Author: Editor's Desk

Categories
Marketing

How Blogging Can Help a Business Get More Customers

बिजनेस आइडिया

Content is King: Master the Art of Blogging to get more Customers

Getting customers to come to your blog and fall in love with your product requires time and effort but it is not an impossible task. Blogging for business is the new-age sensation that can help you get customers without much cost. This step-by-step guide will help you connect with consumers through blogging.

1. Don’t make the Blog a Sales Pitch

  • The objective of your blog is to generate business leads and project a profile that connects with the consumer
  • Advantages of blogging are that you can reach out to millions of people which is not possible using the conventional means of marketing
  • Do not use your blog to make sales, if you use the blog only for sales messages you will struggle to find readers
  • If you want people to come to your blog, make them understand what is in it for them. Become a mentor, give advice to your target consumers, build trust and help them achieve their goals

2. Develop Content that can become Viral
 

  • You need to create content that can be shared, is interesting and engaging so that traffic can be increased.
  • When blogging for business and creating viral content, make sure you start your blog with a catchy headline. 8/10 people click on the link that has an attractive headline
  • Get the length of your blog right- The blog should not be very small or too long- a 700-1000 word blog post can lead to a better conversion rate with more opportunities for SEO
  • Need an Out-of-the-box idea- Your idea needs to be new & innovative based on what the audience wants. This will help in making your content evergreen and likable
  • Short emotional videos or beautiful images can become hugely viral if it makes the viewer curious

3. Focus on the Opening and the Conclusion of the blog

  • After clicking on the headline when a viewer comes to your blog, the opening should hook him enough to go through the entire post
  • The opening paragraph should spell it out to the customer that the tips or steps in the remaining blog are going to change his life and will be beneficial for him
  • Close the blog on an inspirational note. Make sure your reader not only reads your advice but also encourage him/her to follow it so that the reader revisits the blog

4. Blog as often as possible
 

The advantages of blogging and that to frequent blogging are that more traffic will get generated. But make sure the quality and originality of the blog is not compromised. 

5. Include Call-to-Actions

Make it a point to include some kind of Call-to-Action in your post otherwise it is going to be a waste if you are looking to generate customers through this activity

6. SEO Optimization

  • Google is the undisputed king of generating organic traffic. One big advantage of blogging is that if you conform to the guidelines of Google you will get guaranteed traffic
  • Do your keyword research and create content that is SEO-friendly

7. Use Google Analytics

Sometimes you wonder why a particular post gets less traffic or why a specific offer’s conversions are low. When you are blogging for business, use Google analytics especially the behavior flow section to see how people react from one page to another.

8 Create an E-mail Follow up

  • E-mail allows you to build a connect with the reader and forces him to come back to your blog or keep in touch
  • When you send an e-mail once a week to the reader, you’re compelling them to visit you again and engage with you
  • Once readers understand the benefit of signing up, this will create an opportunity for you to sell

Blogging for business is not easy. You need to develop good content skills and understand the minds of the reader and potential clients. Once you know what the customer is struggling with, your blog post will hit a bull’s eye!

Categories
Finance

How to Setup a Petty Cash Book For Your Small Business

The Step by Step Guide to Prepare Your Petty Cash Book

Do you require cash for unexpected expenses almost on a daily basis?

Whether it’s money for some office supplies, lunch for clients or employees, cab fares or money to pay the postman when he brings a letter or a COD package, businesses need to keep some cash in hand for such unexpected expenses. In business terminology, we call it petty cash.

What is Petty cash?

Petty cash is a small amount of money kept aside for the day-to-day expenses in your business.

Small businesses mainly setup a petty cash book for convenience, as sometimes you need a quick alternative to use in place of your company’s regular payment process.

So what are some examples of petty cash expenses in a business?

  • Petty cash expenses include office supplies, catered lunches, postage, cab fares or even a simple cup of tea/coffee.

Why is it important for you to maintain a petty cash book?

If these petty expenses aren’t documented in your books, a lot of money can go unclaimed. These little expenses can be of a significant amount in the long-run once they keep accumulating.

