Business Tips - Vyde

How to Transform Customer Problems into Opportunities

We’ll get right to it. Whether you’ve been a small business owner for sometime or you’re fairly new – customer problems are the norm. We’d like to say that once you get into the groove and have worked out the kinks of your business or new venture, customer issues went away, but it just isn’t true. Studies show that 59% of customers have experienced problems in the past six months. But that number isn’t what should be concerning – the fact that most organization’s resolution processes are seriously missing the mark should be.

So how do you go about vetting your current customer problem resolution process? And how do you make changes to improve? Here’s what we’ve found.

Problems Aren’t Just Problems…

Changing perspective is probably the best way to change resolution processes outcome. We’re not just talking about spinning a story or agreeing that the customer is always right – we’re talking about seeing the real problem as something more than just a problem. With today’s technology, an unhappy customer can easily take their unsatisfying experience to the internet, making it known to the masses. Although something like this can be damaging to your bottom line and ultimately your brand, it doesn’t have to be. As the boss or owner, you can see this as a chance to show your authenticity and willingness to make things right – you’re simply changing your perspective on the situation and with that comes a change in attitude. Instead of feeling frustrated when you approach the problem and the unhappy customer that goes with it, you go into the situation with the upper hand – you know there’s an issue and you’re looking to find a win for everyone involved. This approach makes you the effective leader rather than low man on the totem pole that gets all the dirty work.

You might also be surprised that your new perspective easily rubs off on others.

How to Make a Negative a Positive

Once you’ve changed your perspective, you’re ready to face the problem head on. The very same study that said over half of a customer base would have a problem over a 6 month time span also shows that customers who are engaged in the resolution process are a lot happier than if they’re not included. In fact, 73% of customers repurchase after a problem resolution experience with only 13% remain dissatisfied. So how do you help the customer be a part of the process? We’ve made a short list with a few tried-and-true ideas:

show gratitude – tell them you’re glad they spoke up and that you want to make it right. Letting them know that you value them as a customer AND that you value their feedback goes a long way.
ask them what would be the biggest help – you can’t just give away free services or product to everyone, but you can ask customers what might be the biggest help to them seeing that they’ve been inconvenienced in some way. Our recommendation is that you only provide this option to customers who are looking for a positive outcome – some just want to complain or walk away with as much as they can get – we’re fairly certain you’ve run into both types and can tell the difference between those that are looking to resolve things and those that are just wanting to fuel the fire.
give clear expectations and a timeline – how many times have you been promised something but then didn’t know the particulars of how it would come about or when it might happen? We’ve been there too. Communicating clear expectations and reasonable timelines helps you build trust with a client who’s questioning if you can help them based on their prior experience. No matter what, don’t promise more than you’re able to give – we recommend building in a buffer when it comes to time so you’re able to go above and beyond expectations rather than disappoint a second time.
check-in, follow-up, and express more gratitude – once your resolution plan has been put into process or has been completed its time to follow up. Don’t just send a generic survey or boilerplate email. Instead, leave a voicemail, send a text, or shoot them a brief email you wrote yourself checking up on what’s been happening and making sure things are working out in their favor. Again, more gratitude for their patience or expressing that they’re a valued customer will go a long way.

Now It’s Time to Change The Story

As far as the customer is concerned, the story ends with their happy ending – but for you, it’s the key piece to what happens next. Take a look at the different complaints you’ve been resolving. Are there similarities between them? Can you pinpoint where the problem actually lies? If so, it’s time to get to work and see if you can’t change your story so that the issues don’t occur again.

Although the best case scenario would be to eliminate the problem entirely, it’s not always possible. If that’s the case, look for ways that you can combat the problem at hand so you can at least cut down the number of poor consumer experiences you’re compiling. Not only will this help boost consumer perception, but it will build your employee morale because they’re effecting serious change. You might find that new products or services can help combat the issues that are happening and you don’t have to come up with all the answers yourself- encourage employees to help brainstorm solutions so that everyone is apart of satisfying the customer.

So what problems are you experiencing and how are you turning them into opportunities?

