Avoid Making These 4 Common Startup Mistakes

If you’re planning to start a business, you’ll find there are way too many opportunities to learn the hard way. Inexperienced entrepreneurs end up hurting themselves financially when they start a business and fail to avoid common mistakes.

Experience is a great teacher. And someone else’s experience is an even better teacher. One way you can avoid unforced errors in business is to learn from the painful lessons of other business owners.

Here are some common startup mistakes.

1. A Failure to Understand Your Clients

If you’re considering a business-to-business (B2B) operation, be certain you’ve walked a country mile in your potential client’s shoes before you start dispensing advice about how to travel.

You might think you’ve found the perfect market. You might believe you understand exactly what people in a certain line of work truly need. But unless you’ve been in that line of work, you should think again.

Zach Clayton is the owner of Three Ships, a digital marketing company. He says he spent way too much time showing clients detailed reports about how his company delivered a strong return on investment (ROI).

One day, a client company offered him a role as an interim chief marketing officer.

“I had no idea how hectic and overwhelming that job actually is. You’re in marathon management meetings. You’re arguing with the head of sales about the right lead goals. You’re hiring a new PR firm for the West Coast,” he says. “I realized clients were too busy solving other problems to go three levels deep on understanding all the technical work we do.”

Now, he operates with clients on much simpler terms.

2. Allowing the Perfect to Become the Enemy of the Good

Not every project is going to launch perfectly. Accept that while you’re new at this.

Entrepreneurs struggling for a first-class level of presentation in a new release or product launch often allow themselves to say no to something that is good, but not perfect.

Sure, your brand name is on the product and you certainly want to leave a good impression. However, you’re also faced with competition. Some of your competitors in the same space may capture market share because they don’t allow themselves to be caught up in perfection.

If you have a great product, go ahead and release it. If there are some wrinkles that can be ironed out, do so in a way concurrent with your launch. Don’t lose money because you’re stuck on absolute perfection.

3. A Failure to Prepare for the Regulatory Environment

Strictly speaking, your business will have two sets of enemies. The first set of enemies will be your competition. The second set of enemies will be the various regulatory agencies that insist on forcing you to spend money to comply with current laws.

Many entrepreneurs go into business fully aware of the first set of enemies and are ready to tackle them. But many forget about the second set of enemies and end up paying costly fines or, worse, being shut down for a while.

Hire a good attorney to be sure your business is compliant with prevailing regulations. This is one area where you must be proactive. You simply can’t afford to wait until something bad happens and then hope to fix it after the fact.

If necessary, seek the proper training for your employees so they can perform their jobs in line with government standards, and able to maintain OSHA compliance.

4. Being Too Stingy

It’s easy to fall into the “cutting corners at any cost” trap, especially when you’re first starting out and want to stretch each dollar as far as it will go.

The old adage about it taking money to make money is still valid. You have to spend money to earn money. Get used to the idea.

That’s why you should seriously consider opting for a “go big or go home” strategy when it comes to new purchases. Sure, you can buy refurbished equipment and second-hand, lower quality hardware and still launch your business effectively.

But you should also think about the future cost. If that equipment depreciates faster and needs to be replaced sooner than higher quality equipment, have you really saved any money?

Also, what’s the opportunity cost associated with the extra effort required to ensure older equipment functions properly?

In many cases, your best choice is high quality. That doesn’t mean you need to spend an extra 50% just for a brand name, but you want to ensure that you’re getting a great product for the money. Many entrepreneurs don’t do that, and regret it later.

Starting a business can be a wonderful, fulfilling experience. Be sure you do it right and avoid some of the common mistakes made by your fellow entrepreneurs.

The post Avoid Making These 4 Common Startup Mistakes appeared first on Small Business Can.

[Event] Business Matchmaker, The Helix, May 7th

Many companies have said to me that once they have got over the setup phase they know they need to think about where to next? – how can they be innovative? how can they bring R&D into their business?

One way to start looking at this is by working with a university and leveraging their expertise to bring you along that path. It can however, be difficult to get access to the right expertise and it can be a bit daunting to navigate complex university environments.

To address this Dublin City Universtiy wants to help companies to see how it all works. We want companies to come and have an informal chat about their business and their ideas directly with researchers to see where the conversation takes them. Companies can also find out about the best mechanisms to fund R&D in their business through access to Irish state and European funding.

If this is of interest you should come along to our Business Matchmaker Event in The Helix on May 7th. Register your company online and tell us a bit about your company and if you have any particular area you would like to discuss. A matchmaking facility will be available where you can request to meet specific researchers or they can request to meet you.

