Building a Brand Strategy

Building a Brand Strategy: Essential Tools for Success

One of the most important things you can do for your business is create a cohesive branding strategy. Your brand identity should reflect who your company is and what it offers. You want a strong brand personality and brand voice that is both appealing to customers and reflects your company in a positive light.

In order to help you better understand how you can build your brand vision properly, we will be going over some of the components you need for a successful branding strategy. However, before we get started, we will explain what a branding strategy is and why it is so important for businesses to get them right.

What is Brand Strategy? 

Essentially, a brand strategy is a cohesive plan that is designed to encompass your entire company’s image and persona, whether that be through your products, social media presence, content marketing strategy, and your brand story, among other aspects. Building a strong brand strategy allows your company to have an easily identifiable character and appearance. It should match the way you want your company to be perceived by your target audience.

A well-built, strong brand strategy will influence almost every aspect of your business. It will connect your business to the needs and desires of your current and future customers.

Your brand strategy is much more than your brand name, logo, advertisements, or products. In fact, a brand is the summation of your entire business. It will help you stand out from the competition by building a strong brand voice for your company. A strong brand persona and brand messaging will help people connect with the business.

To help you build your own personal brand and understand what separates the most recognizable brands from forgettable ones, we will now go over some of the essential components of a successful brand development strategy.

What You Need to Build an Effective Brand Strategy 

What You Need to Build an Effective Brand Strategy

1. Establish a Sense of Purpose 

Before your business creates marketing material and develops an image, you need to establish its overall purpose. While on the surface it may seem like the only purpose of any business is to generate revenue, this is not enough to create a brand.

You need to discover what will set your business apart from the competition. Create a mission statement and come up with a list of long-term and short-term goals. Do you want your business to be associated with quality products, impressive customer service, low prices, or luxury? How do you want people to perceive your business? Answering that seemingly straightforward question will help you develop your entire brand strategy.

If you find you need a bit of inspiration, take a look at some brands you personally admire. What do you think of when you see their products, logo, and name? Take a look at the ways they explain their own vision. Many brands today associate themselves with a particular lifestyle, which helps them attract new business and retain customers.

Creating a cohesive sense of purpose will help you build your brand in a way that people will want to identify with the company and purchase what it offers.

2. Develop a Recognizable and Visually Appealing Logo 

Your logo is one of the most important areas of your entire brand strategy. A well-deigned logo will instantly connect people with your business.

Given the overwhelming amount of visual stimulation people are exposed to these days, it is important to make sure your logo is recognizable in an instant. You do not need to get too clever when you are developing a new logo, remember, it is more important that your logo is easily identifiable than overly creative.

A good logo will be eye-catching and represent your company in a positive light. Once you have a logo, get into the habit of attaching it to everything you sell. Your logo should be displayed enough that it becomes inseparable from your business.

Think about some of the most recognizable company logos on the planet, such as Nike and Adidas. Everything these brands sell will feature their easily recognizable logos. When you see one of their products, you immediately know who made it.

Develop a Recognizable and Visually Appealing Logo

Another way to help your logo communicate your brand image is by developing a tagline. A unique and timeless tagline that sums up your brand in a few words will help your brand make an impression on your customers.

The logo and tagline are some of the most important tools for creating a recognizable brand. Your logo and tagline will become intertwined with your company’s identity. They are the way people will visually recognize your business in an instant.

3. Focus on Consistency 

You want to avoid confusing potential customers about what your brand is all about. One of the easiest ways to avoid confusion is to practice total consistency. Everything your company puts out should align with your branding.

Make sure any advertising your business releases, content it publishes, and products it sells are done in a consistent way. The most recognizable brands in the world will always offer a consistent message.

The way the best brands communicate with customers and the general public is always the same. This helps solidify brand image and ensure customer loyalty.

Integrate your brand into every aspect of your business. Your brand should be visible and reflected in everything that your customers can see, read, and hear.

4. Outline Your Brand’s Key Qualities and Benefits 

You want to make sure that people see your brand as unique. When it comes to brand strategy, it is incredibly important that you are distinct from the competition. You need to create the impression that your business can offer what other businesses cannot.

