Both Sides Now: Finding Like-Minded Business Partners

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article |Business Partners|Both Sides Now: Finding Like-Minded Business PartnersEvery company is looking for a way to grow its business. And this boils down to one simple thing, relationships. While often overlooked, finding business partners can yield significant advantages. It gives you the opportunity to increase your customer base, and market your company with minimal risk. But the hard part is finding like-minded business partners. How do you identify the right ones?

The Importance of Common Ground

If you want to create a mutually beneficial partnership, common ground is the best place to begin. Have a look at their values and if they align with yours, but also look at their ideal customers. You should also remember the importance of their journey. When you are trying to work with a company that provides something for you, it’s not just about the service, but understanding their journey can give you significant insight into their process. You can see that entrepreneurs like Haval Dosky, founder of Repeat Consultants, provide support but also understands it from the inside. Common ground, but also perspective, will help to cement the bonds.

Analyze Your Current Relationships

If you have a relationship with a potential business partner, you have to consider how the relationship benefits both of you. You have to remember the importance of forging relationships; it’s a lot of energy and time. Sometimes the best relationships are under your nose. And if you are in the process of taking action, it’s not just about what they can do for you, but it is about what you can do for them.

Find an Alternative Product or Service

When you are partnering up with a business, finding a company that has similar needs to your own is crucial, but it’s about making sure that you provide the yin to the yang. If you are looking for a company that compliments you, it focuses on the mutually beneficial aspects more than it being one-sided. For example, when you are a company that provides health products, finding a company that is compatible with you that ties in with your products are a fantastic way to help both sides.

Partnering With an Established Business

Thoughts may go to partnering with a startup, but it might also be in your interests to work with an established company. By identifying businesses with a strong social media presence or a large email list of clients will give you more suede. But it’s important to remember that you will be competing with other businesses. No doubt, they are receiving proposals on a regular basis. This is why you’ve got to envelop a good working relationship and focus on your networking capabilities. You can do it through a third-party, such as an outside business development firm, but this won’t have the personal touch.

Of all the essentials needed when it comes to developing a business, finding the right working relationships will provide you with the foundation for use to come. Partnering up with another business requires a lot of faith, functionality, and fantastic abilities. And finding a like-minded business partner is not easy, it requires a lot of leg work. But always remember that it’s about both sides now.

6 Winning Traits of Successful eCommerce Businesses

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article |eCommerce Business|6 Winning Traits of Successful eCommerce BusinesseseCommerce is one of the fastest-growing industries expected to occupy 22% of retail sales worldwide by the end of 2023. Though there is a lot of potential in the eCommerce industry, there is a lot of competition as well.

Many eCommerce companies manage to emerge as winners, while some show stagnated growth. In this article, you’ll learn about some of the common winning traits observed in top eCommerce businesses and how you can apply them to your own business.

1. Trustworthy Website

In the eCommerce space, building trust with your consumers is very important. Only when the users trust you will they be willing to have financial transactions with your business. So, having a trustworthy website is a common trait observed in most successful eCommerce websites.

Here’s how you can build trust with your consumers through your website:

  • Add abundant social proof in your website homepage, about page, and even product pages. You can add customers’ success stories, testimonials, trust badges, social media numbers, or anything else that will make you look like a trustworthy business.
  • Be transparent with your policies and ensure that the user is clear about your return and exchange policies. Disclose all hidden costs upfront and make your payment process as hassle-free as possible.
  • Display product reviews and ratings for all your products to be more transparent and real.

2. Premium Customer Service

Good customer service is key to running a successful eCommerce business. Top eCommerce businesses focus on providing premium customer service to ensure customer loyalty and increase repeat purchases.

You should try to be proactive with your customer service rather than being reactive. You can do this by adding self-serve solutions such as AI chatbots to your website. This will help clear most of the queries and complaints that your customers might have.

You should also try to use social media platforms for customer service. Create separate handles for customer service and ensure that you offer quick resolutions to your customers.

You can also set up Google alerts for your brand name so that you can monitor any mentions or reviews of your brand. Be it positive or negative feedback, ensure that you are quick and respectful with your responses.

3. Easy Returns, Easy Exchanges, and Quick Deliveries

Consumers today expect easy returns and exchanges from all eCommerce businesses. Statistics show that 92% of consumers will make repeat purchases if the returns are easy. Also, 67% of shoppers check your returns policy before making a purchase. So, having easy returns and exchanges is crucial if you want to improve your conversions.

