Month: April 2020

Categories
Finance

Cash Flow Mistakes That Can Shut Down Your Business

Cash Flow Mistakes that Every Entrepreneur Should Avoid

Small businesses usually have a few people handling multiple functions; hence business cash flow needs to be given priority. Sometimes there are hidden expenses that the entrepreneur does not account for which impacts the cash flow situation.  Hence, you need to monitor and optimize the cash flow management and try and remain cash positive. Here are some of the cash flow mistakes made by companies that can hurt the business

1. Forced Growth

  • Sometimes a company’s tend to grow without enough cash management. Unplanned hiring, too much investment in marketing or maybe a product development that has gone wrong, steps like these during business expansion can take a turn for the worse
  • The cost of a few bad hirings can hamper your cash flows. You cannot spend too much time on their training only, the results need to show. So be careful when hiring expensive manpower

2. Unanticipated Expenses and Emergencies

  • There can be a lot of unexpected expenses that a business can incur. Whether it is a natural disaster, an economic slowdown, an equipment failure or complaints from customers, every company has unplanned emergencies and not make a contingency plan for such business cash flow can lead to blunders.
  • Sudden changes in the taxes or other defaults from the taxpayer can affect the cash outflow.

3. Excess expenditure on Sales

Every business needs to acquire new customers but you need to see at what cost you are acquiring them. Maybe initially it can be at the cost of suffering loses, but soon you need to lower the CAC and also segment that which customer will help you generate revenue.

4. Being profitable but broke

  • This is a strange scenario that takes place in many companies. The money you are making is not translating into positive cash flows
  • You need to reinvest in the business in the beginning for growth, unnecessary expenditures need to be avoided at any cost. If the founder starts to draw a handsome salary from the first month, it will be a big cash flow mistake

5. Short-Term Profit Alignment

  • As an entrepreneur, you keep getting ideas that can be converted into a product and sold into the market. However, you see that the sales hit the roof in the first 2-3 months and then the demand began to fall.
  • Successful entrepreneurs set long term goals. The get-rich-quick ideas will only drain your business cash flow.
  • If you like to take short-term risks, then be smart to make something out of your existing line, sell for a short time, make money and fizzle it out

6. Increase in late payment or overdue from customers/suppliers

  • If you sleepover such overdue then the third party takes it for granted that you can work without cash for a long time
  • If your customer makes late payments, then you cannot pay to your vendor on time and this spoils your credibility in the market
  • Allowing too much credit can turn out to be a huge cash flow mistake 

Costs are like magnets, they try to draw out all your money, making you a little helpless in such a situation. Hence, for business cash flow management maintain proper records and spend your cash carefully so that the company does not face a disastrous situation during tough times.

Categories
Strategy

What Will Change For Your Business Post Corona Virus Lockdown?

Business post-Corona: Changes that every company needs to follow
 

We all know that the world will change post the Corona outbreak. There will be change in business and all of us will have to adapt to a new way of living, working, and building relationships. Here are 10 things that will change for businesses when life returns to normal:

1. Business Model Reinvention

  • Entrepreneurs will reinvent their business model and other functions to adapt to the changes the pandemic has left behind
  • The first step to business reinvention is deconstruction- a new framework will be drawn for key elements of the business. For e.g. Customer relationship, resource management, key partners, revenue, cost, etc., all functions will need to be looked closely and tweaked accordingly

2. Leaner Business Models

  • All tasks & functions that have no value to the customer will be eliminated and a continuous process of testing your assumptions about sales and revenue will be put in place
  • A leaner business model can lead to greater productivity and smooth functioning. Since the wasteful tasks will be eliminated, the focus would now be on the important and revenue-generating functions and hence would lead to smooth running of the business
  • Faster delivery options can be explored leading to increased customer satisfaction

3. Business Automation

  • Technology & Business Automation will be the backbone of every function that we conduct in a business
  • ERP tools will be used more than ever to automate tasks leading to a lesser human face to face interaction and updates
  • Meetings, personal interactions, and even Events and Conferences will be facilitated with remote work tools without any loss in productivity of employees

4. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Automation

  • AI & Automation will happen faster than ever imagined. With the help of AI, Business Automation, customer engagement and data analysis will form the basis of many business decisions
  • Role of Machine Learning to process data- For e.g. you have a manufacturing unit and your machines are connected to the network. Constant data about production will be fed to a central location. It is not possible for a human to process so much data, hence AI & ML will help companies collect this data and also extract important information out of it
  • Predicting customer insight will become more accurate. Patterns of what a customer will buy, identifying quality and safety measure and personalized targeting of digital ads will be done using AI more often

