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Unique Ways to Funding Your Small Business

funding

If you’re a startup, there is nothing surprising in facing teething troubles.  But none of these challenges or troubles is as big or critical as funding your business. That means finding investment to get your business off the ground is, without a doubt a daunting task.  From production space, buying goods to renting office, and hiring staff, turning a simple idea into a business practically requires funds and money.

Unless you are wealthy enough to finance your business or your benevolent relative has left you a lot of money, you probably have to find ways to fund your business.  Luckily, there are some smart ways you can resolve this problem. Here are some of those unique ways to help you fund your business.

How Can You Fund Your Small Business?

1.     Crowdfunding

One of the easiest way to find your business enough funds is crowdfunding- which is a practice of raising funds from different forums or people.  It is an alternative finance and a kind of crowd sourcing.   Luckily, there are plenty of crowdfunding options available for you right on the internet.

When asking for investment funds for your businesses from a variety of investors, it is highly recommended to come up with an impressive pitch. The success of your crowdfunding campaign depends more on how you pitch the idea than it does on the idea itself. Of course, you need a team with you to plan out your crowdfunding campaign.

A common reason why startups choose this method of funding is because of the flexibility of options. Venture capitals are known for being strict with their investments. They will demand more equity in your business than you will ever have to offer through a crowdfunding model. They usually focus more on their returns than the success of the startup. The situation is quite the opposite when you go with the crowdfunding option.

2.     Angel Investors

Angel Investors is no doubt one of the unique funding options among all as they are always looking for innovative ideas to invest in the business. Originally business giants like Yahoo and Google were also used this funding option. It is worth noting that taking funds from Angel Investors requires entrepreneurs to give them some equity share in the company.

3.     Small Business Loans (SBA)

This funding option is a result of the U.S government’s interest in rampant growth of the small business industry.  The s Small Business Administration, in this regard, offers a wide range of loan types and business investments to help business owners get started.  Exploring the SBA loan options is a great way to kick start your business, if intend to run an educational institute or non-profits set-up.   For easy funding, you might want to request for SBA grants.

4.      Venture Capitalists

Much like angel investors, the funding option invest money in up-and-coming- businesses that have high potential to not only grow but also monetary returns.  In addition to that, Venture Capitalist looks for equity share in the business it invests money in. The investors are also interested in getting a right in company’s directorial decisions.  In short, VCs make money through their investments and consider having some control or authority in the business is the best way to do that.  It is always better to investigate this funding option thoroughly before opting it.

5.     Microloans

 Reserved specifically for small non-profit businesses, finance institutions grant microloans to entrepreneurs who don’t qualify for a bank loans. Microloan organizations, instead of giving donations to the non-profit companies allow entrepreneurs to invest in various economic opportunities.  Microloans are also a popular financing option in developing nations.

6.     Personal Financing

There is no denying that investing in a startup entails a lot of risks and these risks are what prevent traditional lenders from giving loans to business owners. This becomes even more skeptical if business owner doesn’t invest his/her own money in the startup.

7.     Purchase Order Financing         

 There is an array of factors that affect the cash flows of any business. These factors may include supply and demand and seasonality.  For examples, sometimes a company is unable to complete the orders due to fewer funds to buys inventory and material to make the products.

In situations like these, purchase order financing can be the panacea to the problems. It helps companies extend advance to purchase material they need to make products. Purchase order financing collect back money when products are sold.  If your business deals in manufactured goods, it stands a chance to makes 20% more on its sales by opting purchase order financing.

8.     Vendor Financing

If your bill payment record is contingent on your product selling record, you may take the benefits by negotiating longer payment terms with the vendors.  Vendors, typically require payments on invoices within thirty days before imposing penalties and late fees.  Negotiating longer payment terms will allow you work with more cash in the interim.

