4 Ways to Make Your Small Business Better

Starting a small business is amazing. Watching it grow is arguably even better. However, sometimes you can feel like your small business is lacking. It can be easy to get caught up in all the things you have to do to successfully run your business. Though, it is important to simply take a step back and make sure you’re doing everything possible to grow your business.

If you feel like your business needs a boost, check out these four ways to make your small business better from your Corporate Business Solution Consultants.

  1. Get a Mentor

There is not a single person in the world that is perfect at every aspect of running a business. Perhaps you know a lot about your chosen industry, but the accounting side is confusing for you. Maybe you love the behind-the-scenes action but find customer interaction difficult.

Having a successful mentor will help you in any of the areas where you fall short. Networking is the perfect way to meet people who can help you. In any industry, having a mentor by your side can make the biggest difference.

  1. Motivate your Team

Staff needs motivation. It is a well-known fact that even the best team requires firing up sometimes. Make sure that in these teams you work with your team as a leader and a friend. Keep your team dedicated to your company by providing fun activities where they can bond as a group. Allow them a space to be passionate and creative. Even the best employees may find it difficult at times.

Be there for them during these times to let them know everything is okay. Communication and motivation never die.

  1. Recharge your Batteries

If you must wait for a time where you have nothing to do, you will never take a break. It is incredibly easy to become so enthralled in your business life that you neglect your breaks altogether. Soon enough you will find that all you do is check your emails and make calls.

When you don’t take time off, you end up losing sight of the big picture as well as your dreams. You will also find that you become less productive and less creative. Be the best you by taking some time off.

  1. Make Quality a Priority

If your product isn’t good, all the marketing materials and high-quality staff in the world won’t save you. Make sure that your business is doing great work and delivering something you’re extremely proud of.

If your product isn’t good, neither is your business.

The Bottom Line 

You should always be trying to better your business. Then, and only then, is it easy to see just how beneficial everyone is toward the common goals of your small business. You need to remember that your whole team is in this together.

If your business needs a boost or is feeling a little stale, it may be time to change things up!

 

Does Your Small Business Need Live Chat?

Live chat is becoming a quintessential part of small businesses globally. It is much like an immediate interactive mail-in design. The job of live chat is to sit at the bottom corner of your website waiting for customers who need help.

Live chat supports your customers who need help instantly. Live chat can also increase your sales drastically. When people can gain immediate access to an answer, they are far more likely to buy the product in question.

Many small businesses love it for closing sales and increasing revenue. Perhaps you have seen the possibilities of live chat, but you don’t have the staff count to warrant it. However, live chat doesn’t always need staff 24/7 to work.

Find out how live chat can help your business and whether you need it or not with this article from Reviews for Corporate Business Solutions.

Does your small business need live chat?

When it comes to live chats, you need to decide if your small business needs live chat. Here are some great examples of small businesses that can use live chat:

  • Hospitality and medical- A business that takes bookings or reservations like hotels or restaurants
  • Online retailers- A business that sells products online
  • Consultants and service providers- A business that offers business services 

If you run one of the aforementioned businesses, live chat is a great tool. However, if you get very little website traffic, life chat likely isn’t the best thing for your business. If you’re unsure, many businesses are offering free live chat trials. You have nothing to lose.

Set specific hours

If you run a smaller team, manage your customers’ expectations by setting specific hours for your live chat. Unless you run a large eCommerce store, people don’t expect small businesses to run 24/7. However, they don’t want to open a live chat only to be left with no response.

To ensure your customers aren’t disappointed, post your live chat business hours on the live chat as well as your website. You can ask the person to leave a message for you to reply to later. While this may defeat the real purpose of live chat, it is still a helpful business tool.

Either way, you’re making it easy for your customers to get in contact. This is far quicker than composing an email or trying to find your contact details. Just make sure that you reply to the message as soon as possible.

Create a FAQ page or knowledge base

Once you have been running your business for a while, you will develop an understanding of the types of questions people ask. If you can’t have a 24/7 live chat, give your customers a FAQ page or knowledge base to consult if they are confused.

If they are stuck, they can then message you on the live chat.

Live chat can be a great tool for small businesses to harness. There are no downsides. If customer service matters to you, live chat is a great next step to take. 

