Sunday, April 16, 2017

5 Software that Help Small Business Owners Grow



No matter how much drive entrepreneurs and small businesses have to innovate, they can’t do it alone. The most successful small businesses know where to find help and how to do more in less time. The easiest way to achieve that goal is to take advantage of software that helps them generate profit even while they’re sleeping. The five types of software below can help entrepreneurs grow their businesses without expending too much on extra resources:



1. Customer Relationship Management

The relationships you build with your customers are what ultimately push your business toward success. If you have a clear way to create, monitor and capitalize on these relationships, you can continue to grow. CRM software helps you make every interaction count by providing a comprehensive understanding of every point of contact, whether it’s through your sales, marketing or customer service department. CRM software is incredibly flexible and customizable and can help you coordinate team processes, automate call center systems and thoroughly analyze information to help you drive profits.

2. Marketing Automation Software

Automated marketing software empowers users to reach target customers more effectively with their digital marketing efforts. Most entrepreneurs are familiar with tools that allow them to automate social media promotional campaigns, but an ideal marketing automation solution can also help manage campaign development, campaign tracking and customer data. Marketing tools can analyze information to identify model prospects and turn them into sales leads.

Tuesday, March 28, 2017

Is it Worth Translating Your Website for International Business?



The internet has made it absolutely necessary for businesses to be competitive across a variety of mediums, borders and cultures. Even small brick and mortar businesses must find ways to maintain loyal customers in the face of increasing competition from all over the world. As such, a strong web-based presence is always a good idea for any business that wants to be successful in the long-term. Many businesses face a tough decision with respect to international commerce and engagement: whether or not translating the website into multiple languages is worth the effort. Below, we’ll discuss whether this strategy is a sound effort and what can be expected from the effort.



The Reality of Consumer Behaviour

The first and perhaps most important data-point regarding international business pertains to shopper behaviour: customers are much more likely to purchase a product or service if the website is in their native language. This is the biggest motivator for businesses that would like to expand their horizons into new markets. However, translation services can often be expensive and require professional services in order to deliver proper results. As such, businesses that have explicit targets in specific countries may find translating website content to be useful, but businesses that wish to merely broadly target a variety of different languages and countries may not find it feasible.

Thursday, March 9, 2017

5 Tips to Save Money on Vehicle Fleet for Business



For many businesses such as insurance agents, food catering and delivery, etc. fleet vehicle expense is one of the biggest cost. Not only do they have to spend large amount upfront in purchasing the vehicle, but ongoing cost in terms of gas, insurance, maintenance can add up to pretty large amount. By carefully looking at your needs and finding the right vehicle fleet can amount to substantial savings in the long run. Here are several tips you can consider in choosing the fleet vehicles that suit your needs.


Identify your Needs


First and foremost, you need to think about what types of vehicle you actually need – in other words do you just need cars, a combination of vans and cars or bigger people carriers? When you’ve assessed all this you can then use this information to focus your search onto a range of specific manufacturers and models.

Go Green


It’s no secret that road taxes and fuel prices can be expensive, so you might want to think about going greener with hybrid, electric or smaller engine vehicles. Not only can these have better economy and MPG, in some cases they can be tax-free. As tempting as a large V8 might be, they’re not the best idea from a savings perspective.