For small business owners, finding a balance between getting the help that you need to get your business running well while also not having to pay more than is necessary can be a fine line to walk. If you get this equation wrong, you could find yourself losing money due to having to pay too many employees or losing money due to a loss in business if you can’t keep up with demand. Luckily, there are a few things you can do to solve both of these problems at the same time.

To help you see how this can be done, here are three ways to get the help you need while also saving your business money.

Use Your Employees Wisely

Hiring employees can be very expensive for any business. Because of this, you’ll want to be sure that you’re using your employees as wisely as you can.

If you’re having your employees doing tasks that could easily be done by a computer or other automation solutions, you should consider looking into these options before you hire a person to do these things. People can usually do much more complicated or creative tasks that computers may not be able to handle. So if you’re hiring someone to help you or even outsourcing some of your work, make sure you’re having that staff member do work that’s best suited for them.

Start Up A Referral Program

If marketing is that part of your business that you’re struggling with, you can set things up so that your current customers or clients take care of a lot of this legwork for you.

For businesses that don’t already have a referral system set up, this might be something worth looking into. With a referral system, you give your current clients or customers some kind of perk for bringing new customers or clients to your business. This way, you can get new business while also encouraging your current clients or customers to work with you even more.

Learn To Barter For What You Need

It’s not uncommon for small businesses to struggle to afford the help that they need. As a result of this, you might find that many other small businesses are willing to barter with you for the things that you need as long as you’re willing to part with something that they need.

Not only can bartering help you progress your business, but it can also be a great way to make business connections now that will last you throughout the lifetime of your business. You can even eventually grow these relationships into partnerships or future business opportunities if you’re lucky.

If you’re needing something for your business but can’t spend the money to go about getting that thing traditionally, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you get what you need in a financially responsible way.

 

As a business owner, cutting back as many expenses as possible is the best way to put more money in your pocket. This is especially important in today’s economy which can be up and down at any moment.

Even the smallest reductions in your costs can make a significant difference in your overall revenue. The great news is that cutting back your costs doesn’t have to be difficult. It often comes down to simple actions that will improve your overall bottom line with minimal effort.

Here are some of the best ways to cut back on your business costs, And save money.

Embrace Technology

Nowadays, technology can replace manual labor and speed up processes that would have taken significantly longer to do without the help of technology. By programming automations, you can streamline your business, and spend your time on more revenue-generating tasks rather than administrative repetitive tasks that you can let a computer take care of instead.

The different kinds of technology available to you will largely depend on what kind of business you’re in. It’s worth looking into the different options that are available to you that can provide significant savings.

Rely On Digital Marketing

Traditional print marketing is a lot more expensive than digital marketing, and in many cases isn’t any more effective. In many cases, marketing your business digitally can even be free. For example, focusing on your social media following doesn’t cost a dime, and can produce significant results.

If you put a lot of money into sending out paper marketing, or printing and publications, then it may be worth switching things up and trying the digital route.

Ditch Paper

More and more businesses are getting rid of paper altogether not only with their marketing but also within their operations. When you add up the price of paper and ink over the course of the year, the total can be astounding.

Ditch paper altogether, and you could find yourself with thousands of more dollars a year. What’s more, you’ll also be doing your part to help the planet.

Whether it’s offering your clients a digital bill rather than a paper one, or keeping digital files up your important documents rather than printing them, ditching paper can be one of the best things you do for your revenue.

Stick to a Budget

One of the biggest mistakes that a business can make is failing to create a budget. By setting goals for how much you hope to spend and making a concerted effort to stay within those limits, you have better control over your business costs.

Without having a clear idea of how much you’re spending, and how much you have left to spend, you lack the financial insight that can help you make the best possible financial decisions for your business.

 

Mistakes are a natural part of being human. After all, we have to make mistakes in order to learn from them. Yet, learning from others mistakes can help us avoid having to suffer the consequences instead of having to make them oursleves.

The most successful businesses are the ones that observe and take notes from their predecessors. To help increase your chances of success, here are some of the most important things that you should lookout for as an entrepreneur.

Expanding Too Soon

A lot of business owners have dreams of being an overnight success. And while this may seem exciting, the truth is that growing too quickly can be incredibly dangerous. It’s easy to lose track of your finances, and find yourself with too much incoming work without the manpower to handle it.