3 Steps to Building A Successful Company Through Being a Genuine Business Leader

Case study: I recently returned from a business trip to Italy where the group I was with had the privilege to meet in small conferences with the CEO’s of Boeing, Reggiani Lighting, Mapai chemicals, Impact Hub, and about 5 other well-known Italian companies. What I noticed was an amazing similarity. Italian successful business owners are incredibly genuine, so gracious, and always speak kindly about their competitors. If there are faults in their company or of their competitors, the CEO’s would be very open about those shortcomings, but immediately follow the comment up quickly with the faults and difficulties of doing business in that particular industry. They are genuine people, and genuine business owners, and genuine leaders.

Many business owners wonder, what is the best way to get noticed, make a difference, and grow a great company? Some say that it’s Mission, vision, follow up, a drive for sales, knowledge, social media influencers, great financial backers, etc. Those may all be true, however, the truly great business owners and entrepreneurs cannot ever have a truly great product or company without being genuine. If you want a product to be successful, you need to approach each step of the customer life cycle AND the product life cycle with genuine care. Here are 3 steps to make your business the best genuine business it can be:

Step #1-Show Gratitude

Expressing gratitude not only sounds good to everyone that hears it, but it reminds your team and your customers that you care. Celebrate the wins your team and company have as well as letting them in on your own wins and defeats.

Case study: I worked with a client a few years ago in an industry I didn’t love. I worked with their company for 5 years (much longer than other clients) because the business owner always treated me with kindness, appreciated my hard work, sent emails, texts, and hand written cards out of the blue stating how my work was truly making a difference to his company, with specific examples. When there was a mistake or an adjustment to be made, he was very professional about how it was handled. He called me personally, mentioned how grateful he was for all I was doing, and then brought up the change that needed to be made, in a way that showed me he felt like it was something anyone would do, and wasn’t a big deal. He then closed the conversation with the knowledge he was counting on me and knew I could handle it my own way. .

Step #2-Forgive and Forget

See the world through the eyes of those with which you come in contact. Many times things won’t seem fair. Especially in the competitive small business versus big business entrepreneurial world. Take some time to think about why someone controversial would position themselves the way they are. Don’t rush to make a decision. Take a break and come back to it later. This helps you cool off, see their side/point, and create a plan that works for both. After you have moved on, don’t hold anything against them. Use negotiative tactics to create a win-win strategy showing the other side that you understand where they are coming from but you need a solution as well. Creative business plans have often come about from collaborating and being open to new ideas while still holding strong to what needs to be done.

Step #3-Give Back

When you have a good year, as hard as it may be, set a bonus aside for those who have worked hard alongside you, even your clients or customers. Remember that you wouldn’t be where you are without them. Even if you have a bad year, the widow’s mite can go a long way. Use kindness as a motivator and become involved in your community, college, help our your business mentors, send a note and a gift to your collaborators. Go big here. Big hearts are remembered much more than big sales people. Pay people what they are worth, not necessarily what you have. Honor the conversations you’ve had in the past about giving out raises, even if it’s not as much as you had initially promised.

Team members and customers love gratitude, being noticed, and having a say in the future of the company. Entrepreneurship can be lonely. Many times we think “woe is me, no one is [giving us kudos, giving back to us, forgiving my struggling company] so why should I do the same for others?” This is not logical, or emotionally sound thinking. A religious leader, James E. Faust has said:

“As with all commandments, gratitude is a description of a successful mode of living. The thankful heart opens our eyes to a multitude of blessings that continually surround us.”

When we start showing gratitude for what others around us are doing, we start noticing all the good that we are accomplishing. Sunny dispositions and cheerful attitudes are NOT overrated. They are professional, they create strong leaders and dynamic businesses that people LOVE to follow, work hard for, and be a part of. So, that being said, “Have a great day!, even if it didn’t start out that way!”

When to Forget Your Goals and Focus on Your Obstacles

It seems like goals is a buzzword in business these days. We hear about solopreneurs achieving lofty aspirations and turning their side hustle into a corporation almost overnight. We read about the best tactics for corporate goal setting and how to implement change, and we’re constantly focusing on how to beat our stats, implement metrics and strategies, and set and crush goals that were once thought of to be impossible.

But with all the good that goal setting does, it also can cause a dangerous distraction. You might be shaking your ahead in agreement – the SMART goals, seminars, ways to make $1M overnight, and other tactics can often create a roadblock for our success rather than propellling us forward. Why?