This is even more important if your business has a longer sales cycle than thirty days. That means if sales cycle takes  forty to forty-five days from  purchasing to selling goods, you will not be able to make invoices payment within a  month.  In that case, you need negotiations to avail vendor financing to benefit your sales cycle.

Final Thoughts

In a nutshell, investments and business funding are of paramount importance no matter what industry you want to get into. If you lack sufficient finances, it is important to weigh all options you can choose to give a kick start your business.  Given that, the mentioned funding options are great to consider if they suit your requirements.

Who we are:  Funded.com is a platform that is A+ BBB rated over 10+ years. Access our network of Investors, get instantly matched with a Lender, or get a business plan by visiting us Funded.com

You can review our featured partners to help your success with your business or project.

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Ideal Approaches to Achieve Business Growth

Business GrowthThe business world is always adapting to changing consumer behavior and varying needs. Competition is growing, consumers are becoming ever demanding, and more brands are entering the market.

To stay afloat, it’s necessary that small businesses achieve more growth this year by employing the right strategies. This means that your ultimate goals should include having a bigger base of loyal customers. Higher rates of customer acquisition, and a productive marketing strategy.

Here are some great approaches to help you achieve business growth.

Set Key Performance Indicators

Start measuring performance via objectively measurable indicators. Whether you’re trying to assess your employees’ performance, marketing campaign, or customer satisfaction, KPIs can take you a long way. It takes the guesswork out of the equation.

It’ll help you measure how close you’re getting to achieving business goals. Another benefit of introducing KPIs to your organization is that you can report them to project shareholders conveniently.

Improve Customer Service

Customers need attention and if you don’t provide it, they’ll find a brand that does. Research proves that customers are growing impatient and frustrated when a brand’s customer service fails to meet the mark.

This year, you need to step up and improve your customer service by implementing live chat systems, updating FAQ pages on your websites, and responding to feedback with customized replies.

Nowadays, consumers prefer to do their own research at their convenience, rather than having to call a customer care rep during normal hours, when they’re busy too. This means that they’ll look up your website, and if they have any queries, the FAQ page is the first place they’ll look. To stay ahead of the competition, upgrade your customer service strategy.

Make User Experience a High Priority

UX is becoming a critical aspect of branding, now that a business’ role is no longer limited to just selling; consumers want to know everything about you. No matter how amazing your product or services are, they aren’t the only things that determine how a customer experiences your brand.

Now, they evaluate everything; whether your website is easily accessible if your customer care representatives respond quickly enough, and if your app is user-friendly. To ensure your customers get the best user experience, you’ll need to optimize your landing page, make your website easy to navigate through, and allow your audience to reach out conveniently. Once you hit the mark with all these aspects, that’s when consumers will start considering your products.

Enhance Your Content and Marketing Strategy

They say ‘Content is king’, but is your strategy up to the mark? Now, businesses don’t just sell services and commodities, and they’re generous with information and content. Consumers love to read about products and your specialty, so rely on your expertise to create engaging content that consumers will love reading.

Sharing knowledge only shows how your brand has the skills to cater to their needs, so it’s beneficial in the long term. Content is a part of your ongoing marketing strategy, and thanks to different social media platforms, you can be more flexible with the kind of content you create.

Develop Collaborations and Partnerships

Partnering with other brands can give you a boost, especially if it’s a company that can complement your services and products. By releasing special edition products, ranges, and combinations, you grasp the audience’s attention and induce the urgency to shop and spend money.

However, your collaborations shouldn’t be limited to releasing new products; you should also make sure to affiliate with influencers to market your brand in a transparent and consumer-friendly way.

Influencers are established experts in the niche, so having them on your side can increase customer engagement.

Take a Risk and Try Expanding

Although it isn’t necessary that your business expands over time, it’s always beneficial to venture beyond your range and enter a different domain. Taking risks is always a part of running a business, so you might as well expand your range of expertise while you’re at it.

If you’re a retail brand, consider releasing your own line of makeup, home decor, or artsy products. All ideas have their own unique charm, but it’s best that you listen to your customers first.