For example
: If a cup of tea/coffee costs Rs.10 per cup, it will be Rs.10,000 if your business has 10 employees for just 100 days in a year.

Other examples include:

  • To pay for small purchases which require cash, such as food for your employees or coffee supplies or a parking ticket
  • To reimburse employees for goods/items they have bought for your business.

By accounting these expenses in the petty cash book, it becomes easier for you to track tax-deductible expenses, making journal entries and also helps in separating personal expenses from business expenses.

4 Easy Steps: Setting up a Petty Cash Book

Step 1
: Add a petty cash book account to your books of accounts, if you do not already have one. Also, start a petty cash fund by drawing a cheque on your company to ’Petty Cash’ and cash the cheque.

Note
: If you are a small business with fewer people you may only need Rs.5000 in your petty cash fund. But if you’re a larger SME, you may need a larger fund. So based on the size of your business and your judgment as a business owner keep the contingency.

Step 2
: Place the petty cash from the cheque you cashed at a safe & designated location within your workplace (Example: a lockable drawer or a safe).

Give access to the petty cash fund to only a few people and assign the responsibility for refilling & recording the transactions of the petty cash fund to a specific person out of them.

Step 3
: Make a list of the expenses made out of the petty cash fund and keep the receipts of all the expenditures made attached to that list.

Step 4
: Refill the petty cash fund back to the decided and approved amount, as needed.

Format of Petty Cash Book for your business:

Petty Cash Book Format

Amount Received Date

Particulars Voucher No. Ledger Folio Expense (Amt. Paid)


Example:

The following transactions occurred in the books of GUPTA JI LTD in the month of May 2019.

May 2 – Cheque received for Rs.700 to open the petty cash book

May 3 – Postage paid    Rs.50

May 6 – Paid taxi hire of traveling employee (xxx to location Y)    Rs.100

May 8 – Paid cleaning lady   Rs.125

May 13 – Telegram sent to Delhi    Rs.40

May 17 – Cart hire paid on goods bought for business    Rs.60

May 19 –
Stationary purchased    Rs.120

May 25 –
Customer’s tiffin charges    Rs.60

May 31 – Settled the pending balance due to Smith    Rs.85

Amount Received Date Particulars Voucher No. Ledger Folio Expense (Amt. Paid)
Rs. 2019 Rs.
700 May 2 To Bank
May 3 By Postage 50
May 6 By Taxi Hire 100
May 8  By Wages 125
May 13 By Telegram  40
May 17 By Car Hire 60
May 19 By Stationary 120
May 25 By Tiffin Charges 

60
May 31 By Smith 85
May 31 By Balacane C/D
700 700
Rs.60 Mar 1 By Balacane C/D

Taking these easy but systematic steps when setting up your petty cash book will help you protect your daily expense cash flow, ensuring it is used appropriately and recorded systematically.

Categories
Marketing

Importance of Lead Management Software in Business

?

Power your Performance with a good Lead Management software
 

As the name suggests, Lead Management is a way of process set in the company to generate leads. It is a software-based system intended to build access to a new customer base.  

Good lead management software has the potential to impact revenue of a business directly by bringing sales and marketing together.

In today’s time and age, technology has given a whole new dimension to businesses. SMEs and MSMEs are always on a lookout to be more productive and grow their business efficiently.

Leads are potential customers who are interested in your business, services or products. Often it happens that despite showing interest, your potential customer doesn’t invest in buying your brand. Lead management software not only helps in tracking the leads but improves strategies of sales to get more and more customers into the system

Let us see the various benefits of a lead management software in business- 

1. Boosts Efficiency-
 

Every business wants to run its operations effectively and smoothly. Automation in marketing streamlines the sales experience. It automatically books an appointment, helps in online payments, sets reminders, and increases the engagement with the customers.

In this way, your interaction with the customer increases making them feel important and wanted

2. Improved customer relationship management-
 

Maintaining a lifelong relationship with the customer is very crucial for any business and customer service is undoubtedly one of the most important parameters for growth. 

The software helps in creating an online history of its customers, information of orders and communications or dealings with other companies.