5. Risk Insurance
 

  • Post Coronavirus outbreak, businesses will have to take several insurance to safeguard against unknown risks
  • Currently, there are 2 major insurance covers-’Event Cancellation insurance’ offered by usually big firms and the other is a more general cover for ’Business Interruption’
  • Businesses will move from ’standard policies’ to more specific ones that cover unknown risks extensively
  • Employee health insurance given by companies will have costs related to epidemic illness and death covered as well

6. Expansion into New Markets

  • The possibility of more profits, more reach, and more impact is enough to get anyone excited and decisions related to expansion into new markets will be taken faster.
  • Prioritize and select your markets and assess internal capabilities in terms of which core competencies can be leveraged.
  • Going digital will help enter newer markets faster 

7. Cost Reduction

  • Companies will be heading towards cost-cutting & cost reduction measures for various functions that can either be automated or outsourced as and when required
  • Hiring across organizations will be lean with more of scope of work being defined across lesser employees
  • Companies will become less hierarchical leading to cost reduction with lesser people on top
  • Businesses will approach more inbound techniques of marketing like social media, blogs, CRM rather than costly marketing practices. This will help them target relevant customers at half the cost.

8. Hiring Freeze

  • Due to the Coronavirus outbreak, many businesses suffered with absolutely no revenues but they were still paying salaries to their employees
  • Post Corona, we will see most companies going into a hiring freeze with current employees carrying out inter-departmental functions
  • For e.g. a marketing professional in a company can also handle its branding strategy, external & internal communication rather than just focusing on building marketing plans

9. Invest in Employees

  • An employee is the most important asset for an organization and without good employees, the business will be alive on a ventilator sort of situation, so invest in employees
  • Put forward a peer-led rather than leader- or boss-driven model with increased communication and engagement within the group of workers
  • Revisit your sick leave policy
  • Implement flexible working arrangements which can be mapped
  • Mental wellness will become a priority for companies for their employees to function well
  • Provide certain facilities/benefits to employees that make them feel wanted and cared for.
  • Rewards & Recognition for good performers, a celebration of milestones and enhanced learning opportunities for employees that have potential

10. Focus on Innovation

  • When a business tries to bounce back, your business idea and model form the foundation of getting back into the groove
  • Companies have to innovate at a faster pace otherwise they should be ready to perish
  • Every business post-Corona will try to bounce back and get revenues in place. It will become a do or die situation for many
  • Put in place lifeboat plans for three-month, one-year and three-year downturns
  • Faster innovation will help you become more competitive and build the value of your brand
  • Focus on innovation will help companies scale up their structure and eventually lead to increase revenues 

Change is inevitable and a global pandemic like Corona is setting the ground for change in business as well. Act with compassion and take each and every action NOW, as you don’t want to miss the bus.

Categories
Startup

Best payment processing software for your business

Best Payment Processing Software For Your Business
Best Payment Processing Software For Your Business

What is the Best Online Payment System for you?

E-commerce is booming and the Digital India initiative by the Government has given an immense boost to it. Flexible payment processing software becomes necessary for your company to facilitate easier payment mechanisms for the customer. For you to choose a payment processing company, keep the following things in mind:

Low Transaction fee– The cost for the convenience given should be feasible to you

Technology– The payment gateway whether a third party or yours should be able to process the financial data put on your side

Easy setup

Offers multiple ways for the customer to pay

Here are some options of payment processing software for small businesses:

1. PayU Money

It is the largest payment processing gateway in India and has no setup as well as maintenance fees.

Their subscription feature can help businesses get recurring payments making life easier for both the business and the customer

With a 100% online hassle-free onboarding process, makes managing payments easy and hassle frees

2. RazorPay

It’s a payment gateway that allows businesses to accept, proceed and disburse payments. It has many clients in its portfolio which makes its initializing features customer service very effective

3. CCAveue

They offer zero setup fees for startups so you can start off easily. It allows multilingual payment page in 18 major Indian and international languages and also has 200+ payment options

4. Cashfree

Cashfree payment processing software provides the widest range of payment options. From net banking to popular wallets, to credit and debit cards options along with the widest range of pay later and cardless EMI options

5. Mobikwik

MobiKwik has gained immense popularity in India due to its flexibility. They offer solutions to both individual users and businesses.