Try to offer quick returns and exchanges for all the products for which it is possible. Ensure that you offer quick refunds for returns. You should also try to add exchange and return terms in each of your product pages, as this is one of the first things that the users will look for before making the final purchase decision.

Offering quick deliveries can also help you get ahead of competitors and offer a good customer experience. You can do this by ensuring that your eCommerce fulfillment provider has the capacity to offer quick delivery options such as same-day or next-day delivery.

4. High-Quality Product Images and Accurate Descriptions

No matter how good your products are, it is difficult to make good sales without high-quality images and descriptions.

Adding high-resolution images of your products from different angles will help your users get the look and feel of your products. This is one of the most prominent pain points of online shopping, and if you help your customers overcome this, then you’ll definitely see better conversion rates. You can also add product videos to get even better conversions.

It is also crucial that you add accurate product descriptions that state the color, dimensions, material, safety precautions, or any other important information about the products.

This step will make sure that your products look more trustworthy and appealing to your customers. Any objections that they might have that is stopping them from purchasing the products will likely vanish, which will again boost your sales.

5. Omnichannel Marketing Strategy

Studies show that 90% of consumers expect to have omnichannel interactions with brands. Simply focusing on one channel is not the best way if you want to expand your brand’s reach and improve visibility.

So, perform thorough audience research and figure out the channels that your customers most use. These can be emails, social media platforms, online forums, marketplaces, or even mobile apps.

You can then devise a strategy that helps you promote your products across most of these channels. You can use these channels to create brand awareness or even for nurturing your existing customers.

Having an omnichannel strategy helps top eCommerce businesses to improve their metrics such as customer lifetime value, conversion rate, customer retention rate, and product sales. You, too, can improve these metrics by having an omnichannel presence.

6. Value-Packed Content

Offering valuable content is one of the best ways to bring your target audience into your sales funnel. When you add immense value to your customers by offering high-quality, relevant content, you earn their trust and become an authority in your niche.

When users start perceiving you as a trustworthy and credible brand in the niche, they will automatically drive towards making more and more purchases from you. So, ensure that you work on your content marketing strategy that exactly fits your audiences’ needs.

You can create content across various platforms such as website blogs, email newsletters, social media platforms, YouTube, etc. This, again, comes to audience research. Analyze and understand the platforms that work best for your ideal buyer persona and offer value-packed content on these channels.

Final Thoughts

Though any eCommerce business’s success largely depends on their products, other factors like their marketing strategy, customer service, and user experience also have a massive role to play in it.

Using the tips in this article, you can start working on the top common traits observed in successful eCommerce businesses, and you’ll soon watch yourself moving in the same direction.

What Is the Value of Pop Up Shops?

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article |Pop Up Shops|What Is the Value of Pop Up Shops?Are you looking to grow your physical presence but can’t afford the cost or are not ready for the commitment that comes with the retail store? Pop up shops for rent may be the solution you need. Research shows 70% of all retail purchases take place offline. Pop up shops are an affordable way for businesses of all kinds to set up a physical presence that allows them to meet customers and put brands before customers.

This post looks into the value of pop up shops for rent to businesses and why you should consider running one. Let’s dive in:

Creating awareness and building a buzz

Let’s face it, there are too many businesses competing for the attention of customers. Therefore, you need to put some effort into promoting your brand or products to potential markets with the view of increasing brand awareness.

By setting up a pop up store, you will ride on scarcity, a sales tactic that often drives action by arousing customer’s desire to purchase limited or exclusive products. This is because the temporary nature of the pop up stores mean they only run for a definite period thus shoppers are encouraged to visit the store or ‘miss out’ on the discounts. This often creates a sense of urgency.

But that is not all, you must also invest in the promotion of the pop up to not only build a buzz but ensure that there will be people coming through the doors once you launch. This means promoting your store on various social media platforms and sending a broadcast to your subscribers. This way, you will get people talking about your brand thus increasing awareness.

Promoting an in-person connection with your customers

Most consumers prefer to make purchases after seeing and touching products. Consequently, most online purchases are preceded by physical interaction with products. The reality is that while ecommerce stores present convenience, they don’t come close to face to face interaction and in-person experiences shoppers have when they go to a physical store.

