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Tips For Managing A Business Expansion

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | Entrepreneurship | Tips For Managing A Business Expansion
 
Expanding your company is an exciting time, and hopefully it will enable you to boost profits, establish yourself as a key player in the industry and compete with the bigger brands. Expansion can also be disruptive and hard to manage because it will have an impact on your current operation and there are often a few teething issues too. Being aware of a few expansion tips could help to minimize the negative impact that expansion can bring as well as help you to manage any troubles that you encounter along the way. Read on for advice if you are planning on expanding your company.

Conduct Research & Planning

Much like when you first launch a business, it is vital that you spend time researching and planning so that you can make an intelligent business decision. You should never rush into an expansion and have a solid plan in place so that you can minimize disruption and hit the ground running.

Create A New Workspace

One of the best ways to expand a business is to open a new office space. This can give you and your team more room for operating and allows you to scale up the entire operation. This should always be a practical and comfortable space, and you will want to find an experienced architect from your local area to design the workspace, such as a Detroit architect. This way you will get a space which allows your entire operation to thrive and create a comfortable working environment for staff.

Introduce New Technology

Technology can always be used to improve a business, and it is a smart way of expanding because it can streamline the operation, make work easier for your team and even improve the quality of the product/service that you provide.

Keep Customers Happy

Going through a period of expansion can create a few issues, but it is essential that you are able to keep your customers happy during this time. Keeping customers happy ensures that you are able to retain and attract customers and keep the business afloat during a period of uncertainty. This can be challenging when there are major changes happening. However, by making customer service a priority you should be able to maintain a positive reputation.

Manage Finances

There are a number of financial implications that need to be considered when expanding, and this is an area that needs careful planning. You may want to consider securing funding for the expansion, collect any outstanding debts and reduce operating costs for this period so that you can manage your finances and keep the business ticking over while you expand.

Expansion should always be viewed as a positive as it allows your company to grow and compete at a higher level, but it can also be a challenging period to manage. Expanding a business can be disruptive, and there are often hurdles that need to be overcome, so you need to know how to manage this period effectively, and the above tips should help you to achieve this.

3 Reasons Why Your Kitchen Staff Are Underperforming

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StrategyDriven Entrepreneurship Article | 3 Reasons Why Your Kitchen Staff Are UnderperformingCustomer wait time is one of the most important metrics in the restaurant industry. You could have everything right, but if the service times are too long, this will eventually play against your establishment. How good your kitchen staff are will have an effect on that, but you could also be making mistakes that are hindering workflow and making things more difficult for them. Here are some of the possible reasons why your staff aren’t performing as well as they should.

Your Kitchen Doesn’t Reflect Your Current Needs

If you’ve bought an old establishment and kept some of the equipment as part of the deal, then it might not fit the current demand. For instance, if your cold room is too small for your current needs, not only will it make things difficult when staff are trying to find things, or go in and out, you could end up facing some health violations because you ran out of space and had to cut corners.

If that is the case, we strongly suggest you invest in a bespoke cold room. This will allow you to build one that will take minimal space in the kitchen while still being efficient. You’ll be able to organise the storage in a way that fits your needs the most. Companies like fridgefreezerdirect.co.uk can build all types of cold rooms and walk-in freezers according to your exact specifications. Look for a provider that can build one that will fit the best within your kitchen’s floor plan.

You’re Using Time Wasting Processes

In many cases, you could get things done much faster if you reconsider some of your processes. For instance, if you only have a few burners available, but have a huge convection oven, you could use the convection oven to cook rice by using rice, water, and foil covered metal containers instead. You shouldn’t be afraid of the freezer either. There will be little difference between a frozen soup base or tomato sauce and a fresh one, so consider cooking more in batches and use the freezer when you can without sacrificing quality.

The Floor is Unsafe

If people don’t feel safe in the kitchen, they will not perform as well. They will constantly be afraid of causing an accident or seriously injuring themselves. This is why your kitchen’s layout has to be organised with safety in mind first and foremost.

With an ergonomic design, you’ll be able to reduce the amount of movement your employees have to make. Proper lighting and ventilation are essential as well. No one wants to work in a smelly, smoke filled kitchen. Your employees have to be able to see what they’re doing as well to avoid accidents.

Improving your kitchen’s productivity comes down to a few simple principles. Make sure that you take a look at how your kitchen is designed and look for possible pain points. And don’t be afraid to ask your staff for recommendations either.