It is mobile friendly with a solid analytic dashboard

6. InstaMojo

It is one of the fastest-growing payment processing software for small business

This platform allows new merchants to create a merchant account instantly to collect online payments with ease with or without a website.

The platform is a full-stack transactional platform empowering merchants with simpler processes.

Charges of Instamojo are quite reasonable

7. PayPal

The biggest advantage with PayPal is that it is a global player, so if you deal with a lot of international consumers then getting PayPal integrated as you payment processing partner makes a lot of sense.

Features like barcode scanning, bill me later, inventor tracking makes it advisable for businesses to use this platform. But its unique feature of Transaction dispute where it holds the money in the account for 180 days if there is a scam or a fraud ensures protecting of both the seller and the buyer

8. PayTM

Paytm became a leading payment processing gateway due to its online consumer base with ‘Paytm Cash’ wallet especially after Demonetisation. This made PayTM a preferred choice of many small e-commerce merchants

Finding a payment processing software depends on a few factors listed at the beginning of the article. One should choose that particular payment processing software that suits the needs of the SME and is aligned to their product offerings.

Categories
Finance

3 Important Financial statements Every Business Owner Should Know

3 most important financial statements for your Business

Trying to run a business without keeping a check on the Cash flow, Balance sheet and Profit and loss statement is like driving a car without the engine. It is critical to understand this concept to plan the future and manage your operations and taxes. It is also important to keep your financial health in check as your investors might ask for these statements at the time of fundraising and you don’t want to have enough cash in your business. Financial statements are the best source to evaluate the weaknesses and strengths of your company’s financial health.

Let’s understand each of these important financial statements in detail:-

1. Cash flow

7 out of 10 start-ups fail because of poor cash flow management. Running out of money is the most critical situation where most of the start-ups fail. You always need to know where the money is coming from and where the money is going. A Cashflow financial statement helps your business to identify the risks while moving forward. It also records all the relevant activities for the current period. Cash Flow management is the amount of cash collected and used by a company during a period and is one of the most important aspects to understand running a business.  You are going to put your business in a very dangerous position if you don’t stay on top of your cash flow.

Let’s break down cash flow into 3 important financial statement categories:-

  • Operating cash flow – The money which is coming from normal business activities.
  • Investing cash flow – The money which is coming from investing activities like- Property, Plants, stocks, equipment, etc.
  • Financing cash flow – It includes transactions involving e
  • quity, debt and dividends.

2. Balance sheet

The balance sheet reflects the financial statement of your company. It is a combination of your company’s assets and liability.  If both assets and liability match then only your account is balanced. Let’s understand the balance sheet–

A balance sheet helps in determining the financial stability of your business. Investors and creditors always analyze the balance sheet of your company before investing. A balance sheet also indicates the unexpected expenses and your liquidity position.

Asset + Liability = Equity (It shows the basic accounting equations)

  • Assets – Asset includes inventory, investment, equipment and machinery, cash, account receivables and checking account. Assets are the resources that are owned by the business owner and can be measured.
  • Liability – Liability includes things that you owe to others like- loans, share capital, surplus, payroll, etc.
  • Equity – Equity includes the capital investments that you have made in the business.

Look for these items when reviewing the balance sheet:-

  • Negative Balance
  • Balance which seems too low or too high
  • Balance in the account that must be zero
  • Balance in account payable (AP) and account receivable (AR).

3. Profit and loss statement

Profit can be made when your revenue exceeds costs or expenses but if the cost exceeds revenue then a loss is projected.

The profit and loss statement records the performance of your business and shows the result if the company is financially healthy or not.

The profit and loss statement shows where the money is being allocated and also breaks down the business cost into categories for your financial statement.

Let’s look at the components of profit and loss:-

  • Income – It refers to the revenue earned by your company by the core operation and secondary sources such as interest income.
  • Cost of goods sold – It includes the costs related to the product sale in your inventory. The cost of goods sold is also known by the cost of sales.
  • Gross profit margin – Gross profit margin is the difference between the revenue and the cost of sales. It indicates the ability to cover the remaining expenses apart from the cost of sales.
  • Operating expenses – It includes selling, administrative, salaries, and general expenses.
  • Operating income – It comes by subtracting the operating expenses from the gross margin.
  • Depreciation – It reflects the reduction in the value of an asset like equipment that is being used to generate income.
  • Interest – Interest refers to the cost of borrowing funds to finance the business’s assets.
  • Net Income – It reflects the company’s bottom line. If the company’s expenses exceed then it will be recorded as a net loss.

