The positive effect of having an online presence and being on multiple different social media platforms cannot be denied. Yet, a majority of SME’s are not taking the advantage of using social media to drive sales for their small businesses. Social media is a cost-effective way of effectively marketing your business, and the presence online is an absolute must in the present day.
SMEs
When running a small business, saving money and cutting costs where you can should always be a priority. By being smart when dealing with taxes it can actually save you a considerable amount of money. If you are effectively dealing with your taxes, it could be the difference between a steady profitable business to one that’s just barely getting by.
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Emotions can play a vital role in business. From emotional intelligence increasingly becoming a requirement for business leaders to emotional TV adverts. To connect with customers and make a lasting impression, small business owners need to consider using emotions in marketing campaigns. A great example of this is the release of John Lewis Christmas adverts, which is now a national event in the UK. This is because they create content that tugs on the heartstrings of the audience.
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Business bankruptcy is the legal position of a business that is unable to pay its debts to creditors. The status is ascribed by the court, usually at the initiative of the debtor, at the point when they realise they cannot meet their financial liabilities. In this article Bankruptcy Canada give an overview of different types of bankruptcies and their effect on business’ income.
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Global business has never been simpler, but customer expectations have never been higher. SMEs need to do more to compete on the international stage. Advances in business tech has led to a huge surge in SMEs and start-ups over the last four years. Whether you are a tech startup, a new crowdfunded project or just set up your first Etsy store, selling to the world has never been easier.
Staff sickness is something that cannot be avoided, whether you run a big firm or a small business. However, for small businesses that have small teams it can cause costly problems. Managing staff sickness effectively by implementing policies is essential. It will make sure that the disruption of the day-to-day activities within the business are minimised.
One of the least favourite things for every business is moving. You have to get your furniture, documents, and everything else into an entirely new location. This can be a hassle. However, what most businesses won’t consider, but should, is a storage unit. A storage unit can really make the whole process a lot easier to deal with.
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It may be an obvious statement but businesses need to regularly keep tabs on their expenditure. If you feel you are spending too much in certain areas then this article may help you cut business costs. QCR give you tips on how you can improve by cutting costs and lowering your expenditure.
As a business owner you should have an exit strategy in place for your small business. It can vary from selling, to retiring, to moving onto another business idea, to even passing your business down to your children. You can keep your options open when it comes to deciding what you want to do with your business in the long term, however it is highly advisable to have an exit strategy in place. This can help you prepare for the future of your business ensuring that you choose the most beneficial and profitable option for you.
It’s no secret that the survival of small business can be challenging for entrepreneurs in the UK — only four in ten businesses survive past the five year mark of running the business. Businesses fail from making continuous mistakes which lead to the collapse of their business, so knowing the causes of business failure is key to eluding those factors and focusing on success. A plan to survive should therefore be accompanied by short and long term goals and objectives to keep you on track.
In the latest report by the FSB (Federation of Small Business) it was found that a large number of small businesses are still unprepared for GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). Over half of the respondents either had not yet started preparing for the legislation to go into effect or were only at the early stages of compliance. To combat the lack of compliance, the FSB has launched a campaign to get small businesses compliant before the deadline. The countdown has begun, and the GDPR deadline is well under a 100 days away.
Paper is costing businesses thousands per employee from its day-to-day use in the workplace. From a study conducted by WorkMobile of 1,000 workers, it was found that 67% of UK businesses are spending over £2,000 on paper annually per employee. This just goes to show the significant role that paper still plays in the daily activities of more than half of the businesses that took part in the study.
It may seem a bit obvious, but targeted marketing is vital to ensuring that every pound you reserve for marketing is well-spent. Being able to identify exactly who is likely to buy your product, will help you to attract them. But it can be difficult for small businesses to effectively determine their target market.
Most people can only dream of working from home, but if you have managed it then you will need to set up an office at home. Having a work space in your home will allow you to switch off when you leave your designated work area, because it is essential to switch off after a long day of working. Here are four things you need to do before setting up a home office.
When you’re caught up in the day-to-day pressure of running a business it can be hard to focus on your longer-term retirement planning. By investing a little time to review the fees being charged on retirement and investment plans many business owners could retire earlier. Hannah Goldsmith from Goldsmith Financial Solutions explains how this is possible.
In the second Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report, conducted by Forrester Consulting, it was found that nearly three quarters of the 4,103 organisations surveyed, lack strategy when it comes to cyber security. 73% of organisations are deemed cyber novices, with the three categories being ‘cyber novice’, ‘cyber intermediate’ and ‘cyber expert’, and only 11% of organisations that participated in the study were deemed cyber experts.
A massive 50% of small businesses say hiring new employees is their top challenge. According to Wasp Barcode’s annual State of Small Business Report it is the number one challenge for businesses with fewer than 499 employees, even more challenging than the traditionally-mentioned issues, such as increasing profits and cash flow. So, Yuliana Topazly from BuddyWith explains how flexible working can help.
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The number of people deploying professional apps to help run their business has exploded in recent years. With the rise of iPad POS systems, mobile accounting applications, and integrated ecommerce platforms, SMEs have capitalised and prospered, even despite the fact that not too long ago the only reason one would use an app would be to send angry birds flying into buildings.
The vast majority of employees in a business will have different aspects of introversion and extroversion, which is often to the benefit of the company. But every organisation will also have individuals who are highly extroverted – the life and soul of every party and the loudest person in the room at any given time. But extroverts are more than just loud people who like to engage with others, they also work very differently to other members of the team.
New research has shown that 46% of UK businesses identified at least one cyber security breach or attack in the last 12 months. May is fast approaching and with it the implementation date for the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), so it’s time to start thinking about whether you are up to date with your data management.