Focus on the qualities that make your business different from the rest. Potential customers should immediately know why they should choose you over other companies.

Take the Apple brand as an example. For decades, their entire brand has centered on ease of use. Apple consistently advertises how easily you will be able to use their products. Unlike the computers the competition offers, you are told that Apple computers will work right out of the box. This consistent advertising of a key quality and benefit has helped Apple become associated with quality and simplicity.

You can study the competition in your particular market and find something you can offer that they don’t.

Are Turnkey Business Solutions Enough for Your Growing Business

Are Turnkey Business Solutions Enough for Your Growing Business?

If you have made the decision to work for yourself, or have recently started your own business, you are probably at a bit of a crossroads. Do you build your business completely from scratch on your own, or venture into the world of turnkey business solutions?

This question will depend on your own personal preferences and your own abilities as a business owner. However, it is worth understanding if turnkey technologies offer enough to really service growing business needs.

In order to help you understand the answer to this common question, we will explain what turnkey business solutions are and how effective they are at creating successful business growth. We will also go over some of the many things you should take into consideration before you opt for a turnkey business solution.

This information should help you navigate your way through the build vs. buy dilemma that is faced by countless new business owners. It will also help you understand if turnkey business solutions are the best option, or if it is better to go with a more customized and comprehensive strategy.

What Are Turnkey Business Solutions? 

Essentially, turnkey business solutions are pre-packaged business solutions that are designed to help you start or transform a business. They are intentionally designed for quick deployment and are meant to be as user-friendly as possible.

They are a type of end-to-end system that can be implemented to create a new business or change the way an existing business operates.

What Are Turnkey Business Solutions

Some business owners will opt for a turnkey business solution to a particular need. For example, many small business owners need help modernizing their company, so a turnkey digital transformation can help change and update an outdated business and bring it up to speed with modern business practices. This is done by introducing new digital technology and developing a business’s online presence.

Ideally, a turnkey business solution would replace or introduce a new system that would make sure a business is competitive and relevant in today’s market.

It is important to note that a turnkey business solution is different from a custom-built system. As the name suggests, custom-built business systems are developed with the client to create the exact business they want. On the other hand, a turnkey business solution is designed to be a straightforward one size fits all system that is more affordable, but not always the best fit.

What You Should Consider Before Choosing a Turnkey Business Solution 

As you now know, a turnkey business solution is a straightforward business strategy that is designed for quick implementation and affordability. They are meant to address your business’s needs in a quick and cost-effective manner. While this sounds great, there are a few things you should first take into consideration:

  • What are Your Company’s Existing Strengths and Weaknesses? – To understand if a turnkey business solution will help your company grow, you need to clearly understand what you are trying to address and improve. You want to make sure a turnkey solution will be able to properly compliment your strengths and help improve your weaknesses. 
  • Is the Turnkey Business Solution a Temporary Fix, or is it Scalable? – If you want to help your business grow, you should always be asking yourself if anything you add is scalable. This will depend on your particular business. In most cases a good turnkey business solution is a one-size-fits-all strategy, so it will be less scalable than a custom solution. However, this will depend on your particular company’s needs. 
  • Consider the Long-Term Costs of the Turnkey Business Solution – A turnkey business solution will not help your business grow if you cannot afford to implement it in the long-term. While some may have lower up-front costs than custom solutions, they could also have hidden fees or additional expenses you need to pay for in the future. If growth is your aim, make sure whatever you are implementing is affordable enough to be sustainable. 

Problems with Using a Turnkey Business Solution for Long-Term Growth

Problems with Using a Turnkey Business Solution for Long-Term Growth

There are several reasons why turnkey business solutions can be ineffective for long-term growth. While there are some advantages to using turnkey business solutions, they do have some potential pitfalls, especially when it comes to growth potential.

1. Customization is Really Important When Digitally Transforming a Business 

The one size fits all nature of a turnkey business solution can be beneficial in certain situations; however, when it comes to a digital transformation, a company’s strategy should be specifically tailored to that particular business.

If you want to create a digital strategy for your business, it should be customized to fit the unique needs and challenges faced by your particular company. Having a customized online presence will help increase your entire company’s growth potential. Essentially, you want a solution that will meet your exact needs. This will prevent your business from having to go back and update your entire digital strategy as the company grows.

