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Cyrus Baseghi Shares How to Market Smart to Ring in Big Holiday Sales

Posted by Michael Mally on December 4, 2019 in business

The problem with the holidays and small businesses is that the big-box stores try to steal all of the thunder and the sales during the holidays, but it does not have to be that way.

In order to find out more about how small business owners can market wisely in order to ring up the most holiday sales, we spoke to Cyrus Baseghi. Baseghi is the sales lead for OSSI, an Oakland, California-based software, database design and application development firm.

Participate in Holiday Events

Participating in a festive event helps customers learn about your company and develop positive associations with it. Customers don’t just want to sit at home and shop online. They also would like to participate in holiday events, such as looking at stunning holiday window displays, taking a sled ride, viewing light displays and eating holiday sweets. Making the holidays come alive in your store will definitely build your sales and help your company find new customers.

Business.com had the unique idea of a scavenger hunt throughout the local businesses for children that gets their parents walking into each storefront. Of course, it does not hurt to provide something for the parents when they arrive as well.

Customers will be far more receptive to your marketing appeal when they are feeling the effects of those endorphins rushing through their system.

Small Business Saturday

According to Business.com, Small Business Saturday constitutes local small businesses working together on their branding efforts by creating events and a theme that unifies the local businesses.

In some areas, Business.com suggests that one can improve branding as you make connections with local history and/or traditions. There are some Gold Country towns in California, like the sister cities of Nevada City and Grass Valley, for example, that exploit the towns’ Gold Rush origins as a unifying theme from which they can harvest a marketing message.

American Express began the Small Business Saturday tradition, and they provide information that helps local businesses network and create Small Business Saturday events.

Be Online and Engaging

My Total Retail suggests that all small businesses have a strong online presence. Also, they advise business owners to carefully time the release of each newsletter, email, sales event or social media launch during the holiday season.

Also, you need to ensure that customers that visit you in person have an easy means of visiting your online and social media presences.

My Total Retail cautions that a failure to provide clear directions on when, where and how to redeem e-coupons can lead to frustration for customers. Also, they suggest that owners get their coupons out early in the holiday season.

Amazon and some other retailers offer daily online specials that get customers to check in daily for one-day deals comparable to Cyber Monday. If you sell a variety of products, these “12 Days of Christmas” offers can generate a lot of excitement.

My Total Retail suggests daily updates to social media between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. They suggest these posts contain linkage to get customers to their e-coupons, sales, other types of offers or promotions and blog posts.

A big key with social media is to get customers to interact with you and to make it really safe for them to provide constructive feedback that your company earnestly addresses. This helps with branding your product.

Also, Small Business Daily suggests a few other ideas:

  • Market subscription boxes
  • Always provide world-class customer experience both online and in person
  • Ensure it is smooth and easy to shop and buy on a mobile device

Cyrus Baseghi knows from experience that small business owners that work together on branding locally and those who have a strong online presence will flourish during the holiday season

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Daniel Doyle Pleasantville NY Shares How to Go From Entrepreneur to Enterprise

Posted by Michael Mally on November 16, 2019 in business

There’s obviously nothing wrong with being a small business owner. If anything, you should feel free to take pride in the fact that you are finding a way to remain profitable without benefiting from having a recognizable brand.

Still, it’s hard to resist the siren song of expansion. Once you start to ponder the possibilities of what could happen if you step things up just a bit further, it’s hard to just ignore all of that and remain content with where things are at the moment.

Of course, as experts such as Dan Doyle Pleasantville NY will note, expanding your business comes with a significant amount of risk. There’s no guarantee that things will continue to turn out well if you opt to expand.

However, you can boost the odds that your decision to expand your business works out by following the tips featured in this article.

Figure Out the Right Time for Expansion

Growing your business is not a matter to be taken lightly. Even if you wake up one day and start to feel that expansion is the right move, you shouldn’t automatically follow through with that impulse.

Before deciding whether or not to go down the expansion route of your business, it’s worth taking the time to evaluate certain factors.

