5 Key Business Considerations To Keep In Mind

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Business Considerations|5 Key Business Considerations To Keep In MindWhen you’re running a business, your mind can be a really busy place. Most of the time, when you’re in a set job, you’ll find that you have one major responsibility or role. Your job title often means that there’s a set thing that you need to work on – and that’s great. However, when you’re a business owner, there’s usually a full range of things that you need to be working on. And so, it can mean that you’re always doing so many things to keep your business running. But not only that, you have to be thinking of things to help it grow too. As a business looking for success, whether you’re currently running it from home or not, you will definitely want to think about what you want to do to make that happen. Here are five key considerations to keep in mind.

1. Marketing

To start with, you are going to want to be thinking about your marketing. What sort of marketing methods are you working on? How are you able to get your business and brand name out there? Really start to think about what it is that you want to create and pull together a marketing plan that allows you to shout about what you’re doing.

2. Outgoings

From here, you’re then going to want to take a look at your outgoings. You may find that you don’t really know what your business expenses are but that then can mean that you aren’t able to track your profits or business growth. So instead, it’s much better for you to be thinking about what costs you have to help you ensure you make a profit.

3. Manufacturing

The next thing that you’re going to want to consider is the manufacturing side of things. It could be the case that you have to find suppliers to work with, or consider doing it yourself with the right equipment. When that’s the case, you’ll want to put the right time and care into choosing a mixer or whatever it is that you need. This is to ensure that you have got the right setup in place and you know that you are able to create the products that you need.

4. Growth Plans

You should also have some sort of growth plans in mind. It’s safe to say that if you want to get somewhere you’ll want to be able to have a plan on how you’re going to get there. So start to think about the steps you need to be able to take to get to where you want to be.

5. Customer Service

Finally, there’s also customer service for you to be thinking about. As you may know, when it comes to business, the key to making things work out for you, is to ensure that your customer is happy. So, if you want to be able to nail all of the other points and, of course, scale, you have to be able to produce stellar customer service too. So make sure that you are hot on emails, getting orders out, and if you’re not sure, hire a service team to help you.

Is your Business Not Growing? Here’s What you Could be Doing Wrong

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If you feel as though your business is stagnating, then you will know how frustrating this can be. You may be able to fix the issue though, if you are able to pinpoint the cause properly.

You Don’t have a Good Marketing Plan

Operating without any kind of written plan is not a good idea if you want to keep your business running like it should. If you do not have a good plan, then you may find that your competitors end up surpassing you and this is the last thing that you need. Sustained growth and cost containment all require a huge deal of planning, so you have to make sure that you explore every option here so you can prepare your business for any future hiccups.

You Don’t have a System

Believe it or not, systems save time and they also give you the chance to monitor all of the different parts of your business. If you want to facilitate growth, then you need to try and track your weekly and your monthly productions. You also need to develop and track your leads, and boost your customer retention rate. If you can use tools to monitor your customer satisfaction, then this will help you out a lot here, so keep that in mind as much as possible. Look into sample accountability to find out more. You can find additional info here.

You Cannot Differentiate Yourself

If you or your team can’t answer why you are different from your competition, then you may have just found the reason why you are not growing as well as you could be. Take the time to come up with the answer and then tell your staff. The answer here should be automatic. It’s the key to making sure that you are not selling price over value and that you are able to close big sales with ease.

StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Is your Business Not Growing? Here’s What you Could be Doing Wrong

You’re Not Investing

Some say that it takes money to make money, but so many companies underspend when it comes to marketing and advertising. You have to know that your business growth is often related to how much you are able to allocate in this area. You should be spending around 9% of your projected revenue every year on reinvestment. If you can do this then you will be able to increase your company potential more than you realise.

You’re Not Staffed

You may say that you do not have enough money to hire help. That being said, you have to make sure that you don’t defer hiring staff. If you do, then you may find that you end up losing out and that you are not able to advance your company. This is the last thing that you want, so you have to make sure that you invest in your business and that you hire people to help you out with any non-essential tasks. Outsourcing is a fantastic way for you to do this if you want to stay under budget. Little things like this can really work wonders for your profit and your rate of progression.

Helpful Tips To Make Shipping Orders From Your at-Home Business Easier

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |At-Home Business|Helpful Tips To Make Shipping Orders From Your at-Home Business EasierRunning a home business is challenging enough as it is, but when you have to ship physical products around the world from your own home, it can further complicate things and create a surprising number of problems. So to give you a hand, we’ve put together some helpful tips that will assist you in shipping orders from your at-home business.

Stock up on wholesale mailing and packaging goods

First, make sure you stock up on different mailing and packaging goods at home. The last thing you want to do is buy single boxes or small quantities of packaging materials. It’s expensive and you’ll save a lot of money buying bulk bubble mailers and other mailing goods. This is a great way to cut costs, but it also means you’re less likely to run out at an inopportune time.

But try out different varieties before you buy in bulk

There are also lots of different mailing goods available, such as different kinds of boxes and packaging materials. If you want to protect the stuff you’re sending, make sure you try different kinds of packaging goods first before you commit to a bulk purchase.

Use the smallest packaging possible to save on costs

A little tip to help you save on packaging costs is to get the smallest boxes possible that can contain your items yet also offer enough protection to ensure they don’t get damaged in transit. The goal here is to go for a size that is small enough so that you don’t pay extra shipping costs on a large box. This can be difficult if you send a variety of products, so it’s not a tip that every business can use.

Ensure your items are packed safely with plenty of protection

We’ve briefly mentioned protective materials already but we believe that it deserves a more detailed description. Packaging materials come in many different shapes, sizes and materials. The key here is to ensure that it’s economical, not troublesome for the buyer (such as loose foam or packaging that makes a mess), and can potentially be reused if the buyer was to send their own items in the future.

