It’s no secret that online sales are quickly overtaking those made over the counter. Customers love the convenience of shopping from their office, at home, and on the go. If you’re not building your e-commerce presence, you’ll find your business will be left behind.
Read MoreTopics: growing your business, small business owner, increase cash flow, small business, attract new customers, build business networks, increase sales, trade dollars
Emails are a necessary part of everyday business communication. They can also be a major distraction that eats up your time and negatively affects your productivity. With emails now on your phone, it’s even easier for your attention to be hijacked by the ‘ping’ of every notification, losing valuable time that should be spent growing your business and getting more customers.
Read MoreTopics: business strategies, small business, business blog, business needs, marketing
Finding business partners that share similar markets to you can help you leverage your business, increase business profits, and expand your customer base. The problem is many business owners are scared off by the statistics - at least 50% of partnerships fail in the first 2-3 years! That’s enough to make any business owner decide to tough it out alone.
Read MoreTopics: growing your business, strategy, small business, trade exchange, build business networks, networking, trade dollars, marketing
Businesses set long-term goals to help them measure their success. However, as a business owner, you must also set attainable and specific short-term goals that support the bigger picture. Invest time to create scalable plans that will accelerate your business along the path toward your long-term vision. Here are examples of short-term goals, which can pave the way towards achieving your long-term objectives.
Read MoreTopics: strategy, small business, goals, increase sales, business needs, customer loyalty, trade dollars
Businesses are always looking for new ways to generate extra income and boost their market share. When a brand develops and markets new brands that are slight variations on similar, existing products, the result is a phenomenon known as brand proliferation. Below, we discuss what you need to know about brand proliferation and how it impacts your business.
Read MoreTopics: small business, branding, increase sales, business needs, marketing
Topics: bartercard, small business, build business networks, goals, increase sales, business needs, networking, trade dollars
The most basic way that businesses make a profit is to sell their goods and services. To do so first requires that businesses provide a good or service, then to market that product and make sales. However, there are two very different channels that businesses can sell through. Selling directly to consumers, or “business-to-consumer” (B2C) marketing, is an entirely different operation than selling directly to other businesses (“business-to-business”, or B2B).
Read MoreTopics: business strategies, buyer demand, small business, business blog, business needs, marketing
There are countless theories about how to run a business, and when it comes down to it, every strategy has the same end-goal: increasing your profits. Whether you’re working on brand awareness, innovative product development, or increasing workplace efficiency, the goal is always to increase sales and cut operating costs.
Read MoreTopics: growing your business, increase profit, increase cash flow, small business, attract new customers, save cash, build business networks, increase sales, trade dollars
Being a small business owner is an enormous task. Much of the operational responsibilities of your business rest on your own shoulders. With so much on your plate, it’s no wonder that business owners often fall into habits that may not always be healthy for their business.
Read MoreTopics: strategy, small business, trade exchange, business blog, increase sales, barter, business needs, marketing
Small-to-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) often lack the sheer size they need to compete with much larger, international firms. Doing business in an environment where you’re one of the smaller fish is difficult, which is why smaller businesses often align their objectives with other, similar businesses to create business networks. These networks let SMEs work together to accomplish larger objectives, which increases their competitiveness with bigger companies, and as such, they’re very important for the businesses involved.
Read MoreTopics: small business, attract new customers, build business networks, business blog, increase sales, networking