Start by experimenting with a pilot test and analyzing how your audience responds to new products. Based on pilot tests, you’ll know whether a potential business venture will turn out to be profitable or not.

Talk Data

Data analytics are changing the business perspective from a blur to a crystal-clear view. Now, it’s much easier to understand consumer spending habits and trends that are garnering the most attention. Relying on big data to help you make well-informed decisions and investments is no longer just a great option, it’s a necessity.

Deriving trends from numbers and statistics used to be a tiring and cumbersome task, but with the help of analytics and AI, you can get insights far more quickly.

Not to mention, they’ll also be accurate, when compared to insights derived by humans. The best part? Machine learning means that your analytics software will only keep getting better at what it does, so you won’t have an excuse to make a fluke.

Try Drop Shipping Services

Drop shipping is the newest trend for e-commerce websites when it comes to delivering merchandise to their customers. It gives you the benefit of not having to hold onto any stock; any order that your customer makes goes directly from a drop shipper to them.

The product will be complete with your brand’s label and name tag, so it won’t lack customization. In addition, it offers your brand greater flexibility to operate from anywhere.

Conclusion

Some of the best ways that your business can achieve growth by focusing on customer service, marketing, collaborations, and making an impression. While it’s necessary to take one step at a time, you need to be more productive in order to satisfy a demanding audience that is always waiting for something new.

Who we are:  Funded.com is a platform that is A+ BBB rated over 10+ years. Access our network of Investors, get instantly matched with a Lender, or get a business plan by visiting us Funded.com

You can review our featured partners to help your success with your business or project.

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What Are the Necessary Means to Improve Your Business

ImproveEntrepreneurs are not born; they learn things by experiencing ups and downs in a business. To make consistent improvement to improve your business status is critical to maintaining sustainability. Successful entrepreneurs perpetually monitor their business process in order to identify loopholes.  Monitoring your business cash flow and identifying your strengths and weaknesses is a key process that helps you improve your business.

Apart from this, there are several things you can do to keep the risk minimum while enjoying a double-digit growth every year.

Here we have included an overview of some necessary means you can use to improve your business growth

Ways to Improve your Business

1.     Assess Your Business Situation

As mentioned earlier, monitoring the progress of your business is a key to bring improvement.  This is where you identify the areas that need change. However, before you make the changes, it is ideal to ensure that you are aware of the factors that are affecting the success of your business.

These factors may include emerging market trends, your current business strategies, weak market strategies or even lack of competent staff. Fortunately, there are a number of tools you can use to assess your business status. Following tools can help you:

SWOT Analysis:

It is an effective tool that is designed to identify the strengths and weaknesses of your business. Not only does it help you assess the strong areas of your business operations, but also threats and opportunities. You can work out all internal as well as external factors that keep your business from growing.

SWOT is one of the widely used analytical tools to help you in the decision-making process.

SWOT

  • Builds on strengths
  • Minimizes weaknesses
  • Seizes opportunities
  • Counteracts threats

Market research

It is another important tool to investigate the business market to help entrepreneurs identify emerging trends, new technologies, and customer demands

Trend   Analysis

The tool uses your business data for the last five years to identify and assess consistent trends.

Benchmarking

It is a smart tool that is used to measure business performances with the same size of business being operated in the industry.

2.     Business Goals

Whether it is business or your life, without goals it is completely directionless. Business goals keep you focused and energetic, which makes your business successful. You can use these objectives as a part of your ongoing business plan to make sure you keep moving forward.

However, there are certain criteria that need to be considered while setting these goals. Your goals have to be SMART- specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and timely. That means they have to be practical to be achieved within a set timeline. It would be better to prioritize your business goals or to write them down on paper.

You can plan short or long -term strategies to accomplish them. It will help you determine the time, finances and resources.