It’s a FREE no obligation conversation that may yield results now or in the future for you.

www.b2match.eu/dcubusinessmatchmaker

The post [Event] Business Matchmaker, The Helix, May 7th appeared first on Small Business Can.

Mindfulness for Business People

Mindfulness is the new (jack) black in business. It is everywhere. And not just as part of personal or self development, but as part of the DNA of businesses. We doing quite some work on briefing companies about happy, mindful staff with a sense of purpose. It makes perfect business sense. Happy staff is 25% more productive.

Focus on self development

There are lots of books on being mindful as a person. From “The secret” to “The Celestine Prophecy” or from “The road less traveled” to “The monk who sold his Ferrari”. Not much in business books. Maybe “Coherence” or “Reinventing organisations”, but nothing that crosses the self development chasm to business development.

The old masters

We have always found that in those cases the old masters are worth studying. Management theory is only 50 years old and Drucker is still the godfather.

Mindfulness is a lot older then management theory. It is part of every religion and was part of ancient cultures as a way of life. The first person who brought this all together in a book was Jack Black. Another old master and also ahead of his time.

Coming to Dublin

And he is coming to Dublin too. On the 11th of June. Talking about mindfulness and business. So we decided to look at his first book, which is “Mindstore, the classic personal development programme”.

Read it

If you are into personal development, you should read it. If you are a start up, you should read it. If you are an owner manager of a small business you should read it. Everything that is now fashionable and “new” is in that book.

Balance

A balanced view on your life. Family life, social life, health, personal development, attitude, career, finance and spiritual life. His theories and advice is not confirmed by neuroscience. You are what you think. PMA is important. You are limited by your beliefs. The need to manage stress. The importance of setting goals. The importance of writing them down (only 4% does). The need to use all parts of your brain (dualbrain).

Mindfulness for business people

The need to avoid being managed by the hypothalamus. Apparently we come with 20,000 inbuilt programmes when we are born. All based on evolution and social biology. A lot are no longer that relevant. The programming in the schools (way before Ken Robinson identified this) doesn’t help either. The trick is to start doing some of your own programming. Your brain is a bio computer.

Start with attitude

It needs to be positive. So you ban negative words (and people) and you keep smiling. The mind can only hold one thought at the time. So negative thought can always be replaced. And neuroscience will tell you that it does wonders.

Quantum physics

If you belief that the mind is a quantum machine with decides on what your reality is going to be, you can see how powerful it could be. Suggest you read “The future of the mind”. Predicting Mindtech as a hotspot.

Vision

The importance of a vision. A powerful one. Forget achievable and realistic. You need to dream. Making is as visual and detailed a possible. Burning it into your brain (like burning a CD). Burning the pathways. The same way your create habits.

Vision is more important then planning. But you need to commit to that vision. Belief it. Helping your quantum computer to make it happen. You are what you think. Our thought become our realities. You are creating future history. And it become part of the programming of your bio computer.

The software to programme your brain

He gives you the software as well. The meditation techniques. The mental structures. Literally. He helps you to build a mental house space where you can apply a whole range of techniques. A mental house with a shower, a library, an editing suite, a sleeping room and anything else you can imagine. As the metaphor for relaxation, the re-energising, the mental cleansing, the affirmation and PMA, the visioning, the remembering and the dreaming.

No short cuts

The point is the burning. It has to become a routine. You need to practice and maintain your mental house. There are no short cuts. You need to take the time to do it. Regularly. The way you would exercise your body. Bruce Lee said “Knowing is not enough we must apply, willing is not enough we must do.”

There is one short cut, the famous tip of your tongue at the back of your from teeth. To bring you in a better mental state almost immediately.

It all works

I am interested to find out how this will work in a business context. Being mindful together as a team? Collective business consciousness? Inter-connectedness with communal wisdom? Business 5.0? Brainstorming in alpha waves? It sounds weird. But so did Mindstore over 20 years ago. Can’t wait to find out. You can book your place here.

The post Mindfulness for Business People appeared first on Small Business Can.

Are you Prepared for a Revenue Audit?

A Revenue audit covers income tax, corporation tax, and returns submitted in respect of PAYE/PRSI, VAT or Relevant Contracts Tax. Every employer needs to keep a full and accurate record of business transactions for a period of 6 years. As a customer of Tailored Payroll we will guide you through a PAYE Revenue audit should you be selected. We ensure your payroll is processed in compliance with Revenue requirements in line with the latest legislation changes.