2. Turnkey Business Solutions Sometimes Force Companies to Adapt to Them 

If you want to have control over your own business, it is best to use a system that is specifically tailored to your unique vision. Using a turnkey business solution can save you money in the short-term, but it can limit growth potential.

This is because many businesses will alter their behavior to make sure a turnkey solution works. Oppositely, a custom system would adapt to the specific needs of the business and vision of the owner. A cohesive, top-down vision is one of the most effective ways to ensure growth, so a turnkey solution that does not mesh well with that vision could potentially limit the company’s ability to grow.

3. It Can Be Difficult to Integrate Turnkey Solutions 

Sometimes it can be difficult to make a turnkey solution fit with a business’s existing systems. This is down to the plug-in and go nature of turnkey solutions. They are not designed for easy integration, which is part of the reason why they are so affordable.

However, if your aim is long-term growth, you want to make sure every aspect of your business runs smoothly because it all works together seamlessly.

Final Words 

While turnkey solutions can work with many business models, custom systems are almost always better at meeting the unique needs of a growing business.

Can I Schedule Posts on Facebook? A Guide to Facebook Posts

Intro

In this article, we’re covering a topic that you will need to get quite familiar with as a small business owner – social media marketing. Specifically, we’re talking about scheduling a Facebook post. Facebook has a lot of great publishing tools for your business page, and we’re going to cover how to organize and schedule Facebook posts to reach your consumers’ news feed.

Facebook Posts

First thing’s first, let’s evaluate Facebook as a business tool. Surely, you know the basics of Facebook at this point. The mega-popular social media giant with billions of daily users, Facebook has obvious potential as a social media management tool and marketing tool.

Why Post on Facebook as a Business?

Simply put, a Facebook business page is a fantastic opportunity for any business because it gives you the opportunity to expand your reach to thousands (or millions!) of new people. The amount of people you can reach with just a single social post is almost never-ending. There is such a huge audience on Facebook that there is a market for almost anything.

More specifically, Facebook allows you to reach the right people. Facebook is so powerful because people willingly provide information that is crucial to marketers. If you know your target market inside and out, then there is an opportunity to reach them on Facebook. You can effectively target certain demographics, and get them truly engaged with your business over multiple posts.

And of course, a major benefit to many people, is that a Facebook account is free! There are advertising options that cost money, but having a Facebook Business Account and making social media posts and content is free of charge.

In this article, we’re focusing specifically on Facebook posts. Facebook posts can be any number of things, from direct advertisements to your business, to interesting tidbits to draw attention to your Facebook page. Facebook marketing is complex, and there are many avenues in which you can reach people. Realistically, a solid Facebook marketing campaign will include a mix of all types of posts. This allows you the opportunity to reach more people, and also to constantly stay on consumer’s minds.

That being said, scheduling and managing all these posts can quickly become quite a difficult task. This is because, to have maximum effect, you really should be posting with regularity. There is so much on Facebook that you need to be doing regularly scheduled content in order to stay on top of customer’s minds. But these posts can quickly get difficult to coordinate! From the various messages, to various images, to scheduling it all, it can get complicated!

That’s why we are focusing on the subject of scheduling your Facebook posts in this article. Scheduling posts allows you to make the posts ahead of time, set a schedule for posting, and automate it all! A much easier alternative than having to log into Facebook each time you want to post something.

social media analytics

Why Schedule Posts?

As you can see, Facebook posts are a great opportunity, but scheduling them can start to get complex if you intend to post on a regular basis. So, what are the main benefits of scheduling posts?

Saves Time

The major advantage of scheduling Facebook posts is that it saves time. Simply put, it is much easier and more efficient to plan your posts ahead of time. You can get all the prep work done at once, and compile all your posts at the same time. This saves a lot of time not only in the preparation of the posts, but saves you from logging into Facebook each time you want to post.

Can View Posts in Accordance with An Overall Strategy

Another advantage of scheduling posts is that it allows you to lay out all your posts at once. This allows you to have an overall look at your posting strategy, and it motivates you to focus on the strategy overall, rather than each individual post. You will begin to think of how your posts align with your marketing strategy overall, and see them as more than the sum of their parts.