3.     Develop a Strategic Plan

There is no doubt that businesses whether small or big, take time to progress. That is why it is important to create a smart strategic plan that has an outlook of at least 3 to 4 years. The plan should be made keeping the business goals ahead.

Make sure each year defines your business goals plus how your team will achieve those goals over the estimated time. Besides this, it is important to prepare a financial plan to meet the growing needs of your business.

That means the business strategy will not only define how your business will make profits, but also where and how much you will invest.

According to expert entrepreneurs, it is always beneficial to review your business strategic plans. It helps you match the set goals with the profit your business has produced.

4.      Be Passionate About Meeting the Goals

This might seem a no-brainer or something trivial, but it can make a huge difference when it comes to accomplishing your business goals. When you are passionate about your work, your colleagues and employees can feel this energy as well.

In other words, showing enthusiasm and excitement cannot be underestimated as it plays a critical role to make your team more hardworking, and focused toward their work productivity. The passion and enthusiasm translate to a better outcome.

Unhappy workers, on the other hand, pass through negative energy and make work more challenging.

5.     Implement Strategies

You cannot achieve business goals unless you implement the changes. Once you have made the strategic plan and estimated finances, it is the time to implement strategies. The implementation process includes several tasks and actions.

It is always a good idea to device an action plan, divides the workload, and tasks accordingly.  Following are some of the important points to help you implement the changes for business improvement.

  • Time Frame: Determine how long a specific task will take to complete. Set tentative dates for the task.
  • Actions: Divide the tasks among those employees that you think are the most appropriate to accomplish them. State actions to be taken precisely.
  • Responsibilities: Assign responsibilities; make sure your teams get the work done in time
  • Resources: Compile a list of supplies, budget, and other finances
  • Outcomes: State your desired outcomes and how the results will be evaluated

6.     Evaluate Success

You need to establish some measures to evaluate whether you have achieved your business goal or not.   These assessment measures depend on the type of tasks you are working on. If your business goals are significant, the measurement process will be more complex, such as measuring profits by a set percentage.

Along with these measures, you can set percentages for each task. It will help you evaluate the success statistically.  Plus, you need to consider how frequently you wish to measure your business achievements. It is very helpful when it is about setting new goals.

Final Thoughts

Your business does not only need your time, but also smart strategies and an effective action plan to improve revenues and profits. The above-mentioned tips are necessary means all entrepreneurs must adopt to sustain a prosperous business.

Who we are:  Funded.com is a platform that is A+ BBB rated over 10+ years. Access our network of Investors, get instantly matched with a Lender, or get a business plan by visiting us Funded.com

You can review our featured partners to help your success with your business or project.

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Utilizing Business Templates

Templates

Many have used services and professionals to create contracts, legal documents, and notices. Many documents can be created for free or for a small fee online. It can be nice to have an excellent source to find a templates for a few of the following:

Bill of Sale, Power of Attorney, Rental Lease Agreement, Will, Eviction Notice.

Funded.com has a free business plan executive summary included in a trial membership. The templates can then be customized or reviewed if needed by an attorney, accountant, or business plan writer. Many sites can walk you through the details if you start the template online. If you use a downloaded template, they will have the details printed in a different color to insert or replace into your own wording. There are features that you can save these final documents in a word document and resave and use them again.

It is good to review with your own state’s housing association of accepted or template leases or eviction notices. It can vary from state to state what these agreements require and what to ensure you do not include if you use a last will and testament. It can be helpful to check guidelines for witnesses and notary. Some states require witnesses to sign the will, and some require a notary. Of course, you can always have a teller at your bank notarize any documents.

Overall using templates for start-ups or existing businesses or personal. You can use it to frame the structure of a legal document to effectively and economically produce something on paper. It is common for professionals to use templates of their own to draft plans or documents in the same legal manner.