The storage of bulk data at one place with the lead management software also becomes convenient.

3. Saves time-

Time management for any business is very significant. Especially for small businesses time is money. That is why it becomes important for business owners to monitor the daily work flow efficiently.

The software can help in the reduction of routine manual tasks since automation allows online tasks to take center stage. 

Investing in good lead management software helps business owners to unlock their time and allows them to focus on other important aspects of business to generate revenue.

4. Increases Scalability-

Another important benefit is that the software helps business scalability. 

Based on customer’s previous action and interests it helps in implementing the better sale strategies for the business.

It also supports in managing and enhancing the inflow and outflow of the leads.

5. Better SalesForce?-

It enhances the overall productivity and efficiency of an employee. For any given task which needs to be accomplished an employee just needs to make the following entries in the system- 

  • Basic information
  • Browsing history
  • Scheduled task
  • Contact history

It helps business owners to evaluate the workforce required to achieve a certain target.

This software also acts like a one-stop solution for cloud-based information which can be accessed from any part of the world.

6. Customization-

The lead management software offers the feature of customization as it is crucial to reach out to the right leads with the right product or service. 

This automated feature ensures that based on the need of a client a customized message is sent according to the profile of the customer.

It also engages with the customers by sending reminders, SMS or emails.

7. Increases Scope of Consumption-

The biggest advantage of the lead management software is that it increases the consumption scope of customers.

The automated software can help in increasing the purchase ticket size by suggesting a combo offer (if any) with every sale of goods. It can also recommend any perks attached to the minimum purchase order, any ongoing scheme etc.

All this, will eventually lead to the overall revenue generation in the business.

Lead management software is the backbone of the sales operation in any business. It assists in accountability, tracks potential leads and gives a personalized experience to your customer. The right kind of software used in the right direction can increase the overall ROI of the business.

Categories
Powerful Personalities

10 Reasons Why Entrepreneurs Get Motivated by Dr. Vivek Bindra?

Dr. Vivek Bindra has touched the lives of millions of people helping them improve the quality of their lives and for entrepreneurs he has helped them lay the foundation of growth & success in their business. Here is why Indian Entrepreneurs love & follow Dr. Vivek Bindra

1. By inspiring people to bring about a change in their lives and achieve their business goals, Dr. Vivek Bindra has become Asia’s no.1 Motivational Speaker and Business Coach.

2. Dr. Vivek Bindra works on ground level problems of entrepreneurs understanding their pain points and giving solutions through real-life examples and case studies to ensure their problems are put to ease.

3. He has organized various seminars and events like the Leadership funnel, Bounce Back and the very successful Everything about Entrepreneurship Summit, wherein he done’s the role of a motivational speaker and business coach to solve the burning problems of the entrepreneurs by giving powerful tips, strategies and frameworks that could benefit their business.

4. Indian Entrepreneurs watch Dr. Vivek Bindra’s videos and implement his strategies to grow their business through his Youtube Channel also termed as a “Free Digital University” on Entrepreneurship. Dr. Bindra’s Youtube channel is the World’s No. 1 subscribed channel on entrepreneurship with a follower base of close to 12 million.

5. Dr. Vivek Bindra ensures to give actionable and executable examples which motivates the Indian entrepreneurs and leads them to successful business strategies that are straight away implementable.

6. Indian entrepreneurs get motivated by Dr. Vivek Bindra because of his Hindi Content based on Bhagavad Gita which connects with the small & medium entrepreneurs. Hindi language is understood by every tier 2, 3 & 4 entrepreneurs making him easier to understand the business strategy. On the other hand the inclusion of the principals of the Gita helps in giving reasoning behind every point that has been spoken.

7. His vision is to empower entrepreneurs in a manner that can help them expand their businesses not only in India but around the world. This will help in making India economically stronger; by taking our country ahead on the path of becoming a developed nation.

8.  Dr. Vivek Bindra’s energy and style of delivery make him the best motivational speaker in india. Delivering relevant and lots of content in less time is what the business owners prefer as he values everyone’s time and money.

