Keep These 7 Things In Mind Before Starting An Electronics Repair Business

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Keep These 7 Things In Mind Before Starting An Electronics Repair Business

Starting your own electronics repair business can be a daunting experience. Business registrations, gaining customers, making them come back for your service, and updating the company’s system are just a few of the things that will keep you occupied. To help you become successful in your electronics appliance repair business, here are 7 things that you must keep in mind.

1. Get Information Via Market Research

Knowing your market can help you get near to success in no time. Having enough knowledge about the latest trend and if your service is in demand can help you decide whether it is best to keep or quit your current job to start your own business. Surveying to check on how many of your competitors are currently in the area will help you find the best location for your business. Look for a place that has fewer market shares to gain more customers. Also, you have to be certain that people in your area will opt for repair rather than buying a new unit or equipment. Check if the repair volume in the market is considerable enough for you to start your own business.

2. Having Enough Customers Before Starting

Put effort to gain enough customers before starting your business. A strong customer base that can give you a regular income and sustain your monthly expenses can be a good sign that you can already stand on your own. Earning new customers will take time and if it takes a much longer time than you expected, it may have a big effect on your business’ financial support. This tip particularly applies to businesses with no solid financial backup and may not apply to all.

3. Seek Advice From Pioneers

Be humble enough to ask for advice, opinions, and suggestions from those who are already successful in running a business. Always make room for improvement even if you feel that you have already achieved something. Try talking to those who are pioneers in the business field and get ideas on how to keep your business rolling. You will learn new tactics and you may be surprised by their humble beginnings. They may also give you a hint on what to avoid or how to face challenging situations that may put your business at risk of shutting down.

4. Make Friends Not War

Competition in the field of business is not new but it does not mean that you will treat all of them as your enemy. Being friends with other repairers can help you discover things that can improve your repair business. Information such as where can you buy inexpensive spare parts such as Current Sense Resistors, learning new techniques in fixing electronic problems are some of the benefits of being a good friend to other electricians.

5. Avoid Blaming Others

Avoid blaming others when you lose from your competitors. It is better to honestly examine yourself if your service is high enough to satisfy your customers. Are your repair fees reasonable or is it too expensive? Do you wear a smile when potential customers come to your shop to inquire? These are some of the things you may consider to help increase your sales.

6. Invest On Repair Tools Or Equipment

Do not settle for weak and low-class repair tools. You may lose your customers when your equipment keeps on breaking. This may damage your good reputation. Invest in durable tools and test equipment that can help you solve electrical problems quickly and accurately.

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7. Be Realistic With Your Goals

Expectation versus reality. Avoid unrealistic expectations because it can lead to frustration. In your infant stage, you cannot expect that you can make fast money. It takes time to make a business successful so do not give up easily. You can learn from your mistakes and eventually cope up with what is really good for your business. As the saying goes, “Quitters never win.”

May these tips help you become successful once you decide to put up your own electronics repair business. We wish you well!

What You Don’t Know May Be Hurting Your Business

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We tend to think of our companies in terms of what we can do, what we can bring to the table. However, while it is, of course, recommended to focus on those positive aspects of your business, you should also keep in mind that there are other things that’ll influence your chances of success. For example, the things that you don’t know. If you’ve got some blind spots in your knowledge bank, then your venture won’t be as watertight as it could be — and what’s more, you might not even know it. Below, we take a look at a few key areas where entrepreneurs often fall down.

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Your Competitors

You might think that you’re doing all the right things at your business, but are they as good as what other companies are doing? If you’re not actively keeping tabs on your competitors, then you should be. By checking the practices/products/services of other companies, you can see the areas in which you need to improve. Now, it’s not like you need to adopt everything that rival businesses are doing — just being aware and making sure you’re not falling behind will be enough.

How to Hire

You might have begun your venture as a one-person operation, but there will eventually come a point when you need to hire employees if you’re going to develop. If you’ve never been an employer before, however, then this might prove to be more difficult than originally thought. There are right and wrong methods for bringing a member of staff on board; get it right, and you’ll have an employee who can help push your company forward. Get it wrong, and you’ll have an expensive mistake on your hands. As well as knowing how to hire, you’ll also need to look at yourself, and learn how to work with others. You won’t get the full benefits of having an employee if you can’t properly delegate work.

