Starting a business can be the most challenging but rewarding experience you’ll ever have in life. The road to success is a bumpy one with lots of knocks and corners along the way. If you’re on that journey right now and you’re looking for a smoother road to take to meet your goals, take action now and implement the below tips into your business plan.
Get Your Personal Finances in Order to Free Up More Capital
You might be asking yourself what has your personal finances to do with your business. The truth is that, while they should be kept separate at all times, having one account in order complements the other. For example, if you take all measures to sort your personal finances, you will be able to free up capital that you can then use to put back in your business. That said, it’s time to ask some questions.
Do you have student loans? If you’re struggling to make repayments, private lenders refinance student loans and offer better interest rates. Best of all, you’ll have one monthly repayment instead of several. You should also spend time assessing your personal income and expenditure. Is there a way to cut those expenses, leaving you with more capital each month to invest?
Get Active on Social Media
So, you have a Facebook and Instagram account that you never update. But that’s ok because you have an account that adds credibility to your brand. Wrong. We live in a world where online exposure is everything and social media is at the epicenter of the action. Identify your target market and find out what platforms they use most. Analyze your competitors and see where they’re spending their advertising dollars. Taking all that into account, it should be clear as to which platforms you need to invest time in. Remember, you need to be actively posting and replying to customer’s comments and questions.
Invest in Customer Service
It really doesn’t matter how good your product or service is. If your customer service is poor, failure is inevitable. Invest all the time, energy and money you possibly can into improving customer service and you will reap the rewards. So, what should you do? Make sure inquires are answered within 24 hours. Take all feedback – both positive and negative – on board and use it to make improvements. If a customer is unhappy, do what you need to do to rectify the situation. Treat loyal customers to discount codes and they’ll shout how good your business is from the rooftop. Be contactable at all times and place the necessary details clearly on your website and social media pages. Personalize all emails with a first and second name. These are all excellent ways of showing your customers you care.
Network
Just when you think you’ve had enough of networking events, sign up to 10 more. Think you’ve sent out enough emails this month, think again. Tired of signing up to online conferences? Start looking for more upcoming events that you can attend. How good your networking skills are might just be the determining factor between success and failure so network, network and network some more.
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