 

 

 

 

How to Save Time on Social Media While Running A Small Business

If you want to see the best out of your business, using social media as a form of marketing is your best bet. Smart business owners all over the world are leveraging the use of social media to give their business the boost it needs. If you aren’t using social media, you are doing your business a disservice.

A social media marketing system is crucial in every business. Without one, you could be wasting your time and money with no reward. Before you know it, you could be running at a loss due to poor marketing efforts.

If you want to save time on social media, check out these hot tips from your Corporate Business Solutions Consultants. Put these tips into play to get the best out of your social media efforts.

Create a calendar

Making time for social media is important. However, getting into a routine with your social media can be hard. Without organization, you begin to lose afternoons, mornings, and nights to the endless cycle.

By creating a social media calendar and planning a strategy, you can bring order to your social media schedule. It is a simple way to put your activities into place and limit the time invested. You can choose how you want to implement this.

You can be as detailed or as broad as you like. If your social content is planned out, it will be a breeze. You will also regain your time to develop consistency.

Always revisit your strategy

Always revisit your social media strategy to ensure that it is working. There is nothing worse than continuing with activities that don’t work for your business. Just because someone claims that it works, that doesn’t mean it will work for your business.

Social media is constantly evolving. That is why nothing is worse than remaining stagnant with your social media strategy. It always pays to experiment and try brand new approaches. To try something new by adding pictures to your posts or creating videos.

You could even try using hashtags or links. If you plan to change up your strategy, change only one thing at a time. That way, you can identify what is working and what isn’t. After you have identified that, double down on what works and drop what doesn’t.

Be consistent

Social media is all about quality. While some people will say it is better to post more than less, it comes down to more than that. People do want to hear from you. However, they would prefer high-quality content over low-quality content.

For example, you could post four photos per week that are low quality and get little engagement. On the other hand, you could post once or twice per week with great content and get a lot of engagement.

Don’t be pressured into posting too much.

Social media is a wonderful tool to use for your small business when used properly. If you’re looking for good results for free, social media is the way to go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to Motivate Your Employees Through Goal Setting

In any business, big or small, there will always be days where everyone is feeling a little down. Sometimes a lack of motivation strikes, and everyone is lacking the drive they need to get through the day. However, there are steps you can take to deal with this.

If you’re noticing a lack of motivation in your employees, you must make them feel passionate about their work environment and efforts. Positive employee engagement is the perfect way to motivate your employees. Motivating your employees doesn’t have to be a challenge.

Motivating your employees through goal setting is proving to be a great mood booster. Corporate Business Solutions has put together some of the ways to motivate your employees through goal setting.

Set challenging yet achievable goals

When setting goals for your employees, you want to ensure that they are challenging yet still achievable. They must be practical and realistic, as well. By blindly setting a goal, you will be setting your employees up for failure.

Even if they can achieve it, it will take far longer than a well-thought-out goal. By setting unrealistic goals, you will cause your employees to hit a wall. That means you will be achieving the exact opposite of what you wanted.

Set long – and short-term goals

When people can see their achievements, they become more motivated. By setting both short- and long-term goals, your employees will be able to see their achievements coming to fruition. They will then become more excited about their future goals.

Setting both long- and short-term goals will build experience, confidence, and skillsets for future projects.

Reward your employees

When your employees accomplish their goals, reward them for all their hard work. Their reward could be as simple as a round of applause. Perhaps you could even throw an office party. By recognizing your teams’ achievements, they will become even more motivated for their next project.

Give feedback

Being able to provide feedback to your employees is of the utmost importance. Feedback also helps to create a more transparent process. By providing your employees with feedback, you will notice fewer hiccups throughout the project.

If someone’s performance is not easily quantifiable, make sure to provide them with feedback.

Be flexible

Employees will always face challenges when trying to complete goals. After all, expect the unexpected, right? For the sake of your employees, make sure you are flexible enough to meet their hurdles with a kind mindset. This will show them that you believe in their abilities.

It will also teach your employees that they can trust you even when things aren’t ideal. Have enough flexibility to maneuver and move forward when things don’t go to plan.

Achieving goals is a great way to feel worthy. That is why setting them can improve motivation in the workplace. By following the steps above, you can ensure that motivation in the workplace will be soaring in no time.

If you’ve noticed your employees lacking motivation, try goal setting to get them back on track.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How Can Upselling Benefit My Small Business?

Without knowing it, we deal with upselling every day. Have you ever been through a McDonald’s drive-through only to be asked if you like to upgrade into a meal? When you’re a customer, noticing an upsell attempt is easy.

