Business

The business market is full of risks that can affect any business. From a new venture going wrong to physical damage of property to competitors getting ahead with breakthrough innovations, there are many risks that a business can face at any time. If you are not prepared, risks can lead to losses in business. On the other hand, with proper implementation, risk management can be a successful tool to plan for the future and ensure success.

Risk management should be viewed as a useful means of planning for the future. Nobody knows what the future holds, but it is better to be prepared than sitting back and wait. With proper risk assessment and a good approach, a business can be successfully safeguarded from risks. If you want the business to succeed, then you need to consider risk management. Here are some strategic ways to achieve this in your business.

1. Identify and categorize your risks

The risks you may face are diverse, and the likelihood of happening differs. Identify the various risks you are likely to face and do something to stop or mitigate them. The risks, most likely to occur, are the ones you should prioritize. Also, look at the financial effect of the risk to your business and handle those likely to cause the most financial impact urgently. Identifying risks is the very first step in risk management.

2. Restructure the company’s ownership structure

In companies registered as sole proprietorships, the liability of everything lies on the owner. To avoid the risk of one person being held liable for issues arising from the company’s ownership, change it. This reduces the liability of each owner hence reducing the impact of any issues that may arise.

3. Get insured

Insurance takes the worry out of risks. It might not be possible to avoid all risks entirely but being ready is good. Get insured by companies such as Arthur J Gallagher brokers, and you can rest easy knowing that your business is not liable for anything. The risk is transferred to the insurer, so if anything happens, you will not be at a loss.

4. Create measures to reduce risk

If you are not able to stop a risk, the best thing you can do is to reduce it. Come up with measures to reduce risks and their impact. This is the best approach for risks that cannot be stopped, or their stoppage would lead to financial losses. For instance, if a client keeps paying late, you could introduce an incentive for early payments from this client.

5. Be careful with innovations

Innovation is very vital to any business, and it may be the solution that gets your business ahead of your competitors. However, innovative ideas that are implemented wrongly can have disastrous impacts. Reduce the risk associated with innovations by having measures in place throughout the process of planning for and implementing the new venture.

6. Get a risk management team together

You are good at your business, but how much do you know about risk management? Probably not much! What you must do is seek the services of a professional risk manager. This person will work with the leaders of the various departments in the company to assess your risks. After this, they will advise on the right mitigation steps to take.

There you have it. These strategic approaches to safeguard your business from risks will help your business stay safe from future risks. Whether it is physical risks or business risks, you need to be prepared and make the right decision on how to handle each risk. Use these methods, and you will soon be making gains where you would have made losses due to unmeasured risks. Take a note on how CRM data and SFMC email studio can help you to build better email marketing campaigns.

There have been a lot of changes across the globe in recent months. The Covid-19 pandemic has forced the world to adapt to a new way of life.

While it might sound easy to retreat indoors and hunker down for a few months, that isn’t feasible for many businesses. In fact, the pandemic has caused many ventures to work harder than ever before to ensure they can stabilize themselves in a world of uncertainty.

As one of the leaders in the crowdfunding industry, Ideazon has thrived on their ability to stay on top of shifts in the world. While just a few years ago, crowdfunding was a rarely used trend, Ideazon was one of the companies at the forefront of utilizing the platform for their clients’ business needs.

It’s with this strength that Gregg Sheffield of Ideazon shares how the team of experts at Ideazon can help you smash your crowdfunding target.

What is the first step to beginning a crowdfunding campaign?

It’s important to have an idea of what you want out of your crowdfunding campaign first and foremost. What is your goal? Where are these funds going? Who are you looking to attract?

Having a clear definition of your goals will help to create a clear, targeted strategy for success.

Why should businesses consider starting a crowdfunding campaign?

While crowdfunding might have once been attributed to individual bases looking to raise money for school, medical expenses, or the like, it has taken a sharp turn into the professional industry for a very good reason. We have more small businesses now than ever before.