There are three methods of selection for audits which include:

Screening Tax Returns –Revenue examine the returns and review tax compliance history.
Projects on different business sectors – Projects are conducted to examine tax compliance levels.
Random selection – means that all tax payers have a possibility of being audited.

Once you have been selected for an audit:

The auditor will explain the purpose of the audit and give an indication of the length of time it will take to complete
You will be given the opportunity to disclose any inaccuracies in your tax return
An inspection of your records will be undertaken to confirm if figures have been correctly filed and the tax declarations are exact
If it is found that the majority of returns are correct you will be notified
If adjustments are required, this will be discussed verbally with you and you will be notified in writing.
The auditor will ask for your agreement to the total settlement figure before finalizing the audit.
Once agreed, the full amount should be paid to the auditor and you will be issued with a receipt

Contact Tailored Payroll today for a competitive price. Our flexible service includes:

PAYE,PRSI and USC Calculations
Registration of Employer with Revenue
All employer Revenue submissions to include: P30’s,P45’s, P35, P60’s and registration of new employees

We provide email Payslips and P60s to employees
Creation of Bank file for payment to employees
No hidden costs

For more information about this business visit their website or email to payroll@tailoredpayroll.ie. Tailored Payroll is part of Use SBC as a channel initiative. If you want your business to be featured, click here.

The post Are you Prepared for a Revenue Audit? appeared first on Small Business Can.

Scam Alert: TeamViewer the Fraudster’s Newest Tool

In my previous blogs I have written about the different social engineering techniques used by fraudsters to trick people into handing over online banking credentials, enabling the fraudster to gain access to the funds of your business.

The public continues to be on high alert to the dangers posed by unsolicited emails containing malicious software but it would seem that fraudsters have found a new way to trick people into handing over those all important security details.

The latest scam involves the use of TeamViewer. TeamViewer is a genuine piece of software which allows the user to gain remote access and control over any computer or Mac within seconds. The key selling points of the software are:

Remote Support – no need for any installation on the client side
Remote Administration – 24/7 access to remote computers and servers
Remote Access – access your data and applications – anytime, anywhere
Home Office – access your office computer from home

And most importantly, it’s free to download thus making this piece of software a valuable addition to the fraudster’s ever expanding toolkit.

How does the Scam Work?

The fraudster will make contact by phone and claim to be calling from your Bank. You will recall from my earlier blog on Vishing: Know the Voice of the Fraudster, these guys have done their homework and can sound extremely convincing. As is the norm, the aim will be to create panic by claiming that there is a virus on your computer and that the person (the fraudster) on the other end will assist you in removing the virus from your computer.

You will then be asked to download the TeamViewer software onto your computer. This gives the fraudster full remote access to your computer enabling them to take over your online banking session; informing you that they are removing the virus but the only thing that is being removed is the money from your bank account!

A Bank will never ask you for remote access to your computer or to download TeamViewer.

Please share this post and help fight cyber crime!

The post Scam Alert: TeamViewer the Fraudster’s Newest Tool appeared first on Small Business Can.

Improve eCommerce Conversion Rate

Poor user experience is one of the top reasons that people leave websites without purchasing. In fact, 25 percent of shoppers will leave a website if it is too difficult to use. One of the areas where customers find a website offers a poor user experience is during the checkout process. If the process is complicated, lengthy or intrusive, a consumer will leave that site and purchase from a competitor with a better checkout procedure. If you want to make the purchasing process easier for your customers, there are a few adjustments you can make to your system that will lead to a sale. Keep reading for a few helpful tips to improve eCommerce conversion rate.

Do Not Require Account Setup

It is understandable why an online business may want to have customers set up an account with them when they checkout. In fact, 24 percent currently do so. However, by requiring consumers to register, you may be alienating a large number of them. Signing up for an account means more steps to the checkout procedure and consumers are already exhausted by trying to remember a myriad of user names and passwords.

Customers also don’t understand the need to set up an account since when they visit a brick-and-mortar store, they are not asked to create an account. If you want to build a database of customers, adding a registration section is fine, but always include the option to purchase as a guest as well.

Multiple Payment Methods

When consumers check out on a website, as many as 58 percent of them expect a variety of payment options. Although it is impossible to offer every conceivable payment option, not all consumers use credit or debit cards to purchase items, even online. Offering a third-party payment processor, such as Paypal or Venmo, electronic checks and debit or credit card payments gives a consumer multiple methods for purchasing from your website.

According to professionals who specialize in credit card processing services for businesses, it is also a good idea to make sure that your payment process is acceptable on several different devices, and that the mobile pay is up to date.