Monitor Analytics and See What Works

Scheduling posts simply allows you to hold yourself accountable, and makes sure that you are post regularly scheduled content. If you make a habit of scheduling a bunch of posts at once, it makes sure that you achieve your marketing objectives. Additionally, you can monitor Facebook Analytics to see which posts did best, and going forward you can tweak the strategy toward your most successful posts.

How to Schedule Posts on Facebook

On Facebook

The first way to schedule posts is through Facebook itself. Facebook didn’t always have this feature, but they do actually have their own scheduling tool now!

With Third-Party Tools

social owl social media sharing

Facebook is great on its own, but it is definitely meant to be a simpler and more basic way of post scheduling. Sometimes, if you want to engage in extremely detailed post-planning, with a more organized interface, and more complex tracking tools, you will have to go with third-party software. Not to mention the ability to plan for other social media platforms as well.

There are many social media planning tools available online which help you to master every aspect of your social media. Not only will they help with your Facebook planning, but they will help you plan content across different social media platforms as well. After all, if you’re serious about social media marketing, you are going to want to utilize more than just Facebook. Often, companies will post to Instagram and Facebook simultaneously.

Social Owl helps you to schedule your posts on Facebook, as well as on various other social media sites. This is only the start of the services they provide. If you are looking for a comprehensive social media service, check it out!

Conclusion

Thanks so much for reading our guide on Facebook posting. Hopefully you can see what a big opportunity this can be for any business. Scheduling posts is just another way to organize your marketing efforts so that they are more comprehensive overall. If you are looking for another way for your business to stand out, try Facebook!

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A Guide to Maximizing Revenue – Tips for Starting a Small Business

Intro

In this article, we’re giving you the top tips that you need to start your very own business and how to maximize revenue! Of course, no two businesses are alike, so it’s difficult to say exactly what you need to do to reach optimal success with your business. However, there are tips that are valuable to every entrepreneur, and that’s what we’re focusing on. We’re giving you all the top tips that you need to consider to be successful in starting your business.

Starting a Small Business

No one said that starting a small business would be easy! Running a successful small business is a ton of hard work, but many will tell you that the profit is worth more than the initial cost. Before you start a small business, you really need to consider if it’s the right lifestyle for you. There is a whole lot of uncertainty, and even more hard work to ensure business growth and value. But you do truly control your own destiny, and it does offer you the opportunity to work in a field that you actually value.

So, if you have decided that it is a path worth pursuing, then read on. We’re giving you our top tips on how to start and revenue maximization. Of course, every business is different, and it’s difficult to give advice on how to maximize revenue growth and demand to every type of business owner. We have kept our tips quite broad for this very reason, and we think that they will apply to just about every business owner looking for revenue opportunities.

Tips for Starting a Small Business to Maximize Revenue

First – Know Yourself (Strengths and Weaknesses)

business plan

Before you do anything else in regard to starting a business, you need to know yourself and your personal value to the business. Any business is only as good as the people behind it. You can only give a great sales strategy or a helpful customer experience if you know your own loyalty, value, and dedication to your business. Therefore, knowing your individual strengths and weaknesses will help you know which business areas you will excel in.

Consider what you know, where your experiences lie, and simply what you are best at. Maybe it’s as simple as you are a lawyer who can offer legal services. Or maybe you want to get super creative with a unique social media marketing idea. The point is, you need to know yourself and know what you can offer. Focus on your personal growth before comparing your business to competitors and their profitability.

Find a Niche Your Excel In

Next up, you need to consider a niche. You need to figure out a niche you can enter with your business. Consider various areas, and do your research! Know the industry trends, different pricing strategies, target consumers, and the competitors. Finding a niche involves knowing absolutely everything you can learn about that niche.

For example, if you’re looking to offer professional services, look into the industry on a local and national level. Discover what kind of customers need these services, and where you can reach them. You should have a very good idea of what your target market looks like, and what their buying motivations look like.

Research is only effective if you develop implications based on this research. Keep in mind how this will affect you and play to your strengths, and how you will adapt to survive in that market.

