A business cycle is the natural rise and fall of economic growth over a period of time. The cycle is a useful tool for analysing the wider economy, as the upward and downward fluctuations show variations in production, employment, wages, and investment. Understanding the cycle allows you as a business owner to make better financial decisions with the goal of helping your business increase profit despite the downturns. Today we discuss the five main phases of a business cycle: expansion, peak, recession, trough, and recovery.
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Topics:
buyer demand,
small business,
business start-up,
business blog,
unrealised potential,
increase sales,
barter,
business needs
Business networking is an essential growth strategy to scale up your business and create a real impact on your bottom line. Finding a supportive network can help you find true value in your work, as you help your customers with your products and services, while making authentic connections.
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Topics:
attract new customers,
trade exchange,
build business networks,
increase sales,
business needs,
networking,
trade dollars
Research shows conclusively that your existing customers are your best chance at increasing your overall sales. Closing a deal with a potential new customer is tricky and doesn’t actually happen all that often—even if your sales team are virtuosos of the craft. Statistically speaking, you’re much more likely to find success selling additional products and services. That’s where upselling and cross-selling come in. Unfortunately, people hear a lot about these kinds of tactics, and it’s easy for them to switch off if you take a poor approach. What exactly are these tactics, and how can you employ them effectively?
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Topics:
unrealised potential,
increase sales,
business needs,
trade dollars
Being in business usually means opening your doors to everyone, welcoming them in, building relationships and ultimately agreeing to do business together. Sounds simple, right? It can and should be. However, there are situations that can test you and one of the big tests is being able to say ‘No’ when you need to.
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Topics:
small business,
business blog,
unrealised potential,
business needs,
customer loyalty
When you first started your business, you had a plan. It may have been something roughly scratched out on an A4 sheet of paper, or a complex business plan you presented to your bank manager, or maybe something in between. Your business plan provided you with a mission, a path for your business to help keep things moving in a positive, forward direction.\
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Topics:
growing your business,
strategy,
small business,
attract new customers,
business blog,
unrealised potential,
barter,
business needs,
networking
Understanding the financial health of your business can be an extremely overwhelming task to get your head around. Unless you have a passion for figures then it’s an area that can cause a lot of frustration and stress. You may have a handle on your profit and loss statement, but are you able to look deeper and really see how your business is going?
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Topics:
Accounting,
increase cash flow,
small business,
attract new customers,
save cash,
spare capacity,
unrealised potential,
increase sales,
business needs,
trade dollars
To increase business profits, you don’t need to allot a huge portion of your company’s budget. Even the best planned marketing campaigns can fail. Every facet of business decision-making, including one’s marketing strategy, almost always involves risks, and a positive turnout isn’t 100% guaranteed. As market behaviour continuously changes, investing in large, high-cost campaigns don’t always translate to increased sales. Thankfully, there are ways in which your business can achieve maximum profitability minus the costly investment. Here, we talk about low-cost effective strategies, which can pave the way for business growth.
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Topics:
small business,
save cash,
branding,
increase sales,
business needs,
trade dollars
Most business marketing efforts are split between the competing goals of customer acquisition and customer retention. While new customers translate directly to more business, and greater opportunities for expansion, every business still needs its share of loyal customers to remain afloat. Establishing customer retention as an integral part of your larger marketing strategy is important for the long-term success of your business. Even big corporations rely on their customer loyalty strategies for their business to run smoothly! Find out some of the perks of having loyal customers for your business.
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Topics:
attract new customers,
increase sales,
business needs,
networking,
customer loyalty
Bartercard’s cashless currency is becoming a popular choice for employers to incentivise their employees, rewarding additional bonuses and providing staff gifts. You might think Bartercard’s benefits can only be used to get more customers, but in fact they can also be used to incentivise performance within your talented team! Continue reading to learn why more and more New Zealand businesses are turning to Bartercard to supplement their workers’ compensation.
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Topics:
unrealised potential,
increase sales,
business needs,
networking,
rewarding staff,
trade dollars
It’s something every business owner knows they need to do but very few put aside the time for it. Not surprisingly, it’s those who do that tend to be the most successful. Strategic planning is essential to the development and growth of your business. So why is it like pulling teeth to get business owners to sit down and focus on it? The answer is clear. You’re too busy working IN your business to take a step back and work ON your business. Strategy and planning is put on the backburner while you deal with more pressing issues.
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Topics:
business strategies,
growing your business,
increase profit,
small business,
attract new customers,
business needs