That is why it is hard to put an upselling strategy into place as a business. You relate to all the times people have tried to upsell you. You also remember just how annoying it can be.

However, it doesn’t have to be annoying. There are ways to effectively upsell without annoying. Check out this small guide from CBS-CBS.com to learn how upselling can benefit your small business.

What is upselling?

Upselling is the act of offering an additional product, feature, or service to a customer or client after they have decided to purchase from you. Upselling benefits your business by increasing the profitability and size of each sale.

Upselling comes into play when the customer has already signaled intent to purchase and is ready to complete the sale. They are already interested in doing business with you. Now, all you need to do is improve the bottom line to get customers to add to their purchases.

Once you learn how to identify it, you will see that this technique is used every day.

How to make upselling benefit your business

Check out these three things you have to know to make upselling benefit your business:

Understand your costs

Before trying to upsell, you need a good understanding of your profits. To do it correctly, you must understand:

  • The cost of your products and services- How much does it cost to deliver and produce your product?
  • The cost of customer acquisition- How much does it cost for you to acquire a new customer? 

When figuring this out, talk to an accountant or bookkeeper to further identify your costs. Don’t just consider the basic materials. Ensure that you consider packaging, commissions, labor, branding, and any other costs.

Identify your upselling goals

Once you understand your costs, separate your products and services into two margins. The high-profit margin, and the low-profit margin. Then, you need to pick out your high-margin items to upsell. That is where you will get the most leverage.

It is a good idea to identify your upselling goals and understand how much you want to profit from the upsell. With upselling, you get more profit for little effort. After all, upselling is nothing more than simply asking questions.

Create intriguing offers

When upselling, ensure that you pick out offers that are more than complementary. The basic offers as well as the upsell should appeal to the same buyer. However, the items should remain unique enough that the buyer sees the added value.

By creating intriguing offers, your customers will be more likely to accept your upsell attempt.

The bottom line

Make sure that you’re not too pushy or overbearing. Some customers will jump at the opportunity while others remain uninterested. If you push too hard, you could turn your customer off completely.

 

Always let the buyer make their own decisions.

 

 

 

 

5 Examples of Small Business Goals

Setting goals is an essential part of every single business. It can help you focus on your business. In turn, achieve the results you have worked hard for. If you start setting goals now, you will be able to achieve them far faster. 

The importance of setting goals cannot be overstated. This does apply to companies as well. Though, it is far more applicable to small businesses since they have fewer resources available. By setting goals, you can optimize the few resources you do have available to you.

Setting goals is the perfect way to improve your focus. Then, you can use that focus to keep everyone motivated and increase morale in the workplace. Check out these 5 examples of small business goals from CBS-CBS.com to get the ball rolling.

Create a new product/service

Creating a new product or service is the perfect way to push your business. One great goal you can set is to create a new product or service within a specific amount of time. Usually, a good time frame is six months or a year. 

It will excite your existing customers while also attracting new ones.

Open a new location

If your business is doing well, this goal is great for you. Opening a new location is an exciting and fruitful time. However, to succeed in your location, you must remember how you first got there. 

Perhaps create a template to outline where you went wrong/right the first time. It will help you determine your next steps.

Increase your response time 

Depending on the size of your customer base, you may be able to set a goal to increase your response time. It is certainly attainable for many businesses. If you run a small business with local customers, it should be as easy as 1,2,3. 

You may struggle if your business is slightly bigger. However, there are many ways you can automate the process as well. 

Reduce ongoing expenses

This is a very fitting goal for many small businesses. After all, who doesn’t want to reduce their ongoing expenses? When setting this goal, make sure you are incredibly specific about how you plan to reduce your costs. 

You may be able to reduce ongoing expenses by:

    • Paying off debt
    • Automating more of your business
    • Changing the way your business operates

Increase productivity within your business

Productivity can certainly make or break your business. That is why it is always a good idea to search for new ways to improve it. You can become more productive by eliminating any distractions or improving the way you use technology. 

Productivity apps are also a fantastic way to increase your productivity.

Once you have put together some goals, you can inject them into your small business. A good goal is one that is attainable, measurable, and relevant. Don’t forget, achieving goals is always something that should be celebrated.

When you tick a goal off your list, take the chance to celebrate the success. 