Crowdfunding allows these small businesses to work more similarly to a larger business. Where a larger business looks for big ticket investors that give funding due to the promise of a company, crowdfunding allows smaller businesses to do the same thing with “every day” investors that can give smaller amounts to business ventures they would like to support.

What kind of businesses should invest in crowdfunding?

Small businesses with a lot to offer are prime for crowdfunding. While crowdfunding is a time investment, it can reap major financial benefits. It’s important that you are genuine with your investors.

If you feel like you’re “selling” to your investors, this might not be the right venue for you. Crowdfunding is the platform for your venture to get the recognition it deserves and all it takes to do that is a genuine interest in what your business provides and where it’s going.

What kind of work goes into crowdfunding?

It’s important that you grow your individual donor base in whatever way you can. While it’s important to utilize every aspect of the platform, it’s also important that you network.

In today’s world where we’re working largely remote without conferences or other in-person opportunities, social media is one of your best resources. Make sure that you’re keeping investors (and potential investors) interested in your product through these platforms.

What is the future of crowdfunding?

I think that more companies will retreat to crowdfunding. It’s important to be able to break through the noise of the internet by having strong strategy and creativity on top of the incredible product your brand has to offer.

By jumping on the crowdfunding trend sooner rather than later, you are setting your company up for this success.

It’s hard to focus when noise is all over the place. In the office, staff become agitated and annoyed when there is noise around them while they work. Not everyone can tune out even the smallest sound of crunching a biscuit from the office worker nearby next to you or simply the continuous tapping on the keyboard. Hence, the majority of offices with huge spaces invest in reliable acoustic partitions.

Aside from the office, noise can also be around a restaurant. Although it is nearly impossible to maintain silence in this place, using acoustic movable walls will help lessen the sound. People slurping their soup, chatting with each other, or the next table enjoying their meal can be settled with putting up acoustic partitions. These walls won’t affect the ambience of the place, but it creates a feeling of exclusivity. Besides, hearing noises once in a while can act as a diversion. Individuals are capable of making one.

Using acoustic partitions is the most viable and practical solution to all these noise issues. Regardless if they are for the office or restaurant, these acoustic movable walls keep the area quiet, providing flexibility to modify the layout of the place anytime you need modification.

Benefits

Multipurpose partitions

Adding acoustic partitions offer versatility to the workspace. Installing them doesn’t require too much workforce, and even one person can put them up. It won’t take that long to pull or move them around to design spaces in the office. With a vast office space comes with a series of meetings in a day, so using these multipurpose partitions makes a seamless transition. Stack them away by the end of the day, and nobody needs to sweat it out for the after-care tasks.

Even in massive school halls, acoustic partitions can quickly change them into smaller lecture rooms for multiple classes. Even if they are movable, the walls are safe since they use advanced materials and adhere to safety requirements as part of quality control.

Add privacy to the place

In every office, there are playful staffs that like to goof around at some point in the day. Putting up acoustic partitions creates a more private and self-controlled area to work without any disturbance from their colleagues conveniently. Through these partitions, it encourages independence while working on something.

Moreover, adding these acoustic movable walls in a restaurant allows them to enjoy their intimate time together. Not everyone is keen to be in a crowded and noisy dining place. Thus, when customers request a smaller and more enclosed area, acoustic movable walls can make everything work instantly.

More design options

There comes a time when a place, whether an office or restaurant, needs modification. However, not everyone can afford to make such modifications instantly and not spend a considerable sum of money. The acoustic barriers come in several colours and designs that will suit every person’s preferences. Besides, anyone can play around where they want to put the barriers. It doesn’t need any interior design degree to create or modify a corner of the office or a small area in the restaurant.

Safe and practical

Installing or putting up these partitions will not require anybody from the construction industry. It only takes reading through the manual and taking note of the safety reminders. There are dividers made of lightweight materials, and so anyone can quickly move them around without asking for additional help.