Start with a Simple Plan

When starting a business, it is best to start simple. Don’t try to be all things to all people. Focus on a specific service offering, and focus on being the best at it. It is much easier to operate a business this way. Not only will customers more readily understand what it is that you offer, but you will have an easier time learning and mastering a single niche. You can clearly hone in on one area and one target market.

For example, let’s once again consider the professional services example from above. Say you are a lawyer trying to start a firm. You need to focus on one specific area of law to start out. This shows customers that you know your stuff, and makes it much easier for you to market your services.

Develop Routines

Successful businesses run on a successful set of routines. A good business is a well-oiled machine. Running a business involves a whole lot of day-to-day tasks that involve management to properly move forward. From tracking numbers, to marketing initiatives, to payroll, to any needs which are specific to your business area.

The key here is to manage these areas with well-established systems and routines. Don’t wait for issues to come up before you address them; have systems in place that ensure you address these issues with regularity. For example, have a set process in mind to process and track a payment every time it is received. This ensures that you’ll always handle situations in the same manner, and you’ll know what went wrong if issues arise.

Marketing

business marketing

Marketing sure is a huge area of business, and it can be quite difficult to even simplify it into one area. As a small business, your marketing efforts are going to be key to your success. It is the main way you will be communicating your brand to your target audience, and the main way you will be gathering new customers. Marketing efforts can be as simple as door-to-door flyers, or as complex as a large-scale TV campaign.

The key is in understanding where your target audience is, and how to effectively reach them. You need to understand what motivates them in selecting the services you provide, and appeal to that with your marketing efforts. As you can see, it all rests on a foundation of solid research and an effective understanding of your target market.

Stay Vigilant as You Grow

Simply put, there is no way you can effectively predict every challenge you are going to face as a new business. New things and new challenges will come up with regularity. But as long as you effectively understand what you need to do to succeed, and your business is built on a solid foundation of effective systems, then you will have the tools necessary to overcome these obstacles.

Staying vigilant to both the market wants and how you can expand your product offerings is important for your business to survive. Investing in a white-label service you can brand as your own is an easy (and painless) way to add value and services to your customers. This is where Mobile Disruptors and their different product offerings can come in to help.

Challenges will come, but adept business leaders will know how to deal with them. So, stay vigilant, stay aware, and stay ready! Effective expertise will give you the tools you need to handle all of these situations.

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What is a Small Business? – Definition, Types, and Industries

Introduction

Have you ever dreamed of leaving the corporate life behind? Being a small business owner is an achievable dream for many people, and it represents the freedom to go your own way. In this article, we’re covering the basics on a small business model. We’re covering what a small business is, as well as the various types of small enterprise, business plan, and legal structures.

What is a Small Business?

First things first, what is a small business? Although the definition might seem obvious, it can be a bit more complicated than you might think. After all, where is the line between a small business and a medium-sized business anyways?

Although the definition does tend to vary, a small business is typically a privately-owned business, which can be either a partnership, a sole proprietorship, or a small company or corporation. The definition of a business size is typically based on a government classification in the country where the business is based. The government agency classifies business size by a small business size standard so that they can apply different tax policies to them.

In this article, we will examine the types of small businesses, as well as the different industries in which they operate. If you are thinking of starting a small business yourself, then this could be a useful guide.

How Big Can It Be?

As mentioned above, a small business is classified in terms of government regulations. This is mainly done for regulatory and tax purposes, which determines how a business will be treated under the law. However, just how big can a small business be? In America, the U.S. Small Business Administration classifies small businesses based on the industry in which they operate. This is due to the differences in operation with different companies, and the size required to operate a functional business. Some industries typically require more paid employees to start.

For example, a “small” business in the manufacturing and mining industry is under 500 employees, while in the wholesale trade industry, it is 100 employees. A “small” business in the general and heavy construction industry must not exceed $28.5 million average annual revenue, while in the retail and service industry, it must not exceed $6 million average annual revenue.

This means that if you are looking to start a small business, you need to be aware of the guidelines that apply to your specific industry, yourself, and any employee that you hire. These are very important for tax and regulatory purposes, and it goes without saying why these considerations are important for any small or big business.

