June 2022

In Business

10 Effective Tips for Expanding a Business

June 18, 2022 No Comments

Thanks to, or despite the pandemic, small business creation is booming. Last year saw a national average of 26% growth of small businesses, which is the highest percentage since as far back as 2005.

Many of these small businesses are thriving and now wondering how to expand. If you want to enjoy sustained growth and avoid the pitfalls of small business expansion, consider the following tips.

They will help you when expanding a business even in the ongoing challenges of a pandemic.

Know Your Customer Base

The first step to growing a business is understanding who your customers are and what needs they have that you can fulfill. Without this knowledge, it’s difficult to develop an effective marketing strategy or choose the right location for your new store or office.

Get to know your customers on a personal level by surveying them, conducting focus groups, or simply talking to them one-on-one. Find out what they like and don’t like about your current products or services and ask what new products or services they’d like to see from you.

Do Your Homework

Once you know who your target market is, it’s time to do some research on them. Try to understand their buying habits, what motivates them, and where they like to shop or spend their leisure time. This will give you valuable insights into how best to reach them and what kind of message will resonate with them.

It will also help you determine whether there’s a need for your product or service in the areas you’re considering expanding to. You can do this research yourself or hire a market research firm to do it for you.

Create a Solid Business Plan

Before you start spending money on an expansion, it’s important to have a solid plan in place. This will help you stay focused and on track, and it will be something you can refer back to when things get tough.

Your business plan should include your goals for expansion, how you plan to achieve them, and what kind of budget you’re working with. It should also outline the risks involved and how you plan to mitigate them.

A note on defining your goals as this is very important. When doing this exercise, ask yourself what you hope to achieve by expanding. Do you want to grow your customer base, enter new markets, or improve your bottom line? Once you have a clear idea of what you want to accomplish, you can start making plans to make it happen.

Make Sure You Have the Right Team in Place

No business can expand successfully without the right team in place. This includes not only managers and executives but also front-line staff, such as customer service representatives and salespeople.

Before you start expanding, take a close look at your current team and identify any gaps. If you need to, make some changes and hire new people who have the skills and experience you need to help you reach your goals.

Today’s climate opens up the global talent pool to find the right team members. Start by taking advantage of employer of record services to get you on the right path to expanding to an international business.

Choose the Right Location

The location of your new store or office is critical to its success. Take the time to do your research and choose a location that’s convenient for your target market, and that offers good visibility and access.

If you’re expanding to a new city or town, make sure you have a good understanding of the local market. This includes things like the demographics of the area, the competition, and the economic conditions.

If your business is digital or online, you still need to choose a location for your office carefully. Consider things like the cost of living in the area, the availability of talent, and the quality of life.

Have a Marketing Plan in Place

No expansion is complete without a solid marketing plan. This is especially important if you’re expanding to a new location where people may not be familiar with your brand.

Your marketing plan should include elements such as advertising, public relations, and social media. It should also outline how you plan to reach your target market and what kind of budget you have to work with.

Lower Your Risks

There are always risks associated with expansion when running a business, but there are things you can do to minimize them. One way to do this is to start small and test the waters before making a major investment.

You can also try to partner with another company that’s already established in the area you’re expanding to. This can help you lower your costs and minimize your risks.

Be Prepared for the Unexpected

No matter how well you plan, there will always be some things that are out of your control. Especially if you’re considering international expansion or hiring international employees. This is why it’s important to have a contingency plan in place for things like natural disasters, political instability, or economic downturns.

Make sure you have the financial resources in place to weather any storms that come your way. This includes things like cash reserves and lines of credit.

Have a Plan for Continued Growth

Once you’ve successfully expanded your business, it’s important to continue developing your plans for expansion. This means setting new goals and making plans to reach them.

It’s also important to review your operations on a regular basis and make sure they’re efficient and effective. This includes things like your supply chain, marketing efforts, and financial processes.

Celebrate Your Successes

Don’t forget to celebrate your successes along the way. This will help keep you motivated and focused on your goals.