Having a pop up spacerent will enrich your omnichannel experience while allowing your customers and prospects to learn about your products at the store, on social media, in print media and through search engines as well as other channels in between. The offline experience will certainly complement your online experience thus helping you strengthen brand loyalty and customer engagement.

Driving more sales

Although you can open a pop up store at any time of the year, it is even more advantageous when you run a pop up store during busy seasons like holidays. Setting up a pop up store during the holiday season will particularly work for you when it comes to driving sales because this is a time when more people spend more than they normally would. Moreover, a 2017 Retail Dive report found that more than 84% of sales during holidays take place in-store.

But this does not end here. You will be surprised at how much sales your pop up shopt will drive long after the busy season is over. Moreover, you may also realize that you’re turning most seasonal shoppers into loyal long-term customers by simply having that in-person connection.

Testing new marketing and gaining traction within current markets

Before launching a new brick and mortar store, you will want to validate demand. This will only happen where there is money changing hands. This also applies when you want to launch a new product but want to test a new market.

You can manufacture a small batch of your products and bring it to the pop up as a way of validating customer demand before you can continue with mass production. This can work when you also want to launch a new collection and want to see if they will have traction.

The experience of selling your yet to be launched products in person often gives you the advantage of receiving direct feedback, seeing their reaction and knowing how much they are willing to spend on the product. In the case where your ecommerce store is already established and you have a thriving customer base within certain regions, you could use pop up stores to go where customers are or to target a new geographical area.

Pop up shops offer endless value for businesses that are seeking to expand their market and sales in general. However, you must be strategic to ensure that these shops help to consolidate your customer base without having to spend so much money on customer acquisition.

More Money With Less Work: The Game of Passive Income Explained

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article |Passive Income|More money with less work: the game of passive incomePassive income has proven to be one of the most effective strategies for all those seeking financial freedom. I being a very big believer of passive income have started several businesses that have provided me with financial freedom. I have gained all I have today through digital marketing and affiliate income. I have recently started a blog – www.SMTPServers.co on marketing automation where I do an affiliate for automation tools to increase my passive income.

The concept of passive income describes the generation of sales without having to work for it. But is that really possible? How does passive income work and which success factors need to be considered? What business ideas are possible?
In this guide to building a passive income stream, I have described the procedure step by step and given successful examples of passive income.

The problem: if you want to earn more, you have to work more

Make money without working for it. Don’t we all dream a little about it? The principle of passive income is described on the Internet on mostly dubious sites as a concept that enables money to be made without real labor – so to speak, become a millionaire overnight. But what is really there about the concept of passive income?

The origin of the idea of ??passive income is based on our supposedly inefficient use of labor. A self-employed craftsman who wants to double his turnover, but already works 50 hours a week, has a problem: His turnover increases proportionally to the work done. If he works less, he earns less. If he works more, he also earns more. The same applies to a freelance web designer. If she accepts four orders a month and is thus almost fully utilized, she can no longer increase her sales significantly without having to sit in front of the computer during the night.

Passive income: the theory

Anyone familiar with the concept of passive income will quickly notice that one has to break away from the basic pattern of work efficiency that we are familiar with. To put it more simply, if you want to earn more, you don’t necessarily have to work more.

By automating work steps, it is actually possible to achieve higher sales with little or possibly even no additional effort. Thanks to the success of the Internet and digitization, a large number of processes can be digitally mapped and thus automated. There are plenty of free autoresponder tools available online which you can use to automate your client interaction.

In addition, there is the enormous reach of the Internet, thanks to which, the potential customers from all over the world can reach us with just one click of the mouse.

The concept of passive income looks complicated at the first glance, but it is actually quite simple to implement. The following is an example of the four steps involved in building a passive income stream:

1. Step: Develop the product

A freelance web designer writes a book on the development of modern websites on vacation and needs three weeks to do so.

2. Step: Selling the product automatically

She self-publishes the book as a print edition and e-book on sales platforms such as Amazon & Co on the Internet. The books-on-demand provider takes over the entire book production.

3. Step: Generate passive income

With every book sold, she receives an author’s margin – for the next few years. All processes are automated, she has no work whatsoever.

4. Step: Regular product maintenance

A book about the development of modern websites should of course be revised regularly so that it remains up to date and is also sold frequently in the future. A little time must be invested in product maintenance.

These four levels are the basis of passive income. However, in order to be really successful, it is important to orientate yourself on the following success factors.