Types of Small Businesses

In this section, we’re taking a look at the different types of small business. This includes the types of business from a legal standpoint, as well as the types of business based on the industries in which they operate.

business partnership

Legal Types

First are the legal distinctions as to the ownership structure of the business. There are four major categories that apply to most small businesses:

Sole Proprietorship

First up is sole proprietorship. A sole proprietorship is basically a business which is owned by a single person. The sole proprietor has full ownership and full control of their business. If you start a business and don’t classify it as anything else, it will be assumed to be a sole proprietorship. Definitely the most basic type of business structure.

Sole proprietorships do not establish a new legal entity in the form of a business. The business, and its assets and liabilities, are seen as an extension of your assets and liabilities, thus meaning you can be held personally responsible for them. This makes it quite a simple business structure, but also somewhat risky.

Partnership

Partnerships are a simple ownership structure if two people or more are looking to share ownership over a business. Basically, it splits the ownership between the different partners (or owners).

Partnership agreements can be limited liability partnerships (LLPs) or limited partnerships (LPs).

With LLPs, there is limited liability of each partner, which means that they will have protection against liabilities against the partnership, and also be protected from liability for the actions of other partners. With LPs, there is a single partner that will have unlimited liability. This means that this partner will be liable for many of the debts and actions of the partnership, but they will also tend to have more control over the company. The other partners will have limited liability.

LLC

A limited liability company (LLC) is a business structure which will protect the owner from personal liability for the company in most situations. This company structure helps to protect and separate your personal assets from corporate assets.

Corporation

While less common as a small business, a corporation is a corporate structure in which the business is seen as a separate legal entity (basically as a legal person). A corporation will provide extremely strong protection to its owners against personal liability, but also require very extensive record-keeping and documentation. A corporation generally must be able to issue shares and must be formed to make a profit.

There are several other legal requirements, as well as different classifications of a corporation, but it is likely not that relevant to small business owners.

Industries

Of course, small business can operate in several different industries. You could start up a small business in any industry imaginable. Some of the most common types of small business include professional services (such as legal, accounting, marketing, and more), health services (medical, dental, physiotherapy, etc.), manual labor (cleaning, contracting, etc.), and online services. Of course, there are many other types of small business, and this list is really meant as more of a starter guide.

Conclusion

If you want to start a small business, investing in a white label and/or turnkey business that is both ready to go and can be branded however you want, is an easy way to become an overnight entrepreneur. We hope we have given you a comprehensive understanding of how small businesses are classified, as well as the different ownership structures that can be applied. The possibilities for starting a small business are quite endless, and there are many places to draw inspiration as an aspiring entrepreneur. Good luck on your business journey!

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How to Become a Self-Employed Person: 10 Tips for Making it Happen

Intro

Self-employment as a full time job may just seem like a pipe dream for many. That goal that is always just out of reach, even though every day you dream about breaking free from the corporate grind and gig economy. Well, it may not be as hard to achieve as you might think to have your own private practice business structure and become your own sole proprietor. In this article, we’re giving you 10 tips for turning this self-employment dream into reality!

Self-Employment

The great thing about becoming self-employed these days is that there are more ways than ever to make it happen. Whether you want to be a new business owner, offer your services to prospective clients, be a freelancer, or anything in between, there are so many ways to become self-employed. This is especially true with the Internet, as your potential client base is no longer limited to people in your area.

But before you can enter the world of self-employment, you have to have realistic expectations about work, money, and your business plan. Not every business is the same, and there are very specific tips that you need to adhere to in each area of business. However, there are also a lot of similarities. So in this article, we’re giving you 10 tips that every potential entrepreneur should adhere to in getting started.

How to Get Started

First: Make Sure It’s the Right Time

Our first tip is that you simply need to know that it’s the right time for you to start a business. Sometimes, it is simply not the right time in your life to become an independent contractor or small business owner. If you really need the security and reliability of a full-time paycheck, then you may need to stick with your career a while longer. But if you are in a financial position to take the plunge, then read on!

business idea for self employed

Know Yourself

First, it’s important to know your strengths, and your weaknesses! A self-evaluation is a vital first step in knowing what type of business you would like to start. You may already have some ideas, but they really need to be well-aligned with what you know how to do. Whether it’s an area you’re professionally trained in, or an area you are very adept at, you really need to know what you are best at in order to enter that area as an entrepreneur.

