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.

    

Categories
Motivational

5 Steps To Be A Great Stage Presenter

The greatest change-makers and world leaders have all been great presenters on stage. To be a great stage presenter, read the strategies below:

Being a great stage presenter or an inspiring speaker is an art. The few that have achieved this success are PM Shri Narendra Modi, Former USA president Barack Obama, Renowned Business coach Dr. Vivek Bindra, Famous American Motivation speaker, and Coach Tony Robbins.

In the times of social media it has now become mandatory for every leader to be fascinating on stage. Your public appearance creates a perception that establishes your personal brand and recall for your business too. Here are few steps which can help you to be a great stage presenter.

1. Be keen about your topic

The first step towards your journey to be a great stage presenter is to be keen, updated and strongly knowledgeable about your topic. 

  • Also more critical is to be passionate about what you are communicating; if you say with passion listeners will also feel connected to it.
  • For Example- Look at the way how respected PM Shri. Narendra Modi addresses people. You can feel the passion in his speech, people feel connected and that’s why his communication engages everyone.

2. Practice and then dive into the audience

Practice makes a man perfect is well-known phrase it’s old but still carries gold.

 

  • Just practice, even before you engage with your audience, imagine that the audience is in front of you and start practicing at home, office, within among small group of friends even ask them to help or make your prepare by cross-questioning.
  • For Example- Renowned Motivational Speaker and Business Coach Dr. Vivek Bindra have said it many times in his videos that don’t get tired until you reach the desired objective and never stop practicing till you reach your goal. 

3. Take a voice lesson

Your voice holds great importance for the success of your presentation. Sound is as important as how it looks. Strong voice modulation leads to a strong engagement. Voice catches the audience a lot more.

  • As you practice, record your voice on your mobile phone and listen to yourself. Thoroughly listen to how you react and how you speak. Keep improving the way your voice modulates.
  • There are many aspects to need to learn like when to change your voice, its timbre, depth, when to take a breath while speaking, phrasing, sounding, deeper tones reflect more confidence and gathers great attention, humour factor to some extent can be conveyed on many occasions.
  • For example-Tony Robbins the famous American public speaker, life coach, and philanthropist and much known for his infomercials, seminars used to say that one needs to add more value than anyone expects from you, active voice lessons would certainly help you out to add much needed value.

4. Be a great storyteller

To create a buzz among the audience any leader aspiring to be a good stage presenter must be a good storyteller too. It’s better to start your speech while gathering the audience by telling a story which acts a tool to create a buzz around the topic you want to cover.

  • People might forget many things about your speech but the chances of remembering your story are much higher.
  • For Example- We all know how the former president of the USA Barack Obama commanded the stage. Most of his speeches had stories attached to it, he talked about his parents, about his hope to lead America and many more stories were the part of his speeches during his tenure.

5. Be Yourself

At the end, you need to be real and know yourself. Don’t try to copy someone else, this may bring more flaws to your speech and it will act as a hurdle in your path to be a pronounced stage presenter. Be humble, real and honest to your audience, this will help you immensely and you will get the desired results in return accordingly.

To be an accomplished stage presenter is an uphill task, but not impossible to achieve. The above mentioned few tips will surely help you out on your route to be one of the better stage presenters.

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Startup

5 Business Strategies That Can Run Business Without You

Learn the art to build a business which runs on its own

Business Strategies
defines your business, Do you work for your business, or does your business work for you?

  • If by any reason you can’t look after or run your business regularly then will your business will be affected?
  • Would your business still succeed, would it merely survive, or would it suffer a tragic failure?

These are some obvious questions that every business owner must answer. We tell you 5 Business Strategies run a business without your daily involvement:

1. Decide on your goal

The first business strategy is to decide what your objectives are. Are you in business to scale or is it only a passion that you are growing? Do you want to continue to do the work yourself, say, like a software engineer or chef? Or a business is desired which can be run without your regular involvement?

  • For example, if you decide to continue to do the work yourself, then you will not have the time to build a business. You can hire associates to help the company bring in more revenue, but that revenue is split among the partners. So, this will not work as that business model will be run by other partners.
  • A professional like a CA, Doctor, Lawyer is a professional. They are still an entrepreneur but more like someone that is employed by his own self.

The first basic Business Strategy starts with you deciding to step away from a managerial role and bring a leader attitude towards everything.

2. Narrow the service you offer

Another important business strategy is to take a decision as a leader to streamline the work. Remember only process can scale.

  • For example, if you provide SEO services, and, for a typical client, you did everything from on-page optimization to building backlinks to PPC advertising. To make any business successful and scalable you need to choose the services in which you are skillful enough to deliver.
  • For example, let’s assume you just focused on GDN advertising then you become the specialist in that one particular area. It’s really important for you to be passionate and proficient about the work you choose.

When you narrow the service that you offer, you become a specialist. Specialists can be professionals or they can become leaders and build a large scale business. Specialists always command more value. Also they can always train more people to work for them in a certain defined process.

This is exactly what you must learn. Be a specialist and create a process that can be replicated by other people.

3. Train people to unlock your time and then build a team that repeats this process

Now that you’ve got your goal defined and services are narrowed, the third business strategy to apply is to start hiring smart talent that can unlock your time.

  • The business strategy applies here is, you don’t have to hire the best talent. You only have to hire competent and passionate people.
  • Important thing is to manage these newly hired staff effectively, you need to have a leader’s attitude and set an example in the company. This involves planning, predictability, control and culture.

4. Use technology for business automation

Business automation is the key. You must understand what technology will help you automate process, increase people’s efficiencies and save time. All technology must lead to an improvement in people and processes.

To understand business automation better, subscribe to the Busyness to Business problem-solving course by Bada Business. Download the Bada Business app or call 9810544443.

5. Hire your successor

At this point, you are now prepared to do one of the most important aspects, now the final Business Strategy would be to hire someone to take your place.

Prepare a plan to hire your successor within a particular time. That plan should answer the following questions:

  • When do you want this to happen? In one year? Two? Three?
  • Who will be your successor? Will you hire someone from in house team or from other sources?
  • What are the qualities required that are important to this position? Strategic thinking, risk taking or talent management?
  • What are the technical competencies that are important to this position? These will be specific to your industry.

These are the five business strategies for creating a business that can run on its own, especially helps you out when you reach that point where you can step away for few months and not have to worry whether you will have a business when you come back.