Author: Tristan Reed

The work from home setup has been a norm for the past few months due to the pandemic. Plenty of businesses are barely scraping by. Others even decided to close due to the lack of consistent profits. Companies focus only on the essentials and cancelled everything else. It includes business trips and other corporate events.

Once things get better, you might have to consider doing these fun activities. They may not help rake profit for the company but are useful for the employees. Given how tough the past months were, these employees need a break. Hosting a fairground hire might be an excellent idea. You couldn’t have one right now, but it’s something worth considering in the future.

Reaching milestones

Hosting a fairground hire helps make everyone get back on track. Working alone from home and not interacting with others was quite boring for many employees. Besides, surviving the challenges brought by the pandemic is already an achievement. If things get better, hosting a fairground hire should be on your to-do list. To stay safe while having fun, these are some tips to consider.

Observe social distancing

Sure, it’s not very easy to socially distance during this event, but you can set guidelines before opening it. Every employee and family members should remember the rules to avoid getting too close to others. You might also want to follow the recommendations given by health experts in regards to outdoor events or theme parks.

Confirm the attendance

Back then, it was easy hosting this event. You just set the date and inform everyone about it. Family members can also take part. However, since you have to control the number of attendees, you need to receive a confirmation from your employees. Hand out tickets to put a cap on the number of people inside the area at a given time and avoid overcrowding.

Wrap the foods

Food stalls are a staple at fairground hires. Make sure you request the vendors to wrap the food properly to avoid contamination. The people serving the dishes should also wear protective equipment to keep the food clean and safe for consumption.

Provide more options

The good thing about choosing the right partner for fairground hire is that you can determine the number of rides, food stalls, and other entertainment options. It depends on your budget and the available space. Providing more options is an excellent idea to divide the crowd. They won’t stay in one area. It’s easier to distance under this condition socially.

Provide enough tables and chairs

Another reason for attending this event is that families have the chance to bond. To be safe, every family should have a designated area with tables and chairs. There’s no need to share tables with other families and risk potentially transmitting the virus.

Remember these safety tips if you want to succeed in hosting this event. Don’t forget to seek the advice of your local government since they create the guidelines. Despite these rules, people can still have fun.

 

A load board (which is sometimes referred to as a freight board) is an online marketplace where truck owners/operators, shippers, and freight brokers can post and search for loads to keep freight moving.

How does it work?

Usually hosted online, the users of the specific load board pay a subscription to log into the load board to post loads or post empty trucks in order to either cover their freight or get their truck loaded. The load board facilitates communication between shipper, broker and owner-operator or small carrier.

A real-life load board example

Shipping is the foundation of most countries.  Almost every sector of the economy depends on the movement of the goods from Point A to Point B.  A load board is an essential tool for business owners who are working together to move freight across the country. Here is an example of how people using load board in their daily operations to increase revenue.

Bob owns a truck and he is a business owner/entrepreneur, and family man. His goal is to keep his truck full during the week so that he can optimize his time on the road and maximize his truck’s profits. Bob lives in Albuquerque and today he wants to drive to Illinois. What is the reason? Because Bob knows that this route pays well, and that he can quickly find a returning load to travel home to his family. He needs to earn a fair wage for hauling the load and wants to work with trusted third parties to find freight for his truck.

Bob posts his truck’s information such as can haul refrigerated loads, maximum weight allowance, etc. and the desired destination on the load board, an online marketplace where subscribers of that board can search for empty trucks and available loads.

How does Bob, the Owner/Operator use the load board to fill his truck?

Emily, a transportation broker who is also a business owner, uses a load board. Her clients are shippers like Walmart or Amazon who work with third parties or brokers like Emily to get their items from Point A to Point B.  Emily usually works with refrigerated loads and she has a list of loads every morning that she needs to move for her customers.

Emily has to find a truck with a reliable driver so that she meets her customer’s needs. She needs a driver with an empty, refrigerated truck who is currently near Albuquerque who wants to drive to Illinois to carry frozen products.  Emily needs to find a driver for the load, so she posts her load on a load board, where she will begin to receive calls from interested drivers. She also calls on available trucks in the Albuquerque area and finds Bob. After negotiating a fair rate and checking credentials, Bob and Emily agree to work together.