Specialized Fields

It’s not possible to be all things for your company. You’ll be spreading yourself too thin if you’re the leader, the paper pusher, the receptionist, and so on. And there’s another reason why you shouldn’t take on all the tasks: some are specialized, and too important to be handled by a non-expert. We’re talking about things like your internet marketing. Because SEO is so important to the success of a business, you’ll want to work with a company such as Local Spark Marketing. Other areas of your business you’ll want to outsource include your accounting and legal matters – these are complex tasks that require expert hands to ensure they’re completed correctly. You may also find it very useful to take a look at this Data Analytics Infographic; it is so important to consider analytics if you want to be successful in your career. Understanding the big picture of how your marketing strategies impact certain target demographics, can really help you to hone in on your audience. Exploring the impact of data analytics might be worth the while if you want to specialize in this industry.

Where You’re Going

While you’ll want to mostly focus on the day to day tasks of your company, you should also keep an eye on the future. If you don’t, then you might find that it arrives and you’ve got nothing in the pipeline; you are just where you were two years ago. Additionally, you’ll also want to stay on top of any upcoming issues that may affect your industry in general.

The Disconnect that Keeps Your Company from Performing at its Peak

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StrategyDriven Strategic Planning Article | THE SUCCESS CADENCE: Unleash Your Organization’s Rapid Growth CultureOver the years, I’ve worked with a number of founders, CEOs, and presidents of companies. Often, these executives are a part of my network. I have noticed that their story consistently repeats itself: their organizations are underperforming, and they want to discuss ways to optimize, share ideas and collaborate on experience that could help set up a plan to turn that situation around. These executives tell me frankly that they don’t have the revenue stream, the market share, or the margins their products and services deserve. They’re not sure what the problem or solution is. A common challenge is that they have not hired the level of skill necessary on the sales team. Very often, though, I find that there is another, related obstacle to their company achieving at its full potential, one that all too common goes unnoticed. I call this obstacle The Disconnect.

The Disconnect puts the sales team outside of the strategic conversation. Sales are considered an ending point, not a vital resource. Typically, Finance, Marketing, and Operations all have input, direct or indirect, on the creation and revision of the strategic plan. Sales often have no such contribution. The plan, and its revenue targets are dictated to Sales. The salespeople are expected to go out and execute it. There is zero conversation, zero back and forth, zero collaboration. The strategic communication with Sales can be translated roughly but accurately as: “Here’s your quarterly target. Go hit it.”

In early-stage and high growth scenarios, that’s a losing proposition because there’s no buy-in and no intimacy in the field with what the company is genuinely trying to accomplish. That Disconnect leads to a low-growth culture and a failure to execute the strategic plan adequately or effectively. It’s often impossible to recover from such a blow to communication, collaboration, and strategic alignment.

Changing this situation is not a simple fix. It requires the courage to change the operating culture that management has grown used to, and a parallel willingness to make and follow through on decisions that challenge the familiar ways of setting company strategy.  Specifically, there has to be a connecting line from the outset between the salespeople and leaders out in the field and the management team setting and funding corporate objectives – without it, slow growth is imminent.

Sales has to be the active, leading partner in the formation of the strategy that the company is trying to pursue. That’s a differentiator that most companies miss. Once you get it right, though, this way of doing business leads to a whole new organizational culture, one based on the full support of the principle of scalable, aggressive growth.

When the field organization,  both sales and technical sales have active roles in strategic planning, development of corporate initiatives, and specifically on the setting of their own monthly and quarterly targets, territory plans, etc. the dynamic changes, Everybody’s on the same page; everybody’s taking action to serve the same purposes; everyone is in alignment with senior executives.  A remarkable spirit of cohesion emerges when the sales team knows with deep certainty that their fingerprints and contribution are on the company’s objectives, initiatives and revenue targets, Unfortunately, this is the exception, rather than the rule. Usually, what happens is The Disconnect. That’s how companies are used to doing business. But that familiarity carries a steep cost: slow growth, missed targets, attrition, and unfulfilled potential.

The key takeaway for senior leaders here is a simple one. If for some reason you’re not including your sales leaders and front-line salespeople in your strategy discussions, your go-to-market planning sessions, and your discussions about monthly, quarterly, and annual revenue targets, you are missing out on the opportunity to turn your sales team into the battlefield defenders of your strategic vision. Start the conversation today!

