You have two choices when it comes to turning a bigger profit: increase your revenue, or cut your expenses. As a rule, we have far more control over how much we spend than we do over how much we earn. Which is why the most successful small business owners utilize dozens of practical methods for cutting costs and lowering their overhead. Here are three strategic money saving suggestions we think are well worth exploring.
Topics: Business Savings, Growth Coach, Business Budgeting
Did you know that almost every business follows a typical life cycle with regard to what it chooses to sell? The life cycles of products and services illustrate their growing or shrinking market positions, and are usually determined by how long they remain in demand.
Topics: Pricing, Growth Coach, Small Business Growth, Financial Forecasting
Tussling with time management? Struggling to move that new project forward? You’re not alone. A recent study listed managing project costs, hitting deadlines, and sharing information across teams as the biggest hurdles facing project managers in 2018.
Topics: Business Management, Business Apps, Scaling A Business, Growth Coach
Although marketing trends can be tough to keep up with, tried and true fundamentals really haven’t changed all that much. Perceptual mapping has been used in marketing research for decades. As such, it’s a valuable tool with the proven potential to help you out-market the competition.
Topics: small business marketing, Inbound Marketing, Sales, Growth Coach
We’ve said it before, but it’s well worth repeating: cash flow is the lifeblood of every successful business. It’s often a lack of liquidity, in fact – rather than a shortage of sales – that prevents newer companies from growing. One way to keep your business afloat during a cash flow shortfall is to sell your accounts receivable invoices to a factoring company. Factoring doesn’t come free, however. So here’s what you need to know before exploring it further.
Topics: Factoring, Factoring Invoices, Accounts Receivable, Cash Flow
With no software to install, moving your books to a cloud-based accounting program like QuickBooks Online offers a bounty of benefits – including the freedom to manage your finances from anywhere.
Topics: Cloud-Based Accounting, Cloud Storage, Outsourced Bookkeeping Services, Small Business Bookkeeping
Like many strategic business alliances, the advantages of investing in better vendor relations aren’t always immediately evident from a bottom line point of view. But the reality is that regardless of the business you're in, suppliers and service providers play a key role in keeping your company profitable.
Topics: Vendor Relationships, Vendor Selection, Growth Coach, Small Business Growth, Scaling A Business
An efficient and accurate bookkeeping system - one that’s managed with the help of bookkeeping software - is essential for business success. Cloud-based accounting programs like QuickBooks Online (QBO) are ideal because they let you track financial transactions and collaborate with your accounting professional in real-time, while supporting a number of time-saving third-party apps.
Topics: QuickBooks Apps, QuickBooks Online, Cloud-Based Accounting
Alternative financing may be your company’s best option when stop-gap infusions of cash are required. Unlike traditional bank loans - which can sometimes be challenging to qualify for - alternative funding sources like microloans, peer-to-peer financing, and merchant cash advances are relatively easy to come by.
Topics: small business loan, Growth Coach, Small Business Growth
While there’s an ongoing debate over whether emails or phone calls are more effective in business, two things are clear: email is the appropriate communication choice in many situations – and poor email etiquette can impact your professional image.
Topics: business reputation, online business reputation, Customer Success