Compare Niches

Next up, you need to compare niches of self-employment, and pick a direction that works for you. You need to survey the markets, and pick a niche that aligns with your strengths and weaknesses that you decided above.

Research Niches and Decide

Once you settle on a few top contenders for your preferred niche, you need to do extensive research. Research into your top competition, the industry trends, your target consumers, and more. You need to know everything there is to know about a niche before you decide to pursue it. Successful business owners are experts in their fields.

Outline Your Business – Be SPECIFIC

Next up, we’re starting to get into your business and what you are going to offer. Take your strengths, and your desired niche, and settle on your business idea and your unique offering. It can be as simple as offering your Accounting services because you are a trained Accountant. It really has to match up with your skills, and your knowledge of the market.

Establish SYSTEMS for Your Business

Any successful business will run on successful systems and habits. Before you start a business, you need to have an idea of how it is going to run. You need to establish systems for the day-to-day tasks you are going to need to handle. This includes financial, customer service, payroll, and everything in between. You need to outline your business, and outline how it will run smoothly.

Getting Started – Initial Steps

Of course, once your planning is complete, you need to actually start your business! Starting a business is all in the follow through. You need to follow through on your plans for starting and running your business. Implement the systems you designed and adapt them as you see fit. Sometimes, the only way to do something is to hit the ground running.

Marketing

marketing strategy for self employed

Of course, marketing is hugely important to any new business. This is one of the primary ways you will attract customers and grow your resource base. Marketing should be based on the depth of knowledge you acquired while researching this niche comprehensively. Direct your efforts toward your target market, and appeal to their needs and wants. You need to know where they are, and also how to reach them.

Day-to-Day

The day-to-day operation of the business is key. Stay consistent to the systems you developed above, and make them into habits. Everything becomes easier the more you do it, and the key is to make your business into a well-oiled machine. You need to have a system for almost everything you do as a business in order to track, account for, plan, and react to any event that occurs.

ADAPT as You Go

Continued success in running a business requires constant adaptation. You need to keep researching the market, and keep paying attention to what is working and what isn’t. This way, you can react to unpredictable events, and handle them. There always will be unforeseen events in business, and what makes or breaks a business is how you react to them. The reason this list was so heavily focused on planning and research is because it gives you the proper tools to react to unforeseen events as they come up.

Other Options?

One potential option for those who are looking into starting a small business is a turnkey solution. Turnkey solutions are essentially businesses which are “ready to go”. A turnkey business can come in many forms, but is often a website which is pre-built and ready to accept customers and start generating revenue. A turnkey business is a great first business, as it allows you to truly learn the ropes, and see what works for you.

We hope you have enjoyed our top tips for becoming self employed! Best of luck in your business journey!

10 Ways to Get Free Wi-Fi Wherever You Go

1. Just ask.

One of the easiest ways to snag some free Wi-Fi is just to simply ask someone. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been at a business and simply asked an employee for the Wi-Fi password and be given it, even where they don’t publicly announce that they have Wi-Fi.

If a business doesn’t have Wi-Fi, or refuses to give you the password, ask a stranger. Yes. That actually works sometimes. Believe it or not, people aren’t always that stingy with their Wi-Fi.

 

2. Become hot spot savvy.

Becoming more hot spot savvy means knowing the places that provide truly free and reliable Wi-Fi. These include bus and train stations, museums and community spaces like libraries, city plazas and parks. I’ve even noticed public areas around hospitals and court houses also have free Wi-Fi.

As you know, your phone will scan for open or unsecured Wi-Fi networks. Check that when you’re out and about. You may learn that places like your gym or favorite bookstore offer free Wi-Fi.

 

3. Know which businesses offer free WiFi.

Knowing which businesses which offer free Wi-Fi will save you a lot of time whenever you’re out and about. Best of all? There are a lot of national chains that offer free Wi-Fi. These include:

  • Starbucks
  • McDonald’s
  • Panera Bread
  • Barnes & Noble
  • Target
  • Dunkin Donuts
  • Buffalo Wild Wings
  • Apple Store
  • Marriott Hotels
  • Staples and Office Depot
  • Best Buy
  • Whole Foods

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