Category: Marketing blog

Marketing blog

4 Ways You Can Raise Money For Your New…

You have made the exciting decision to go into business. This is it, you know that your business is destined for big things. Your business is going to stand out from the crowd! It’s going to be a success and nothing is standing in your way. Actually there is one thing standing in your way, to quote Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire

“Show me the money!”

Yes, you need some money if you are to get your business off the ground. You have worked out your budget and you just don’t have enough money in your savings. What should you do? Give-up? Never! There are lots of different ways you can raise money for your business. Here are 4 ideas for raising money for your new start up business.

Family And Friends

This is one way of raising money for your startup but it is a way that should be treated with caution. Do you really want to have to ask your family and friends? Can they afford to lend you the money? Are you going to feel under pressure to pay them back the money as soon as possible? Starting up a business is stressful enough as it is and you really don’t want any added pressure. However, if you think that borrowing money from your nearest and dearest won’t strain your relationships, go for it! Just be sure to check that they can afford to lend you the money. Also, make sure that you put the lending agreement into writing. Make sure those terms are clearly laid-out. You need it in writing to protect yourself and the people you are borrowing from –  https://eforms.com/loan-agreement/ has some examples legal agreement templates that you can download for free.

Startup Business Loan

If you don’t want to borrow from friends then a startupbusinessloans.co could be a great option for you. They will talk you through your options and as a result it will feel less daunting. They will also compare fees and discount rates. You will need to make sure that you have a good business plan in place and that you are clear on how much you need to borrow and why.

Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is becoming increasingly popular as a way of raising money for a new business. It does what it says in the name – crowd funds. You share your idea for your business and then the public are invited to give some money. How much or little is down to them. Most crowdfunding sites use a reward system where people who invest in a new business venture are given some form of reward.

Get A Partner

Getting a business partner could be the way forward. However, you need to do this with caution. It is a popular way of raising money but be wary of signing too much away. Mark Zuckerberg learnt from the mistakes of earlier dot companies, who gave away almost all of their equity to venture capitalists. Mark decided that he wasn’t going to make the same mistake and his 28.1% Facebook stake is now worth a cool $14.9 billion.

When funding your business it is important that you choose a solution that works for you. You have a business to run so find those funds and start enjoying the profit.

 

Marketing blog

You Could Own a Business in Just a Few…

You would think that starting a business takes a huge amount of effort. And it is true that if you want your business to be successful, you need to put in plenty of work. However, the actual act of setting up the bare bones of your business might not take you long at all. In fact, you can have it all done in just a few hours. More specifically, an online business is very easy to get started in a short amount of time. Whether you’re selling a product or service, you can soon have a website up and running or even use third-party services instead. Here’s how you can get started in no time.

Do The Legal Stuff

Before you do anything else, get the legal matters sorted and out of the way. You can easily start your business by registering for self assessment tax returns, making you a sole trader. If you want to create your business as a separate entity, so you’re not attached to any business debts, you can create a limited company. And if you want to create a business with someone else, you can set up a partnership. All of this is simple to do online through HMRC or Companies House. If you set up a separate company, you’ll also need to register for Corporation Tax. Once you’re earning over a certain amount, you’ll need to register for VAT too.

Get Graphics Quickly

Once thing you might want to start doing quickly is creating a brand image. Assuming you’ve chosen a business name, you will want a logo you can use on marketing materials, product packaging, and more. It’s easier than you might think to create a simple logo using a logo generator, so you don’t have to spend ages working with a graphic designer. You can also find free tools that make it easy to create graphics, like Canva, as well as stock photos, which can come in handy too. Think about how you want to brand your business and the colours you want to use.

Choose Website Building Tools

Getting your website set up will mean you can start promoting your business online. You might start off using third-party sites such as Etsy for selling products or Upwork for selling services. However, your own website will allow you to be more independent. You can quickly and easily build a site using the right tools. Two of the most popular are WordPress and Squarespace. As well as looking at the tools they have on offer, pay attention to those you can integrate with your site. For example, Shopify will help you get an online store set up.

Get Organised

Once you’ve got the basics sorted, you need to make sure you’re organised. Start with your finances by opening a business bank account and setting up a spreadsheet to track your money. Eventually, you might want something more sophisticated, like QuickBooks. Start thinking about how you’re going to market your business, and how you’re going to structure your time.

You could have a business up and running in no time at all. However, bringing in customers and clients is going to take a bit more work.

Marketing blog

Every Entrepreneurs Dream: A Business That Runs ItselfEvery Entrepreneurs…

A business that ‘runs itself’ while turning a healthy profit is pretty much the dream for most start-ups. And yes, it is possible! Of course, you will still need to be a competent leader by overseeing everything. But it is possible to create a business that eventually runs without a massive workload on your desk each day. Instead, you can be responsible for quality control, seeing where improvements need to be made and even expanding further. Here are some of the ways you can go about doing this.

Hire The Right Employees

Finding the right employees that are good at their job is important for any business, but if you eventually want it to run without your input then your workforce is vital. You need people that are highly motivated and know their job inside out, who can work on their own initiative and can get things done without having you there to guide them through it. Make your company an attractive place to work in order to secure the best workers who are skilled and experienced. Offer good rates of pay and provide employee benefits such as disability, dental and medical plans. Provide them with good equipment that allows them to do their job well, and arrange team building events so that your workforce communicates and understands each other well to boost productivity. If you take on apprentices or junior staff members, these can be trained up and you have people ready to go to slot into position if older staff members retire or people leave.

Find The Right Software

The right staff is important, but they need access to good business software to be able to tackle certain tasks as quickly and easily as possible. Accounting software, customer relationship management software, legal software and more all might light work of what would otherwise be tedious and time consuming tasks. This allows your employees to be getting on with other things, putting them to their best use and allowing your business to stay as productive as possible. Plus, when you’re not paying a worker to sit tackling manual jobs all day, you save money. As once you’ve invested in the software it will continue to work for you then saving on cash as well as time and hassle.

Embrace Social Media

Understanding social media as using it to the best of it’s abilities is one way your business can grow with little effort from you. As long as you provide an excellent service, customers will leave reviews on your pages which can massively influence others to purchase from you too. If you get a social media expert on your team they will know what kinds of competitions, offers, discounts and other marketing materials things to share to get the best response from followers. Getting your name out there on social media means less money needs to be spent on advertising elsewhere, and is something that will essentially take care of itself. You reach a huge number of people which is great news for your business.