Well, sometimes the big, fancy finish distracts us from focusing on what it will take to get there. But you’ve gotten it broken down into a million steps and everything is planned, right? Although SMART goals and planning are effective sometimes it really does obscure the path because despite it all we’re focusing on the end result rather than on being the type of person that can actually make the end result happen (and last).

We’re not saying that you won’t get there with goal planning – but it might go a lot faster if you look at the obstacles that are blocking your path and solve those, rather than try to create your own personal roadmap to success.

Here are a few things to think about when it comes to finding and overcoming the obstacles that might stand in your way:

do you have the skills needed to accomplish the goal you have in mind? If your plan is to have an astronomically large net worth, but you currently don’t have one, odds are that you might be lacking a few financial skills needed to obtain your wealth. Start listing the skills you think you need and then check them off your list when you’ve got them. Those that you don’t have – make them a priority.
prioritize the obstacles – we talk about strategy in business so apply that to the obstacles you’re bound to encounter and you’ll find that you’ll be crossing the goal finish line sooner than you might think. It’s not enough just to have a to do list with things you need to become or learn, figure out the best way to get it done and what to tackle first. Prioritizing allows you to blaze a clear trail and you might find you can even kill 2 birds with 1 stone.
keep the end goal vague so you can focus on the here and now –we’ve heard plenty of big goal setters say that knowing the details is what drives you to accomplish that big goal. Things change, flexibility is key, and it might not even be possible to do something exactly to plan. Our recommendation? Keep the end goal vague and instead focus on the details that are happening right now that will propel you to that end goal. When we say vague, we still want you to know where you’re headed just don’t start picking out your big expensive sports car and figuring out how you’ll rule the world just yet.

What are you big goals? Or maybe your obstacles? We love talking business and big dreams… tell us in the comments.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Why can goal setting sometimes be a distraction?

Goal setting can be a distraction because focusing too much on the end result can obscure the path to achieving it. It might cause you to overlook the necessary steps and skills required, leading to frustration and stagnation.

How can I identify the obstacles blocking my path to success?

Start by listing the skills and resources you need to achieve your goals. Identify which ones you lack and make acquiring them a priority. By breaking down the process, you can tackle obstacles systematically and more effectively.

What is the benefit of keeping the end goal vague?

Answer: Keeping the end goal vague allows you to remain flexible and adaptable to changes. It helps you focus on the present actions and decisions that will propel you toward success, rather than getting fixated on a rigid, detailed plan that might not be feasible.

How should I prioritize the obstacles I encounter?

Answer: Prioritize obstacles by assessing their impact on your progress. Focus on the most significant barriers first and create a strategic plan to overcome them. This approach ensures efficient use of your time and resources, helping you progress faster.

Why is it important to manage expectations when setting goals?

Answer: Managing expectations prevents undue stress and pressure, especially when goals are unrealistic or overly ambitious. Setting manageable and attainable goals allows for consistent growth and helps maintain motivation by celebrating incremental achievements.

The Business of Blogging Part 4: Start Making Money on Your Blog

This post is part of the popular Business of Blogging series. If you’re looking to start a business online, or if you’re looking to grow your business with a blog, the information provided here is a good place to start.

More and more of today’s business is being done over the internet. Shopping, consulting, taking classes, even ordering food can be done by the swipe or tap on your smartphone. Despite the fact that convenience is one of the internet’s greatest gifts, it also gives us a host of knowledge right at our finger tips.

Blogging is no longer family pictures and a digital way to preserve or share memories. Today, blogging is a key way to provide expert information about your product or service and many online entrepreneurs are financially successful just by providing expert-level information alone.

So how does one turn a blog into a business? We’re glad you asked.

Despite the fact that anyone can start a blog, very few are successfully run businesses. And even though the idea of online businesses is still fairly new, the way to create a successful business is not. In this series, we discuss the details of business as it pertains to blogging, and our goal is to help you turn a profit from providing your knowledge, product, or service on your own little piece of the internet.

Today we’re discussing just how to start making money on your blog. There are a variety of methods, but these are the ones that we’ve found to be the most effective.

