Start, Run, & Grow Your Business

Complete End-of-Year Checklist for Business Owners

As this year comes to a close, it’s time for small business owners to assess their progress, wrap up loose ends, and prepare for a successful new year. With the holiday season we all get pulled in so many different directions, that it’s easy to forget those end-of-year things we should do for our business. So while you are in between parties (or eating Hershey’s kisses with a glass of wine on your couch), take a quick look at the things we outline shortly.. Below is a general 13-step checklist to ensure that your business is ready to tackle new challenges while also celebrating the past year’s achievements. Cheers! Quick Breakdown of the Checklist Here are the main tasks you should try to complete at the end of the year: Review Financial Reports Back up Data Verify Client and Vendor Information Inspect Your Business Website Analyze Your Marketing …

Business Owner’s Guide: Get Organic Traffic to Your Website

In today’s increasingly connected world, your online presence is more important than ever. Having a website & organic traffic flowing to it is key to attracting potential new customers and building a relationship with them. Most American consumers are more likely to think that a business is trustworthy if it has a website than if it doesn’t. However, you probably already know that. You’re a savvy business owner ready to conquer the modern market, of course you have your own website! The problem is getting people to see it when they are flooded with billions of Internet pages. Even though paid advertising can get your website in front of more eyeballs, organic traffic is the best way to increase visits to your website without spending too much money. Optimizing your SEO results will help you rank higher on Google’s search engines, which in turn will help you get your …

15 Ways to Spend Under $200 to Grow Your Business

In a highly competitive world like today, where everything happens in the blink of an eye, ensuring that you are at the forefront & reaching your audience can be a big challenge. Marketing is one way that can help you reach new customers and grow your business. Unfortunately, small businesses have a relatively tight budget when compared to large scale ones. Most of the money that arrives ends up in the operations of the business.. payroll, inventory, payment of suppliers, etc. In this context, marketing or advertising can get short shrift. But did you know you can effectively market/advertise your business with under $200? It seriously is possible! However, with a minimal budget you must be more creative in determining the right marketing strategy. Here are 15 ways to to grow your business on a tight budget. 1. Ensure a strong & competitive online presence. The internet …

Business Insurance 101: Essentials You Should Know

Launching a new business venture clearly involves a lot of work. This can make it really easy to overlook certain details. One detail that you definitely don’t want to skip is business insurance. It can be overwhelming thinking about everything you need to consider for your business, we get it. But ensuring that you, your business & your employees are protected are of paramount importance. Without insurance, you could face major financial losses, which may be enough to shut you down. With that elephant looming in the room, here is everything that we think you need to know about business insurance. What Is Business Insurance? Business insurance covers the costs if something goes wrong in your business. Simply put: It acts as a much-needed safety net. In the event of a lawsuit, injury, or property damage, you have protection. This can help you to recover from …

How to Optimize Workflow for Your Business Projects

Being productive in your business and completing all of your tasks and projects is more than just working all the time. You could even say that optimizing workflow is actually more important than just working a ton of hours, which you most likely already do because you’re a business owner. The thing is, you can work tons and tons of hours every day and still have low output and productivity. Especially if what you’re doing during all those hours is not high-quality work. That is, if you’re not working on the right things at the right times, taking the long way around to complete projects, or working in a very unfocused way. Then the work you’re doing is not actually quality work. There are many ways that you can change this, if you find that those characteristics describe you. Keep reading if you want to learn how to improve …

How to Pick the Perfect Business Model

How do you plan on making money? Answering this seemingly simple question can help you decide on the right business model for your new venture. Only about one in four businesses survive 15 or more years, which goes to show how great the failure rate is for any given company. Those that really succeed tend to have a solid business model to follow. You need a business model to outline your plan for generating revenue & achieving sustainability. It’s honestly one of the first things that you should decide on when developing your business plan. In this article, we’ll examine the basics of business models and the factors that go into choosing the right one. Why Do You Need a Business Model? First, what exactly is a business model? It’s a strategic blueprint for how your business creates and delivers value to customers. The model you …

20 Innovative Customer Acquisition Strategies for 2024

When we speak about the term customer acquisition, we need to understand the importance of multiple kinds of approaches that get us new customers who will buy our products & remain loyal to our brand. Attracting new customers to a small business is always a challenging task. If you don’t plan a proper strategy, there’s a high possibility that it will eat up a lot of your capital. Which certainly is the opposite of what we want to happen. But with implementations of the best customer acquisition techniques, we can significantly increase our CA rate while we rank high among other competitors. Here are the best customer acquisition methods to gain new customers and remain present in the market: 1. Define Your Target Audience If you have selected the right niche, your main goal is to attract the exact type of audience that will resonate with your …

How to Make Sure Your Calls Don’t Get Flagged as “Potential Spam”

Whether you’re running a non-profit that’s looking to connect with potential donors, or you’re a small business owner who wants to let your customers know about a promotion, phone calls are still some of the best ways to get in touch with people. Emails & texts are easy to ignore and talking over the phone makes it easier to build a personal rapport. However, that can only happen if your potential connection picks up the phone in the first place. Since the dawn of mass-market telecommunications, people have been trying to avoid spam calls. The situation has gotten worse over the past few years, and some phone providers are trying to help customers by flagging potential spam calls. Unfortunately, many innocent businesses get caught up in the spam warning system. How can you avoid landing your calls in the dreaded “spam likely” box and actually ensure that your customers will …

Direct to Consumer (DTC): Sales Guide for Business Owners

The traditional methods of reaching consumers through distributors, wholesalers, and retailers are gradually being replaced by a more direct solution: Direct-to-Consumer (DTC). DTC allows you to connect directly with your target audience. This can really help you create a more personal relationship & drive engagement without dealing with an intermediary. Which can obviously be a positive thing for your business. If you’re a business owner, understanding the nuances of DTC could be the key to boosting sales. It’s something that truly all of us should have basic knowledge on. In this guide, we’ll explore the components, available resources, and the best strategies for increasing your Direct to Consumer sales. Let’s get started. What Is Direct-to-Consumer (DTC)? Direct-to-consumer is a marketing approach that aims to connect directly with consumers instead of working through retailers. For example, some brands sell their products through major retailers, such as Target …

Analyzing Vuori: Joe Kudla’s Athleisure Startup Makes Billions

Vuori is a clothing brand that has truly crushed it in recent years. The demand for performance activewear and athleisure continues to grow, with a market size of more than $350 billion. So this retail sector is one to watch. Thanks to the size of the market, there’s plenty of room for newcomers to compete with major brands, such as Adidas and Nike. Out of these smaller clothing startups, Vuori stands out as a true success story. They’ve cemented their place in the industry, thanks to the selection of high-quality, comfortable clothing for men & women they offer. The person behind the brand, Joe Kudla, remains the majority owner and CEO of the company. He launched his startup only a decade ago and may soon file an IPO. So, how did he manage to create one of the most popular athleisure brands even with all the competition out there? In …

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