These Important Financial statements are critical to evaluate the performance of your business yearly. As a business owner, one must know the basics of these important financial statements to understand the monetary health of your company. It will also help you to take the necessary decisions on time.

Categories
Strategy

How To Select The Ideal Business Entity

Choose the right Business Entity for your Company

Starting is a business is not easy. Apart from the many decisions that you need to make, one important decision is to select a business entity for your company. An entrepreneur needs to be very clear about choosing a business entity as this decision will affect your taxes you pay, your growth plans and even your ability to raise money. 

While choosing a legal or business entity, you should be very clear about-

  • The kind of work you are going to do
  • Under what government or taxation norms does it fall into?
  • How can I seamlessly fulfill my future business requirements
  • Only after selecting a business entity, you can register your business with the state

Here are the major types of business entities you can select from:

1. Sole Proprietorship

  • One of the most easily formed entities is sole proprietorship as both, the managerial control & financial liabilities remain with the owner
  • If you want to be your own boss and don’t want to enter the hassle of having multiple partners or too many obligations, then this is the best decision for you
  • It’s simple and cheap, you can think of the business structure. The only fee you need to pay is license fee and taxes
  • Under a sole proprietorship, you are entitled to some tax deductions as well

2. Partnership

  • This business entity is run by two or more people together who have a share in profits as well as loses too
  • This kind of an arrangement is ideal if you want to start a business with a family member, friend or a business partner where all share the profits and losses and are involved in making important decisions regarding the business

There are 2 types of partnerships- General and Limited partnership

  1. General Partnership- In this arrangement, all profits and losses are shared equally
  2. Limited partnership- Limited partnerships have one partner with unlimited liability, and all other partners have limited liability

The benefits of a business entity like the partnership is that it can be formed without any hassle and does not cost a lot 

  • You work as a team. Partners are in the business not only to share the profits but also to share the challenges that come along during setting up a business. Ideas can be shared and learning from each other is natural.
  • However one should only enter a partnership when you can work in tandem with another person and accept that the profits are not solely your profits!

3. Limited Liability Companies (LLC)

  • This is a mixed structure business entity that allows the partners or shareholders to limit their personal liabilities but still enjoy the tax benefits of a partnership. The members of an LLC can be individuals, a partnership or a corporation
  • The major benefit of an LLC that in most cases the partners are protected from personal liability the same way as shareholders are in a corporation.
  • You do not need to file corporate tax as an LLC, but you need to file your profits and losses and submit it with your tax return under schedule C

4. Corporations

  • Corporations are business entities separate from their owner. It handles the responsibility of an organization and running a business
  • The corporation is taxed and is also fully liable for its actions
  • The benefit of forming a corporation is that it is separate from your personal liability and the disadvantage is that it is a bit costly to form this legal entity
  • There are several types of corporations, such as C corporations, S corporations, B corporations, closed corporations, and nonprofit corporations. However, the S-corporation was formed for small businesses to avoid double taxation
  • When your business is a corporation, the chances of you raising more capital from investors increase because funds can be raised through selling stocks which can be a luring option

While choosing a business entity you need to compare the pros and cons and how it will benefit you. The tax implications, ownership rules, and future needs should be in your favour. It is absolutely important to take advice from a business consultant/expert or your chartered accountant before finally arriving on your decision. 

Categories
Startup

9 Common Startup Expenses ’ The Checklist

Common Startup Expenses: The Must-Read Guide

You’re almost ready to start your new business venture. Congratulations!

You have thought of a great business idea that you know your customers are going to love.

But the path ahead of you won’t be easy. The key to a successful business is preparation. 

Un-accounted or sudden Startup expenses are the most common reason why startups fail. Before you open the doors of your business, you’ll have bills to pay.

Understanding startup business expenses will help you launch and grow your business successfully.

Calculating startup expenses helps you:

  • Evaluate the break-even point of your business
  • Estimating revenue or profits 
  • Securing loans
  • Attracting investments in your business
  • Save money

Startup expenses vary from business to business, but there are 9 common expenses that you should consider when preparing your startup.

1. Registration & licensing fees:
 

When you start your business, you will have to register your business as per the rules & regulations of the government. 