Success factors in passive income

In order to generate passive income, there are three factors to consider that are decisive for the success of passive income:

  • Digitization of the product
  • Automation of the processes
  • Distribution to an existing reach

With the concept of passive income it is necessary to create a product that can be reproduced without additional effort. Only in this way is it possible to decouple the relationship between workload and sales result. Digital products such as texts, e-books, images, videos or software have this property and are therefore ideally suited for use as a product for passive income.

The next step is to find sales processes that can be automated. After all, as a self-employed person, you don’t want to sell your book (if we go by above example) yourself, but rather be able to distribute it automatically without your direct involvement. The Internet serves as an excellent automated sales channel. The management consultant could sell his e-book fully automatically via his own website, with every process step being digitally mapped: from acquisition via online marketing to sales initiation on the website to payment processing and e-book download.

The automated sale of a digital product via your own website can already generate passive income, but this requires the implementation of appropriate online marketing measures, for example with Google AdWords or Facebook Ads . The creation of such campaigns costs time, money and is not an easy matter for the inexperienced. For this reason, the third success factor with passive income is the use of an existing range of potential customers. Internet marketplaces such as Amazon or Fotolia (selling photographs) are predestined for this: Millions of people can be reached through them without having to invest a cent in marketing.

Examples of passive income

But enough of the theory. The following examples are among the most widespread and most successful implementations of the passive income principle:

  • Becoming an author: Selling books and e-books
  • Selling photos and video clips: Success with online marketplace for photos
  • Templates and construction kits: passive income for web designers and developers
  • Successful through online advertising and affiliate income

Becoming an author: Selling books and e-books: Let’s be honest. Who wouldn’t want to publish a book? As part of the passive income, the self-employed now have the opportunity to make this dream come true. The main effort lies in the writing of the book, a reproduction is relatively cheap. E-books as digital goods can easily be multiplied. All processes are outsourced inexpensively through production and distribution via self-publishing, so that in the end the e-book and print version can be automatically sold via Amazon.

And for whom is the book concept suitable? Ultimately, it comes into question for all those who have accumulated special specialist knowledge in a field and can put this into words accordingly. Management consultants, web designers, doctors but also craftsmen with specialist knowledge and a good writing style can generate passive income in this way. The great thing about it, by publishing a book, you create a brand for yourself and position yourself as an expert in a certain area. This can lead to appearances in various media, which in turn strengthen your own brand and generate additional orders.

Sell photos and video clips: Success with online marketplace for photos: Photographers, cameramen or motion designers can take advantage of the digital properties of their products by selling them to a large number of different customers from all over the world instead of the usual one to just one customer. On online marketplaces for photographs and moving images, such as Fotolia or Shutterstock, artists can post their works and offer them for sale worldwide. Once you as a photographer have built up a certain portfolio with high-quality images, an attractive passive income can be generated.

Passive income for web designers and developers: Self-employed web designers and programmers are usually paid on an hourly basis. If you want to earn more, you have to acquire additional customers and do extra work. Fortunately, the concept of passive income is particularly suitable for the software industry. By developing website templates for well-known content management systems such as WordPress, TYPO3 or Joomla, a web designer can sell one-time work to a large number of customers. As a sales channel, he either uses his own website or uses marketplaces with an existing reach that have focused on the sale of website templates.

The programmer can also take advantage of marketplaces by bringing his developed WordPress plugins, Java classes or shop modules to the man there. But the development of Android or iOS apps and their sale via the respective app stores, possibly also as part of a freemium model, can generate attractive passive income with a corresponding added customer value.

Successful with online advertising and affiliate income: Are you an expert in a field and have unique knowledge? With the appropriate content and a little know-how in search engine optimization , you can find a source of passive income via your own website or blog by using advertising banners or for your visitorsPlace affiliate links on your website. In order to generate attractive income, the number of daily website visitors should be at least 1,000 – this is usually only possible after a year at the earliest. It is therefore important to show perseverance with this type of passive income.

Even college students can generate passive income.  Are you a college student?  Click here to learn about passive income opportunities for college students.

Get rich with passive income?

If you have understood the concept of passive income, it is best to get to work straight away. Because for a successful passive income stream some time and work will be necessary. The belief that passive income means turnover without work is therefore wrong. Especially at the beginning, a lot of energy has to be invested in the development of a product that has the properties necessary for passive income and also offers potential customers real benefits . Only when the product has been created and all processes have been automated can you at least lean back a little and hopefully celebrate your first successes.