9. His followers love the fact that practical solutions to the most common and prominent business problems are provided keeping the bottom of the pyramid entrepreneur, the ‘Real Bharat’ business owner in mind.

10. Dr. Vivek Bindra’s personal story of becoming an entrepreneur and tasting success resonates with the business owners and motivates them to follow his journey and get inspired by his thought process.

Dr. Vivek Bindra is a motivational speaker, a thought leader and a successful entrepreneur. He has also been awarded an Honorary Ph.D. Degree, Doctor of Philosophy. He is a Trusted Advisor to 1500+ corporates and an inspirational pathfinder to various high-profile entrepreneurs and business entities providing leadership excellence for taking their organizations to the next level. He has been instrumental in providing CEO coaching to over Top 100 CEOs in the country. He has been conferred with the ‘Best Leadership Trainer in Asia’ Award by Marshall Goldsmith at the World HRD Congress. He is relentlessly working towards his mission of empowering Indian businesses by sharing management solutions & strategies for their burning problems. Not only are Dr. Vivek Bindra’s principles, strategies, solutions and content very different from other motivational speakers but also his energy and that’s what makes him better than the rest and a business icon for Indian Entrepreneurs!

Categories
Marketing

7 Strategies For Getting More Business From Social Media

How Social Media can turn the Fortune for your Business
 

Social media platforms have enabled business owners to connect with their target audience and engage with quality leads making it very important to focus on social media for business. Social media helps you find people who are interested in your product and can become your customers for life if you engage with them in the manner they like. Here are 7 strategies that can make you a hit on social media. 

1. Modify the content according to your social media platform

  • The biggest mistake a business with social media does is to post the same content on all platforms. People want to see different content. For instance a story format will be best suited for Instagram, but for Facebook that might not work. Hence, customize your content according to the platform to drive your customers.
  • Try to add more emotional content that strikes a chord with the viewer as it is proven to have more effect on people. 

2. Tell stories rather selling your product

  • As you know that the social media platform is a powerful tool to make your product noticeable. Make sure that you have a story around the product you are selling as people on social media connect with stories.
  • People get curious about your product and brand when they see storytelling woven around it. Building a story that consumers can relate to and has a central theme around it helps your business for social media grow.

3. Experiment with the advertisement

  • Try experimenting with your promotional advertisements. Customers pay more attention when they see something different. Initially, you can test an experimental advertisement to see the reaction of your followers and improve it through their feedback.

4. Do tag your brand and influencers

  • To score good exposure, make sure you tag your brand and related influencers to get more followers. Post your content with hashtags # as they receive more attention and involve more people associated with it.
  • Influencer marketing has become popular among many social media platforms. Tactical tagging is important if you want to tap other audiences. Partnership with social media influencers is beneficial for both as the influencer gets to be associated with brands and gets paid for the same and the brand can expand their reach by tapping into the follower base of the influencer.

5. Listen to your customers and competitors

  • Pay attention to each feedback as their valuable feedback can help your product and business grow. Customers feel valued when they are asked to share their opinions and comments that can have a positive effect on the growth of your business and in turn also lead to a higher customer retention rate.
  • Keep an eye on your competitor’s activities; it will help you analyze the market and come up with better social media platform strategies.
  • You can also opt for digital tools to monitor the customer’s feedback and reviews. It will also help you to understand more about your audience profile and their viewing habits. Start paying attention to what is being said by the customer on your social media platform. This is the only place where the customers are the most honest. 

6. Organize Contests and Promotional Events

  • One of the most important tactics for networking on social media is to involve your target audiences in activities and contests. Create promotional events and prepare creative content to grab their attention.
  • Make sure to be creative while curating the contest. Everyone loves to participate in contests especially when they can win a prize at the end. You can start the contest with Limited offer tags or some discount coupons to get more audience on your site. Use interesting hashtags so that the contest reaches many more people.
  • Plan an interesting give away for the winner. There is no harm in spending some amount on a valuable giveaway which the participating members can talk about to their friends on social media. This will help in building a positive and brand image in the eyes of the customer.