Depending on your industry, you might have to incur expenses on additional licenses as well.

2. Rent:

You might not have to worry about the rent, if:

  • You’re starting out as an individual, or
  • You plan on letting your employees work from home

But, if you need an office space or space for a shop, it’s going to cost you.

Rent is one of the key factors in the success of a business, as:

  • It’s one of the main operating costs in a business
  • It’s a fixed cost 

3. Utilities:

In addition to the fixed cost of the rent, you’ll be responsible for paying additional expenses of your office space like: Electricity bill, Water bill, Gas, Internet & phone bills.

4. Employee Salaries:

You need to pay your employees, even at the initial days of your business when you’re not bringing in much revenue.

Employee salaries will probably be one of your most costly startup expenses for years to come.

Payroll includes:

  • Wages of your employees
  • Additional benefits: bonuses, commission, overtime pay.

5. Office furniture, equipment’s & supplies:

Office and supplies add up fast.

  • Even if you’re working from home, you might need desks, chairs, computers, phones, filing cabinets, printers, ink, pens, and papers.
  • If you’re operating in a traditional 9-5 office environment, you might need a microwave, water cooler, etc. apart from the desks, chairs, computers, and phones. 

6. Inventory:

If you’re in retail, wholesale, manufacturing or distribution, you will have to maintain inventory to sell.

Knowing exact inventory requirement is tricky:

  • Excess inventory: carries a risk of spoilage or damage and keeps your capital blocked
  • Less inventory: carries a risk of losing customers

Hence, you should calculate your minimum inventory requirement by analysing the trends of your industry.

7. Marketing:

Marketing and promoting a new startup is almost a non-stop task.

Marketing material might include Banners, Business cards, Brochures

Digital marketing increasingly forms the basis of many startup’s efforts to attract and retain customers.

Also, it’s almost unheard of a business today that doesn’t have its website; so whether you design your own website or pay an agency to design one for you, you’ll need to factor in the time and money to develop an online presence.

8.Technology:

In addition, there is a growing list of other technology expenses you should be aware of when preparing your startup:

  • Software licenses
  • IT support
  • Data storage
  • Email accounts
  • Payment gateways
  • Any third-party integrations or services

9. Taxes:

While planning your budget, you’ll have to assign a specific amount or a percentage of your budget to allocate towards taxes.

The amount you pay depends on your revenue, deductible expenses and your business entity.

You should work with a professional Chartered Accountant (CA) to manage your business taxes, which is money in and of itself in the list of your startup expenses.

Don’t forget to budget your expenses:

When calculating your business startup expenses, a good rule of thumb is to be able to cover at least 6 months’ worth of expenses up front.

When you’re getting ready to launch your new startup, it is very easy to get carried away thinking about the glamorous things, like the products that you’re going to make, or the innovative marketing campaigns that you’ll run.

However, unless you can make sure that your business is profitable, you won’t be able to keep the lights on for very long.

We know, planning and estimating your startup expenses is one of the most stressful parts of launching a new startup.

But being realistic about estimating your startup business expenses will go a long way towards getting your company up and running.

Categories
Process & Business Expansion

Transformation of Small Businesses in 2020

2020: Shaping new trends for small businesses

2020 is going to be a totally different year for small businesses. With the slowdown caused due to Coronavirus lockdown and companies re-strategizing the way they function, small business trends
will be all about efficiency and productivity in the minimum cost. These are some small business trends that will change the face of business in the coming years:

1. Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

AI is becoming an integral part of our life as its opportunities and applications are virtually limitless

Artificial Intelligence is being used in every sector be it healthcare, manufacturing, banking, retail or even education. You name it and AI has an application that a sector can use 

For e.g. Chat Bots to help get initial information from customers, Virtual Assistants to delegate your mundane tasks, smart cars for unique driving experience and many more

2. Rise of Remote Working
 

The coronavirus lockdown has definitely taught us to be more productive while working from home where employees are multi-tasking and working beyond capacity to fight difficult times

Less of overhead costs will be the priority of employers. This will lead to saving costs, time and resources for many sectors

Remote working is going to see a huge rise as one of the small business trends for 2020

3. Leveraging Technology

The competition today is cut-throat not only amongst businesses but also when you are competing with big players and it is only through tech especially the digital tools available that can help you scale

Analytics, CRM tools, Social media marketing, ERP tools- all these tools you can ditch traditional methods of spreadsheets 