How Text Message Marketing Can Help Your Business

Text messaging is often seen as a way for people to contact their friends. Did you know that it is a powerful marketing tool? The majority of people all over the world own mobile phones.

Most of them use their mobile phones to send and receive text messages. After all, phones are for texting more than they are for social media. On top of that, mobile phones always alert their owner when they receive a text message. 

Usually, those text messages get read mere seconds or minutes after delivery. Though, many business owners have avoided text message marketing because they think it is ineffective. Realistically, it is the best form of marketing. It is affordable, easy to use, and valuable.

Reviews for Corporate Business Solutions have three ways that text message marketing can help your business.

  1. It is very affordable

Text message marketing is a great way to market your business affordably. Small business owners can benefit greatly from this form of marketing. Instead of spending hours creating marketing content, a text message is cheaper, quicker, and easier to send out.

It could also be far more effective. While prices vary, many platforms will allow you to send text messages for only a few cents per text. There are also bulk packages that send hundreds or thousands of text messages per month for only a fraction of the cost you usually pay for marketing.

  1. It is quick

Many people like text message marketing because of the speed for both the advertiser and consumer. Text messages are usually a few sentences long, whereas email marketing can be lengthy. That means that people are far more likely to read your text message and act on it.

The consumer can also choose when they want to read the text. Telephone calls, on the other hand, can be intrusive and disruptive. On top of that, text messages don’t take long to plan or send. Overall, they are far quicker in many ways than other forms of marketing.

  1. It has a further reach

Pretty much every person in the world has a mobile phone these days. That means that text messaging casts quite a wide net. Email marketing is much the same. The only difference is that text messages usually feel more direct, personal, and urgent than emails.

For example, a promotion delivered right to your phone number would feel far more personal than a promotion to your email address that people can easily find. The urgency of texts can help your business reach far more people in a quicker time frame.

Not many people receive promotions in their texts.

Overall, text message marketing is an easy, affordable, quick, and reliable way to promote your business. It is proving time and time again to be a powerful marketing tool, especially for small businesses. If you are looking for a promotional tool that is effective and affordable, there is no better option than text message marketing.

How to Use Facebook to Promote Your Small Business

 

Facebook is one of the best free marketing tools for small businesses. If you are looking to engage your customers or attract new ones, Facebook is an outstanding platform. However, it isn’t as easy as simply posting a photo and leaving it at that. 

You must follow the guidelines to ensure that you get the best out of your advertising. Facebook offers many great promotion tools. To maximize your promotion efforts, you should use them as much as possible.

Every small business should use social media as much as possible, especially Facebook. It has several great advertisement options, groups, statistics, and paid promotions, among other things. Though, with so many ways to promote your business, it can be hard to find a starting point.

To help you out, Corporate Business Solutions Consultants have three easy ways to promote your business on Facebook.

 

  • Post regularly

 

There is nothing worse than finding a business on Facebook that hasn’t posted since 2018. That is why posting regularly is so important. Using Facebook to promote your business is far more than just making a business page. You need to ensure that you are posting regularly for your customers.

Once per day is a good rule of thumb or every 2-3 days is a great option. It is a fine line when it comes to posting because both too much and too little can be bad for your business. Posting regularly is incredibly important. Though, it is just as important to post good quality content.

If you can only post good quality content 1-2 times a week, that is better than posting bad quality content every day. As stated before, it is a fine line. 

 

  • Post high-quality content

 

What you post on your Facebook page is highly important. Nobody wants to visit your Facebook page and see low-quality photos. Even worse, nobody wants to read captions that are riddled with spelling errors or are hard to read. 

Here are some great ways to ensure that you are posting high-quality content:

 

  • Post different content- Don’t always post the same thing. Make sure you have a variety of posts on your Facebook page. Including gifs, photos, videos, blogs, and even press releases. Your audience will be far more captivated when you post different things all the time.
  • Ask questions- People love to feel included. That is why asking questions is a great way to engage your audience. At the end of each post, try asking a question. For example: “Check out this great blog that outlines the importance of stress management in the workplace. How do you manage your stress at work?”
  • Run a giveaway or contest- Your page will become far more engaging when you run contests or giveaways. By offering the opportunity to win a prize, you can boost sales while increasing your engagement levels.

 

  • Create a strategy- When posting on Facebook, try creating a strategy. It should complement your marketing, sales, and public relations activities. Content calendars are a great way to create a strategy that works for you.

