Month: January 2020

You’ve heard of those business owners who save the first dollar they ever received from their first sale? Why do you think it is that this has been a common practice among business owners? It’s because it serves as a symbol for the difficulty and pure joy that comes from building a business. But, after you earn that first dollar, what next? Where does that money go? We firmly believe that investing back into your business is the best strategy to grow quickly and steadily. You may be wondering how you could make this happen, so we have a few tips and suggestions.

1. Business improvement

Most startups spend their initial profits in reinvesting, and your company should be no exception. The key to reinvesting is to have a sound strategy, not to necessarily devote a certain percentage of your profits. Your reinvestment efforts should be in line with your current strategic plan.

Most business owners choose to reinvest their profits in business improvements – for example, infrastructure, equipment, streamlining business processes, or finding ways to improve the customer experience. These are all valuable strategies because they can increase your profits in the long run, allowing you to expand business operations.

1. Develop Your Marketing

You have this amazing product or service that your business offers, but how can anyone know about it if you are not putting it out there? Marketing is the art of putting your products and services out into the world, in front of the eyes that need it most. Marketing is always a smart investment of profit, when it’s done well. Many of the startups we’ve seen over the years wait several months before they do any real investment into marketing. Sometimes it’s because they just don’t know where to start. You can’t lose by investing in performance metrics. Always keep track of your campaigns and adjust them accordingly. If you have little experience with marketing, consider outsourcing to an agency.

2. Evolving Your Team

Maybe you’re starting off as a 1 Man/Woman Army, trying to get everything done yourself. If it hasn’t happened already, you will run into tasks that eat up your time and mental wellbeing, things that could be handled by hiring staff. This is a fantastic use of your funds. If you already have a team in place, consider how you can reward and motivate them. Your team helps to carry the productivity along and work towards success, so you want to make sure they feel valued. Incentives for hard work, team building activities, special lunches and coaching are great uses of your investment funds. The better your team is prepared and motivated, the faster your business will reach success!

3. Improve Your Business Savvy

Find ways that you can improve yourself in subject matter expertise. For example, many startups are spearheaded by people with a good eye for innovation but who don’t necessarily know how to manage people. This is actually one of the most common criticisms founders face. Classes on management or basic business operations can be invaluable for people who don’t come from a formal business background. If you feel that you already have a pretty good business management education, think outside the box and learn about your industry. Data keeps on coming in, so why not try your best to stay on top of if?

4. Creating a Cash Buffer

New businesses especially forget to create a buffer. With all the excitement and expense of starting a new business, it just gets lost in the shuffle. While reinvesting in your business is great (and necessary), make sure you’re sitting on enough cash to handle problems that may arise. While your business insurance policies will cover the disasters and catastrophes, it’s always advisable to have liquidity available for when you really need it.

Looking to Start a Business?

With the opportunities for small businesses booming, why wait another moment. What else is keeping you down? Financial restraints have been a complaint for many of the dreamers, limiting themselves to their immediate funds. There is an alternative. If you have the dreams and decent credit, Small Business Loans and No Doc Loans are available to you. Our goal is to provide you with the knowledge you need and the resources available to make your dream a reality. Give us a call – we have the education and the perspective to help you obtain the loans you need for your small business. Visit our website or give us a call to find out what financial backing is available to make your business soar!

Unsecured Finances has over 10 years in the consulting business! We specialized in educating and assisting clients on acquiring Unsecured Business Loans and Start-Up Business Specialty Loans including; Unsecured No Documentation (No-Doc Stated Income) Loans, Unsecured Business Loans, and Unsecured Start-Up Business Loans and Lines of Credit from $10,000 to $500,000 without Assets.

Apply on our website to find out if you qualify, or call today for a free consultation: 1-888-294-2584

Investing in your team is an important part of creating an engaged workforce and an effective way of reducing turnover for your business. It is important to understand that an investment in your team can range from personal development to financial incentives, to activities that bring ‘happiness’. The ultimate aim is that you need to show genuine care towards your employees, and in return, they will take care of your business. Firstly, you must invest in their personal and professional development. Typically you will see a positive correlation between personal and professional progress. 

The fact is, if you’re not investing in your people, you’re not investing in the future of your business. Investing in your employees is an important part of creating an engaged workforce and an effective way of reducing turnover for your business. Start using these tips to invest in your staff and reduce employee turnover before it takes a turn on your profits (and your workplace culture). Once you create your strategy for investing in your workforce, we can help your business get the financial structure you need to get the ball rolling. 

1. Development ; Personal & Professional

The reality is, many people feel disconnected and disengaged at work, and a big part of that is due to a lack of challenges and development. When workers feel like they’re stagnating or heading towards a dead-end, your employees will undoubtedly look for employment opportunities elsewhere.

So, how can you invest in your team’s personal and professional development and ensure this doesn’t happen? One idea to consider is something called an Individual Development Plan (IDP). An IDP is a fantastic tool to help employees set and reach both short- and long-term goals. IDPs empower individuals to ask themselves, “Where am I now, where do I want to be, and how will I get there?”