7. Give out Freebies

  • If you want your customers to be loyal with you start giving out the freebies. Devote a good deal of freebies regularly. Check the gaps that exist between the customer’s expectation and experience. Giving out freebies and discount coupons can boost the energy of your customer which will lead to generating more revenue.

Implementation of these strategies on social media can generate better results for leaving your competitors in dust. The best way to grow your business is to experiment with new tactics to engage with the consumer and optimize your social media strategy.

Categories
Motivation & Mind Control

3 Simple Steps to Manage Stress and Save Your Business

बिजनेस टिप्स
बिजनेस टिप्स

Stress Management in Business: Key to drive Efficiency

Feeling stressed? Don’t worry, most of the business owners today complain about increasing stress levels. Modern life is filled with challenges, deadlines, long working hours, complicated relationships and uncertainty in business environment. 

Every business owner works about achieving peak performance but in reality, such results take long term investment of time, money and patience. 

Stressing about business process and functions can make you lose the vision and perspective to solve problems in your trade. It takes a lot of energy and focus to put these uncertain stress factors out of your life.

What does it need to get back to the fundamentals? What can you do? It is not about ignoring the daily fires, it is about improving the way you fight the battle.  We tell you three simple steps to bust that stress away and focus on your goal. 

1. Let’s Be Honest

  • Always remember that nothing is certain in this world. Anything negative happening to you or your business process can be improved and worked upon. Don’t neglect realities rather focus on the solution to the problem.
  • Before rushing into the flame, take notes of your greater purpose and put the fire in context. Always remember why you started before ending anything.
  • Be honest with your employees, partners, fellow leaders, customers and everybody who makes the engine of your work run as you are not alone.
  • Don’t be afraid to answer, being honest might help you reduce stress at work and who knows, by sharing the issues you might get a great way to fight with it.
  • It is important to be transparent with your employees so that they know what they need to focus on. Involve them in strategic planning so that they can feel a part of the business process.

2. Take tough decisions with a balanced approach

  • The worst thing we do in uncertain stress situations is to take the wrong decisions. Many business owners take hasty decision around the most vital aspects of the business.
  • Never cut the communication in any tough situation, it often misguides your decision making.
  • You may fail to take note of the larger context if you focus only on the bottom line while ignoring your fellows and team-mates.
  • You will always rise in the process to fight with stress when you understand and work towards dual benefits- of the company and of your employees.
  • Improve your problem-solving skills to help make the challenges thrown at you more manageable. It is a process of identifying stressors and creating strategies to reduce stress at work.
  • Add this powerful tool to your stress management toolbox.

3. Return to your core

  • Always remember what is the foundation and values of your company, I am sure you had a purpose.
  • Stress makes us lose sight of the core things we are working for during tough times.
  • Do not play the blame game rather focus on the issue that is creating the stress in your business process.
  • Recall the previous stress and problem that you have solved and use your previous learnings. 

Top emergency stress stoppers

An emergency stress stopper can help you to defuse the stress for the moment. Here are some points to remember:-

Counting 10 before you speak or react can reduce stress at work.

* Take a few deep breaths until your body starts to relax.

* Take a walk to break the stress and give you a chance to think freshly.

* Take out some time to meditate for mental relief.

* Instead of solving the whole problem, try to break it in parts and then solve it.

* Listen to some motivational speeches or songs. It will help you to deal with rage and reduce stress at work.

* Workout if you are feeling stress. Exercising is the best antidote for stress.

In the end, do remember to be honest with yourself and your employees about what’s working and what needs to be changed. Make tough decisions in the greater context and you will find the peak closer than you thought.

Categories
HR & People Management

5 Best Practices For Your Small Business Onboarding Process

How to Build an Effective Onboarding Process?

Once you find the right hire for your company, the business onboarding process is a critical part of building a great team. It is important to create an impeccable onboarding process to make them feel comfortable in your work environment.

The onboarding process is a holistic introduction that gives knowledge about the company policies, necessary skills, and work ethics at the office and most importantly how to be productive as an employee. It also includes training & development programs, socializing with the other team members, essential paperwork, and getting an understanding of the operations.