Small business trends for 2020 is going to be all about using technology to increase productivity and best employee outcomes

4. Personalized Customer Service & Customer Reviews will be the king

Smart personalized engines will be able to analyze and understand the consumer in a far more efficient manner giving digital side of the business a good boost

Customers will move towards businesses that offer personalized services, give them what they want in the fastest time possible

Another small business trend would be of user reviews or using the a customers as an influencer for others to buy that product

Since small businesses have small marketing budgets, it becomes paramount to focus on user reviews and use this tool efficiently

This will also help build trust of other potential customers who are on the line to get converted into buyers

5. Story Driven Marketing

Social media marketing is going to be all about stories- Compelling stories that connect with the consumer emotionally 

Direct News feed style marketing will be absolutely irrelevant 

Use more visuals that too much text to convey your messaging. This will help in the retention of your brand as well as the brand message

Customer engagement in a savvy and relevant way will be the new small business trend for 2020

6. Millennials will reshape the Workforce and Workplace

Millennials work differently; they bring with them the zeal of new ideas and new ways of doing things. They are going to form an integral part of the workforce in organisations

Millennials prefer to use better tech with better working tools, hence digitization at the workplace will be the norm for them to function properly

The tradition of working 9-5 every day at a cubicle is no longer the norm, with laptops and smartphones, video conferencing and team messaging ’ technology has made remote work easier than ever

7. Leverage highly motivated employees

Coronavirus crisis has made employees handle multiple functions, different teams and sometimes even work with new skill sets

This time will help businesses identify motivated and highly productive employees and leverage them to the best of their abilities 

 With 2020 looming under the corona crisis, the second half of the year will need companies to bounce back and stand up on their feet. They need to look out for these small business trends in order to rekindle their energies and move on the path to gaining growth.

Categories
Marketing

White Labeling Or Building Your Own Solution?

Reap the benefits of White Labeling

White labeling solutions
are produced by one company and rebranded and resold to the end consumer. Benefits of white labeling are that it helps to expand your network and the reseller need not bother about the cost of building his own product, instead focus on increasing his sales for the product.

Sometimes for a small business, building the customized solution from scratch can lead to failure, hence to avoid this pitfall simply opt for a white labeling solution rather than building your own. Some of the benefits of opting for white labeling are:

1. Saves Money and Time

When you opt for white labeling solutions, you don’t have to go through the entire cycle of building a new product, designing, testing and hiring new talent

Since no reinvention of the wheel is supposed to take place, a lot of cost and time is saved

The idea is to repackage the product and give it to the end-user the way he prefers to consume it

You just need to add your brand and identity to it and the product is ready to go to the market

2. Faster to reach the market
 

As the process is speedy, you have an advantage of reaching the end customer faster than anyone who is perhaps building a product similar to yours

You don’t miss out on specific resources and expertise which are required to focus on a solution 

3. Expansion of Distribution Network

Since in white labeling you are reselling your product, it helps in organic expansion of your distribution network by adding the network of your reseller

This gives an opportunity to small businesses to compete with bigger players in the same field

4. Increase of Target Communities

When you are catering to a particular community, let’s say entrepreneurs you think of building products only around and for them. But with the help of white labeling solutions you can increase your reach & customer base.

For e.g the benefit of white labeling is that the end consumer can be a digital company, an educational institution or a small community of like-minded individuals, the idea is to increase the customer base and find many more touchpoints for the product

5. Enhance Customer Satisfaction

With white label software, you can reach the market faster. This translates into your customer getting the product faster.

The consumer enjoys this prompt service and a happy customer will result in faster revenues and a smooth churning of the product

6.Alternate Revenue streams

On one hand, e are saving cost by repackaging the same product and not hiring additional resources to build it, white labeling can help us with other revenue streams as well

For e.g. An Advertising agency doesn’t offer design as a part of its product offerings. But white labeling design, the company can now offer an additional service to its clients leading to extra revenue

Since the branding will be of the agency, the client will stick to the company and not look out for competitors

Bada Business as a Case Study on White labeling
 

  • Bada Business’s model is based on 2 pillars namely: learning and earning. We aim to be recognized as the most trusted source of learning and earning for entrepreneurs, students and women entrepreneurs in India.
  • All of our products are designed with the focus of empowering entrepreneurs learning and enabling them with tools, frameworks, examples and case studies that they can implement in their business and careers.
  • To expand our gamut a little further than just entrepreneurs, we decided to white label our product for the benefit of other communities as well who want to learn the know-how of entrepreneurship
  • This is a solution where Bada Business creates content that is white-labeled by partners. An example is the ’Campus to Business’ course that is being white-labeled by the top educational institutions of the country for their students.
  • Through white labeling, educational institutes will be providing 21st century skills to their students without going through the pain of building a curriculum for it from scratch. In other words, we are providing a plug and play learning management solution to them.