How does a load board help a business?

For Bob and Emily, less downtime means more money. If Bob’s  truck remains empty, money is lost and he may need to work on weekends to make up the difference.  Late shipments for Emily means money is lost and potentially losing a customer. Customers are her lifeline so it is essential that she keeps her customers happy.

Thousands of hours of efficiency were gained by facilitating the real-time connections such as the one between Bob and Emily when load boards were introduced.

What other things can a load board help with?

Load Boards are usually more than just a freight marketplace. Shiply load board, for example, offers users with an accurate data within the load board to better their experience when freight matching and comparing quotes. Accurate data means more money. Now, just what does it means?

For Emily and Bob, accurate data means more money because when Bob sees the paid rates on his account, while he is talking to Emily, he knows exactly the average rate paid for the Albuquerque to Illinois.  If he is offered a lower rate, he can use the data to easily negotiate a fair rate. The same goes for Emily.  If Bob wants a rate that is too high, she can easily point to the paid rates to negotiate.

Thousands of hours of efficiency were gained by facilitating the real-time connections such as the one between Bob and Emily when load boards were introduced.

Load boards acts as a data-informed matchmaker for the three main freight parties such as the broker, shipper and carrier.

1. Owner-operators will inform the brokers where they are and where they want to go.
2. Brokers would post the loads they have available from shippers and find owner-operators.
3. It helps the shippers to save time and earn more money when their goods are transported efficiently.

It is definitely a win-win-win situation for everyone involved.

How does a business benefit from a load board?

Using an online load board can be a good idea in many occasions. Whether you are just starting your business or you are expanding and in need for new clients, using a load board can help organize your business, make it more efficient and bring an extra revenue.

 

If your staff members have their own offices that are sectioned away from other employees, the decor of that space can usually be left up to them. But for common areas or areas of your office that are meant for any client- or customer-facing work, management should ensure that these spaces are decorated in such a way as to reflect the personality and professionalism of the brand. What if the values and drives of your organization have changed? Well, it may be the best time to relocate and look for better spaces somewhere else. Copenhagen’s office space rental options are the ones to consider this time. A location with bus stops, central stations, and an airport nearby.

However, this task is easier said than done. So to help you accomplish this objective, here are three tips for decorating office common spaces.

Focus On Your Entryway

The very first area that you should give your attention when decorating your office is the entryway. Every staff member, customer, and client will go through that space when doing business with you. Because of this, you should take extra care as you design and set up this space.

According to Annie Pilon, a contributor to Small Business Trends, you should aim for the entryway to be welcoming to anyone who steps foot in your office. This can be done through having comfortable furniture, a friendly receptionist, and some kind of branded material that showcases your company and what you stand for. Especially if you’ll be having customers or clients in your office space on a regular basis, it’s vital that the first impression they get from your company be a positive one, and having a great entryway can help with this.

Promote Collaboration

In most offices, there will be common spaces where employees can gather in order to work on tasks or projects together. However, just having a large room with a table and chairs won’t really help your staff find their creativity together or necessarily promote the collaboration that may be needed.

To help you in this goal, Kevin Fidler, a contributor to WorkDesign.com, advises that you try to make these types of common areas feel more informal in their design. By doing this, you’ll allow your staff to think more freely and truly embrace the idea of collaborating with their coworkers in order to come up with ideas that will prove to be beneficial to your business.

Mix In The Natural World

Although some common spaces are going to be used for getting work done, you don’t want these spaces to feel like they’re sucking the life out of your employees. But if you make these areas feel too stark or corporate, that’s exactly how these spaces will feel.

To fight against this, Naveed of DecorAid.com recommends that you mix in as much of the natural world as you can with the functionality of your common spaces. This could include having more plants, getting more natural light, or using outdoor scents to bring freshness to these spaces.