In many places, the business onboarding process is just the orientation which includes the very basic- the new employees watch some videos, fill necessary forms and are asked to start the work. However the right onboarding process is a chance for your new hire to connect emotionally with your company’s values, vision, and culture. Right onboarding helps the new employees to be more productive and a positive first impression of the workplace is built on their mind. Here are some tips to make the onboarding process a delight for your new joiners: 

1. Prepare for new employees

  • Manage your new employees by proving them with a clear and brief overview of their first day in the company.
  • Prepare everything in advance. Whatever they require to start their day with should be ready before the employee reaches the office.
  • Introduce the new employee to the rest of the team. You don’t have to go far into the details. Make sure you introduce them to all the major departments of your company.
  • The onboarding process makes sure that they have a copy of the employee handbook; that includes an employment letter, welcome note, company policies, payroll information and general HR policies.
  • Give them a proper guide and schedule for their first week in the company.
  • Assign your new employee with a clean work area and software they might need to login to.

2. Make sure they follow the rules

  • It is important to teach your new employees to stay in compliance and follow the rules & regulations.
  • Make sure that they have a copy of the rules & regulations and a manual of your office culture and ethics to follow.
  • Refresh their knowledge and make them aware of the new regulations by providing them regular training programs.

3. Clear company culture, values, and vision

  • Make them understand the vision and culture of the company on the first day itself. Do not rush; explain to them why each value is important for your company.
  • Let them know how your company is operating to achieve the goals in order to set an example and expectations.
  • Your new employees can contribute more positively to your business if they are clear about the vision, value and culture of your company. Make them understand that the company’s value and vision are critical.
  • You also need to focus on your workplace and build a culture that supports efficiency, hard work and employee productivity.
  • Have transparency in your communication; the clearer the communication, the more productive the employee will be.

4. Create a comprehensive training and development program

  • Build a team of experienced employees for the training and development program to help train new joiners.
  • Training encourages continuous employee development and will not only lead to employee efficiency but also employee satisfaction.
  • Training helps new employees to expand their skills that can benefit your company in the long run.

5. Set-up a practice run

  • Practice by conducting a mock call internally with the new employees to understand what they have learned.
  • Have a small onboarding test that includes procedures for customer interaction & certain regular tasks. If they succeed in the test it means that you have done your job correctly and if they don’t then make note of the areas you have to work on again.
  • Ask for feedback from the new employees to understand if anything needs to be removed, added or better explained.
  • Encourage the team heads and managers to have phone calls and quick meetings with the new employees; this practice makes the new hires more comfortable and will reduce the time on other ineffective modes of communication. Building a personal connection is critical team building.
  • For better employee productivity, ensure each person is in the right role as per their needs and skills.

It can take some time to build a successful onboarding process for your company but the right onboarding process will encourage the new employees to stick with the organization for the longer run. So if you want to generate more revenue and build a solid team for your company than spend time understanding the right onboarding process and execute it to the tee.

Categories
HR & People Management

4 Tips For Fostering a Feedback Culture in Your Business

Listen to Your Employees to be Successful in Business
 

Feedback is the most important and the only way to know what you are doing is working or not in your business. Every business has guidelines on how the feedback mechanism should work. A strong feedback culture in business can foster the growth of the teams, individuals, and the organization.

Your customers and employees are the only people who can make or break your business. Their voices & opinions should be valued. Companies with a feedback culture are investors of talent and this can in turn influence the growth of the business, boost employee job satisfaction and lead to a higher retention rate. 

Fostering Business feedback requires a lot of time and effort, so let’s discuss a few points to build a strong feedback culture in your organization:-

1. Ask your employees for feedback and ideas

  • Let them know that you respect their ideas by asking them to share their opinions. This goes for everyone- from the top management to your-entry level workers; let them share whatever they want to atleast initiate the feedback culture in business.
  • It is important to hear your managers and especially employees who take care of the complaints department as they have a first-hand experience of what the customers are struggling with and their immediate pain points.
  • Pay attention to each feedback as their valuable suggestions can help your organization grow.
  • Neglecting their inputs can cause a disconnection between the employees and the management.
  • Make sure your management welcomes all the feedback and considers it seriously.

