Growing a Business from Nothing: 5 Practical Tips

In today’s digital age, there are more opportunities than ever for budding entrepreneurs looking to set up and grow a business from nothing. The Internet makes the world a smaller place and opens global markets to everyone, and barriers to entry and startup costs for web-based companies are lower than ever.

However, this has encouraged a fiercer competitive market across all industries, where only the strongest can survive. According to some oft-quoted research by Bloomberg, an astonishing 80 percent of new businesses fail within the first 18 months.

Nurturing business growth

What are the essential steps to ensuring that your new business stays in the top 20 percent for a successful and thriving future?…

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Detrimental Desk Design: How the Office Environment is Affecting the Human Body

Are you someone that works in an office job?

Chances are you do, or you have at some point. While it’s been found through various studies that working in an office makes you miserable and unproductive, there’s also evidence to suggest that working in an office may be bad for your health. It’s not all doom and gloom, of course, and with the right kind of input from you it’s possible to transform your working experience into a healthy and efficient one.

Business team working at office desk

However, it does come down to making sure that you have the right kind of chairs and desks and posture.…

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How to Truly Take Your Business Payments On the Go

One of the most liberating parts of being your own boss is having the ability to call all the shots. At the same time, as a business owner you are going to end up working longer hours, with fewer breaks, and have far less vacation time available when compared to your subordinates. This is why it is vital that all business owners have the ability to literally take their businesses with them while they take a day off, go on the road, or just go out to run a few errands.

Work on the go

When it comes to taking payments on the go, portability is paramount.…

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Top 3 HR Software Solutions – Make the Best Choice

Within a company, all chaos can break loose if the proper management tools aren’t deployed and utilized. Especially in institutions or businesses with a very large number of employees, if you don’t have an efficient and productive way of organizing all the variables as well as a quick and easy way to access payroll solutions, it can be near impossible to keep track of everything after a certain point.

Business partners using HR sofware

This is where HR software comes into play as a saving grace. Through HR software, a company is able to seamlessly use the necessary actions in each situation by having a friendly interface with all the required information.…

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A Taxing Endeavor: 3 Tips to Take the Stress Out of Tax Season

Benjamin Franklin famously quipped that only two things are certain in life: death and taxes. Given that inevitability, it might seem surprising that so many business owners struggle during tax season.

Tax season stress

Entrepreneurs are typically so focused on growing their companies’ products and services that taxes become an afterthought. Most people don’t think about taxes until the last minute, so they’re not ready when it’s time to file. This ends up making the process more stressful than it needs to be.

This minor annoyance can morph into a major issue, disrupting day-to-day business activities in the process. A survey of small business owners found that 73 percent felt federal taxes had major to moderate effects on their routine operations.…

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Why You Should Consider Using AI in Your Marketing Strategy

Are you struggling to communicate with your customers at all times? Fortunately, artificial intelligence (AI) can help you to improve your marketing strategy. In fact, it is estimated that the AI market will have a $5.05 billion revenue by 2020, and is a factor that will dominate the marketing industry in 2017. So now is the perfect time to incorporate AI into your own strategy.

So what is AI?

The first thing to do is understand what exactly AI is. It sounds like some form of futuristic technology, but it is in fact not a new concept. In fact, the term was coined by Stanford researcher John McCarthy in 1956.…

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The Dos and Don’ts of Business Directories & SEO

You’ve heard it before – listing your small business or professional profile in online business directories is great for SEO. And, it’s true. It doesn’t matter if you’re an entrepreneur like Alex Perdikis or a small-business owner looking for investors or building a web presence, online directories offer some the best SEO bang for the buck.

Online directory

The kicker is that botching the job can do more harm than good. Here are the Dos and Don’ts of business directories and how you can effectively use them to boost your SEO.

Do: Make Sure It’s Right

Business directories are different – some provide ready-made listings and others count on submissions.…

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PPC Growth Hacks That Will Improve The ROI For Small Businesses

Your business would love to generate a positive ROI, as it is the goal of any business whether build online or offline. Perhaps, PPC is a great platform to showcase your business and products/services to your interested customers in the digital market.

PPC ROI

Many times business owners struggle to find the right and effective advertising strategies that work to deliver profitable online marketing ROI.

Small businesses who are trying to establish an effective online presence should better have a look at PPC. As PPC is one of the quickest and fastest ways to target potential customers and improve the return on online marketing investments.…

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6 Simple Ideas on How to Build Strong and Long-Lasting Business Relationships

When you start a business, you have the hope that customers will buy your products and services. But besides that, you hope that they will come back for more. However, establishing strong and long-lasting business relationships with your clients is easier said than done. This is because most people are not ready to put in the effort and commitment required to establish such. In the end, you might be selling a good product, but you still wonder why the clients never come back.

Business relationships

Here is a clear guide to help you build strong and long-lasting business relationships:

1. Never promise what you can’t deliver

The reason why most clients are reluctant to shop (especially online) is that most of the things are so overrated.…

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Streamlining Supply Chain Management: Perfecting Your Purchase to Pay Processes

Supply chain management is the lifeblood of any business: without a proper, streamlined supply chain, your company risks being left without the proper tools it needs to get things done. If you already have a great supply chain, then you are ahead of the game. If your supply chain isn’t as efficient as you’d like it to be, it’s time to fix it quickly.

Supply Chain Management - SCM

There are many points where problems can arise along the supply chain, but one of the most common areas that managers can look at to create more efficiency is the purchase to pay process (P2P). Streamlining your invoicing procedures will not only ensure that your company always has what it needs, but it will allow you to collect your money — or pay your bills — quickly.…

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