Enjoy Success When Expanding a Business

Expanding a business is a major undertaking, but it can be a very rewarding experience. By following these tips, you can increase your chances of success and make the most of the opportunity.

If you enjoyed these business tips, check out our other articles for more.

In Finance

What Are the Different Types of Gold That Are Refined Today?

June 16, 2022 No Comments

Humans have used gold for currency, architecture, and religious worship throughout history. Today, it continues to have immense value. People still love to buy gold for jewelry and investments.

However, not all gold is created equal. There are different types of gold and gold grades that people use for several purposes.

So, how can you find the best gold for your purposes? The first thing to do is understand the types of gold available.

Learning about the types of gold can be challenging at first. Luckily, we’re here to help you navigate this question! We’ll explore five types of precious metals in the guide below.

Yellow Gold

Yellow gold is the most common type of gold. The mining industry spends millions of dollars each year to find this gold ore in mines.

Yellow gold is the purest gold color, but it’s not made entirely of this precious metal. Instead, yellow gold mixes several other metals into its composition.

These include silver, copper, and zinc. It’s hypo-allergenic in most cases and requires little maintenance.

Generally, yellow gold is the kind that investors purchase. You can find more information here to learn more about this.

You can tell the proportion of gold ore in this alloy by checking its carat value. The higher the carat value, the more gold is in this mixture. That’s why high carat gold is more expensive.

Rose Gold

Rose gold has become an increasingly popular choice for jewelry selections. Sometimes called “pink gold,” rose gold alloys gold, copper, and silver to create its rosy hue.

This mixture makes rose gold more inexpensive than other gold colors since copper is an inexpensive metal. Its copper content also makes rose gold more durable than other gold solutions.

White Gold

White gold combines gold and platinum to create a silvery gold mixture. In some cases, smiths may use palladium in place of platinum to create this metal.

White gold can also incorporate nickel and zinc in its mixture. These metals make the gold more durable and scratch-resistant than its yellow counterpart. You can buy white gold for less money than yellow gold or platinum.

Green Gold

Green gold is perhaps the least common of these gold solutions. Experts sometimes refer to this gold as “electrum.”

Usually, green gold mixes gold and silver. On occasion, smiths may also add copper to the composition. The silver component gives the metal its green shade.

Gray Gold

Finally, there’s gray gold. People sometimes use this as an alternative alloy to white gold. It generally comes in 18 karat quality, making it a valuable alloy.

Gray gold mixes gold with palladium to create its gray hue. Alternatively, smiths may add silver, manganese, and copper to the gold to create this hue for cheaper prices.

Find the Best Types of Gold For Your Purposes

The types of gold you choose usually depend on your purposes. Many jewelry enthusiasts enjoy trying out the different gold hues available.

Your budget may also impact the gold you choose. For example, more people can afford rose gold than yellow gold.

However, investors prefer yellow gold for its lasting value. So, find the best gold alloy for your needs today!

We hope you enjoyed this article! If so, check out our other helpful content today.

In Tech

5 Essential Business Services you Can Outsource

June 16, 2022 No Comments

If you are looking to create a winning business formula, outsourcing will play an integral role somewhere along the line; indeed, most businesses simply couldn’t operate without outsourcing. Third-party providers offer the cheapest way to carry out many of the business services that you need and in this short article, we offer a few examples of services you can outsource to 3rd party contractors.