Many business owners choose a sale leaseback with the intentions of opening up new locations, only to find that they’re in way over their head and their business implodes.

Before you make any big moves, make sure that you know your numbers inside and out and have the data to prove that you’re capable of taking your business to the next level, otherwise it could be disastrous.

Setting Prices Too Low

It’s natural to want to set competitive prices that set you apart from other businesses. When you offer low prices, it’s almost impossible to make a profit. It’s important that you conduct enough market research so that you price in a sweet spot rather than too high or too low.

Believ it or not, people are willing to pay a higher price assuming what you offer is high quality. Focus on being the best at your industry and people will pay the price you ask for it.

Not Anticipating Taxes

A lot of new business owners aren’t prepared for the tax liability that comes along with their business. As such, they find themselves hit hard when April comes and they realize they owe much more then they thought. The best way to stay on top of tax time is to pay quarterly rather then yearly. Stay familiar with how much you owe as the year goes on, from state taxes to industry specific ones, so that you aren’t hit with any expensive surprises.

Not Hiring The Right Staff

Many new business owners are so concerned with staffing as quickly as possible that they skim over the hiring process. However, even though it may be time consuming to find the perfect fit, you’ll end up saving more money in the long run. By choosing employees that you can rely on, who are highly qualified, your have a much higher employee retainment rate, and ultimately create a better image for your business.

 

Running an online business can be surprisingly easy. You can manage everything from the comfort of your home, and costs like rent are not necessary. Yet, there are still mistakes that can cause the business to fail. One of the most common issues is a lack of good customer service. Your customers are the lifeblood of your business, so it’s important to keep them happy. Here are four customer service tips for your online business.

Deliver Goods Undamaged

It’s very easy to focus on fast delivery and neglect the condition of the product. A huge part of customer service is delivering what your customers pay for and your customers will not be happy if they receive a damaged product.

Luckily, this can easily be ensured. The best way to ensure safe deliveries is to hire a professional freight unloading service to handle things. This way your products will arrive at their destination in one piece and without any damage.

Alternatively, you can also take some preventative measures yourself, such as packing the items securely and using a tracked shipping service.

Respond Quickly to Customer Inquiries

When a customer contacts you, they expect a quick response. If you take too long to get back to them, they may go to your competitor.

You can guarantee quick responses by:

• Using a chat robot. A chat robot can answer common questions quickly and efficiently.
• Hiring customer service representatives. This is a more expensive option, but it will ensure that someone is always available to answer customer inquiries.
• Automating responses. Similar to a chat robot, you can use an autoresponder to send a pre-written response to customer inquiries.

Keep Customers Informed

One underrated way to provide good customer service is by keeping your customers informed.

If you have a website or blog, make sure to post updates regularly so your customers know what’s going on with your business. You can also use social media to keep them updated, and to answer any questions they might have.

Or, you can send weekly or monthly newsletters to update them on new products, services, or deals you are offering.

Here are some communication tips:

• Make the writing personal, as if you are speaking to a close friend.
• Be clear and concise.
• Use a friendly, yet professional, tone.
• Avoid using jargon or technical terms.
• Make sure to proofread before sending.

Offer Discounts and Coupons

There are few things customers like more than a bargain, so offer discounts and coupons to sweeten the deal. You can promote these offers on your website and social media channels, or send them out via email to your subscribers.

Just be sure to make the terms and conditions clear, so there are no surprises down the line.

Some ideas include:

• First purchase discounts.
• Bulk purchase discounts.
• Loyalty program coupons.
• Seasonal promotions.
• Random giveaways.

Running an online business is no easy feat. There are a lot of moving parts, and you have to be able to wear many hats. But by following these four customer service tips, you can set yourself up for success by having customer service at least figured out.

Business owners know as well as anyone that saving money is always a priority. Running a business isn’t cheap, and you need a healthy flow of dough to keep everything operating without issue.

Finding solid ways to cut back on costs will give you a financial advantage over the battle you’ll face in the first few years of starting a new business. Take a few moments now to check out a brief compilation of some helpful ways to save your business some money.

Utilize digital marketing to the max

Traditional marketing can be a bit more pricey than digital marketing methods. Some digital marketing outlets are even free if you do the content work yourself. Either way, digital marketing is much more affordable and more effective than traditional marketing methods.

