in-house. Unfortunately, unless you’re a trained accountant, your financial reporting might be affected by involuntary discrepancies. Errors of omission, when you accidentally fail to record a transaction, or transposition errors, when you mistyped data, can lead to more dramatic budgeting and tax issues. Additionally, managing financial reports is a specialized and time-demanding activity that is best left to experts such as Brilliant Tax. Entrusting professionals with your bookkeeping frees up valuable time, which you can repurpose on income-generating activities.

You’re wasting too much energy throughout the day

Did you know that commercial buildings account for around 20% of energy consumption in the US? Businesses don’t use a fifth of all the energy in the United States. Heating, cooling, and lighting habits in offices and commercial buildings can lead to vast wastes of energy. Many companies admit to leaving windows open while using the HVAC system, for instance. Others choose to leave the lights on throughout the night, even after the building has been deserted. Simple changes, such as making your staff aware of waste behavior can help to cut down your energy bills at the end of the year.

Small businesses have, by definition, a limited budget. You can’t afford to throw your capital away if you’re trying to build up momentum. Identifying areas of improvements can finance your future success.

7 Ways To Attract Attendees To Your Corporate Event

/in /by

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article |Corporate Events|7 Ways To Attract Attendees To Your Corporate EventCorporate events are important to anyone running a business of their own. This is especially true when you’re hosting such an event yourself. They are the perfect opportunity to find and impress new customers and clients, get your name out there, and make a little money while doing so. To achieve any of this, however, you will first need to get attendees buying tickets and through the door. This can be a difficult task, but, luckily, there are plenty of tactics that you can try. With that in mind, here are seven effective ways to attract attendees to your corporate event.

1. Invite Last Year’s Attendees

Like returning customers, those who previously attended an event of yours will require less time, money, and effort to get them back through your doors. For this reason, you must ensure that you invite back anyone who has attended one of your corporate events in the past. You might even want to offer them a discount for their loyalty. When sending these invitations, make sure that you highlight the areas of your event that are the same, as well as any exciting changes.

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article |Corporate Events|7 Ways To Attract Attendees To Your Corporate Event2. Turn To Social Media

Nearly everyone is on social media these days, making it an incredibly useful marketing tool for businesses like yours. Just like you promote your product launches or promotions, you should speak about your event across all of your social media platforms. You might also want to message those most likely to attend your event directly to ensure that they are aware of it. Encouraging sharing and working with social media influencers will widen your reach further.

3. Send A Text Message

Although most of us have a page on one social media platform or another, not all of us check those sites regularly. Some people like to limit their social media use, and others are so busy that they ignore their notifications. Texts, on the other hand, are much more likely to be read. Because of this, you should consider informing people about your event using online SMS messages. You could even have those people RSVP by sending you a text message back.

4. Network At Similar Events

Yours isn’t and won’t be the only event of its kind in the world. There will be plenty of others out there, many of which are sure to have attendees that might like to come to your event too. With that in mind, you should consider booking a booth at an event with the same demographics. As long as you’re not direct competitors, you could even team up with that event to promote your own. This allows you access to a pool of people that you might not otherwise have reached.

5. Give Out Free Tickets

As great as your event may be, if the price isn’t right, some people aren’t going to be able to come. To remedy this, you should give out free tickets or allow complimentary access to some of those would-be attendees. This won’t boost ticket sales, but it will increase the number of potential attendees for events that you host in the future. Once people have experienced an event of yours, they’ll know what they’re missing and will ensure that they can attend next year.

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article |Corporate Events|7 Ways To Attract Attendees To Your Corporate Event6. Take Advantage Of YouTube

Aside from Google, YouTube is the largest search engine in the entire world. It also happens to be one of the biggest media platforms too. For this reason, it’s vital that you use this platform to your advantage. You could introduce sponsors and speakers, give sneak peeks, and offer practical advice through a series of promotional videos. You could then share those across your social media. You might also want to live stream parts of your event on your channel.

7. Promote The Local Area

Attendees want to know what is in store when they arrive at your event, but, if they’re traveling from out of town, the local area might be of interest to them too. Because of this, your marketing should extend beyond the event itself and promote the city surrounding it. You should let people know what attractions are nearby, which restaurants to eat at, and where to sleep. If anyone is on the fence as to whether or not to buy a ticket, learning all of this might be the push they need.

A corporate event can only be a success if people attend it. Hopefully, with the tips above, you will have no trouble getting people through the doors.

When Should Your Business Outsource Expert Advice?

/in /by

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Outsourcing|When Should Your Business Outsource Expert Advice?Sometimes in business it’s useful to call upon expert advice rather than trusting your instincts. You can hire advisors for pretty much anything, but there are a few times in particular when such advice can be valuable. Here are just a few key times to seek advice.

Handling complex legal matters

Business law can be complex and that can be times when its worth getting advice to ensure that your company is meeting all the legal requirements that it should be. Advice may also be necessary when putting legal defence measures in places such as trademarks and health and safety measures, as well as making claims against other people. You can use sites like Lawbite to find a legal advisor suited to your cause.