If you’re unsure what you should do with the common spaces in your office, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you know how to decorate and design them to fit your needs.

Becoming a real estate investor is a big dream for many people, and it makes sense why. Having successful real estate investments can mean you’ll be profiting for years to come and be set for life with your finances.

A very common avenue for real estate investors is rental properties. When operated correctly, rental properties can essentially act as passive investment income.

But when you choose to invest in rental properties, you’re actually also making another big choice: to become a landlord. Having a property manager means someone could handle a bulk of the work, but when it comes down to it, a real estate property investor is still a landlord at the end of the day. And to be honest, becoming a landlord is no small undertaking.

Winston Deloney, an expert real estate investor, knows this all too well. We sat down with Deloney, to dive into the basics of owning rental properties, and four things all landlords should know.

Winston, what attracted you to real estate investing?

I see real estate investing as a huge opportunity. It’s an exciting world to be part of, and it can have huge payouts. That being said, it’s definitely not always easy.

For example, there was a time when I was still learning a lot, and there were ups and downs. But I chose to preserve, and now, I’m so glad I stuck with real estate investing and didn’t quit.

What brought you to rental properties?

The idea of having rent coming in every month as income was extremely attractive to me. I also love the idea of actually having control over the property and even being a landlord. There’s a ton of opportunity when you’re the one at the helm.

I really enjoy the process of making over units, and being involved with renters, even though that can definitely be challenging at times. But when you have happy renters, and you have a steady income, it’s really smooth sailing.

What are some of the basics of being a landlord?

I think it’s extremely important to make rent your number one priority. It can be easy to let emotions get in the way, because you’re dealing with real people who have real issues.

But if you let emotions drive your decisions, you’re not actually going to be a good landlord, and that’s going to permeate through your property. It won’t just affect you, but your other tenants as well.

I recently shared some useful tips on how to handle your first tenant, you can check out the article here: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/real-estate-investor-winston-deloney-110000108.html

What else should landlords know about rental properties?

So, rent being the priority is definitely my first tip. Next, I think screening your renters thoroughly is really critical. Because once someone moves in, actually evicting them is an exhausting process, and no one wants to go through that.

It might happen inevitably, but if you screen your renters carefully, you can definitely avoid it. You want to make sure they can pay on time, that they have consistent income, and that they’re people with good intentions.

For example, if they have a history of evictions and property damage, that’s a huge red flag, and you want to make sure you catch it.

Anything else?

I love thinking about rental properties in terms of the opportunity to upsell, which I don’t think enough people take advantage of. For example, if you have one tenant move out of a unit, you can spruce it up, put it new appliances, and maybe even some advanced smart home technologies.

All of a sudden, that unit is worth way more than it was before. So definitely look for opportunities to maximize your income. And I think lastly, this may sound basic, but a lot of people really overlook it. Make sure you’re an expert in your local renter and tenant laws.

For example, in some cases, if you mishandle a security deposit, you could be liable to give it back. That’s a silly mistake that means a big loss for you. So, you want to be up-to-speed on your laws not only to protect yourself from silly mistakes, but also potentially devastating ones.

 

From the past few decades, the idea of working and earning has changed immensely. Depending on a single earning does not seem sufficient for people. Thanks to the massive advancement and innovation, it has led to the birth of a myriad of career pathways.

One should make smart choices when it comes to their career. The drive to achieve more money with little effort should never be a baseline. Every profession requires maximum effort and time to produce fruitful results. However, putting this effort and time in a business career assures your success. The business field has a broad spectrum. Either you may run your own business, start a business on a partnership basis, or perform your business skills in an organization, this career has got your back. That is why it is the most booming career choice nowadays. But let’s explore the real reasons behind this popularity.

A Master’s in Business Administration works wonders.

The business degree or qualification can score you entry-level jobs upon graduation. However, if you are a master’s in business administration, you can take all the perks of stepping into this field. The master’s qualification instills more confidence and knowledge inside you, making you an excellent choice for any organization. Additionally, polishing your skills in a vast area of subjects increases your competitiveness.