Who we are:  Funded.com is a platform that is A+ BBB rated over 10+ years. Access our network of Investors, get instantly matched with a Lender, or get a business plan by visiting us Funded.com

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Choosing the Best Business Name

Business Name

It is always the most important step in the very beginning of a business idea is choosing the right business name for your business. This is the name that will be define what you are going to be doing in your business or trade. If you name your business something that is unique or identifies who you are and what your doing will be a great and important step for the success of your business. It is not uncommon businesses later have to change their name after starting up because of conflicts or simply they like a better name and want to start using that name.

There are some initial steps to finding a good name. The first is searching available domain names. It is most likely that if you can find the available .com name that the name itself is available. However, this still needs to be searched online first as to what shows in the search engines with that name. You can also search the Trademark office online for a business search to see who has used that name in the past and if it is trademarked with the same type of industry or product you intend to sell.

The process of finding a good name is a process and patience and determination need to be on your side as to what you want and not settling for something that is not so good, or no impact. If you are marketing on the internet, sometimes a name with the product you are marketing can help search engines rank you better and people like to see the domain describe the marketed product or service, like something with “tree” in title if you are a tree service.

You can start out with doing a search on a domain names with what you want as part of title. You can find domains available from sites like these. You can usually type in part of the name like “tree” and see how many are names are available. It is good to use also considered buying the domain. After you break down a list of potential good names and cross checked on the internet decide on a few choice names. You may even register a couple to reserve the option to use later if they are available for registration.

You will not ever regret being patient in finding the perfect name. You can eventually set up a DBA or LLC in the same name if it is also available from the Secretary of State. You can also visit our featured partners link for help finding businesses services.

Who we are: Funded.com is a platform that is A+ BBB rated over 10+ years. Access our network of Investors, get instantly matched with a Lender, or get a business plan by visiting us Funded.com

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Search Engine Ranking Hacks for Start Ups:

The focus is how to get your business name domain to have dominance on the top page of Google search engine, generally under one month.

Social Media

When starting out it can be very helpful to create a public video of what you are doing to promote your new business and create a link through a channel like you tube, or TikTok this can be useful when you post to your social media of followers that can be liked and followed so when you post something else it automatically reaches those that are following you and may be picked up by google search by your company name.

Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram :

You can create a company account under your name and start populating it with regular useful content daily so the followers can get this new content and your company website when search will show the individual social media links, making your company presence on search engines more dominant, than showing only your website link. Always put the follow links on your footer of your website too.

Website Structure

Make sure all your pages have relevant titles, no more than 3 short titles and a description phrase, leading with the most relevant sentence. Include a site map file in your server “sitemap.xml” this will tell google what pages like about us, registration, or log in and other relevant pages and when google crawls this it will give this priority and list these pages organically on the search engine. Robot.txt is a similar page needed to include on your files so google knows what to include or ignore on crawling your page. There are examples of these pages online.

Website Reputation

Search your name to make sure you don’t have similar names out there like a .net or others that might be confused with your business. If you see they have other links or may even have some complaints you may want to structure your title or description accordingly. Eventually over time your increased content to social media and positive website structure will put you at the top of the page.

Google Ads and Business Profile

It is sometimes believed that Google will give you better organic ranking for advertising. It definitely tells Google you are legit enough to pay for advertising, even if its small. You can pay to have your website only show at the top when someone types in the search bar your domain name so it shows #1. You may spend only $10 month but it can be very helpful to get ranked on top while you wait to get organically ranked on top. Set up a claim your business with google for your business profile if you have an office location or store. This will show to the right of your searched website, with a google map image and what you chose to write in your profile. This is where google will start showing your reviews.

Website Monitoring

This is very important in the beginning to see your traffic at a basic level and get in-depth reports of who is coming to your website and watch it grow after implementing updates. SEMrush has lots of great features and a free trial. It also has lots of free basic reporting. This is a great way to get reports on your competitors too and what they do.

Summary

This punch points are possibly going to be the quickest way of getting your business to show up strongly when your business is searched in the search engines. Even though your business may not require internet presence, it is still important as most people like to search up businesses they plan to do business and see what they are all about and get more information.