To really get the most out of each IDP, managers and their direct reports need to conduct some type of monthly check-in. If you aren’t helping your employees consistently track against their goals, then they won’t make any real progress. Schedule a monthly chat to help them hold themselves accountable to their goals and give them direction on how to make continued improvements to achieve them.

2. Quick Integration of New Hires

More than half of all employees who quit voluntarily do so within their first year. One of the top reasons? Lack of engagement. While your instinct may be to get new employees working as quickly as possible, it’s important for them to feel plugged into their job from day one. Getting new hires comfortable with their roles and responsibilities before the actual work begins can go a long way in reducing employee turnover. The next time you hire a new employee, make sure they receive:

• Clear First Day Agenda
• Business Values Overview
• Insight into Their Contribution to the Big Picture
• Initial Expectations for Their Role
• Opportunity for Feedback and Questions
• Meet & Greet with Coworkers

3. Work/Life Balance as a Priority 

Building a business doesn’t leave much time for sleep, but don’t forget that your employees’ performance directly impacts your success. They’re often the public face of your work, interacting with customers and doing the day-to-day tasks to keep things running smoothly. You can’t afford to burn them out.

If you keep asking more from employees than they’re physically able to give or expect them to sacrifice more than they expected or want to, they won’t stick around for long. Do your best to avoid scheduling long shifts back to back or asking them to work regular overtime. Be flexible when they request time off. Your business may be your life, but the people working for you have their own lives outside of work as well.

4. Team Building Activities

While you obviously can’t force friendships in the workplace, there are ways you can foster them. Events like scavenger hunts or playing team sports are some great ways to get everyone working together. They both get people into groups and require people to work together to achieve a common goal (just like your business). You might also want to consider doing a yearly team offsite. Offsites give your team a chance to step away from the day-to-day work and build camaraderie. Plus they’re a ton of fun and can give your team something special to look forward to each year.

5. Competitive Compensation

You aren’t the only one concerned about your bottom line. Nearly 90 percent of working Americans are worried about finances. Paying minimum wage won’t be enough to attract the most qualified job applicants or convince your best employees to stay.

Check out Payscale and Glassdoor for average pay ranges based on role, industry, and location. And remember: compensation includes more than just hourly pay. You may not be able to give everyone a raise, but you may be able to add in benefits like extra paid time off, more flexible work options, or an employee stock option program (ESOP).

Note: Reevaluate pay at least once a year. Once you know where you stand as far as employee compensation, set a reminder to check back in annually. More than 1 in 3 employees will look for a new job if they don’t receive a raise, and almost half expect a raise in the next year. If you aren’t compensating your employees competitively, someone else will.

6. Perks & Benefits

When it comes to perks and benefits for your employees, there is no magic bullet. In order for your perks to be effective in keeping your employees happy, they need to be tailored to their specific needs and desires.

For example, if your team works around the clock and regularly puts in overtime, a service like car washes and dry cleaning would help them save time in their personal lives. If you have several members of your staff with young children, consider childcare services. You can also offer a stipend that goes towards things like books, conferences, and courses that are related to personal or professional development.

Another perk that most employees can rally around is free food. A survey conducted by Peapod found that 67% of full-time employees with access to free food at work reported being “very” or “extremely” happy at their current job. 

7. Healthier Work Environment

Researchers from Harvard found that medical costs decrease by about $3.27 for every dollar spent on wellness programs. In addition, absenteeism costs are reduced by about $2.73 for every dollar spent on wellness.

When you also consider that 87% of employees consider health and wellness offerings when they choose an employer, it’s obvious that focusing on health at work is important to both the employee and employer.

8. Weekly Recognition Events and Monthly Achievement Awards

The #1 reason why most Americans leave their jobs is because they don’t feel appreciated at work. While praise and recognition aren’t the only things that motivate employees, being recognized for hard work goes a long way. To really succeed in creating an environment where employees consistently feel appreciated, try integrating recognition into weekly and monthly activities. Something as simple as a weekly team meeting to recognize excellent work or achievement by another member of the organization can be super impactful.

9. Create a Feedback Culture

Taken by surprise when your last employee quit? Not a good sign. The moment you realize an employee is unhappy shouldn’t be when they turn in their resignation, especially not on a small team. Good workplace communication means that you feel comfortable showing employees where they can do better and your employees feel safe enough to speak up when something isn’t working for them. After all, everyone needs feedback to improve. 

One simple way to gather feedback is by sending out a survey. Try an email survey or pass out paper surveys at the beginning of a shift and let employees fill them in during downtime. Ask questions about how engaged they feel at work, what they enjoy doing, what they believe is working well, and what could be better. Then take some time to sort through their answers afterward. Keep an eye out for any trends and overall levels of engagement.

The Investment

Once you decide the best strategies for creating a strong, dedicated and happy team, you can make the investment. You can never go wrong with taking the time and budget to invest into your team. To run a successful business, you have to have a strong team, one that is reliable and motivated to perform to the best of their ability. We have the experience to help you get the financial structure to make it all possible. So what are you waiting for? Give us a call to find out how much you will be able to invest into your team and your future success. 