It can also help you understand your strategy better to get the best out of your promotions. Things to add to the calendar should include important holidays, sales, business announcements, and other important dates.

 

Starting Your Dream Business – A Step-by-Step Guide

Starting a new business is an exciting and uplifting process. There is so much to do, think about, and plan. However, you must know where to start and how you plan to achieve success. Otherwise, your plan for success may not reach the heights you first thought it would.

Creating a logo or business plan is obvious, but people rarely remember the equally important parts that aren’t often spoken about. Rather than playing a guessing game or ‘going with the flow’, you need to have a detailed plan. That way, you can ensure that you have given your business the best chance at success.

Check out these three steps compiled by Corporate Business Solutions to start your dream business properly.

 

  • Build a great team

 

A business is only as good as the team running it. Unless you plan to run your business by yourself, you need to gather a great team. Many successful CEOs will tell you that you need to spend just as much time on your employees as you do your products.

A good team should be:

  • Efficient
  • Reliable
  • Educated
  • Productive
  • Organized
  • Supportive
  • Good at communicating
  • Cooperative
  • Respectful

These are all great features of a team that will see success.

 

  • Refine your idea

 

Your first plan should always be considered a rough draft, not a final copy. There will be things from your draft that are still relevant, though you will likely need to add some things in whilst taking some out. To refine your idea, you can do things such as:

  • Look at what current brand leaders are doing
  • Figure how you can be different
  • Research businesses offering the same (or similar) service
  • Ask for feedback on your idea
  • Do your research
  • Consider the current markets

A good place to start is to consider why, who, and what. Why you’re doing it, who your target customers are, and what your business solves.

 

  • Assess your financial situation

 

Every business will need a start-up cost. By assessing your financial situation, you will gain a clearer understanding of what that cost may look like. Consider if you will need to borrow the money or if you can cover your start-up cost. 

Then, you will likely have to consider whether or not you plan to leave your current job. If so, you will need to ensure that you have enough money to get by until you make a profit. That is why it is best to figure out your start-up costs straight away.

Many businesses fail because they run out of money before they can turn a profit. It never hurts to overestimate your start-up costs because it can sometimes be a while before you turn a profit. If you overestimate, there is always room if something goes wrong.

If you follow this guide, your business has a good chance to succeed. When starting, make sure you don’t cut corners. Cut corners will always come back to haunt you. 

 

3 Ways to Create Time for Your Side Hustle 

Even if only for a short time, every person in this world has had a business idea. There are a plethora of people out there who have great business ideas that are destined to be good. You could even be one of those people. However, very few people continue the process to see their business succeed.

Perhaps they have been talked out of it, or maybe they just didn’t have the time. Whatever the reason is, every business deserves a decent chance at success. So, what is it that is keeping you from taking the next step? If it is time, we have you covered.

If a lack of time is to blame, check out these 3 tips from your Corporate Business Solutions Consultants that will help you create time for your side hustle.

Join groups

There is no better way to create time for your business than to find a group of like-minded people to discuss it with. Even meeting up once a month to discuss strategies and encourage each other will help to create valuable time for your side hustle. This works well because it holds you accountable to other people and that can give you the extra push you need.

It can be hard to gain and keep motivation if the only person holding you accountable is you.

Outsource

Many successful people outsource work to get help with their side hustle. For example, reaching out to platforms with freelancers or simply automating most of your social media can help drastically. Usually, it will cost you money, but it isn’t the worst when it comes to saving time.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed or stressed, outsourcing work is completely okay. There is nothing to be ashamed of, so don’t be hard on yourself.

Make appointments

By making appointments, it doesn’t mean you should book appointments and lose even more time. What it means is that you should consider the time you work on your side hustle as an appointment. That way, you have a set start and finish time that you have to be held accountable for.

Try to make the most of this time. Emails, messages, and returning phone calls can wait. This is the time you want to spend working on your side hustle alone. How you prioritize your time will make all of the difference in the long run. Creating a list of tasks is also incredibly helpful.

With these three helpful ways to create more time for your side hustle, you will also have more time for friends, family, and play. Just a few hours every week to work on your side hustle will bring results and soon enough, everything will begin to fall into place for you. Even if you only have five free hours every week, that calculates to 260 hours per year that you spent wisely.

Your dream life isn’t too far away, so keep up the hard work.