Who we are: Funded.com is a platform that is A+ BBB rated over 10+ years. Access our network of Investors, get instantly matched with a Lender, or get a business plan by visiting us Funded.com

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Importance of Having a Registered Agent for your Business

Agent

Making the right decisions is a fundamental skill for each level. To succeed in your business, you should realize the importance of being a registered agent. This article provides you with all information about its importance.

You will also be able to recognize the importance of having a registered agent for your business. This article helps you level up your business, and you will be taken seriously as an entrepreneur.

Who is the registered agent?

A registered agent is a person or company designated to accept service of process and other types of mail on behalf of your business entity.

Types

  • Statutory agent 
  • A resident agent
  • An agent for the services of process

Services 

  • Forwarding any official documents or tax notices from the Secretary of State.
  • Accepting any legal service of process and forwarding it on to your company.
  • Franchise tax and/or annual reports
  • Official governmental forms

Why do we need it?

Reason-1

Every business doesn’t need to have a representative agent. Typically, when you’re forming an LLC or corporation. The state will require that you have an agent listed in those business formation documents if you’re an out-of-the-state LLC or corporation applying to do business in any state. In addition, they will need you to have a business manager in that state with a physical location.

Reason-2

Having a registered professional agent service for your business means you don’t have to worry about missing all the relevant documents for your business.

Reasons-3

For LLCs and Corporations, a registered managed service for your business will enable you to avoid the risk of non-compliance and any possible penalties incurred. 

An online business owner is quite likely that you have begun your business so that you can be free to work.

  • Where you want 
  • When you want
  • How you want

If that means you want to travel or work odd hours or spend lots of time out of the house with your family and kids, then you can have the freedom to do that. That’s why you started the business, to begin with. But if you serve as your registered manager, you could run into issues if you are not available to receive official legal mail.

This mail could include 

  • Official federal
  • State correspondents
  • Subpoenas for information from your business 
  • Tax notices from the areas and local taxing authorities 
  • Lawsuits summonses to appear in court wage 
  • Garnishment notices for your employees if you have them.

Advantages

Privacy

One of the most significant benefits of hiring a registered agent service is that you can use the address of your agent on the Secretary of State’s website and publicly available records. This is helpful if your company is home-based. If you are your own business, you and the registered manager list your home address as the manager’s office. Your personal contact information will be recorded, and all notifications will be delivered to your house. This is the most significant advantage of hiring a registered officer.

All the paperwork is in one place

A registered agent service will deliver you with your online account, where you can follow all notifications, documents, and reports. In addition, you will retain and maintain the search for all your mail online.

It is helpful to have registered officer services for entrepreneurs to comply with state regulations and ensure all required notices and business documents are kept in one place.

Review of documentation served on the same day

Urgent paperwork requires immediate notice. Suppose you are not available during regular business hours to obtain legal documentation. A registered office will be able to receive all these documents on time and will inform you of the deadlines that you must complete according to the paper. He will be able to receive all these documents on time and will advise you of the timelines you must meet based on the record.

Customer Service

Building a commercial entity can be challenging. A registered officer service can assist you in answering your questions about your business entity. Company (LLC), Limited Partnership (LP), and any other questions you have with your business needs. It would be primarily about the filing process. If you need advice on the best way to train the company, it is best to seek legal advice.

Your work address will likely change in the future

One of the main benefits is that it will not link you to just one site. However, the address on record with the state must be always current in the state records. Updating an agent’s information requires a formal state filing and often a fee to be paid to the state.

A registered agent for your business is required whether you are incorporated, formed an LLC, or even run a non-profit. When business owners get combined, they are unaware of all the options and will put them as their registered agents for much time.

Challenges

This is an option for your company. However, there are many challenges to accomplishing this.