Don’t Let Errors Slow them Down

When people are typing in information, they often make mistakes. Either they miss a number in their credit card, misspelled their email address, or added an extra numeral somewhere on accident. Make it easy for them to find and correct any errors that are made on the checkout page. If an error is discovered by you checkout system, have the screen scroll directly to the error with an explanation of the problem.

Also, when an error occurs, be sure that the data that is correct is not eliminated. Nothing frustrates a customer faster than spending ten minutes to fill out all of their information, only to have it deleted because they added one letter too many.

Don’t Overload them by Asking for Too Much Information

No one wants to fill out forms full of information when they are buying something online, especially if the information has nothing to do with the purchase. If you are asking for an email address, you probably do not need a phone number as you can ask the consumer any question you may have via email. This applies to credit card payment fields as well.

Always add a click box that allows the customer to automatically fill in the billing information when it is the same as the mailing information.

Security Concerns

One of the biggest reasons that customers leave at the checkout page is concerns about the security of their payment. In a recent study, 58 percent of customers said that they had left a website when they did not feel as if their payment would remain secure. Be sure to offer Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificates that provide a secure connection and encrypts credit card data. You also should comply with the PCI Security Standards Council requirements as well.

Don’t Let Distractions Get in the Way

When a customer arrives at the checkout page, they are finished with your website and ready to purchase their items. Do not place advertisements on your checkout page or make customers click through pages with items similar to what they have purchased in hopes they will buy more.

Allow customers to navigate easily from the sales section of the site to the checkout section. Most customers will see through any gimmicks that try to get them to buy more, so when they are ready to check out, make it easy for them to do so.

If you want to keep your customers from abandoning your site and going to a competitor, do everything you can to make the purchasing process as easy as possible. There are plenty of tactics you can use to drive traffic to your site, and to keep visitors interested once they are there, but the checkout process is not the time to try these methods.

Whether your customers purchase products or services online, in the store, or through mobile payment, they are more likely to go through with the purchase if the process is convenient. Do what you can to expedite the purchasing process and enjoy happy customers that are willing to come back again and again.

The post Improve eCommerce Conversion Rate appeared first on Small Business Can.

Earning Money Online Tips

Earning Money Online Tips: These days it has become more and more common for people to make money online. This means you could get many more avenues that you could utilize to build the wealth that you want depending on how hard and smart you are willing to work.

Once you make money, you should treat your hard-earned money with some respect in order to have more than you spend in order to build wealth.

Below are 6 ways to earn money online;

Online surveys

Online surveys don’t usually earn you a lot of money per survey, but the advantage is that they are usually short and relatively easy to complete. If you set a target to do several every day, they can add up to become a healthy revenue stream.

Transcribe audio

Just like online surveys, transcribing audio is not a high paying job, but it has several advantages, transcribing jobs are plenty, relatively easy and fast and don’t require much commitment.

Edit audio

If you happen to have or if you can purchase or freely download sound editing software, you can use your computer to clean up webcasts and interviews before their posting for online viewing or listening.

Create online content for blogs and websites

Many websites and blogs require content that will make them relevant and drive online traffic towards them. You can look for the several online websites and blogs that need such content written for them and negotiate for some pay for creating content.

Create stock photos

There is always need for photos in any online content. Making use of your digital camera and uploading pictures to certain forums can be an easy way to benefit from a hobby of taking photos and earn some money.

Become a freelance web designer

You could also become a freelance web designer. Depending on your skills and the technologies you are able to implement in websites you design and/or develop, you can earn a good living from this kind of work.

Once you have earned money through your online endeavors, you should try and keep as much of it as possible and focus more on re-investing it.

There are several easy strategies that you could use to keep track of your money and save more than you spend as described below:

Create a list of essentials

You should list down all the budgetary items that you usually spend money on.

Approximate your income

Find out how much money you currently earn.

Evaluate your current expenditures

Find out from your listed expenses what you spend most of your money on.

Get rid of unnecessary expenditure

Once you know what you spend most on, get rid of expenses that you could do without.

Set targets for savings

Keep focused on keeping your money by setting targets to keep most of your hard-earned money

Create an emergency fund

It is a good idea to set money aside for eventualities, so that you are prepared if they happen.

Author Bio

Charlie Brown has been a certified credit counsellor for the last 5 years. He loves to share his financial expertise with anyone who can listen especially those in debt. He has written several articles for the national debt relief program. Visit his blog for more information

The post Earning Money Online Tips appeared first on Small Business Can.

This post was originally published here - http://www.smallbusinesscan.com/earning-money-online-tips/ on

Monthly Archives: May 2015