The most common financial mistakes graduate entrepreneurs make

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Finances Article |Graduate Entrepreneurs|The most common financial mistakes graduate entrepreneurs makeAmongst the world’s ambitious graduates are some of the next generation’s entrepreneurs and innovators. Some will have a carefully defined business plan. Others will have little more than a dream and bundles of enthusiasm.

Starting out in business straight after Uni isn’t easy. For the bright-eyed grad, a lack of life experience and industry expertise, along with a mountain of student debt can make the business journey a particularly tricky one. A recent report by CNBC warns that with graduate debt at around $30,000 for many students, starting a business is a huge challenge. It really is no wonder graduate entrepreneurship is declining.

As well as student debt, there is also the issue of financial know-how. Let’s take a look at some of the most common financial blunders graduate entrepreneurs make.

1. Not having a business plan

Accounting firm, OS Accounting, say “One of the mistakes a lot of entrepreneurs make when launching a start-up, including graduates, is to forge ahead with an idea without proper planning. Starting a business without a business plan is risky. It’s the fundamental starting point for testing whether or not a business idea is feasible.”

A business plan sets out the financial and operational objectives. With a well-developed business plan, entrepreneurs are also much more likely to attract angel investors or secure funding from venture capitalists.

2. Overestimating revenue

Brimming with optimism, entrepreneurs are renowned for overestimating revenue. In fact, for many eager graduates launching a start-up, revenue expectations are unrealistic. David Cummings, an Atlanta-based tech entrepreneur who has founded 10 companies, understands all too well the pitfalls of overestimating revenue.

3. Overspending on set up

A whopping 29 per cent of start-ups fail because they run out of cash. Early-stage entrepreneurs face specific challenges as they often lack business skills. Many entrepreneurs overspend on office space and tech tools.
With remote working becoming the norm, the virtual office, where possible, can save a lot during set up. Taking time to properly research tech tools can also save money. Various pieces of tech often overlap – as they are charged per user, spend can easily go up if this isn’t given attention.

4. Misunderstanding the difference between profit and cashflow

Things can look good on paper, but if a business runs out of cash it is in trouble. Poor cashflow planning and running out of cash is, according to Forbes, in the top 10 reasons why entrepreneurs fail.

Not all entrepreneurs have savvy accounting skills when they set out in business. Some basic accounting knowledge can prove invaluable. Most businesses record revenue and expenditure when it is incurred (rather than when invoices are paid). This means it is possible for a business to be profitable on paper, but not have any cash in the bank.
Business coach, Stever Robbins says the difference between profit and cashflow is often the difference between success and bankruptcy. Being able to read the accounts and understand the cash position in a business is vital.

5. Mixing personal and business accounts

Running a business through a personal bank account is never a good idea. Business banking should be kept separate and the importance of this is all too often ignored by eager graduates who want to avoid the expense of a business bank account.

Mixing personal and business bank accounts can also turn out to be a nightmare when it comes to tax reporting. It makes it easier to miss expenses and could be an issue if the business is investigated by the Inland Revenue.
In an article for Inc., Levi King, entrepreneur, CEO and Co-Founder of Nav, advises never to mix personal and business finances for the following reasons:

• Separating business and personal finances helps you look legit
• It helps to achieve a stronger business credit score
• It helps with tax reporting

6. Not budgeting or planning for tax

All businesses have tax obligations to the state and locally, and tax bills can hit fast and hard. Ignoring taxes is one of the top business budgeting mistakes. Seeking tax advice prior to starting a business is also something many entrepreneurs fail to do, but with the right tax strategy, tax liability could be considerably lower.

7. Not having an emergency fund

Cashflow is king when it comes to business. Many graduates finish their education in debt, not with an emergency fund they can fall back on during hard times. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that approximately one-third of all businesses fail within the first two years because of cashflow issues.

Summary

In spite of the pitfalls, there are many advantages of launching a start-up as a new graduate. New grads actually make great entrepreneurs. Many graduates are both innovative and more financially-savvy than they get credit for. The student mentality of surviving on a pittance can also bring business benefits.

There are lots of financial considerations for graduates, including how to repay student loans and finding a deposit for somewhere to live. That doesn’t mean graduates can’t start their own business. Here are 8 reasons why as a graduate you might want to give entrepreneurship a go. Remember, business planning is key!