  • The first challenge is your home address.
  • The second is that they must be available from eight to five Monday through Friday.
  • Third is all the solicitation and extra paperwork. Being your registered agent means constantly receiving junk mail that no one wants to read. Primarily a business owner who is busy running the company 
  • Fourth we must renew our corporation in LLCs with the state each year.

So, to overcome these challenges, registered agents are beneficial for our company. He is essential for the progress and betterment of a company. He will give your business instant credibility with so many competitors out there. A simple decision like these can-do wonders for your business at corporate capital. We would love to be a registered agent and look forward to hearing from you. 

With this article, you will be capable of know what the secret to your company’s success is. The secret to the victory of your business is the “Right decision of registered agent.” You will also be able to recognize the importance of having a registered manager for your business.

Registered Agent Service – $125.00
from: Northwest Registered Agent LLC

Access our network of Investors, get instantly matched with a Lender, or get a business plan by visiting us Funded.com

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3 Ways to Gain Investors for Business Startups

gain

There are a lot of things that business owners have to think about to gain and establishing a startup. However, nothing is more important and challenging than finding investors who are willing to listen to a pitch and possibly provide funding for business startups.

Unfortunately for entrepreneurs, finding an investor is not an easy task. Sometimes, one has to talk to at least fifty persons just to find someone who is willing to provide capital for the business startup. The number is even higher in case of startups that focus on special fields such as medicine, among others.

Despite this challenge, there are a number of resources that could help a potential million-dollar business reach the top. Here are some things that could help a business startup owner attract and gain investors:

Establish Social Media Presence

There are a number of social media sites on the Internet that could help and gain an entrepreneur find an interested investor. Having a profile in such sites makes it easier for investors to understand your business and gain their possible trust for a partnership. Browsing through other profiles can also help business owners establish connection to a number of investors who are based in other areas.

Create a List of Possible Investors

The problem with neophyte business owners is that they usually think that all investors are interested in what they have to say. This is not true. In fact, the possibility of getting an investor on board is highly dependent on their interests.

So as not to waste time pitching to someone who is not interested, a business owner must create a strategic list of people who are known to be interested in the kind of business that they are planning to start. Entrepreneurs must keep in mind that some investors only put money on specific fields such as medicine or information technology. Knowing the interests of the investors will surely remove some of the time that has to be spent looking for financial support.

Maximize Networks

Securing an investment requires a lot of trust on the part of both the investor and the business owner. This is usually a problem for owners because some investors would refuse their proposals out right because they don’t know them

In order to avoid this frustrating situation, business owners are advised to use their connections to get acquainted with a potential investor. Having someone introduce you to a possible partner is a good way to get his or her approval. This is clearly much better than having to introduce a business without the support of a network.

Access our network of Investors, get instantly matched with a Lender, or get a business plan by visiting us Funded.com

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How to Build a Successful Online Business in 2021

Online

Have you decided to ditch your 9 to 5 job in favor of an online business, such as an e-commerce website or a blogging business? Or have you decided to take up an online business as a side hustle to complement your 9-5 job, and rake in extra cash? Whichever way, these are great intentions.

The Internet and smartphones have changed the way we do business, and in 2020 alone, E-commerce sales accounted for over 25% percent of all retail sales online, according to Statista.

A great number of people are taking a stab at starting their online businesses, so why shouldn’t you?

But, do you have a real understanding of what it takes to be successful in an online business? While it is good to dream big and have big goals of generating a million dollars, do you have a full grasp of what you need to get to that point and ensure that you don’t get lost in the tide?

According to several sources, including Forbes, over 90% of all online business start-ups fail. Fortunately, you are reading this guide, which contains tips that can place you in the 10% successful online businesses. Let’s do this!

With this in mind, here are few tested and trusted tips that you must follow to stand out and succeed with your online business goals:

Understand Your Niche

How do others perceive your brand? What do people know about what you stand for? People like to do business with brands that they know, like, and trust. In your chosen niche, you have to be authentic, doing what works for you and your target audience.