Businesses looking for new means and ways to provide more products or services & clients want to receive a bundled package of different offerings. In such a dynamic market, white labeling is the perfect solution for small businesses rather than building their own product.

Categories
Startup

Small Business Survival Plan For Dealing With The Coronavirus

Small Business Survival Plan For Dealing With The Coronavirus
Small Business Survival Plan For Dealing With The Coronavirus

Are you finding it hard to know how you can proactively manage your small business during the coronavirus?

With the coronavirus still spreading across the world, small business owners are worried about their survival. Restaurants, Retail stores, malls, theatres, and other small businesses are ordered to shut down and employees are asked to work from home. Many business owners are concerned about their small business survival in this situation because no one knows how long this economic situation will last.

Below are 9 survival plans with detail that can make a difference in being able to keep your doors open and calm your employees and customers:-

1. Immediate financial triage

The most important concern of the small business survival is how they will be going to pay the bill.  This is the most difficult question to answer because they are facing the most critical time of business reduction. Here are the important points to keep in mind on the financial front:-

  • Create a cash flow budget with fixed variable costs for small business survival.
  • Create a list of a fixed amount that needs to be paid. Prioritize the most important payments based on the timing of when they are due.
  • Contact all your debtors to try and get any overdue payments in.
  • Also, try to convince your creditor to see what payment they can defer in this critical time.
  • For small business survival eliminates unnecessary costs that are not producing revenue or securing the key business functions.
  • Always remember that your key employees can be your greatest assets if you cut them deep, you might not get them back.
  • Be creative and innovative in how your sales and marketing function. Find an additional financial source of earning to make small business survival.

2. Tax payment

  • Speak to your tax professionals to discuss the options to pay the tax.
  • Deferring tax payments can impact your eligibility for other stimulus packages.

 

3. Special COVID-19 policies

  • Create special Covid-19 policies for your employees and be clear with the safety protocols and business work from home culture to make small business survival.
  • Be flexible with the sick leave policy that employees want to take at work from home.
  • Do a webinar twice a week to stay connected with your employees.
  • Appoint a dedicated person (From the best performers of your company) for every team to maintain the workflow and decorum.

4. Employees and the talent

  • Make sure that you assured your employees about being protected. You have to retain the key employees who drive your business.
  • Stop hiring the new candidates instead try to diversify your employees. You can shuffle the key roles among your employees to understand their potential to handle the crises.
  • To make small business survival, make plans for next week, month and year and communicate the plan with your key people.
  • Unfortunately, you have to make hard decisions. Create a talent assessment in your company on who is a valuable asserted and how that person will help you in revenues.

5. Sales and marketing

  • Do regular communication with your customers and make sure that they know how to reach you.
  • Make it simple for the customer to purchase your product and services.
  • Start sending a regular newsletter or a series of emails and use it to communicate your willingness to help the customers. Tell them about the new feature, function, update and offer on your services and product.
  • Use social media to keep your customers up to date. If you don’t use social media, this is the time to build one.
  • Focus on your existing customer; provide them great service to maintain a relationship with your customers.
  • Find out new ways to deliver your product or services to your customers.

6. Research & development, operations, product or service improvements:

  • Invest your time to tackle projects you have been putting off.
  • Use this time to improving products and services and find efficiencies.
  • Use past customer feedback to improve your customer service and process.
  • Conduct online training or webinar for your company to create a world best product. You should also get training as a leader in problem areas to improve your company.
  • Invest time on media marketing, Accounting, IT or anything in your business category that can drive your business, only if you are weak on it. Involve your key team members into this.

7. Work from home for your employee

  • Many employees are having first experience working remotely; make sure you set the clear expectation.
  • Empower your employees with technology, if you want your small business to survive.
  • Implement a work from the home agreement with your employees.
  • Set an expectation and procedure for a daily productivity report and analyze it weekly so that you can track the workload and productivity of each employee.