The 3 Best Ways To Implement A Leaner Business

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StrategyDriven Managing Your Business Article | The 3 Best Ways To Implement A Leaner Business

When we are doing our utmost to create a flexible business, that embodies numerous characteristics that benefits the employees and the employer, this is when we have to start paring things down to the bare essentials. The concept of a lean business is something that has proven to be a very effective model for managing teams, in various industries like manufacturing and construction. What are the fundamental principles of implementing a leaner business, and how can we bring these about?

Look For Constant Improvement

Striving for a constant source of improvement is one of the key aspects, and after alleviating the bottlenecks in your process, and establishing a pull system, you need to find ways to continually improve your operations. This is all about enhancing the value while removing the waste. Automation is one of the main components that can help in this respect, and while there are numerous things that you can automate, you need to start simply, with some of the in-house processes that impact the employees directly. You can see more here about invoice automation, and this is one little thing that can make life so much easier all around. Automation is one aspect that you can implement to create constant improvement.

Setting Clear Goals

You have to understand what your end goal is, and you need to communicate this to everybody in your organization. What are you trying to achieve? Whatever the goal is, you have to ensure that it is clearly defined. A clear goal means that you will have a better chance of streamlining your process is accordingly. From there, you can learn how to improve your strengths and minimize your weaknesses. A SWOT analysis certainly provides food for thought in this respect, and once you realize l where your failings are, perhaps this could provide more clarity in setting the goals.

Adopting The Proper Culture

Workplace culture is crucial to improve your business continuously. As the organization demands a certain mindset, this is directly borne out of the culture of the company. Changing the culture from within is a long process, but you can make specific alterations to ensure you head in the right direction. You sure to start small, but also think about altering the mindset of the people that work for you. You can do this by hiring the right sort of people and then you can make those small alterations go further. A proper workplace culture provides ethics, the mindset, as well as the appropriate level of productivity.

A lean business is all about simplicity. This is something many of us tend to overlook. It could be a difficult thing to get started, but once we understand our set goals, this is where our inherent feelings are. And when we embrace the challenge to turn our business into a lean one, we will see the benefits, not just in terms of productivity, the culture of the organization, but we will also see the benefits years down the line. The fact is that it’s not just a process, but it is a way of life.

Should You Hire a Digital Marketing Agency?

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StrategyDriven Online Marketing and Website Development Article, Should You Hire a Digital Marketing Agency?

Digital marketing is a vital component of any modern business’ strategy for growth and development. But while many businesses recognize the importance of digital marketing, many of them are still trying to keep their costs down by doing it all themselves. Unfortunately for them, this is a recipe for disaster.

Hiring an outside digital marketing agency might seem like a more expensive option, but it offers a number of advantages.

Access the Skills You Need

Putting together a digital marketing team in-house might seem like a more cost-effective option, but this isn’t true for most businesses. In fact, for the majority of businesses, opening your own digital marketing department is going to be significantly more expensive than hiring a Digital Marketing Agency.

Not only is it difficult and expensive to bring onboard people with the specific skills that you need, these people probably won’t be needed on a continual basis. It is worth having some permanent members of your team who can monitor the progress of any current campaigns and can help you to work on your general marketing strategies. But you should bring in the heavy hitters when you really need them.

Maximize Your ROI

ROI is one of the most important things to consider whenever your business is spending money. It doesn’t matter if you are spending a couple of dollars or hundreds of thousands of dollars, you should always be making sure that money is being spent as wisely as possible and is bringing tangible benefits to your business.

Digital marketing agencies are run and staged by talented and experienced marketers; the people who are best positioned to ensure your campaign is as effective and efficient as it can possibly be. Not only this, but digital marketing agencies will know how to best allocate your available budget for maximum returns.

Gain Insight and Perspective

Any team that you assemble in-house is going to be necessarily limited by the skills and experience they possess. A digital marketing agency will be able to pull in individuals from a variety of backgrounds to ensure that they are bringing everything to the table that your business needs to make a success of your next digital marketing campaign.

Meet Your Deadlines

When you are responsible for your own marketing, there is always a temptation to give yourself a bit more time or a bit more money to achieve your goals. This means that campaigns end up being less disciplined and valuable lessons are never learned.

By contrast, a digital marketing agency will always work to the parameters that you set for them. If you tell them that you need a campaign produced within a certain budget or timeframe, they will work to your specifications.

Hiring a dedicated outside marketing agency will ensure that your business has access to all the skills, knowledge, and resources that it needs to pull off a successful campaign. Don’t be put off by the costs involved; if you want to maximize your ROI from your digital marketing campaigns, an outside agency is a much safer bet than trying to do it all in-house.