This article from the New York Times highlights three particular factors you need to look at when considering whether or not to expand your business.

First, you need to have a steady flow of income. If there are still those lean months when you barely break even, maybe hold off on expansion for a bit.

Customer demand is another sign to pay attention to. Typically, when customers say that they want more of your offerings, it’s a good move to oblige them.

Don’t overlook the status of the industry when trying to make a decision on expansion. An industry on the rise is one more capable of supporting growing businesses.

Focus on Owning Your Niche

Establishing a good base is always a must for any business and one way to accomplish that is through dominating a niche. Knowing that you have a niche in your back pocket is important because that means you have something to fall back on.

There will always be customers who will purchase your products or make use of your services because they are familiar with them. Lacking this niche can make a company vulnerable when the time comes to expand.

If you want additional tips on how to find a good niche for your business, you can check out this Entrepreneur article.

Diversify Your Offerings

Another reason why you must first find a niche before you even consider expansion is because you can use that market as a reference point. More specifically, you can use that niche market as a reference point for how to expand your offerings.

Provide something that has some kind of connection to your already established niche and see how that fares. If that does well, then consider branching out further.

By doing things that way, you can diversify your offerings gradually without risking the loss of your solid customer base.

Experts such as Dan Doyle Pleasantville NY understand that expanding a business is no easy task, but being difficult doesn’t equate to being impossible. Take note of the tips above if you want your initial foray into expansion to be a successful one

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Entrepreneur Discusses Startup’s Exponential Growth

Posted by Michael Mally on October 24, 2019 in business
Jeremy-Tofte-Melvin-Brewing

All About Beer recently sat down with the head of Melvin Brewing for a heart to heart interview. Tofte was asked about his exponential growth in such little time. This is what he responded with:

No, I think it was probably what we were meant to do from the beginning. Toward the last year of me bartending and working in the brewery at Thai Me Up, I was snowboarding less and less. I realized that maybe I didn’t want to bartend for another decade. I love bartending, but the late nights add up. We actually got a state grant, and that was the catalyst. I said, ‘I guess I’m not bartending anymore. We got $3 million dollars from the state of Wyoming. It’s time to get real.’

You can read the full interview by visiting: http://allaboutbeer.com/article/jeremy-tofte-melvin-brewing/

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How to Reduce Customer Churn?

Posted by Michael Mally on September 5, 2019 in business

There are many components of a business that are needed to function properly and maximize profits. However, there is one such phenomenon that can halt that is customer churn. In essence, churning is simply a reference to a percentage of customers have ceased to do business with an organization. This number is usually derived by dividing the total number of customers lost in the quarter by the number of customers that were there at the beginning of the quarter.

Also referred to as customer attrition, high customer churn rates can prove to be a foreboding sign for any business, because it signals that there is an internal issue with the company that is causing revenue to drop.

While any company is subject to churning every now and again, there are strategies that you can implement in order to circumvent the number of people who are on the fence of leaving. Follow these tips to help reduce overall churn.

Incentivize

The easiest and most fool-proof strategy for circumventing churn is to incentivize the customer is staying. This incentive can come in many fashions. Usually, it is something special such as membership to a loyalty program, a promotion, a special discount or something given for free.

Of course, when you are thinking about these incentives, there are certain things to consider. One of the first things you will have to consider is what the customer needs. If you have analyzed that the customer in question has a high probability that they will be leaving due to dissatisfaction, you should incentivize the customer while working towards a solution.

You also have to consider the cost of offering these promotions. Since you will be offering discounts or giving away things that a significantly lower price, you will have to consider if the lowered price of these promotions will not hurt the company more than the customers being lost.

Ask for Feedback

If you are noticing that a significant number of customers are leaving within a certain time period, you need to discover the reason why to prevent that number from growing. This is why asking your customers for honest feedback and constructive criticism is important.

The customers are looking for a need to be satisfied and if that need isn’t being satisfied, they will look towards a business who will. You can give out online surveys to fill, ask for a rating or even have live chat features to get a more personal view of what the customer feels is wrong.