If you intend to enroll yourself in a master’s program at a university or plan to get your MBA online, you should begin right away. Impressive MBA programs offered online can save you a great deal of effort and time, so you no longer have to stress about waking up early, missing a lecture, or sacrificing your favorite trip to meet the assignments’ deadlines. These courses are manageable and well-designed to suit you in all respects.

Knock up a position in accounting

Business careers exist in most of the industries out there. Accounting is a fantastic domain where business administrators are required. Accounting is a complex process, including the recording of financial statements or transactions related to business. How does a business graduate fit into accounting?

Here is how;

If you are working as an account executive, your job is to perform with your professional competence to process the financial data and keep the clients happy. The keen knowledge of clients’ needs and demands serves as the most rewarding foundation of an accountancy firm or department. The business administrators or managers have a skill of transforming the clients’ needs in an exemplary fashion to suit both the company’s interests and client’ expectations. An accounts executive may come together with the sales team to assess the company’s outcome and work for its progress. So, the application of a business qualification in accountancy is pre-eminent and influential.

Explore the field of Advertising

It is imperative to advertise a product in a high-yielding manner to generate and increase its sales. So, the business analyst comes into play to perform this crucial task. From doing complex mathematics of analyzing the advertising cost of a product to estimating the probable outcome, this all is the role of a business expert.

You can work as an advertising coordinator, advertising operations specialist, or advertising sales agent. They perform the challenging job of running campaigns of a product and assessing the expenditure in launching an advertisement. Besides, they get the opportunity to travel around often as part of their advertising campaigns.

So, if you love traveling and working simultaneously, you should experience the charisma of an advertising career.

An association or Event planner

We are well aware of the growing trends and shifts towards the association or event management. New intricate designs and approaches are adopted to make the events look unique and alluring. Such a person who is an expert in doing cost analysis and engaging clients is in high demand.

The association planner promotes an event in a public setting or a conference. Since the plan is to attract a large population, his job is to publicize the game on a major front. This task undoubtedly calls for an incredible experience of cost management because it involves money from the beginning to the end.

Combined with the beauty of applying management skills and communication skills, you can earn a commendable recognition here.

Procure a name in Employment Specialist’s zone

The role of an employment specialist is more like a matchmaker. An employment specialist is a person who makes the recruiting process of a company convenient. Since the company is already loaded with massive projects and operations to deal with, it gets stressful to carry on the recruitment process. Organizations aim towards hiring an employment specialist who governs and decides the fate of all candidates.

The fantastic set of traits of assessment possessed by a business expert guarantees the fair and effective selection and recruitment of employees. An employment specialist can work independently or can work in a large setting destined to complete this task.

Doors are wide open in the Investment Industry.

The world is moving fast, and so is the pace of our desire to become wealthy. Most of the wealthiest people in the world, like Warren Buffet, made their wealth through investment. Becoming an investment counselor, analyst, or investment banker promises you a ravishing career. Additionally, it provides outstanding growth and multiple opportunities to flourish since the world is an economic and financial hub. Hence, the need to have an expert who can guide on incredible investment plans and solutions to make money becomes a priority.

When will the stock market rise? How do political reforms and international policies affect investment? Where to invest and what to avoid? An investment analyst has got all your answers to such questions. They can assist you in personalized investment plans to suit your demands and needs.

As an investment banker, your job is more diversified and complex since you are directly working on a company’s monetary matters. He manages portfolios for groups or individuals. He introduces ways and ideas through which a company can benefit the most by investing in stocks or borrowing money from other platforms. His job is capital intensive due to the augmenting competition to multiply wealth in the market.

Conclusion

We are sure that you would be pleased to know the wide variety of careers and ambitions you can pursue and bloom with a business degree. No doubt, the business sector holds a promising future for the youth and is a booming field.

So, if you have recently started up your own business, congratulations! Or even if you are just considering opening up your own business that is also OK. This article will help to inform those who are aspiring to own successful businesses of ways to excel in both digital and traditional marketing and why it is so important to focus on marketing within your future business activities.