Read more here…

How to Create Daily Rituals that Help Propel You To Success

We’ve heard it before. The effect daily rituals have on success is quite the topic among high achievers. The concert pianist who practices scales and muscle memory exercises mercilessly to help hone their craft. The athlete that visualizes winning a gold medal, scoring the winning goal or breaking a world record in efforts to maximize their performance. And the ultra-savvy entrepreneur or CEO that gets up early, works out regularly, takes risks and makes millions. More often than not, those that are most successful in their chosen field attribute their success to exercises, or rituals, such as the ones mentioned above. The difference between an exercise and a ritual might just be the fact that most rituals become long-standing habits. Aristotle said it best,

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.

So what exactly do daily rituals mean for small business or entrepreneurial success? Everything. Today we’re breaking down the purpose of daily rituals and just how we can implement them to help propel our success in our chosen field or industry.

Benefits of Optimized Rituals

When most people hear the world ritual they associate it with religion. In this case, a ritual is merely something that is done consistently in efforts to produce the same results. Rituals, aren’t just consistent, they’re outlined steps that are followed with exactness so as to ensure a wanted outcome. So what type of benefits can you expect to see from a ritual? We’re glad you asked. Rituals can benefit anyone in the following ways:

Put you in a high performance groove both mentally and physically – its a surefire way to get ready for big decision-making and calculating risks
Allow you to predictably perform at a high level – meaning you can count on high performance every time rather than hit and miss chances at success
Stop you from overthinking – when it comes to risks, thinking too much can actually cost you a win. Rituals push you through the process and help you get to the success faster so you don’t overthink or miss an opportunity
Allow you to upgrade your performance because you can break things down in steps and tweak what’s need fixing – doing things repeatedly and in the same way allows you to pinpoint where the breakdowns might occur and correct them.
Give a sense of purpose and confidence – creating a habit or a practiced sequence means you’ve seen success before. This consistency gives you confidence that you can recreate the same effective outcomes and that means you’re more and more ready to push through the challenges ahead.

How to Build Your Own Daily Ritual

Now that we’ve got you convinced about daily rituals and how they can propel you to success, lets talk about how to create some rituals of your own. It really is just a prescribed sequence that can help set you up for success – creating some ornate set of steps or adding additional tasks to your already busy schedule won’t do. Real rituals are the most effective when you fine tune your already existing routines to help ensure a successful outcome. To do this, we suggest the following steps:

catalog what you already do – focus on a single area that you wish to improve. It may be your customer service, product launches, or even expanding your business in a certain area. List out the typical steps you take.
take a look at your process – What steps are you missing? Are there things you might be able to add in, delete, or move around that would better ensure your success?
reinvent the ritual and put it to practice – make the changes and then get to work. No matter what your ritual, you won’t see success unless you put in consistent effort.

Incorporating AI technologies into daily rituals can significantly enhance productivity and success. Future AI tools like personalized scheduling apps, virtual assistants, and smart home devices can streamline routines and manage time efficiently. By automating repetitive tasks, AI allows individuals to focus on high-priority activities and decision-making. Additionally, AI-powered analytics can provide insights into personal habits, helping to optimize performance and well-being. Embracing AI in daily rituals not only boosts efficiency but also fosters a proactive approach to achieving goals, ultimately propelling individuals toward greater success.

We’d love to hear about the goals you’ve set and the rituals you’re creating to help you get there – drop us a line in the comments.

7 Tips on What Not to Do as a Small Business Owner

Being a small business owner is hard. We balance personal life, work, and everything inbetween just trying to make it through the day. Because of this, it’s easy to take shortcuts or let things slide. Here are a few ideas on what to steer clear of or at least know what you’re getting into so you know how to handle it:

Don’t Hire a Family Member or Friend

This can be tricky. There are times that this works out well, however, keep in mind that you will need to be prepared to give correction, be professional much of the time, meet deadlines, and be careful with money. If you do hire someone close to you, make sure that you talk about the professional requirements of the job and how you are counting on them. If they don’t work out, be honest. Make sure they also happen to be the best person for the job.

Don’t Allow Business to Change Your Personal Calendar

Many times, people quit a taxing 9-5+ job to start a small business so they can spend more time with their family. It’s hard when trying to “make it” in the beginning, and when you “have arrived” and things are really busy. Just remember, you switched vocations so that you could spend time where you wanted. Even if that takes a little less money here or there, those kid performances are important. Make your schedule at the beginning of the week and try to stick to it.