Use your website to boost your visibility online, and consider adding a blog to your pages as well. A good blog can do a lot to draw interest from web users. Check out how this unloading service blog does a great job at relevance and education regarding the industry.

Consider remote work for your employees

Remote employees don’t cost your business nearly as much as it does to maintain an office space. Remote employees use their own hardware, and they don’t have to rely on your business to provide a safe and comfortable space for them to operate.

Even if you can’t take your business completely remote, you may benefit from offering remote opportunities. Consider the various ways in which your business could work in remote operations, and create a way for your business to save some money along the way.

Outsource jobs whenever it’s efficient

Outsourcing various elements of your operation to other capable businesses or individuals could also help you save some money on operations. Setting up a digital marketing campaign is a good example of where you can use outsourcing to cut costs.

You can outsource your digital efforts to a professional agency that specializes in that particular field of business, so you don’t have to worry about the issue or use any of the valuable time of your employees to get the job done.

Negotiate with your vendors

If your business works with various vendors to operate effectively, you do have the ability to haggle a bit with those resources. Vendors are not strangers to negotiations, and you can probably work something out to make the connection more beneficial for you both. You never know until you try.

Always work with a detailed budget

Overall, it’s a lot easier to save money for your business when you work on a budget. Make budgeting a priority in your business, and take the necessary steps to make sure your spending sits within the boundaries set by your budget.

 

Few could ignore the protests that surrounded UK’s finance day on November 2nd, which threatened to overshadow COP26. Green activist groups were protesting against ‘greenwashing,’ frustrated that the public has been misled about the success of green initiatives. 

Rishi Sunak made a speech in which he promised multi-trillion-dollar commitments. He said all the right things and even suggested that he would put the required pressure on the private sector. Surprisingly, he even said that the government would financially contribute more readily to green initiatives in developing countries. He then went on to avail that the United Kingdom would become the first Net Zero Aligned Financial Centre. What does this mean? In a nutshell, all financial institutions in Britain will soon be required to achieve net-zero emissions. Ambitious? Yes. Achievable? Perhaps.

His speech wasn’t warmly received by everyone, with a Net Zero Asset Managers report essentially suggesting that the gestures made by Sunak weren’t as they seemed. Specifically, the report highlighted that a bit of digging is enough to show that the numbers are misleading. As the UK continues its recovery from the pandemic, it’s not evident where the money will come from to fund climate change initiatives.

A commitment to net-zero 

Bringing our carbon emissions to net-zero won’t be cheap. However, it’s definitely cheaper than dealing with issues arising from climate change. For context:

• The UK has suffered to the tune of £300 billion due to the pandemic.
• Estimates indicate that the cost of getting the UK to net-zero would cost £1 trillion over 20 years.
• If the government doesn’t take any action, the cost is likely to be nearer £2 trillion to deal with climate change.

Officials at COP26 made it clear that preventative measures must be taken as soon as possible. But what does the UK government think? Rishi Sunak highlighted the following:

• 80% of the planet’s economy is committed to carbon neutrality or net-zero.
• The UK has promised $100 billion to support developing countries with reaching net-zero.
• An additional £100 million has been pledged to the Taskforce on Access to Climate Finance.
• Mandatory sustainability disclosures will be created to hold the private sector to account.

What the chancellor omitted from his speech 

Despite his grandiose pledges, Rishi Sunak omitted one essential aspect from his speech: how on earth will the UK government achieve these targets? The financial sector is hardly squeaky clean when it comes to pledges and ignoring loopholes, so there’s a lot still up in the air about how things will play out. Given that so many governments are failing on targets laid out by the Paris Agreement – due primarily to Covid-19 – it begs the question, how will this be any different?

Activist investing brings hope to the table 

While the government’s announcement that they will pressure the financial sector is welcome, it’s not enough. For real, lasting change, investors must pressure their companies from within and develop metrics that can be tracked and evaluated. This is where activist investing has such an important role to play. It forces companies into action and necessitates compliance with key ESG initiatives.

Activist investing platforms like Tulipshare are already doing what they can to drive change from within. This collective approach to investing is undoubtedly a step in the right direction, at least where holding the government and private sector to account is concerned.