Start, Run, & Grow Your Business

How to Cut Your Turnover Rate and Retain Employees

It can be difficult to find great people to work for your company, and it’s hard to hold on to them. It’s not even the fault of the person hiring an employee. Many times, it just can’t be helped for a variety of reasons that we’ll touch on here.. Though it’s not all that complicated to create a satisfying work environment, it can be tough to know what you can do on your end so that the people working on your team are happy with their jobs. As a business owner, you want to hang on to the team members you’ve got because replacing them is obviously time-consuming, costly, and stressful. Here are a few pointers you can use to make sure your people stay with you, practicing good strategy from the moment you hire them & even before then. Sometimes People Just Don’t Work Out No …

Reasons to Take a Vacation from Your Business This Summer

Attention Business Owners: You have to take a vacation sometime. The unfortunate truth is that business owners work too hard, rarely even having the thought that they will get to take a vacation. Running a business is difficult. It’s truthfully one of the most stressful jobs in existence, automatically requiring you to handle a wide variety of responsibilities. You have to do all those things very well, too, because the consequences of an error on any front can be much greater than those of a typical job. Making a mistake could mean an employee doesn’t get the correct pay, or a marketing decision results in the loss of hundreds of new sales, or the new person you just hired never even shows up for work. While everyone thinks that business owners have the greatest dream job ever, you’re toiling away every day just hoping that the company doesn’t go …

Reasons Why Your Customers Want to Text You

Did you know that over 6 billion texts are sent every day?! Like most new technology, texting did take time to take hold with the public. In 1995, the average American sent just 0.4 text messages per month, according to Mobivity, and by 2000, the number still stood at just 35 a month– or about one text a day. The average American sends about 94 of them per day. Of course, many of these texts come from businesses or bots, not real people. Still, Americans are defaulting to text as their preferred communication medium more & more often. Texting is not a uniquely American habit, either. About five billion people, or 65% of the world’s population, enjoy access to texting. Why do people everywhere love to communicate by text message? And why would a customer want to text your small business instead of calling, emailing, or contacting you through …

How to Prevent Feeling Overwhelmed as a Business Owner

Starting your own business is incredibly exciting. When it begins, you’re likely riding the high that comes with quitting the 9-5-grind to go your own way. Then things start picking up. Where before it wasn’t hard to stay on top of your daily routine & separate the professional from the personal, now you’ve got more work than you can deal with, and things are beginning to blend together. Your work days might be bleeding into your personal time, and you catch yourself answering emails when you know you should be sleeping. While too much work as a business owner or a freelancer is a “good problem” to have, it can still add up to more than you can handle. Taking on every project that comes your way is a common mistake most business owners make when first starting out. More work is always better than less, right? Plus, what …

Why You Need a Virtual Phone Number for Your Small Business

Switching to a virtual phone system may help your business become more efficient while presenting a more professional appearance. Staying competitive requires your business to remain connected. Employees need to remain connected to clients, vendors, and each other. A dedicated phone system allows you to assign numbers to specific departments or staff and route calls or texts to different employees. Unfortunately, many small business owners lack the budget for an expensive phone system, which is one of many reasons why a virtual phone system is a smarter choice. What is a Virtual Phone? Virtual phone systems are cloud-based systems that allow users to make and receive calls from any Internet-connected device. Calls and texts are sent and received through the cloud instead of a landline. You gain access to a wide range of features and functionalities designed to support your business operations because the virtual phone number …

Comprehensive Guide of Resources to Help Real Estate Agents Thrive

Real estate agents looking to attract more clients or sell properties faster have endless resources at their disposal. However, those who are new to real estate may not know where to start. It can all be extremely overwhelming when first getting things going. To save you the hassle of scouring the Internet, we’ve compiled a list of the best tools. From digital marketing platforms to 3D virtual tours, the Internet has everything needed to move real estate quickly. With the following online resources, you’ll have no problem thriving in the most competitive real estate markets. 1. Join the Leading Real Estate Marketing Platforms Every real estate agent should obviously take advantage of marketing platforms to reach a larger audience. The top real estate marketing platforms include: Zillow Realtor.com Homes.com Adwerx Zillow and Realtor.com give agents access to an online toolkit with helpful resources, including templates …

Why Entrepreneurs Have to Continually Improve Themselves

There is a simple fact of which most of us are aware, while others are not, that tends to reward us when we put in the effort to improve by forcing ourselves to grow and learn in new and different ways. There’s actually nothing very mystical about it because the more you work to change & grow, the better equipped you will be to handle the various challenges presented in life and work. Therefore the more able you will be to have success in your pursuits. As an entrepreneur, self-improvement can benefit you even more than others because constantly learning new skills and innovating for your business is part of the job description. If you’re one who is somewhat resistant to change or who doesn’t have a particularly strong thirst for knowledge, then this article is for you, too. Consider these reasons why continually improving yourself gives you a …

Perception vs Reality of Entrepreneurship

So why exactly would you want to be an entrepreneur? Most seasoned entrepreneurs would say it’s for one of three reasons: you’re a starry-eyed novice who sees the next Mark Zuckerburg every time you pass a mirror; you can’t wait to get the life kicked out of you by the reality of self-employment; or maybe–just maybe–you have a marketable idea you’re passionate about & the commitment to get it done right. Probably everyone toying with entrepreneurship believes they fall into the final category. But do you really? How can you be sure? It’s important to know the difference between the fantasy of starting a business and the reality of doing so before investing your money, your career, and your family’s financial future in a brand-new endeavor. So what’s the difference between the perception of entrepreneurship and its reality? Here are a few business tips for the future small business …

5 Best Virtual Phone Number Services for Small Business & Enterprise

Trying to find the right Virtual Phone Number provider for your business? You have come to the right place. We have evaluated and compromised a list of the best options available when it comes to registering a new business phone number. But first, let’s address a few frequently asked questions about virtual phone numbers: What is a Virtual Phone Number? A virtual phone number, also known as a DID or access number, is a telephone number that is not directly associated to a telephone line. These numbers are often programmed to forward incoming calls to one of the pre-set telephone numbers chosen by the client; either Landline, Mobile or VoIP. Virtual phone numbers can be registered with a local or toll free area code & can be customized to provide the perfect vanity number. Can you register multiple Virtual Phone Numbers? Yes, all of the services on our list offer …

Useful Techniques for Defining Your Brand Identity

Ask ten small business owners to give you a good definition of brand, and you’ll get 12 different answers. Branding is a slippery concept even among the best and brightest entrepreneurs. For all the chatter about the topic on business blogs, much about branding seems elusive, contradictory, impractical, or expensive. Many people even think of their brand as little more than their logo and color scheme, something they paid a marketing agency to develop for them a couple of years ago but were never really sure why and then rarely used. The confusion around branding is unfortunate because the concept itself is critical to marketing, sales, and corporate culture as a whole. Let’s add a little clarity to the discussion here. In some cases, the word “brand” refers to a type of product. For example, you could say that Coca Cola owns several brands such as Sprite and Mr. Pibb. …