Don’t Do Everything Yourself

You’ve heard the phrase, “the devil is in the details” right? Well, when owning a small business, it can actually be bad to care about so many little details. Hire a good team, then delegate, and TRUST them. They might not do things the way you would, but why would they? They can bring something better than another robot version of yourself…variety, cross-functional thinking, and most importantly, TIME 🙂 Don’t discount the importance of this when you get to pay day.

Don’t Be Late to Everything

here are so many tasks, projects, people to follow up with, customer requests to get to. Even if a conversation seems to be going somewhere successful, make sure to let a prospective buyer/client know what time you need to be done, and stick to it. Professionalism counts, even for small business owners. By excusing yourself to head to another meeting or a child’s soccer game, the buyer will know your time is precious and take you more seriously than if you hung out with them all day listening to what they have to say.

Don’t Assume That Spending Money on the Business Should Always be Done Cheaply

This goes for marketing materials, trainings, software, employees, etc. Careful planning and organization is important, but many of these items should be viewed as an investment toward the future. I’m only talking to the Frugal Freddie’s here. Spending frivolously is a different topic. It’s not a good idea to hold out on marketing for an upcoming conference, or withhold training for employees, or put off a simple low-cost piece of technology until you have more customers or make a certain amount. It is smart to spend even when you don’t have much, as long as it is done in a strategic way. Most importantly, don’t skimp on paying good help what they are worth. A special gift to collaborators can go a long way as well.

Don’t Reinvent the Wheel

Don’t feel like you have to implement all of your ideas right away. Even a “slam dunk” plan might not have the best timing. Think about what you have already created and how you can use it to implement a version of the plan. If the timing isn’t right, don’t throw the plan away. Make a folder on your computer or project management software for “Backlog” or “Ideas.” Revisit that folder at quarterly and annual review time. You’ll be amazed at how many great ideas can be patched together from plans you’ve almost implemented in the past.

Don’t Act as if Sleep & Exercise is for Wusses

You know we all do this. We stay up late to get everything done that hasn’t been done for years, and then get disappointed when we can’t finish, have no energy during the team meeting the next day, and forget to tell employees how important hair nets are. Work will always be there. Sleep and exercise is how we get through the day without sluggishness, depression, etc. Also, we end up becoming more dependant on coffee, sugar, junk food because we don’t have the energy to get through the day without it.

You are doing great. Many times we think we aren’t making a difference or selling enough, etc. Take a look at all the good that has come because of opening your doors. Thanks for all the hard work you do to build the small business community in a STRONG way!

How to Stay Organized on Your Business Calendar

It’s all too easy to let our day jobs rule our lives. With technology at our fingertips we can constantly be in contact – checking emails, answering texts, and fielding phone calls. Our work schedules quickly feel up with business meetings, and collaborating with teams on projects, new product launches and much, much more. As small business owners, we’re guardians of our time and our success and the two are definitely linked. Today we’re sharing our top tips for keeping organized when it comes to your business calendar.

Make an Optional Calendar

Life is busy. We say no to lots of things… even good things that might help us take our personal and professional lives to the next level. The reason? Time. But if you’re like us, you’ve had the occasional afternoon open up and you’re left coming up with what to do or worse, wishing you could remember the dozens of tasks that you’ve been meaning to get done.

You’ve probably seen on your own digital calendar that you can set up multiple calendars and have them appear at a click of a button a master calendar. Events are color coded and it’s not only pretty to look at but effective. That said, it can still cause a lot of stress and an over-programmed life. When you say no to an event or project that you’d like to say yes to, slip it onto a “Optional Calendar” that way you’ve got the information at hand when your afternoon seems to open up and you’ve got free time you didn’t know you had. And you can shut down the regret of having to say no by simply turning the view option on that calendar off. With an Optional Calendar, you can spend the time doing more rather than figuring out what to do with your free time.

Work in Blocks of Time

You’ve heard of batching tasks and we’ve even talked about automating processes, but there’s something to be said for blocking off chunks of time so you can hunker down and get things done. You’ve probably heard of many an entrepreneur or CEO that hits the office early so that they get a jump on the day – they’ve scheduled blocks of time for answering emails or brainstorming projects – often those things that aren’t easy to accomplish amidst a dozen interruptions.