Accounting & bookkeeping – Even the smallest business can make good use of a local accounting provider and if you are on the cloud, the accountant can remotely access the data they need to keep your books up to date. Company accounts are not something you can afford to overlook and your tax returns can be filed on time, ensuring that you are in full compliance.
Human resources – Essentials like payroll services and recruitment can be outsourced to a leading HR agency and we all know that the employees are the most valuable asset of every organisation. In the event of any employee conflicts, your HR partner has a team of labour laws experts, plus they will make sure that you have very clear employment terms and conditions, which helps to avoid conflicts.
Digital marketing – If you want your business to have a strong online presence, you will need the services of a good digital marketing agency, where a team of SEO technicians can work on boosting your Google search ranking to drive organic traffic to your landing page. If you have a dynamic digital marketing plan in place, your business has firm direction and all online activity is closely monitored; let’s not forget social media – the agency can boost your Facebook following and that has to be good for business. They can help you develop an emotional connection with your customers.
IT Services – The managed IT service sector is booming, as they service many companies with cyber-security and VoIP communication services, empowering their clients. Migrating to the cloud offers many benefits and with 24/7 cyber-security, your data is always safe from hackers. The IT support company offers many services, including hardware support, something every office needs.
Logistics – Every e-commerce business has to hook up with a 3PL (third party logistics) provider for effective order fulfilment; they have the resources to guarantee rapid delivery across the globe. If you would like to learn more about 3PL services, search online for a local company and ask them to pay you a visit. Your order fulfilment worries are over and you won’t find a cheaper solution; all you do is deliver your products and packaging to the 3PL warehouse and forward all orders by email. You don’t even have to handle your products when you use a local 3PL company. If you are planning to do business in Vietnam, click here.

The Internet hosts a wealth of information about why outsourcing is a smart way to run a business and when you are ready, Google will put you in touch with a local 3rd party provider.

In Finance

Everything You Need To Know About ESG In 2022

June 15, 2022 No Comments

Sustainability is becoming the top priority for the corporate world. Modern corporate firms are tasked with more than just being profit-driven organizations and revenue-generating machines. People now expect more from them.

Businesses today are expected to have an extra layer of ethics and showcase a moral sense of duty towards society. In recent years, there has been a considerable shift of minds. Investors are looking to invest in companies that include sustainable growth with the primary goal of wealth creation.

The boardroom has taken notes of these things and has started embedding business practices that promote sustainability. In fact, some organizations have started preparing sustainability reports disclosing their performance on the social front, things that have been done to save the environment, and governance parameters.

While many governments have not mandated the creation of this non-financial report, it is strongly encouraged in the industrialization community.

What Is ESG?

ESG – Environment, Social, and Governance – refers to an area of the organization that describes its characteristics. These are three factors that define your organization’s ethical impact and sustainability.

Today, most socially responsible investors check a company for its ESG value before making any investment decision.

To put it simply, ESG is a generic term used in the capital market by investors to evaluate the behavior of the company and its financial potential.

The number of investment funds has been growing rapidly since the beginning of this decade. Moreover, experts believe that this will only continue to grow over the decades.

Seeing how ESG is becoming the new norm for the corporate world, you must start implementing ESG in your business operations. Visit this website to get quotes from professionals.

Why Is ESG Important?

The strong performance of your business across these three pillars shows your business’s resilience. You must understand that even a simple task of reducing office waste is as important as reaching out for social activity. Businesses must be able to demonstrate their progress to their audiences in their non-financial reports.

The idea here is to showcase that the business has the capability to take a risk and protect the longevity of the environment and society they are operating in. Hence, you can say that ESG has implications throughout the entirety of business operations.

Particularly the Supply Chain based companies.

After all, 90% of the GHG emissions are found in the organization related to the supply chain.

How Is ESG Measured?

ESG performance throughout the supply chain is measured and rated. The measurement is similar to the risk and performance benchmarking common amongst financial institutions.

However, there is some discretion regarding their method and framework governing the ESG scoring. Here are some best practices that you can look into.

Any verifiable disclosure related to ESG needs follows a specific set of mandatory and voluntary requirements.
Transparency needs to be clear in this matter. This is because the ESG report will decide which company comes out as a sustainability leader and the other as a laggard
For example, there might be a company that is not a carbon-neutral company but might be making efforts to become one. If the company is not transparent about its process, the investors and stakeholder might not show their interest.

Measurement of ESG is important to showcase your activity towards sustainability. This not only helps you become a better organization but also acts as a marketing tool to boost your company’s influence in the industry.