Find the cheapest and most reliable postage services

A great way to trim shipping costs is to look for cheap and reliable postage services. Yes, they do exist, and it’s important that you get a quote from a variety of different shipping companies to see who you can work with. This isn’t an easy or short process, but the idea is to find a reliable shipping company that you can create a working relationship with so you can start doing bulk deliveries which cut down the cost of shipping.

Decide what extras you’re going to include

Lastly, decide beforehand what kind of extras you’ll include with each order. Just sending your customer’s items is fine, but adding a flyer, business card, or even little goodies such as stickers can be a great personalized addition that sets you apart from the competition.

The Ultimate Guide to Upgrading Office Space on a Budget

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Office Space|The Ultimate Guide to Upgrading Office Space on a BudgetWhile there are several appealing benefits of upgrading your business’s office space, you may be dreading the high costs of renovating and investing in new office equipment. However, even though you will need to spend on certain items, there are effective ways to upgrade your office without spending a small fortune in the process. Therefore, before you start replacing printers and moving furniture around, here’s how you can upgrade your office space on a restricting budget.

Focus on Functionality

When it comes to evaluating your current office equipment condition, you should consider functionality and quality as primary factors. Instead of opting for the most affordable printer, scanner, copier, or any other essentials, you should evaluate printing solutions that offer multifunctional devices. You can find duplex scanners and multifunctional printers at brother-usa.com that will streamline processes and help you save substantially in the long run. Quality is a factor that will ensure you don’t have to spend extra on replacing devices regularly over time. Upgrading the equipment in your office will be the main cost when improving your office space.

Decor Details That Enhance the Atmosphere

Professionals won’t be as productive and happy if they work within a space that feels cold, concrete, and suffocating. Therefore, upgrading your office space can be done by making small changes to the decor details. Adding a few vibrant plants, painting offices, and putting up a few canvas prints can truly transform any space. You don’t have to spend a fortune either, as decorating on a budget is a widespread practice.

Adjust the Spatial Arrangement

The spatial arrangement of equipment and furniture will have a massive impact on your office’s overall appeal and productivity. Therefore, merely adjusting your office layout is a method of upgrading that won’t cost you anything other than effort. When changing your office space’s spatial arrangement, it is best to draft a layout design on paper, which will enable you to give each employee adequate space and privacy while also determining each item’s best place to enhance productivity and overall functionality.

Promote Modern Workplace Culture

Modern workplace culture focuses on ensuring employee needs are met. As a result, ideal work culture can improve productivity and motivation by enhancing employee positivity. To achieve a modern workplace culture, you should focus on improving employee engagement and ensuring your team is comfortable enough to move around the office freely. Fostering collaboration and communication are also crucial components in creating a modern work culture. This office space upgrade also won’t cost you anything as you will be making changes that improve the atmosphere within your business. Empowering employees is another way to achieve a modern workplace culture that boosts productivity to fuel business growth and success. Because your employees are at the core of business functions, caring for their needs and enhancing the environment to create an ideal working space should be a priority for all businesses.

4 Tips to Grow a Successful Bakery Business

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article |Bakery Business|4 Tips to Grow a Successful Bakery BusinessAre you currently in the bakery business? Have you experienced modest success but want to push on to the next level? Maybe it’s a market you are planning to enter in the near future? Whatever your situation is, you will understand that growing a successful bakery is far from easy.

Yet, if you get it right, it is an industry that can supply some rather lucrative financial rewards. According to the American Baker’s Association, bakers are responsible for over $153 billion of the country’s GDP.

To ensure you get a sizeable nibble of that $153 billion, read on for four tips on how to grow a successful bakery business.

1. Settle on a niche

When you start a bakery business, you may feel it’s necessary to offer as many products as possible. After all, if there’s another bakery in the area that is offering, say, 50 different food items, why would they visit yours that only has 25?
However, there are multiple reasons to avoid a large menu. Firstly, you may fail to have the financial strength to sell a large assortment of food items at once. The product quality could suffer, and you may also struggle to forge an identity.
The latter point is particularly important. Instead of being just another regular bakery, you should zone in on a specific niche. You could specialize in unique doughnuts for example, or be known for serving the best variety of bread in town. The more distinctive your business is, the easier it is to market and gain customers.

2. Use a unique, eye-catching logo

Every business should have a high-quality logo, and bakeries are no different. This logo will be your store sign. It will be featured on your business cards, website, leaflets, and other advertising materials. If it has an amateurish appearance, this isn’t going to form a strong first impression with your audience.
Fortunately, it is easy to find a professional graphic designer who can produce a unique and remarkable logo for your bakery.

3. Use local online marketing

Online marketing is more important than ever for local businesses. Whether they’re searching for bakeries in the area or your business specifically, you need to make sure your company appears in all the relevant queries from your target market.
The only problem is that, for an effective local marketing strategy, a lot of time and effort is required. This is why it makes sense to enlist the services of a marketing agency. Bubyli is a local SEO Essex company for example, and they are experts in everything from Google My Business to designing a keyword-rich website.

4. Offer a delivery service

To maximize sales, you need to provide a local delivery service in this day and age. You can add your bakery to one of the various food ordering platforms like Uber Eats, or go that extra level and create a unique online ordering app.

If you do decide to go the delivery route, however, make sure you are prepared for the extra responsibility it demands. Slow delivery times could be detrimental to your online reviews, which could harm your bakery on the whole.

As previously mentioned, according to the American Baker’s Association, bakers contribute significantly to the country’s GDP, so be sure to follow these tips to ensure that you don’t miss out.