Build a brand

Branding and marketing go hand in hand. You need a brand, so customers recognise your company and they are aware of the type of your company your company is. Brand identity and brand personality are key things that you should consider. The use of colour is very important take into consideration whilst building your brand. For instance, if your business is part of the hair and beauty sector, pinks and pastel colours are often used as they are more feminine colours. Furthermore, if you are aiming to operate within the fast food sector, the colour red is frequently used, as McDonald’s, KFC and Coca-Cola all use red as part of their branding.

Create a social media page for your business

Once you have started up your business and you are sure that you want to pursue it, an easy way of getting your brand out there and interacting with potential customers, is to create a social media page for your business. The most popular choice of social media is Instagram or Facebook, this is because most people are owners of personal Instagram or Facebook accounts, so as we are already familiar with how to use those types of social media platforms, it is easy to know how to open up a business version of a social media account. It also costs nothing to open up a business social media account, so even if you just are opening an account up to see how things will go, it is ok because you will not lose money if things don’t progress with that account.

If you create a website, be sure to learn about SEO

After a social media account has been created, it is also a good idea to consider creating a webpage for your business. There are many ways in which you can build a website and there is special websites online that help you to build a website, so why not take advantage of this? So once your website is formed, you want to make sure that your website ranks highly on Google’s search results listing. A marketing method which is used to enable this is called SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) this a relatively new concept and it complicated to those who are not familiar with it. Luckily, there is a Manchester SEO agency will helps small business owners with their SEO and therefore you do not need to learn about SEO and you can leave it to the professionals to sort out.

Use traditional marketing

As it explained previously, as we are in 2020, digital marketing is highly popular and it has proven to be a success for many businesses which engage in this form of marketing. However, traditional marketing can also work in our favour. Newspaper advertisements, flyers and posters are easy methods of traditional marketing which is still highly effective to this day. It should not cost a lot to produce flyers or posters, so why not give it ago? You also need to learn about the demographics of your target customer. For instance, if you have opened up a company which sells items for weddings, target your services towards people who are over the age of 20 and you will probably sway more towards women, as traditionally women like to take charge of planning their wedding, so these are the types of people that you would give your advertisements to.

Relationship marketing is also beneficial

It is important for a business to form a relationship with its customers, because a relationship generates repeat custom. If you treat a customer well and give them your time and full attention, they will appreciate the brilliant service and they will gain a respect for the company and they will come back if they feel that they want to buy more products or services from the company. An example of a company which uses relationship marketing, is British high street retailer, John Lewis. They give the image that their care about their customers and they often offer nice friendly rewards in return for your loyal custom.

 

Running a restaurant is no easy feat. According to FSR Magazine, “sixty percent of restaurants don’t make it past their first year and 80 percent go out of business within five years.” With disheartening statistics like these, how is it that some restaurants not only survive, but prosper?

While the economy rises and falls unpredictably, restaurant patrons will always want high-quality food and customer service. To provide customers what they want and to prevent your business from going under, try these seven tips for restaurant success.

Tip #1: Make A Realistic Assessment of Your Position

It’s hard to watch your business struggling; the worry reaches into your soul and affects your state of mind. However, you need to deeply analyze your situation in order to improve your revenue. This exercise will give you a starting position for your comeback:

• Analyze your business’ operations from every angle to make an honest and thorough assessment. Be brutally honest and address your operations, suppliers, staff, customers and yourself.
• Gather all the bills, open up your bank statement, and evaluate your customer influx to get an accurate, full-picture view of your situation. Leave no stone unturned, and look at everything from employee scheduling and payroll to how you manage your inventory.

Tip #2: Reconsider Your Menu

You derive your revenue from your menu, so it’s an excellent place to start when it comes to saving your restaurant. The vital question is, are you correctly pricing your food?