8. Business strategy plan for 2020

  • This is an excellent time to make modifications to your business plan and you have not a plan for the year, it is the time to make one.
  • Start with the project that has been on your wish list and revaluate your objectives.
  • Use this time wisely and adjust your plan for this year.

9. Show humanity and be charitable

  • Reserve some money that could help in this time of disaster.
  • Try to serve and help those in your community.
  • Learn about how you can prepare yourself better for this disaster. Use this time as a wakeup call and learn from this experience.
  • Build small food storage that can help those people who cannot by food for themselves or for their family.
  • The more you help others in this difficult situation, the better you will feel.

As the future is uncertain, it is likely to be prepared for worse for small business survival. Recessions are cyclical by nature and entrepreneurs can make up for lost value at successive rounds once the economy improves.

Categories
HR & People Management

10 Growth Hacks Every Small Business Should Know

Are you looking for a perfect growth hack for your business?

Growth hacking
is a quick experiment for your business to identify the most efficient method for achieving growth. Hacking in terms suggests a clever way to produce higher growth result through shortcuts. An ideal business growth hacking aims is to increase the customers by keeping the investment low.

Let take a look at some business growth hack that every small business owner should know:-

1. Prioritize content marketing.

  • According to research, content marketing costs 62% less and generate 3 times more lead than any other traditional marketing.
  • Useful and engaging content can represent your business as an expert and can also help you building relationships with your customers.
  • Clean and to the point content with a call to action helps to monetize the traffic. This is the best small business growth hack.
  • Improve your SEOs and convert your visitors into your customers.
  • The high-volume and low-competition keyword of your blog/articles can attract more audience to your site.

2. Use Facebook and Google

  • Research says that the average customer makes nine visits to your site before purchasing anything, so you just need to retarget them.
  • Google and Facebook involve a pixel, you add to your website that enables you to show the target ads to your users who have previously visited your site.
  • Also, previous visitors to your site, who are browsing other sites too on the web, will see the ad of your business which encourages the visitors to come back to your site.

3. Show social proof

  • Most of the customers look for reviews before purchasing anything.
  • Let your customers know how many companies and people are using your product and services.
  • Display testimonials and comments from some of your satisfied customers on your website.
  • Customers buy from the company or place they trust, so the social proof is very important as a small business growth hack.

4. Use exit-intent coupons

  • Offering visitors a coupon is a great way to encourage people to make a purchase.
  • People love getting any coupons or deals, so not many will pass the opportunity.
  • Exit intent popup is a great way to grab your visitor’s attention when they are leaving your site.
  • Improve your bounce rate and boost your conversation with this amazing tool.

5. Use content upgrades

  • A content upgrade is a freebie within the post that relates to a blog post topic.
  • Providing content upgrade is a great way to grow your email list.
  • Content upgrade popup encourages your visitor to click the post in exchange for their email.

6. Use call to action on social media

  • With the help of a call to action, you can increase your likes, views, and shares on your social media handles.
  • You can also direct the customers to your website to sign up for your course or to join your mailing list to get regular updates.
  • Make sure that your call to action is clear and easy to understand.

7. Introduce a referral growth hack 

  • Users who refer a friend will get a freebie or the person who signs up from the link will get a discount coupon will get visitors at your website.
  • Create a perfect reward/referral campaign and offer giveaways to increase the numbers of the referral. 

8. Fear of missing out

  • Insecurity is the best tool to attract new customers.
  • Limited access to a service or product can trigger the emotion of missing out fear which can lead to having higher sales.
  • Fear of missing out strategy is all about offering the exclusive service or a product.

9. Launch a free model
 

  • Know your most effective distribution channel and how to deliver the content digitally.
  • One of the most effective strategies is to offer a basic service for free.
  • You can give your user a choice to apply for a premium membership to unlock the advance features; this was the biggest hack behind Spotify’s success. It was making money from cash subscriptions and ad revenues.
  • You can also offer early-bird discounts to your customers; this can be a very effective growth hack.

10. Ask for the feedback

  • There is no better way to figure out what is working and what’s not by asking the customers directly.
  • With the help of feedbacks, you can always improve your business, customer service or user experience which can boost your sales too.
  • Send regular mail and have a feedback popup on your website, who have purchased recently.

So these are a few amazing growth hacks that every small business should know. Instead of wasting your time in other ineffective marketing, these strategies are a smart way to scale up your business. 

A growth hacking strategy is not about just driving demand; it is about addressing the pain points and giving the customers what they want.