Analyze Churn While it Happens

One of the most important things to do with churning rates is to address it as soon as it happens. Businesses need to take a proactive, and not a reactive, approach to addressing customers leaving.

If you wait a significant period of time before you act on churning rates, a lot of customers may leave by the time you are able to do anything about it. You need to know when the customers are leaving, how long it took for them to leave after using a service and the number of days they are gone.

Put all of these trends together, and devise a plan to make things right. This should also be a time to reach out to high-risk customers that may leave

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The Importance of Corporate Philanthropy

Posted by Michael Mally on August 9, 2019 in business

As companies grow and flourish, the resolve to give back to the community becomes stronger. Philanthropy is a deep-rooted practice that focuses on promoting the people’s welfare and driving social change. The practice is well-entrenched in the American social structures and business culture. According to P5Performance, today’s corporate philanthropy goes beyond monetary donations to include matching gifts, individual volunteer gifts, community grants, and employee fundraising. Community grants are offered by corporations looking to positively impact the community. Corporations are at liberty to choose the best timelines to support the causes they care about.

For instance, support can be channeled monthly, seasonally, annually and so on. Corporations that support matching gifts can choose to support a nonprofit venture chosen by employees. Under the scheme, the company commits to matching the contribution made by workers. In the case of individual volunteer grants; respective company employees are given time out of work to volunteer at non-profit organizations or communal causes the company chooses. Corporate philanthropy can also take the shape of employee fundraising. All the company needs to do is to encourage employees to give back to the community or volunteer for a cause. The employee’s contribution can be made in kind or via automatic payroll deductions.

What companies gain from corporate philanthropy


The benefits of corporate philanthropy aren’t just tied to the target community because corporations also benefit immensely from the initiatives. According to corporate fundraising venture Frontstream, the benefits include:
• Opportunity to boost the brand and name recognition – as companies assert themselves on communal issues, the brands grow and the company’s become household names. These benefits are crucial in gaining a competitive market advantage. Some marketing studies also suggest corporate philanthropy is more effective than advertising since it helps build a positive reputation and good-will on the mind of consumers and business partners.

• Grow company base – the support that goes to improve the social, educational and the economic well-being of the community is reciprocal. This support has a way of building the customer base as it often translates to higher sales and access to skilled labor in the future.

• Improve the quality of life – the support provided by corporate entities to host communities can help improve the quality of life. This is true because people living in the community constitute company workers and customers, who buy goods and services from the supporting companies.

• Drive recruitment and retention – long term commitment to corporate philanthropy can go a long way to boost employee retention and staff recruitment. For instance, most millennial’s prefer working for companies with shared values. The morale of workers is also enhanced when they know the company cares about the things they hold an ear to their hearts.

Corporate philanthropy champion


Because of the many benefits of corporate philanthropy, it comes as no surprise that more companies are working ways to strengthen their corporate philanthropy programs. Economist and finance expert, Rusty Tweed understands this fact and has done a lot like a corporate leader to entrench the virtue. He actively supports efforts aimed at uplifting the society such as youth empowerment, health, and education.

One of the charities that have benefited from his volunteer efforts is Detox Center, New York, and Orleans. Several college youths have also benefited from the annual Rusty Tweed Drug-Free Scholarship. Rusty Tweed also uses his immense experience to train investors on topics like financial management, taxation, and real estate investment. He operates from his office in the Greater Los Angeles Area

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What to Look for in a Lender According to Barron Advisors

Posted by Michael Mally on June 10, 2019 in business

Whether you’re buying a home, shopping for a student loan, looking for car financing, or seeking to consolidate your credit card debt, it is important to shop around and compare the best lenders. Securing a loan means you’re going to be paying for the long haul, so finding a reliable lender you can trust who will give you good rates that may be more advantageous for your needs, is essential. The following are some tips to help you look for a reliable lender:

Double Check Credentials

Just because someone gives you a seemingly good rate doesn’t mean you should snap up the offer right away. Always do your research before signing a contract. Double check to ensure that your lender is registered and licensed at both the state and federal level. Ask for documentation and paperwork because it is your right to check for legitimacy. To illustrate, a company like Barron Advisors understand that they, too, need your business so requesting to see credentials is a reasonable request. 