Take a look at your schedule. Can you move your meetings all to the afternoon so you’ve got time in your office to take care of daily tasks? Maybe it’s best to schedule out reading and answering emails before 10 AM. No matter what you do, look for tasks that you do often or that require similar circumstances (like peace and quiet to return phone calls, etc.) and then group like tasks together.

Prep for Tomorrow

Half the battle of a successful day is being ready for what it holds. Some of the most successful small business owners we know make it a habit to spend the last few minutes of the day getting ready for the next. So what is it that they do?

Some review their schedule for the next day? Others write the last few emails and hit send, others clear off their desk, close out of tabs in their internet browser, and scribble down a short list of to do’s so they can hit the ground running. The best way to figure out what to do to prepare for the next day is to take note of what things you’re doing first thing in the morning – then add those tasks to your end of day and you’ll start the next day ahead.

Prioritize Tasks & Do What You Can, Now

The almighty to do list can get awfully long, so make sure you prioritize it once you’ve created it. Most efficiency experts say that planning to accomplish 3 major tasks each day is a definite win. But what about all the little things you put on your list – where do those fit in? Instead of pushing them into tomorrow’s schedule stop and do them now.

Don’t wait to respond to that employee that needs an answer tomorrow – craft a short response and send it now. Once you prioritize your tasks you’ll be able to see which items need more thought and which ones can easily be accomplished or eliminated completely.

So what are some of the ways you stay organized in your business calendar and life? We’d love to hear your ideas in the comments below.

FAQs: Staying Organized on Your Business Calendar

1. What is an optional calendar, and how can it help me stay organized?

An optional calendar is a secondary calendar where you can add events or tasks you would like to do but are not essential. This helps you avoid over-scheduling and provides a list of productive activities when you find unexpected free time.

2. How can blocking time improve my productivity?

Blocking time involves scheduling dedicated chunks of time for specific tasks. This minimizes interruptions, helps maintain focus, and allows you to complete similar tasks more efficiently, improving overall productivity.

3. What are some tips for preparing for the next day?

Spend the last few minutes of your day reviewing the next day’s schedule, sending any final emails, clearing your desk, and making a to-do list. This preparation ensures you start the next day with a clear plan and focus.

4. How should I prioritize tasks on my to-do list?

Focus on accomplishing three major tasks each day. Prioritize by importance and urgency, and try to handle quick tasks immediately to keep your list manageable and prevent procrastination.

5. Why is it important to respond to small tasks immediately?

Addressing small tasks immediately prevents them from piling up and becoming overwhelming. It also ensures timely communication and keeps your workflow smooth and efficient.

4 Ways to Raise Your Small Business Credit Score

When it comes to test scores, salaries, batting averages, or pretty much anything other than golf scores – the higher the better. The same goes for credit scores. And a good credit score means a lot if you’re starting or running a business.

Why Your Credit Score Matters

A credit score is a way that financial institutions and lenders attempt to predict your future financial behavior. They look at your financial past- what types of loans you’ve taken out, if you quickly repay or default on a loan altogether, and if you’re consistent in your payments and even pay on time. Then based on their assessment they assign you a score between 850 and 300.

The higher the score the better of an investment you are, so your ability to take out new loans or work with lenders with better rates increases.

This can be essential if you’re looking to start a business or expand the business you already have. It even can come into play if you’re sourcing large amounts of raw materials or other resources for your business – many wholesalers are more likely to extend larger tabs to clients with higher credit scores because they know they’ve got a good financial history.

How Do You Increase Your Small Business Credit Score

Remember, you didn’t get your current credit score overnight, so raising your credit score isn’t going to happen that fast either, but you can always do things to help it improve.

Take a look at your current credit report – review you’re current credit report and look for areas that might include false information or items that have a negative impact. Verify your story to the best of your ability by collecting related paperwork and any bank or credit card statements. Then contact the credit agency and ask to work through these concerns.
Pay on time. Every time – Making sure you can pay your bills and that you do so on time is the best way to improve your business credit score. To do so, consider setting things on autopay, paying a little extra each time so you’ve built up a reserve and setting reminders on your phone so you can check to see that you’ve paid in full by the required monthly deadline.
Pay Down Your Debt – for most individuals and small businesses this can be a monumental task, but it is possible and it makes a great impression. If you’re looking to acquire a loan or are putting things on credit, go into it with a plan on how to pay it off. If you’re stuck with debt, take a look and see if you can consolidate it by using a debt snowball method. No matter what, pay the minimums so that your current schedule credit score doesn’t take a hit.
Improve your Credit Utilization Ratio– lenders take into consideration just how much you utilize your credit. The higher your utilization rate the greater the risk of not being able to repay your debts. So work to keep your credit utilization rate low, preferably under 30%. Lenders want to see that you can properly manage your debts and are much more willing to extend credit if there is a lower risk.