Looking to Start a Business?

With the opportunities for small businesses booming, why wait another moment. What else is keeping you down? Financial restraints have been a complaint for many of the dreamers, limiting themselves to their immediate funds. There is an alternative. If you have the dreams and decent credit, Small Business Loans and No Doc Loans are available to you. Our goal is to provide you with the knowledge you need and the resources available to make your dream a reality. Give us a call – we have the education and the perspective to help you obtain the loans you need for your small business. Visit our website or give us a call to find out what financial backing is available to make your business soar!

Unsecured Finances has over 10 years in the consulting business! We specialized in educating and assisting clients on acquiring Unsecured Business Loans and Start-Up Business Specialty Loans including; Unsecured No Documentation (No-Doc Stated Income) Loans, Unsecured Business Loans, and Unsecured Start-Up Business Loans and Lines of Credit from $10,000 to $500,000 without Assets.

Apply on our website to find out if you qualify, or call today for a free consultation: 1-888-294-2584

So it’s the New Year and time to kick it into high gear! When it comes to the success of your business, your marketing really impacts the movement of your products or services. It’s all wonderful and great if you have something worth promoting – perhaps the best thing out there – but it won’t matter at all if no one knows about it! Investing in your marketing strategy makes all the difference. How was your strategy last year? Did you have a strategy in place? It’s never too late to begin, and your business will thank you for it. So where to begin? We have a few tips to help you know what efforts your marketing dollars should be focusing on. Don’t have any marketing dollars? Oh, why we can certainly help you out there!

Branding

Who are you as a business? What is your voice, feel, vibe? What are your values, your mission? At the very least, do you have a logo? To use a great designer with imagination and skill, it could cost a pretty little penny to get your business an entire “branding suite”, but we can promise that it’s well worth the pricetag. Your branding determines the initial perception that your audience has about your business. It communicates so many things, most of which is how professional you are. If a potential customer or client sees a sloppy, old, outdated logo, that’s the perception they will have about your business – sloppy, old and outdated. Your branding gives you a certain amount of control over the first opinion someone has about your business, so take charge and invest in good branding. 

Social Media

At this point in the game, if your business isn’t on social media – shame on you! There are an extremely extremely limited amount of industries that are the exception to this rule, and we would wager to guess that you aren’t one of them. That being the case, getting the basics of your business onto social media is not a matter of dollars spent, just time. Depending on your business, some social media platforms may be a better fit for you than others, so do your research. It’s not even a matter of being on all the platforms, just the select few that will most likely benefit your business. This is a great example of where your branding investment will come into play. The goal is to use your branding suite across all social media platforms and your website, to maintain a professional look through consistency. If executed well, you just made your business that much more appealing. 

Videos and Photos

The next step to leveling up all of your marketing – from social media platforms, to website, to print marketing and future advertising – is getting good photos and video. We are living in a very much visual society these days. Your audience likely has a large portion with a very short attention span, and they say on average you have 3 seconds to get someone’s attention. Strong imagery is where it’s at. For some industries, they opt for stock photos, but let’s be honest – there comes a point where another business (if not many others) have the same photos as you. It’s one thousand percent more effective and personal to hire a professional photographer to photograph your business periodically, and even take video. Whether it’s product photos, location or business facility images, or staff and customer interactions, there are unlimited amounts of opportunities to capture the essence of your business through good solid photographs. 

Paid-Ads

Once you have all the previous marketing investments in place, all those pieces lay a strong foundation for your paid-ads. Many people don’t think about the cost of paid ads when they sign up with a marketing company. Most often, there is not a built-in budget, and the ad budget is determined by the client after consultation with the marketing company. While a proper ad budget can cost you, it’s one of the greatest utilizations of your marketing budget. When ads have the right amount of backing, magic happens. 

While these are just a few pillars of your marketing strategy, there are so many other elements to evolve and elevate your business – it all comes down to budget. However, marketing is one of those vitals parts of your business that you can’t afford to skip. Fortunately, we can help you invest into your marketing by assisting in getting you the funds you need!

Looking to Start a Business?

With the opportunities for small businesses booming, why wait another moment. What else is keeping you down? Financial restraints have been a complaint for many of the dreamers, limiting themselves to their immediate funds. There is an alternative. If you have the dreams and decent credit, Small Business Loans and No Doc Loans are available to you. Our goal is to provide you with the knowledge you need and the resources available to make your dream a reality. Give us a call – we have the education and the perspective to help you obtain the loans you need for your small business. Visit our website or give us a call to find out what financial backing is available to make your business soar!

Unsecured Finances has over 10 years in the consulting business! We specialized in educating and assisting clients on acquiring Unsecured Business Loans and Start-Up Business Specialty Loans including; Unsecured No Documentation (No-Doc Stated Income) Loans, Unsecured Business Loans, and Unsecured Start-Up Business Loans and Lines of Credit from $10,000 to $500,000 without Assets.

Apply on our website to find out if you qualify, or call today for a free consultation: 1-888-294-2584