About the Author

StrategyDriven Expert Contributor | Bart FanelliBart Fanelli is co-author, with David Mattson and Tom Schodorf, of THE SUCCESS CADENCE: Unleash Your Organization’s Rapid Growth Culture. Bart is a sales leader, entrepreneur, executive advisor, and platform developer who specializes in team building, sales execution, sales leadership methodologies, and global operational efficiency. He has deep experience in building, leading, and scaling technology teams committed to rapid growth. The hypergrowth of one of the teams he led was the subject of a 2017 article in the Harvard Business Review. He is the recipient of the Technology Services Industry Association’s STAR award for “innovation in expand selling,” and the founder and lead designer of Skillibrium, a powerful sales success execution platform.

 

The Real Value of Cloud Technology and the Role It Plays in Your Business

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By now, cloud technology is no longer a “new” thing in the world of business but something that has already been well-established and explored by many companies. It has been integrated into countless workflows and provided lots of unique employment opportunities around the world, but it goes without saying that this kind of information has yet to trickle down into smaller businesses and startups. While technology-powered businesses are a common sight now, many entrepreneurs have yet to fully grasp the concept of cloud technology and the benefits it provides their companies.

So in this article, we’ll be informing you of the real value of cloud technology and the important role it plays in your business.

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How cloud technology improves productivity

One of the biggest advantages of cloud technology is its ability to improve the general productivity of your workplace. Cloud technologies such as Google Drive allow your employees to access and take their work wherever they go, resulting in the ability to consistently update and iterate their work regardless of their location. This is arguably one of the most productive and enticing things about switching to a workflow that is supported by cloud-based technologies and services, but it can go much further than simply being a way to create and edit work on-the-go with laptops.

Cloud technologies can also be used to power tools and software that would otherwise require a powerful computer. Although laptops are incredibly convenient thanks to their portability, they do lack in terms of processing power unless you spend over a thousand on the laptop itself. This means that certain tools are not feasible for portable use, but this is where cloud technology can come into play.

Cloud technology allows you to remotely control powerful computers in the workplace that not only have better hardware but are also connected to your office network which means you can access files and processes that would normally require you to be physically connected to your office network. Some uses of this include accessing rendering software for video production teams, it could be editing large spreadsheets that contain millions of lines or even operating sophisticated machines with a software interface that you have developed specifically for your office.

With this in mind, it should be easy to see just how productive you can be with the help of cloud technology. By giving your employees the opportunity to utilize powerful hardware no matter where they are, they can get work done much more quickly and efficiently. It also helps to offer your staff the chance to work from home, a coffee shop or even on the train during their commute to work. The added flexibility is fantastic for the overall wellbeing of your staff and it helps to encourage your employees to work in an environment that is comfortable for them.

The cost savings of cloud technology

There are countless IT services that companies need to hire in order to take advantage of cloud-based technologies. Whether it’s renting out powerful servers and hardware which can be used remotely to power demanding processes or even the travel costs involved in transferring documents physically from one employee to another, there are business-related costs that can be lessened with the help of cloud-based technologies.

Cloud-based technologies also have the advantage of being incredibly secure especially if you’re planning to utilize an enterprise-grade solution. These industry-standard cloud-based technologies are secured with incredibly sophisticated security solutions. Whether it’s software-based antivirus software or hardware-based monitoring that helps to identify threats and defend against them, you can be sure that your data and your network are kept safe with the help of cloud technology.

Another cost-saving advantage of cloud-based technology is in the way it handles automation. Many cloud technologies can help to automate processes that would usually take a dedicated employee to manage. This can include routine tasks like email marketing, document storage or even acting on marketing and business trends as soon as they’re detected. Automating these tasks can take a certain level of user input, but more sophisticated solutions are ready out of the box and can be implemented into your workflow almost immediately.

In short, cloud-based technologies are fantastic for helping you cut the costs of operating your business. A lot of people get carried away when it comes to cloud technology and they might try to change their work processes or modify how data flows through the business to accommodate cloud technologies. However, you’ll find that modifying things too much can often create annoyances for your employees, especially if it’s a change that doesn’t seem productive or adds more frustrations that hinder your employee’s ability to work. As such, you need to strike a good balance of traditional and cloud-based solutions to create a productive business.