Check for Reviews

With the advent of technology, it is now very easy to check for reviews online. Read each one to see the pros and cons of going with a particular lender. You can also ask your relatives and friends for their referral. You’ll have more confidence in your lender if someone you know has engaged in business with them. Researching reviews and finding out the experiences of satisfied clients may give you new perspective to see which lender is right for you.

Determine Sincerity

A sincere agent will help you determine how much you are qualified to borrow. He is willing to answer all your questions. Don’t be shy or afraid to ask what’s on your mind because you are making a commitment to something substantial. Ask as much as you want and take note of the replies. Observe if the lender feels irritated, evades giving straight answers, or appears to be giving you the runaround. If he knows his job, he will answer confidently, making sure you understand the details. 

Gauge your Connection with the Lender

Signing a loan agreement enters you into a relationship with a financial institution. Check to see if the lender is able to communicate with you properly. A genuine lender will take time to know what you are looking for. If the loan terms are confusing, he will explain them. If your credit score is bad, he will offer tips to improve it. As an example, Barron Advisors take the initiative of offering debt consolation loans to their valued clients in order to help them reduce the burden of interest payments. The process of solidifying a loan may be time consuming, but a lender who is able to properly connect, communicate, and keep track of time will always make you feel like you matter. 

Seek Recommendation from your Agent

If you’re seeking a mortgage, ask your real estate agent for advice on choosing which mortgage lender is best suited for you. Because your agent has a lot of experience with several mortgage lenders, he can give you a well-rounded opinion on who can offer the best mortgage rates. He can steer you in the direction of a lender that is able to swiftly deliver the loan so you can close the deal as soon as possible. 

Overall, a trustworthy lender creates a loan specifically for you. You have to be able to trust that he won’t offer you something that you can’t pay for. Evaluating the different offers is an important step in finding the right lender who will fulfill your expectations. Find someone who is patient enough to get to know you, forges a healthy business relationship with you, and keeps you abreast of the progress of your loan and its closing. A company like Barron Advisors, who is an industry leader in consolidating debts, have made it their mission to find solutions for clients like you by providing solid services that you can depend on.

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How to Properly Budget Your Finances as Explained by Dutchess Partners

Posted by Michael Mally on April 8, 2019 in business

The first step when building a budget is to track your expenses. It is best to do this for a full month but even a week can help. If you buy everything on credit and debit cards, you should be able to pull those statements from the past month. This process helps to identify the payment amounts of fixed items like rent, car payments, or student loans while also seeing how much you are spending on more flexible categories like entertainment or eating out. 

The 50-20-30 Budget


Although there are many methods for creating a budget, the 50-20-30 rule is a great way to start. Fifty percent should go towards living expenses, 20 percent towards debt payments or savings, and 30 percent towards everything else. You can find this plan in more detail here. 


In the United States, it isn’t uncommon for housing costs alone to equal 45 percent of income, according to this article from USA Today. If your living expenses are more than 50 percent, you may have to look hard at your items in the “everything else” category and only choose one or two until you can either increase your income or pay down some of your debt. 

Trimming expenses


When you are looking through your expenses, note which items you don’t remember or that didn’t mean much to you. Can you remember what you ate at that restaurant? Was stopping at the coffee shop three times in one week the best choice? This should help you to identify the items that you can reduce in the future. Also, make sure to notice any subscriptions or recurring charges that you may have forgotten about. 

Dealing with debt


If your debt payments are more than 30 percent, you should potentially consider a consolidation loan from a company like Dutchess Partners. Credit cards can charge as much as 24 percent interest whereas a consolidation loan should lower the interest rates, allowing you to pay the debt off faster and in smaller payments.