If your food has miscalculated prices well, then you are undermining all business operations. Your menu pricing should take into consideration:

• The total cost of the necessary ingredients
• The cost of staff labor to prepare the item
• Overhead expenses, such as rent and bills
• Your desired profit margin

You may have to consider streamlining and simplifying your menu. It’s common for restaurants to have an unnecessarily long menu in the interest of trying to serve as many customers as possible. However, if menu options don’t get ordered often, it creates waste.

Minimizing your menu has down-the-line benefits such as:

• Lower inventory, so cash is not held up in stock
• Purchases are more straightforward, and storage costs are lower
• Fewer staff are needed to cook and serve a shorter menu

Choosing which menu items to keep on the menu is a balancing act. You will have to evaluate:

• Customer demand for each menu item
• The profit margins on each menu item
• Which menu items use similar ingredients so that you minimize waste

Tip #3: Upgrade Your POS System

Over the years, POS system technology has come a long way. For example, there are now quality POS systems on the market that can handle multiple payment methods, including cash, card and digital payments. They are also able to integrate with third-party apps, making them versatile.

Now, you can even opt for a cloud-based POS system, which have the following benefits:

• Are cheaper to adopt and maintain
• Provide real-time reporting
• Can store unlimited data
• Allow for remote management
• Can scale up or down quickly, thereby saving the restaurant money
• Have better security software

 

Quality POS systems come with additional sales, inventory management, staff scheduling and customer management features. These features not only provide you with better management tools, but they also reduce the cost of technology acquisition. You can click here to learn more about restaurant POS software.

Tip #4: Update Your Website and Increase Your Social Media Presence

The internet is the widest-reaching, most affordable mass marketing tool in the world. If you invest in your online presence, you can get a better ROI than in most available marketing channels. To be more visible online, list your business on third-party listing sites such as FourSquare and Google My Business.

More customers are buying their food online if you have no online presence, they will not be able to find you. Make sure that your online menu is easy to read. Social media marketing is also extremely successful for restaurants that post high-quality images of their food and ambiance.

Tip #5: Reassess Your Staff

Staff is essential to keep operations running smoothly. It’s best to let them know the situation the restaurant is in, that way they can understand and more importantly support the hard decisions you will have to make.

To make sense of the numbers, you may have to let go of some staff members. Focus on keeping the essential and most productive staff members. Those that do stay may have to take pay cuts to help bolster your restaurant’s cash flow.

Tip #6: Make Customers Come Back for More

Do not underestimate the power of repeat business. Think about the amount of effort and money that goes into acquiring a new customer; now compare that to a customer who simply comes back with a little prompting from you. The costs are lower for a repeat customer, and over time, the sales will out shadow the costs of serving that customer.

Creating s great customer experience forms the foundation of getting repeat customers. So your food must be great, the staff has to be pleasant, and the ambience agreeable.

After that, you can incentivize customers to come back through loyalty programs and reward points. These can be run on your restaurant’s mobile app and connected to your POS system for efficiency.

Tip #7: Negotiate

Your business does not operate in isolation; it has many stakeholders such as local council, supplies, staff and customers. These stakeholders rely on your business to stay open, so leverage that as you negotiate every part of your business. Take these examples:

• A bank is more interested in you paying off your restaurant loan and coming back for more loans. So if you can show them a recovery plan that includes the steps above, they can give you breathing room.
• The same applies to suppliers and most creditors. They can offer your restaurant terms to ease your cash flow if they do not budge then simply look for new, more understanding suppliers.
• Customers are never keen to switch from their regular restaurant’s. If you can communicate your situation and provide a solution that is painless but beneficial to you, then they will comply. For example, you can explain that third-party delivery apps take commission which eats into your profits, so you request all customers to order directly from your app to retain more revenue.

Nothing Worth Doing Is Easy

Every business has its ups and downs. Just keep in mind that surviving the low points takes perseverance, planning and execution. Follow the above tips and give your restaurant a fighting chance, but be aware that that success will not happen overnight. Do the right things, and over time, your restaurant will become not only sustainable, but profitable.