This is why doing market research about the needs and wants of your target audience is important even before you start.

Are there particular demographics you want to attract? What qualities will they look out for in your product/service, and how can you meet those? This will help you with positioning your brand and creating the best marketing strategy for communicating your business with your target consumers.

For instance, if you want to start a blogging business in the fitness niche, you have to identify what aspect of fitness you are well versed in. In this vein, let’s say you decide to focus on workout routines and nutrition, your next step should be to identify the people you want to reach, and how best you can add value to their lives through your blog.

So, you have a niche now, what next?

Know Your Competition

Competition refers to brands that sell or market the same products/services as you. Except you are going into a niche with no existing businesses, which is almost impossible, then you need to evaluate your competition.

Why should customers choose you over others? This is even more crucial in the online business world.

Your strategy for Content Marketing, SEO optimization, and your User experience/interface (website/ mobile app) should position you ahead of your competition. You should be aware of the social media platforms your competitors are using. This will also arm you with knowledge on where best to engage with your potentials.

For instance, doing your analysis of your competition, you might discover that they focus more on Instagram because the majority of target consumers spend their time there. Needless to say, any social media marketing strategy you craft should then center more on Instagram.

Optimize your Web Assets

Web assets are what constitute your online business. They include everything from your website, social media profiles to your hosting accounts.

You need to organize these relevant assets and ensure that they are fully optimized for your brand.

For instance, your webpages and social media should always be completely updated with the latest information about your company.

Your website should be responsive with quick load time to improve the time consumers spend on it. A lightning-fast load speed increases visitor engagement and sales, and instant web response results in higher conversion rates.

According to a recent Aberdeen Group Research, every 1 second delay in page load decreases customer satisfaction by 16 percent, page views by 11 percent, and conversion rates by 7 percent.

Over Deliver

After examining your competitors, set benchmarks for your brand’s products and services, and try always to surpass them. Endeavor to meet consumers’ expectations on the value you communicated and even exceeded them.

The importance of delivering more value, especially for your initial offerings, cannot be over stressed. First impressions usually last longer, and a great one could mean several loyal customers.

Just imagine the glee on your consumers’ faces when they discover that they have gotten way more value from your brand than they expected. Priceless! This will keep them coming back for more.

Such a consumer will go ahead to tell friends, who will, in turn, tell friends, and your customer base will keep increasing till you become a leader in that niche, gaining the trust and attention of consumers.

Be Conscious of and Protect the Online Reputation of your Brand

Reputation is at the core and center of any online business. Even the slightest mistake can put your brand in a negative light and taint your brand for a long time. One way to remain conscious about mentions of your brand is to set a Google Alerts notification.

Have social media guidelines and strict branding rules. If anyone is posting about your brand, then you understand what you expect from them.

But even beyond brand mentions, how do you deal with and respond to complaints from your customers. It is highly recommended that you develop a serving, not selling mindset. Be interested in solving customers’ problems, and meeting them at their point of need.

Recent statistics show that 73% of consumers love a brand because of helpful customer service, and 89% of shoppers stay loyal to brands that share their values.

Focus on Serving

When you focus on serving your customers to the best of your capacity and providing great value, sales and profit will come naturally.

Learn how to identify the concerns and problems of your consumers, and educate them on how to solve these issues as a freebie.

As an online fitness coach, for instance, if you notice that your customers are having issues with balancing their carbs intake, you can create a detailed blog post or YouTube video to address that.

People love free things. So, helping your customers with that issue for free will endear you to them. But even beyond that, it will also go a long way to show that you are very knowledgeable, and stand you out among other fitness coaches.

What’s more, research shows that brands which blog generate 67% more leads. So, serving customers will eventually lead to more gains.

Conclusion

If you want to enter the business world, you have to learn how to be persistent. If you continue to do all the right things we’ve discussed above, staying consistent, you can realize your goals.

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