But can real wealth be accumulated with the concept of passive income? In principle, this is certainly possible. A few, such as successful author Timothy Ferriss, who describes his approach in the book “The 4-Hour Week”, have made it to a successful entrepreneur with passive income. However, this remains the exception. The concept of passive income should not be considered the unprecedented Path to Wealth, but rather as a new, efficient tool for the self-employed, in which working time can be used more efficiently and in accordance with the current state of technology, so that more time remains for the important things in life.

Alternatives to passive income

Do you like the idea of passive income? In the following, I present two more concepts that make it possible to generate additional income with the same amount of work:

Passive income through growth

If you are already self-employed as a freelancer or business owner, you can generate additional income without any additional effort, given the corresponding order situation. By hiring employees , you can take on additional jobs that should earn you more than the new employees cost you. Growing your own company is therefore an attractive opportunity to receive passive income.

Generate passive income with seminars and lectures

Even if the concept of passive income is not entirely correct here: If you, as an expert on a certain topic, have a lot of know-how, then you should pass your knowledge on to others. You can reach a large number of customers at the same time through paid lectures or seminars, but you only have to do your work once. In addition, you strengthen your personal brand at the same time and can enforce higher hourly rates for individual orders.

And now let’s get down to work – I wish you every success in building your passive income stream!

About the Author

Aabhas Vijay is a seasoned entrepreneur and digital marketer, who loves to explore tricks and tips on how a business can use a free SMTP to automate most of the user interaction and increase his passive income.

3 Legal Tips Every Entrepreneur Must Know

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article |Legal Tips|3 Legal Tips Every Entrepreneur Must KnowEvery business faces the possibility of legal issues at one point in time or another. Did you know that the smallest companies in America with about 250 employees and less encounter legal issues the most? This highlights why business owners need to know all legal matters related to their business, to be on the safer side. How can you keep these issues to the bare minimum? Below are a few tips to help.

1. Be sure to document any agreements or contracts

As an entrepreneur, you may need to go into agreements with various professionals along the way, for example, contracting some independent service providers. For all such engagements, contracts will most likely be involved to set clear terms and conditions. In such cases, it’s advisable to have all contracts and agreements documented for future reference. For accuracy’s sake, be sure to contact a lawyer to assist you with your drafts so that your documents are well prepared, can be easily understood and enforced by law. Doing this will also help prevent any future misunderstandings.

2. Guard all your ideas and innovations

Being an entrepreneur mainly involves identifying problems and coming up with creative ways to solve such gaps. Even if your business idea already exists, there’s something that sets you apart from your competitors; whatever that differentiating factor is, you can protect it. All you need to do is speak with a lawyer and know how best to protect your ideas, designs, or creations. Your lawyer may suggest using the help of copyrights, trademarks, and many other forms of protection that will benefit you and your business.

3. Protect yourself, your business, and any other personal possessions

Starting up a business as a sole proprietor comes with many benefits, like your ability to enjoy the total profit. However, a sole proprietorship has less protection as compared to a limited liability company. Be sure to have a chat with your attorney for advice on what business choice would best suit you and be most beneficial to you. You may end up switching to a limited liability company and getting access to the required protection your assets will need. You can also protect your business and properties by ensuring you have all the necessary documents, such as your certificates, licenses, and permits. The type of business you’re running will determine the kinds of documents you’ll need to have. Your attorney can offer advice to help you know all the requirements of your type of business.

Similarly, taking care of personal injury within the office building must also be considered by entrepreneurs. There are many incidents that has been noticed regarding the personal injury of employees within the office premises, thus, read more about it if you are not aware of its legal consequences.

Another way to protect your business is by making sure you have the right insurance coverage. Workers’ compensation plus general liability insurance are good options to have. Lastly, be sure to conduct a safety and risk assessment for your business. It’ll help you ensure that your work premises, hardware, and business operations align with best practices. Additionally, contact capable personal injury attorneys whenever you experience any damages to your personal or business properties.

Starting a business comes with several legal rights and responsibilities, and sometimes it may come across as burdensome or even boring. Despite your take on this legal aspect of the business, the fact remains that the legal stuff is vital, so get all the assistance you can. Find yourself an attorney to handle all the legal issues to protect your business from any trouble.