No matter what don’t give up. Pick a strategy and stick with it. Don’t get frustrated when you don’t get immediate results – like we said before, you didn’t get your current credit score overnight and you won’t undo it that fast either. Making wise financial decisions consistently will not only improve your credit score but also help your financial standing overall.

Save Time & Stress Less – Process Automation

Entrepreneurs and small business owners are often one-man shows. But just because your headcount is small doesn’t mean that your business has to be. In fact, you can save time, stress less and earn more by spending a little bit of time thinking through your daily tasks and implementing process automation where you can. For many small business owners, process automation sounds like something that’s only for large corporations or businesses that have exponential growth – but we’ve seen that process automation doesn’t just cut down on stress and save time, it also helps businesses grow – and grow quickly.

What Process Automation Can Do For Your Business

Just so that we’re clear, they type or process automation we’re talking about is anything that brings structure to repeated tasks or eliminates additional work. If you’ve created your business from the ground up, you probably either remember the days (or are still in them) where you’re crafting the same emails over and over, or feeling like you’re reinventing the wheel for every client, new product launch or customer service issue. The start up phase of any business is so focused on bringing in enough cash to support the business that we spend a lot of time spinning our wheels.

Why Process Automation Helps You Grow?

The simple answer – it frees up your time so you can focus on other tasks. But it also helps in a bunch of other ways. Process automation can save you money. For example, we have lots of clients who tell us that they’re super busy and need to hire an assistant. But when we look at their books, we can see that they might not be able to pay an assistant and that the income their brining in doesn’t seem to match up very well with the hours they tell us their spending. Hiring an assistant seems like a great way to reduce stress, but it could actually increase it. Instead, we recommend taking a brief look at the work you’re completing every day. Are you still drafting out customer service emails when needed or do you have a file of templates that you can tweak as needed? Do you process and package orders individually or do you batch tasks? You can see that answering a few simple questions and then putting together a little bit of a structured plan can quickly convince you that you actually don’t need an assistant you need process automation.

How to Get Started with Process Automation

We touched on this slightly above – the first step is to stop and look at what you’re doing over and over again. If you feel like you’re having to recreate the wheel, chances are you’ve got an area of your business that could benefit from process automation. Before you rush out and buy new equipment or purchase expensive software – make sure you stop and see if there isn’t an easy fix. Here’s our short list of process automation ideas that don’t require spending a bunch of additional money, but rather just a little bit of time:

emails – dig through your sent email box and pull out those you’ve already drafted and that seem to need to be written again and again. Make a file of email templates, even save them in your drafts folder right there in your inbox and then make sure to just cut and paste and tweak as necessary. Even if you only have a template or two, you’ll be saving yourself at least a half hour each day.
batching tasks – it’s one of the first things people suggest but also one of the last suggestions people actually take. But the time you can save by batching tasks is amazing. And it also simplifies your work day so that you’re not stressing about the fact that you didn’t get much done. Take 20 minutes and brainstorm all the areas of your business. You may only answer customer service emails during lunch time, and spend mornings picking product, packaging and getting it ready to ship. If you find yourself constantly brainstorming ideas for marketing or new products – schedule time to do it once a week rather than every day.
bring in technology only when it’s needed – it’s true, tech and additional software can help streamline a process, but learning that software or implementing it can take time. If it’s a good trade off, then by all means bring on the tech, but if it’s going to take longer to learn/implement than the time it will save – it might not be worth it, at least not at this point. We find that lots of our clients have purchased software in hopes to save a buck and DIY their own taxes and monthly bookkeeping – we’ve also found that most save more money by outsourcing it to us than they ever did trying to do it themselves with a fancy software program. This isn’t always the case, but hiring an expert or specialist might be a better fit so don’t rule it out before you’ve checked into your options.
buy in bulk & subscribe if possible for repeat purchases – when your business was new, you might have saved a buck or two by buying only what you needed right then. But a great way to cut cost and time is to buy in bulk. Packaging materials or raw material you use for product/services is a great place to put this method to practice. If you’re constantly shipping goods, consider purchasing larger quantities of packing material from a supplier rather than picking up just what you need at a retail store. If you’re a service based business requires that you keep certain tools or equipment on hand (like if you’re window washer and you know you’re going to need cleaner, rags and window cleaning tools) plan to not only buy in bulk but utilize a subscription option for your products if it’s available so you don’t even have to spend time filling your shopping cart with the needed products each month.
keep a history – writing down how you do certain tasks while you do them will help you figure out what processes need or could be automated. It will also help you streamline how you attack events that happen over and over again in your business. Product launches, marketing campaigns, seasonal tasks – they’re all important but they might happen more infrequently than the day to day tasks. Keeping a history of what you did and then referring to it when it’s time to do it again will help save time and even help you pinpoint areas where you want to improve.