 
Once you can pay more than the minimum on your debt payments you can reduce the amount in your debt category. You should then be able to create an emergency fund. Keeping some money aside can keep you from needing to use credit in the future and increasing the amount of debt you owe. Having the extra funds should also provide peace of mind. 

Tracking expenses


Once you have created the budget, what is the best way to make sure you actually follow it? Find a method that works best for you. Some people like to use cash for the categories that they tend to overspend on. You take the cash and put it in an envelope or your wallet for the specific period and when it’s gone, you don’t spend any more on that category. Some people use cash for eating out, gas, or groceries. If you like using a debit or credit card, you may want to link your account to a mobile app that tracks expenses. There are several apps that can show how much you spend by category in a certain month. 

Staying motivated


Most importantly, remember your why. Why are you trying to save money? Are you paying down your debt so that you can finally start saving to buy a home? Are you tired of wondering if you’ll have enough to pay your bills? Write your Why on a sticky note and keep it in your wallet or in a prominent place where you can see it every day. If you feel overwhelmed, do the right thing and ask for help. Debt consolidation from providers like Dutchess Partners can help to make the bills more manageable.

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New Advances Helping Construction Companies Stand Out

Posted by Michael Mally on February 21, 2019 in business

Even in the face of challenges like talent shortages, rapid technological changes and volatility in the cost of materials, the construction industry continues to play a major role in building a modern world. According to a report published by the Southern Illinois University, the US construction industry employs about 5% of the entire workforce. Back in 1995, the total value of construction hit $550 billion or 8% of the country’s GDP. To match the challenges of global competition, young professionals in the industry must possess the necessary competence. 

The skills in demand include technical design, foreign languages and regional studies. The other important competence is good understanding of the connection between culture and technology. Closer home, industry experts see strategies such as maintaining lean operations, winning over large clients and adoption of disruptive technology as critical in retaining competitive edge and standing out in future. According to construction software developer ESub, the top construction industry trends to watch over the coming years include: 

1. Green technology – the trend towards green technology has been around for a long time. The incorporation is mostly geared towards building projects in an environmentally responsible way. The strategies cover building design, construction, maintenance and even demolition. The push is made more significant because of the growing world population and the fact that construction accounts for as much as 20% of all global emissions. 

2. Better safety equipment – the development of better safety equipment will remain the focus of industry stakeholders over the coming years. Concerns about safety are mostly born out of the growing number of fatalities and accidents on construction sites. The trend towards better safety equipment has witnessed the unveiling of advanced equipment’s such as sensor and GPS connected work boots with the ability to detect geographical coordinates, falls and even exhaustion. The other developments include the use of drones and surveying equipment to map and monitor the work site for possible safety hazards. 

3. Building information modeling – Building Information Modeling (BIM) systems can be used to design and analyze utilities, buildings and roads. Using the computing system, architects, engineers and other construction experts can come up with building design models before the actual construction commences. The models can be used to predict cost and see how well the construction materials will hold. Building owners, on the other hand, can use the system to build better projects and craft more sustainable maintenance schedules. 

4. Rise in the cost of material – the cost of construction materials has been on steady rise. The cost factor is likely to have a huge impact on iron and steel products as well as lumber. This predicament is forcing many construction firms to analyze the cost repercussions while making preparations to stay competitive. Construction companies are now, more than ever using synthetic materials instead of the more expensive natural wood. This is part of the reason why synthetic dock material is increasingly being used in the construction of industrial docks. Unlike wood, the synthetic dock material can aptly withstand water damage. 

5. Sustainability – although the notion of sustainability is closely tied to green technology and carbon neutral footprint, the whole concept also co-opts business models aimed at making the world a worthy place to live. The models generally place emphasis on efficient use of resources, environmental preservation and social progress. Builders can implement the idea by putting more effort in constructing homes that allow more natural lighting as a way to reduce energy cost. The other trend is reuse of construction materials and water. 

