Tag Archives: Business Investment

Business Development, Business Strategy, FAQ, Sales & Marketing, Start-ups

What Defines a Serious Business Buyer?

Individuals who desire to purchase an established small business must be well prepared before the search process begins. Well managed, profitable and successful businesses are in short supply and very high demand. Business owners and business brokers alike have little patience and interest in wasting their valuable time with buyers who have not taken the appropriate steps to demonstrate that they are fully prepared to acquire a business.

How does a buyer define themselves as being a “serious” candidate and not a casual, curious, tire kicker? The goal of this article is to outline the steps that a business buyer should take in advance so that they can stand out and be recognized as a serious and credible buyer?

Let’s start with a few examples demonstrating who is NOT a serious candidate. Continue reading →

Business Development, Business Strategy

How To Optimize Google My Business Listing To (Generate Sales)

20% of your local optimization efforts will give you 80% of your results.

Wondering how?

With Google My Business.

Google My Business (GMB): A free listing of your business’ operating information, reviews, posts, images and much more.

Google My Business

Most of the people you’d come across; consider GMB as just another place to display information about the business.

But that’s not true!

If you haven’t used Google My Business to its core, you are leaving money on the table.

If used correctly, Google My Business is such a powerful tool that can bring you more and more business!

How?

Here it is…

1) Ensure The Information Is Complete And Consistent
Don’t let your audience guess or assume about you. Make sure your listing details communicate enough facts. Try to provide as much information as GMB asks for.

If you’ve just entered NAP (Name, Address, Phone) on your listing and waiting for wonders to happen, then let me tell you, this is a complete waste of your time.

Also,

Ensure the information you’ve entered on the listing is EXACTLY THE SAME as on your website.

Inconsistencies in the information will negatively impact your search ranking.

Google-my-business2

2) Verify Your Listing (If You Haven’t Done It Yet)

This is the key to unlock all the GMB features.

To verify your listing, you’ll be required to submit a code that is sent to your business address.

If you’re expecting some business through GMB, it is highly important to verify your business. With so many fake business registrations every day, a user would not prefer to make a purchase from an unverified listing.

After verification, you’ll need to keep an eye on the inbox associated with your Google My Business Listing, for any emails from Google. Google may unverify any listing if it determines that the account is inactive for a significant duration of time.

3) Google My Business Descriptions ARE BACK!

Google My Business had descriptions back in 2015-2016. They were suddenly gone and since then businesses had no descriptions; which left the users assuming your products and services.

Well, the good news is…

Business Descriptions are back!

With Google My Business descriptions, you have the chance to describe your business to your audience and explain what makes you different from your competitors.

Google My Business Descriptions come with a character limit of 750. So, you can get your message conveyed to the people and simultaneously optimize the listing by using relevant keywords.

Optimize Google My Business

4) Get More And More Reviews (And Respond To Them)

As described by Neil Patel in one of his articles,

Good reviews = sales. More good reviews = more sales.

90% of people read reviews before purchasing because everybody likes the second opinion.

Ask your customers to review your business. But just gathering reviews won’t help. You need to acknowledge them.

All of them!

The positive ones, the negatives, the neutrals.

5) Update Your Business Hours And Payment Options

Make sure your business operating hours are accurate. Update your working hours for any special events. Make sure that you don’t lose any customer because of incorrectly listed business hours.

Also, update your listing for any changes in the payment options.

Also read: 7 Reasons Why Businesses Need To Invest In SEO 2018

6) Choose Best Google My Business Category For Your Business

Be specific while picking a category for your business. Consider your targeted keywords.

Be careful though. Don’t stuff your listing with keywords.

Remember to be specific. Don’t put “Cosmetology” if you run a “Nail Salon.”

7) Pictures, Pictures, And More Pictures

Pictures speak volume!

According to Google, businesses with photos see 35% more clicks to their website and 42% more requests for driving directions on Google Maps.

Adding photos of your business is a great way to let your customers get a “behind-the-scenes” look at what your company is all about… AND it can go a long way in promoting your business.

People don’t want to see stock images but the real face of your business – who you are, what you do and where you’re located.

The most important image in your GMB listing that gets the most exposure and has the most impact, is your ‘Profile Picture’.

However, the cover image is also of paramount importance, as it shows up front and center on your listing. You can also add other pictures based on the business you operate in; this might include pictures of interior and exterior of the business, goods and/or services your business, your staff or employees or any other picture that can summarize or describe your business.

8) Google My Business Videos

You can also add videos. Videos must be:

30 seconds or shorter

100 MB or smaller

720p resolution or higher

Unlike images, videos are not a ‘must have’. However, adding one will make you stand out among other businesses.

Creating a video will not take you any extra equipment or any video editing software. Just pick up your smartphone; take, save and share the video. This video must be taken at your location. Any commercials or advertising videos will be removed.

9) Add Posts To Share Business Updates

Google launched its ‘POST’ feature on all businesses in 2017. With this feature, you can post updates and offers to your listing. You can advertise the latest offers, share updates about new products/services or any special event for free.

Google Posts allows you to add text, photos, gifs, and even call-to-action buttons like ‘Buy’, ‘Sign Up’, ‘Learn More’, ‘Get Offer, ‘Reserve’, etc.