So what areas of your business could use a little streamlining? We’d love to hear what areas you’re going to add process automation to first!

Top 3 Business Strategies That Will CHANGE The Way You Do Business

There are many different types of consultants. Business, IT, HR, Marketing, etc. IT consultants can fix hard drives, cloud problems; HR consultants can protect you from wrongfully terminating an employee and teach you how to hire in order to get the best candidate for the job; Marketing Consultants can help you launch a product. Business Consultants offer strength in business strategy and an overall picture. Without a doubt, professional Business Consultants help clients by utilizing at least some form of these 3 analytical assessment tools: SWOT, SLEPT, and Value Chain. Below, we discuss what these are, and how YOU can start streamlining your business for success today!

SWOT (Inside your company: Strengths, Weaknesses; Inside Your Industry: Opportunities, Threats)

This analysis is often the hardest for an owner/manager to do on their own company as we are either our company’s harshest critic, or biggest fan. This analysis asks what are your company is good at and what could your company improve upon. It also asks what opportunities industry has to offer, and what threats do working inside that industry entail?

Challenge: Always remember strengths, especially when you are feeling like you just can’t get ahead. Never forget that weaknesses can become strengths when you identify and fix them. Take advantage of the opportunities in the industry you are in. Turn your threats into opportunities by doing what it takes to become first to market or research to fix the mistakes other companies have made launching their product ahead of yours.

SLEPT (Inside your Industry-Social, Legal, Environmental/Economic, Political, and Technological factors)

This tool helps to analyze the industry within which you are competing, in order to find Opportunities and Threats in the areas listed above. For example social trends play a huge role in opportunities available in an industry just based on what large percentage of purchasing target markets are wanting to pay for. Legal generally has to do with threats due to regulations of the area or industry. Environment and Economy play a huge role in whether a product or service is sustainable or affordable and if that happens to be an opportunity or a threat to the position your company is in. Politics plays a large role in what is available as tax rates either skyrocket or are given a break to business owners. Technology is either a disruption or offers an opportunity base on what industry, skills, and commitments are needed.

Challenge: Taking 5-10 mins per day for a week to read a few top articles/posts on what is going on in the world that affects your industry. This can be immensely important to staying ahead of competitors.

Value Chain-(inside your company)

This one goes a little more in-depth than the others do. It focuses on the Support Activities (what helps the business run: Infrastructure, HR, Technology, Inventory) and what’s called Primary Activities (minutia, details of how the business runs: what happens when stuff comes in and out of the company, how the product is created, what marketing and sales pieces are applied, how customers are served).

Challenge: When you are able to analyze what you are doing well and what you are struggling with in each of those areas, the next step is to take a look at the rest of your industry and even other industries. Do they have ways they have fixed those issues you have? Is there another way to perform business or support the company that will lead to lower costs and higher return on investment? Once you have made these considerations, take a look at 1-3 items your company can improve on. Open up ideas to the members of the company and get some cross functional answers. Implement changes in a steady and consistent manner.

These tools should be performed biannually, scheduled just before the annual company meeting and the 6-month check in meeting. It’s also a good idea to follow up on progress of the changes at quarterly meetings. As with any business strategy, it’s best to get a professional outside opinion, and have courage to follow through consistently on your specific goals.

Resources

Category: Business Tips