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Embracing the flexibility that cloud technologies can offer

Another big advantage of cloud technology is in the flexibility it gives your workforce. We’ve mentioned already that cloud technology can help establish remote working opportunities for your employees, but what we’ve yet to touch on is how flexible this makes your workforce. This is something that can offer huge potential growth as it allows your employees to not only work at their own pace and in a comfortable environment but also means that you can hire from all over the world assuming the work is doable without a strict schedule to adhere to.

Being able to hire from all over the world means that your business can operate 24/7 without any slowing down. Of course, this is more feasible if you have managers and senior staff that can help you monitor and direct your employees that are working from all over the world. However, just the idea of being able to create a flexible and adaptable workforce is usually enough to convince an entrepreneur to switch to cloud-based solutions. This isn’t applicable to every type of business, but it can be a huge consideration for businesses that are able to operate around the clock. This can include content creation, offering consultation services or even customer support.

Giving your staff some degree of freedom can also be a huge employee benefit. This often results in enhanced performance, high-quality work and also better overall wellbeing. It does remove the personal aspect of managing your staff, but if you’re a small business looking to grow then it’s vital to take advantage of the flexibility of cloud-based solutions. For savvy international businesses that want an edge over their national competitors, hiring a global workforce can be a massive advantage that helps them stay competitive while operating on a much lower budget.

Some final words regarding cloud technology

Cloud technology is something that can easily be implemented into any business, but being able to use it effectively to improve productivity, offer flexibility and also lower costs is another story. By following these tips, you’ll hopefully be able to take better advantage of cloud technology and learn to use it efficiently. When people first start to implement cloud-based solutions, they might find that they’re spending more money than they initially planned to which can result in countless problems.

Effective use of cloud technology means gauging its usefulness, developing strategies and work processes that revolve around the use of cloud solutions and implementing it in ways that won’t hinder your existing work processes or frustrate your employees. Regardless of how you use cloud technology, it’s important to keep these considerations in mind.

4 Ways To Ensure Your eCommerce Website Is Easy To Use

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article, 4 Ways To Ensure Your eCommerce Website Is Easy To Use

One of the best ways to improve your customer journey on your eCommerce site is to ensure your website is easy to use, but where do you start? With so many things to consider when it comes to creating an eCommerce website, you need to ensure you’re putting usability at the forefront of all of your decisions. Whether you’re improving your site navigation or using a trusted checkout provider, doing what is best for your customers is important. With that in mind, here are 4 ways to ensure your eCommerce website is easy to use:

Make The Navigation As Simple As You Can

One of the best ways to make your eCommerce site easy to use is to make your navigation as simple as you possibly can. Although you may want to add in multiple pages for SEO purposes, ultimate your sales will come down to how usable your site is. If your customers are having to click through hundreds of different pages to find what they want, chances are they’re going to look for another stockist before wasting any more of their time. Keep things as simple as you can and you will start to see immediate results when it comes to your bounce rate.

For a guide to reducing our bounce rate, you can visit this site here.

Don’t Use Too Many Pages To Click Through To Checkout

If you want people to have a quick and easy journey through your site, you need to ensure there are not too many pages to click through before they get to the checkout page. Although there may be a number of things you need to confirm, the more pages there are the less likely they are to pay.

Use A Trusted Checkout Provider And Make It Easy To Pay

If you want people to feel safe when they’re purchasing products from your site, you need to ensure you’re using a trusted checkout provider. Often, when it is a provider they don’t recognise or they haven’t used before, you will find they’re less likely to purchase from you due to fear of fraudulent activity. Whether you host your own checkout or you use a gateway service, you need to ensure your provider is as trusted as it can possibly be. For more information about API and gateway services, you can visit this site here.

– Make Returns As Easy As You Can

Finally, it’s important you’re making returns as easy as you possibly can. Although you want to aim for no returns, you need to be sure you’re making it as easy as possible for those that do need to send something back. Whether they find the item doesn’t fit or they ordered the wrong colour – if it’s too difficult to return you may find they’re less likely to purchase from you again.

For a guide to making returns on your site easy, you can visit this site here.

Is your eCommerce website easy to use? What can you do to ensure customers have a positive experience on your site? Let me know your thoughts and ideas in the comments section below.