Other trends likely to impact the industry


Advances in technology will remain a key cornerstone in the construction industry. According to GenieBelt, the technological trends that will shape the industry in the coming years include the use of self-heating concrete, mass modular construction and Augmented Reality (AR). Modular construction refers to the use of standardized processes to collate construction materials and complete projects in a cost efficient manner. The process is much speedier compared to the traditional construction practices. Although research and testing of self-heating concretes is ongoing, the material is likely to have a huge impact in the construction of roads and buildings. It is estimated that some 5 billion tons of the material will be consumed by 2030.

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William Bronchick Featured On Inspirery

Posted by Michael Mally on November 12, 2018 in business

William-Bronchick In any business, you have to understand how the market works in order to become successful. William Bronchick made the successful transition from private chef to event catering specifically because he saw that the Denver market was heading in that direction.  Bronchick started off his culinary journey working in his grandparent’s barbecue restaurant in Texas. From there he graduated in the top tier of his class from culinary school and was referred by one of his instructors to his first client as a private chef.

Word of mouth garnered William Bronchick more private clients, but he saw a trend in that they were requesting him to cook for large events that they were hosting.  Sensing the way the market was turning Bronchick decided to make event catering his full-time business and it has been good.

Read More about William Bronchick‘s Inspirery Interview here: http://inspirery.com/william-bronchick

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How Investing And Trading Can Help Your Business Grow

Posted by Michael Mally on July 27, 2018 in business

sean-seshadri

Reinvesting your business’ profits into the financial markets can sound risky. One wrong turn in the markets and you can say goodbye to your business’ coffers. Each tick in the opposite direction of your trade is another inch taken from your financial runway. But with risk also comes reward. There are many ways in which investing and trading can help your business scale fast. Here are five of them.

Earn Capital Gains

Capital gains are the profits that you make from your investment portfolio at the end of each year. By investing and trading prudently, you can earn a handsome return on investment or ROI, which can ultimately be reinvested into the business to expand to new locations faster and lease better equipment. Investing, of course, is a skill that requires time to perfect. According to Sean Seshadri, a seasoned market specialist, before you can start earning capital gains, make sure to learn proper risk management techniques and measures to minimize capital risk.

Less Need For Outside Investment

Investing in the financial markets and then allocating the capital gains to your business’ operations means you need to take on fewer if any outside investors and venture capitalists. Taking on an investor usually means more rigidity for the business since you’ll have to also take into consideration what your investors want. Over time, this can lead to a divergence in your original and initial vision of what the company should stand for and where it should be headed. By plumping up your business’ cash flow with its investment gains, you can avoid this outside influence and stick with what you want to do with your business.

Lower Your Taxes

It’s never a good feeling to close an investment position at a loss. But it should bring you some sort of consolation to be able to declare it as capital losses on your tax forms. Capital losses are only applicable to assets that are intended to rise in value. Thus, personal belongings, like cars, cannot be declared as capital losses or deductions on your tax form. Keep in mind that only realized losses can be reported. Realized losses are losing positions that have actually been closed and liquidated. By lowering your taxes, you can offset the losses and allocate more money into your business’ growth-inducing operations.

Get to Know Your Market Better

Investing and trading prudently requires that you learn everything there is to learn about your market. Deciding to invest and trade in the stock market, for instance, will encourage you to look more closely into government regulations and competitors in your industry. This bestows you with a higher sense of familiarity with the landscape, which can be used to make better decisions. You can identify opportunities faster, which ultimately result in business growth. Luckily, these days it’s easy to find relevant news about any financial market, whether it’s stocks and bonds or currencies and commodities.

Foster Profitable Partnerships

Investing in another company’s stock can turn into a profitable long-term partnership. You only invest in a company if you see the value, so why not try to capture as much of that value as you can by working side by side with them? This doesn’t just apply to companies and stock; you can also discover and build connections with commodity vendors and manufacturers while investing in raw materials, such as precious metals and agricultural products.

Investing and trading are opportunities rarely explored by business owners and entrepreneurs. As Sean Seshadri says, this could be the competitive edge you need to withstand competitors and the test of time.

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