You can create posts only after you’ve verified your Google My Business Account.

However, Google My Business Posts disappear after seven days unless you set a shorter time frame. So, be time specific while crafting the post.

Conclusion:

Google My Business presents your business information to potential prospects. It gives you an opportunity to interact with your customers.

Not optimizing your Google My Business listing is like not opening door to a customer knocking at your door.

It’s an opportunity!

Local SEO takes time but can give you a big payoff. On the top of everything, it’s FREE!

If you need any help with your Local SEO or wish to optimize your Google My Business Listing, you can contact us.

 

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Gautam_Sharma/2579225

 

 

Business Development, Business Strategy

All the Ws of a Business Plan

A business plan is a written description of the future of your business and more importantly, how you are going to get there. It is a document that explains what you are going to do to make your company profitable and how you are going to achieve this. It defines both your business model and your strategies to make this business model work and more importantly profitable.

Normally when a business idea arises, you know what resources and capabilities you have at the start of your business and where you want to go in a certain period, usually in 3 or 5 years. But what is the way to reach that goal? Where to start? How to arouse investor interest? Even, how to get your business off the ground? Everything seems so easy when you have the great money winning idea and concept. It is how you are going to achieve these dreams and get enough money to keep the business going for many years to come.

Writing a business plan is to build a map that will guide you to where you start making money with your initial business idea. At is very basic structure, your business plan is a mixture of strategies and plans. It involves financials, marketing, staffing and products. Think of it as the foundation to your new business.

WHAT are the reasons that I might need one?

• To look for investors.

• To apply for a loan.

• To establish the viability of your business idea.

• To make improvements to your current business.

• To expand your current business.

All of these types have different emphasises and a different structure.

WHAT is a business plan?

It is a tool or document that describes a business opportunity or idea, the work team, the operational and marketing execution strategies, the business risks and the economic viability of your business. A well written document guides you to turn an idea into a viable business.

It can also be defined in another context in that the business plan becomes a fundamental tool within the analysis of a new business opportunity, a diversification plan, an internationalisation project, the acquisition of a company or an external business unit, or even the launch of a new product or service within the current business.

To summarise, both for the development or launch of a startup and for the analysis of new business investments, the business plan becomes an indispensable tool. So even though you have an established business, you will still need a business plan as you expand and improve that business.

A business plan is never finished and should be reviewed from time to time at least annually but certainly when large changes to an existing company are anticipated. This implies that every plan must adapt effectively and efficiently to the changes, helping the project to continue.

WHAT is the point of a business plan?

Many entrepreneurs think they only need a business plan when they are seeking investment or when the bank asks for one. However the act of business planning, when completed correctly, enables the entrepreneur to carry out an extensive market study that will provide the information required to design the best possible business model that will be both profitable and efficient.

Additionally, the business plan will develop the strategic measures for all functional areas that will enable them achieve the objectives for the new business.

Once written, the business plan will serve as an internal tool to assess the management of the company and its deviations from the planned scenario. Proposing, if necessary, adaptations to the agreed business model in order to obtain updated information for the daily management of the company. This will include preparation of the required changes and processes to bring the business back on track.

So lets dive into the concepts behind business planning a bit more.

The WHY of The Business Plan

• Why do you want your business plan?

• Why are you writing the plan now?

 

The WHAT of the Business Plan

• What is the purpose of developing a specific plan?

• In what period do you consider it possible to carry out your projects?

• What is your business model?

• What is your Value Proposition?

• What are your products or services to be offered?

• What positioning do you plan to develop to compete?

• What are your measurements of success?

• What markets do you plan to penetrate?

• What market percentage do you estimate to obtain?

• What margins do you consider possible?

• What income do you consider you will receive?

• What are the costs of expansion?

• What are the costs of obtaining new customers?

• What do you want to do with your business?

• What strategies do you want to undertake – financial, marketing and planning

 

The WHERE of the Business Activity

• Where will your products be sold from? Shop, office, website, social media, road side, party planning,

• Where are you based? Locally, centrally, virtually etc.

• Where are your products produced?

• Where are your distribution channels?

• Where are they going to be sold?

• Where is your market?

• Where will your staff need to be based?

 

The WHEN of your business planning activities

• When will you need to start your new activities?

• When will they end?

• When will your investor need to invest?

• When will your investor get their money back?

• When will you have enough staff to carry out your new changes?

• When will your products and services be available?

• When will your products need to be updated and/or improved?

• When is the best time to attract new customers?

 

WHO do you present your plan to?

• Bank for loan purposes and they will take a charge over a property usually.

• Investor to join your company as a shareholder.

• Angle Investor to join as a shareholder but also be involved in the running of your company.

• Management team so they know what is expected of them.

• Suppliers who will be offering credit.

• Director level hires so that they are encouraged to join your company.

• Believe it or not the entrepreneur should also refer back on a regular basis.

 

As you can see there are a lot of Ws involved with a business plan – the biggest W is why should you write a business plan and the answer is – because it is such a great business tool.

 

Writing a winning business plan is a complicated procedure and best accomplished with an experienced business consultant. BizGuru.us can assist you with consultancy, strategies, business model canvas production and pitch decks.

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Lee_Lister/15449