A Closer Look At ESG’s Pillars

Within each pillar, management firms and investors can evaluate different criteria. These criteria can be used to define how a company is performing on the sustainability front.

Here is what you can see when we dissect the three pillars of ESG.

Environment

To see the extent of your company on the environment, you must ask yourself – how is your company affecting the environment?

Admirably, it is a broad-based category. However, there are several issues that could risk the long-term sustainability of your business. This might include –

Dependence on fossil fuel for energy.
Poor management of water and other resources.
Pollution levels.
Disposal of hazardous materials.
How deep is the carbon footprint your company is leaving?

Social

As a company expands itself and holds influence over the customers, it becomes a social responsibility for them to guide them. This include –

Product safety and liabilities.
Employment quality.
Gender diversity.
Training and development.
Supply chain transparency.
Stance on various topics that affect social well-being.
Human rights.
Privacy issues.

Governance

The governance pillars support how the organization works internally. If every individual in the organization does not share the same goal, the company might not last for long.

The issues that might be considered while evaluating a company include –

Board and company diversity.
Actions were taken against bribery and corruption.
Compensation of employees.
Ethics and values.
Shareholder rights.
Transparency and anti-corruptions.

The Future Of ESG

The future of ESG is promising and challenging. Incorporating ESG in your corporate reporting is a powerful tool that helps you gain a competitive advantage over your competitors.

With the right implementation of ESG, you can strengthen your internal business operations and maintain a healthy relationship with your investors and stakeholders.

Companies that want to sustain their business for the long term are expected to increase their efforts toward ESG.

In Business

4 Easy Tips for Increasing Employee Productivity

June 15, 2022 No Comments

Feeling like there is no way to motivate employees at your company?

After so many COVID-19 related closures, some companies may be suffering from a lack of business efficiency. No one wants more work on their plate, but keeping a business open and functional is a priority. Instilling healthy and effective employee productivity can help balance the scales again.

Ready to try to instill optimal productivity?

Check out this guide to increase employee productivity.

Completing Tasks in a Timely Manner

When running a business, one of the keys to increasing employee productivity is to ensure that tasks are completed in a timely manner. This can be accomplished by proper time management and by setting realistic deadlines. When employees are given sufficient time to complete their tasks, they are more likely to be productive.

Make sure that deadlines are realistic. This will help prevent employees from feeling overwhelmed and stressed.

Employers should encourage employees to complete tasks on time. By doing so, employees will feel a sense of accomplishment. They will be more likely to complete the next tasks timely.

Encouraging Collaboration and Open Communication

It is important to encourage collaboration and open communication. When employees are able to collaborate, they can share ideas. They will also work together to find solutions.

Open communication also allows for transparency and understanding. This can help end conflict and improve workplace morale.

Increasing Employee Productivity by Automating Repetitive

To increase employee productivity, managers should consider automating repetitive tasks. This will free up employees’ time so they can focus on more important tasks. There are many software programs available that can automate repetitive tasks, such as data entry and customer service.

There are Power Apps Consultants that improve business team performance resulting from less wasted time on manual processes. By automating these tasks, employees can work more efficiently and effectively. In turn, this will increase productivity and help the company reach its goals.

Taking Care of Your Physical and Mental Health

It’s no secret that when employees are happy and healthy, they’re more productive. There are many factors that contribute to an employee’s well-being. Their physical and mental health are two of the most important.

When employees take care of their physical health, they have more energy and stamina to get through the workday. They’re also less likely to get sick, which means they’ll miss less work. When they take care of their mental health, they’re better able to focus on their work and are less likely to experience burnout.

Working Smarter, Not Harder

There are many easy tips for increasing employee productivity. Try a few of these tips and see how they work for you and your team.

Be sure to view employee productivity as a journey, not a destination. And remember that it is not just about getting more work done. It’s about improving the quality of the work and the workplace.

For other articles on improving various aspects of your business, check out the rest of our site.