2. Send an anonymous e-mail survey

  • There will be some people in your organization who can feel uncomfortable in speaking up and sharing their ideas, in this case, you can send an anonymous e-mail survey and ask for their business feedback.
  • Many employees feel more comfortable sharing negative feedback or a botheration anonymously.
  • You can always use a different a mode of channel for the feedback survey. Provide your employees an opportunity to share their feedback in a way they are most comfortable with.
  • Here are some of the different methods of conducting an employee survey:

1. Anonymous vs. attributed feedback

2. Group vs. individual feedback

3. Face to face vs. written feedback

4. 1 on 1 vs. 360 feedback

3. Focus on Relationship-Building

  • It is easy to foster a business feedback culture in your organization if people have more trust in their co-workers and team-mates.
  • Put an extra effort into relationship-building activities of your employees and improve your workplace collaboration. You can shuffle the seats; have team building activities, organize special days such as the Pot luck day or a Family day, or maybe an outdoor activity for your employees.
  • You can felicitate or talk about the achievements of some of the employees before starting the meeting; it will also help you to develop a bond between the team members. 

4. Be Transparent with your team

  • Give your employees constructive feedback which can help them grow professionally within the organization. Be transparent with your employees to set a solid feedback culture in your organization.
  • If you cannot act on their feedback, explain to them why it couldn’t be implemented so that they get the feeling that at least their feedback was considered and not ignored.
  • Make sure you set the goal/objective of the feedback. You can also have regular and general business feedback surveys on management behavior, product innovation and the working environment. 

Building a strong Business feedback culture is a great investment if you want to your company to be one of the best places to work in. The process will take time to roll, so continue your consistent effort to implement the feedback culture in business. Your employees will surely be more productive and bring valuable ideas that can make your business grow.

Categories
Process & Business Expansion

ERP For Small Business: Going The Right way!

Transform your business using ERP solutions

Billionaire Entrepreneur Bill Gates has said, ’Vision without execution is day dreaming’. Managing business requires handling many functions and verticals and to align this together ERP software tools need to take center stage.  The advantages of using ERP solutions for small businesses are immense which will eventually help their companies to grow. Here are 8 benefits of implementing ERP small business software:

1. Cost Reduction

  • Implementation of the best ERP tools will reduce administrative costs considerably. This also helps in better turnaround time. Employees won’t have to waste time in doing manual jobs and entries into the system
  • Capability of your employees can be used for bigger and more profitable projects and plans 

2. Automation with Increased Efficiency

  • Automation in workflow will help avoid the possibility of human error. Hence, reduction in any delays or problems related to customer interface leading to increased efficiency
  • Industry best practices can be adopted and aligned with the company’s goal and vision
  • Increased Efficiency is one of the biggest benefits of ERP tools for Small businesses

3. Visibility and Transparency

  • Visibility & Transparency is one of the biggest selling points for ERP small business software. It allows access to most of the critical functions of the business by keeping a track of every department.
  • For e.g. you can keep track of your distribution network, your inventory in the store house and how much of it is in transit as well as your marketing spends & financial books.

4. Single Reporting Structure

  • In SMBs there are not too many departmental heads, hence with the help of ERP small business software, a single reporting structure is created making it easier to analyze, report and draw conclusions

5. Improved Planning & Departmental Collaboration

  • Since the software gives you accessibility and the ability to analyse and compare reports from across departments, it can help plan inventory and financial management in a better and efficient manner making ERP small business software highly beneficial

6. Inventory/Supply Chain Management

  • For businesses with inventory requirements, ERP solutions create the opportunity for another kind of savings in the form of inventory management
  • ERP for small business can help calculate demand for specific materials, decrease overstocking and track real-time supply
  • When supply chain management runs smoothly, the entire organization will benefit

7. Data Reliability and Security

  • Data is the heart of any organization and needs to be secure all the time
  • ERP tools have controls that can keep your data secure by having restricted rights of edit, copy and deletion monitored continuously
  • Since there is a single source of data, accuracy and security are most important

8. Mobility

  • Today organizations are working on the move especially Startups and SMEs, hence effective ERP systems help in giving the same opportunities to employees who are working on the field
  • Employees can have access to a central database where they can carry out work from any location and any device making them a productive asset for the company. 