Making difficult financial decisions

There may be times in business when you need to make difficult financial decisions. This could include finding ways to cut costs or searching for ways to find extra funding. Financial advisors can be useful to call upon in these situations and may know the best route to take in order to save you money. They may also be able to help you get out of business debt. There are many firms out there such as like Sterling & Law that specialise in giving financial advice to businesses.

Solving tech issues

Modern businesses are very reliant on technology. When this technology fails, expert advice if often needed – especially in the case of viruses and bugs. Outsourcing IT support via a company such as Frontline could help to keep your business protected. Such companies are able to offer support remotely so that you don’t have to wait for an IT technician to come out to your office.

Taking on your first employees

The decision to hire your first employees is a big step and requires putting in place multiple measures. This includes having a payroll system, adequate health and safety, insurance and the ability to afford their wages and other legally entitled benefits. Companies like BrightHR can help you with this, guiding you through all the requirements that you need to meet before you hire your first recruit. HR services may also be able to help with other employment-related queries.

Improving your marketing

Many forms of marketing can be DIYed, but sometimes it’s useful to seek some professional advice to ensure that you’re going about it the right way. Marketing consultants may be able to help you identify your target audience and the best ways of reaching them. They may also be able to help you work within a budget. Companies like Red Sky Strategy specialise in giving out marketing advice that is specialised to each client. Other companies may be able to offer specific advice catered to certain marketing strategies such as SEO or social media marketing.

How to Make Your Office Safer For Everyone

/in /by

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Office Safety|How to Make Your Office Safer For EveryoneSome company bosses think that their main priority is making a profit, or to their customers, but both of these approaches are wrong. The first is making sure that the staff are happy and safe. It doesn’t take long to tell the difference between a company that values its staff, and one that doesn’t. A big part of this is making sure that they’re able to work safely. Maintaining your health and safety standards may not be the most glamorous aspect of running a company, but it is important. Below, we take a look at a few ways you can make sure your office is safer for everyone.

Assess the Dangers

Before you can see how to protect your staff better, you need to figure out what you’re protecting them from. If it’s been some time since you’ve given much thought to your health and safety, take a look at your office, and identify anything that could be dangerous. If you don’t know what you’re looking for, then hire an outside expert to perform an assessment for you. Once you know the threats, you can reduce the chances of them happening.

If Something Goes Wrong

Though you can reduce the chances of something going wrong at your office, you can never get rid of the threat altogether. There’s always a chance that something dangerous will pass, such as a fire. While you can’t always control what happens, you can control how you respond. If you’ve trained your staff of what they should do in case of a fire, and have smoke curtains for buildings installed, then you’ll significantly reduce the chance of harm. You’ll want to hold training sessions with your staff every few months so that everyone is fully informed of what they should do.

Long-Term Health

It’s important to keep in mind that the dangers of working in an office aren’t always immediate. An office worker’s health can be compromised over a long period. For example, if they’re sitting too long, and using the computer too much, then they could end up with back and eyesight problems. As a responsible boss, it’s up to you to ensure that the health of your staff isn’t harmed just when they’re doing their job. Look at installing sit/stand desks at your office, and encourage workers to take a ten-minute break from the computer every hour.

Additional Training

Even with all the best intentions, it’s always possible that something happens in the office that affects a worker’s health. You can make your worksite extra safe by offering training to all of your team. If they know the basics of first aid and psychological help, they’ll be able to help a worker who has injured themselves or who may be suffering from burnout. The latter is especially important; office work can take a mental toll on a person. If you train your workers to spot the signs that another worker may be suffering at work, then you’ll be helping to ensure your office is a happier and healthier place.

Business Politics Practices – Managing Up Scapegoat Technique

/in , /by

Every good leader understands that the notion of managing up is a farce. Subordinates simply don’t possess the positional authority to “manage” – set priorities, established schedules and due dates, and direct actions – superiors. Any competent subordinate understands they are unable to manage upward and simply refuse to even try. Both the superior and subordinate understand the lexicon of managing up simply represents effective upward communication and nothing more.

Hi there! Gain access to this article with a StrategyDriven Insights Library – Total Access subscription or buy access to the article itself.

Subscribe to the StrategyDriven Insights Library

Sign-up now for your StrategyDriven Insights Library – Total Access subscription for as low as $15 / month (paid annually).

Subscribe Now!

Not sure? Click here to learn more.

 Buy the Article

Don’t need a subscription? Buy access to Business Politics Practices – Managing Up Scapegoat Technique for just $2!

Access the Article Now!

Disclaimer

The preceding experience and observation-based findings do not represent legal or professional advice for your specific situation. You should seek counsel from qualified individuals relative to your individual situation and unique circumstances.

Neither StrategyDriven; its principals, partners, and employees; nor any person acting on the behalf of them (a) makes any warranty or representation, expressed or implied, with respect to the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of the information contained in this article, or (b) assumes any liabilities with respect to the use of, or for damages resulting from the use of any information disclosed in this article.