ERP for small business is a boon that companies need to embrace and understand. The company needs to weigh which ERP solution is best suited to its goals and objectives and can deliver the ROI expected; hence decisions regarding ERP small business software need to be made strategically before jumping the gun.

Though every business has its own need and requirements, these are some of the Best ERP tools for Small & Medium Businesses

NetSuite ERP

Business Cloud Essentials

Sage Intact

SYSPRO

SAP Business One

Oracle ERP Cloud

Sage Business Cloud Enterprise Management

Epicor ERP
Categories
Strategy

5 Tips to Build an Effective Crisis Management Plan

Be Prepared: How to build an Effective Crisis Management Plan

Every entrepreneur should understand that even the best of business plans can go off course during an unexpected event. Therefore a business crisis plan is a must. We usually tend to procrastinate while preparing a crisis management plan, but unfortunately, disaster can strike at any stage, and having no back up at that point of time can be risky for the business. Here are some tips to keep in mind while preparing for a business crisis.

1. Build a Crisis Management Team

  • It is important to have the leadership team involved in the crisis management plan
  • Involve people from different disciplines, so that all views and points can be accommodated in the final business crisis plan

2. Assess the Risks

  • Identify potential risks that can disrupt your business and work with all stakeholders to assess the risks
  • Devise a contingency plan for short-term as well as long-term. Once the potential risks are known, make a crisis management plan for a period of 3 months, 6 months and then one year. You never know how long the crisis can last
  • For e.g. no one anticipated the Corona virus outbreak and the lockdown that will follow. Hence businesses need to plan for the entire year in this case, to make up for the losses incurred by them and by the predicted slowdown
  • Carry out a Business Impact Analysis to evaluate which side of the business will be impacted the most. Will it be customer satisfaction, lowering of sales, payment defaults from vendors or damage in reputation in the market?
  • Once you know the extent and areas of impact, damage control measures can be listed and put into action during a crunch situation

3. Determine your Contingencies

  • Now that we have assessed the risks and the functions that can get impacted, the next step is to jot down how can the crisis be solved and what resources can be used efficiently to do so
  • Keep an emergency line of credit handy. You never know how long the crisis lasts so knowing from where you can get funds is always a plus
  • Include your employees in crisis communication management. Your marketing team, customer care teams and business heads need to know how they are going to communicate during a problem
  • A business crisis plan requires you to train your employees to tackle such situations and also be ready to take on additional functions to ease the pressure of on some teams. Also keep updating them with new skills, you never which one comes in handy during a crisis

4. Act Quickly

  • Though we advise you to act quickly during a crisis, but that doesn’t mean you take hasty decisions. During a crisis you need to be even more careful about how you battle the situation
  • For e.g. In the early 2000s, Cadbury was in the eye of the story when worms were found in their Dairy Milk Bars. In less than 2 weeks a PR campaign was launched for the trade followed by a nationwide ad campaign with Amitabh Bachchan on their new and improved poly-flow packaging.
  • Key learning here is that, Cadbury was quick in their damage control, they did bear a heavy cost of the damage but soon customer confidence was back and they started achieving their sales numbers
  • A crisis management plan needs to have steps that can help act faster

5. Keep your Business Crisis Plan updated

  • Review your crisis management plan on a regular basis for possible updates or market changes
  • We keep talking about the business environment being highly dynamic; there are changes in the market, technology up-gradation and sometimes there might be a case that employees who were a part of this plan might have left the organization. Hence, revisiting the plan will be beneficial for your business

One thing that Covid-19 has definitely taught us is the extent of impact a crisis can have on your business especially when there is no plan in place. If companies who are on the verge of a shutdown had a cohesive crisis management plan, maybe they could sail through these tough times. As they say, ’Better late than never’- there is no harm in having a general preparedness in place for your company to be financially sound in the long run.