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Keeping the Cash Flowing: Top Tips for Business Money Management

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Cash flow is always top of mind for small business owners, but sometimes, financial problems seem to materialize overnight. This often happens when owners don’t monitor cash flow property, and therefore, don’t always recognize there’s an issue until it’s too late. Advanced planning and appropriate tracking tools can help position you for a healthy financial outlook, and Keetria offers the following guidance on making it work for you.

Watch Your Numbers

Cash flow can vary from one season to another, and there are myriad factors that can influence the amount of revenue that comes through your business. Tracking your income and your accounts payable will help you identify trends, in addition to helping you monitor overall finances — both practices that will keep you aware of and in control of your company’s finances. According to the Prince’s Trust, this starts with smart business planning, utilizing the right software tools to track cash flow, and making the commitment to regularly review your books to ensure you know where you stand.

Use the Right Software

There are numerous moving parts in a small business budget, so find a software program that will help you monitor trends, as well as segment categories and set benchmarks with which to measure your finances. Being able to recognize at a glance the various income categories in your business will help you spot red flags as soon as they arise and allow you to take proactive steps to mitigate the damage. This process will also help you with short and long-term planning, as well as identifying products or services that sell well versus those that underperform. This type of strategic planning can pay big dividends down the line.

Mind Your Money …

Of course, part of tracking your money also involves having a degree of fiduciary responsibility. Make calculated purchasing choices based on market research, consumer demand, and by assessing your own finances. Regularly review pricing structures and inventory and revisit vendor and supplier contracts on a regular basis to ensure you’re getting the best deals. While it’s wise to invest in staff members who will help build your business, it’s smart to look for redundancy in roles so you can ensure you aren’t filling positions you don’t really need. Sometimes contractors and freelancers can take the place of full-time employees.

… But Mind it Carefully

While a common inclination is to slash your budget to ribbons, this can backfire. Items that usually end up on the chopping block include deeply reducing your marketing budget or hitting pause on employee development. In dire circumstances, these might make sense, but avoid measures that could ultimately hurt your bottom line. Instead, look for ways to mindfully reduce costs.

For example, instead of seeking an outsider to find solutions to business issues, turn to your staff instead to find a path forward. This creates more buy-in and can even increase morale if a collaborative effort improves processes. When it comes to marketing, ask your team to explore more cost-effective processes like tapping into the free aspects of social media or even the less expensive paid social media. Your team can even take advantage of free tools like an Instagram post generator. Rather than forking over cash for a graphic designer, your staff can create captivating posts that are polished and professional in a matter of minutes.

Follow-Up on Accounts

Small business owners often have personal relationships with their customers, which can make it uncomfortable if there are outstanding invoices you need to collect. Make sure your bills all spell out your terms and conditions and make it easy for customers to pay you by giving them multiple options — electronic, debit, check, cash, or bank transfer. If payments are slow, let customers know you understand their dilemma, but reiterate your company policy and, if necessary, utilize a collection agency to intervene on your behalf. You may be able to salvage the relationship and still get paid, all by removing yourself from the transaction.

Make Regular Audits

Once you have your cash flow monitoring well in hand and your budget shored up, you can devote time to segmenting your various revenue streams and looking for ways to grow your business. Regular audits can help you make educated decisions about how well your business is performing, where you’re losing money, or spending too much. Operational decisions can be made from this knowledge — like expanding the business, or alternatively, downsizing, or going strictly online. Staying ahead of the cash curve will help ensure that all of the business decisions you make are informed ones.

Small businesses often operate on a shoestring budget, making financial monitoring all the more important. Maintaining good standing with creditors and suppliers and not allowing yourself to become over-leveraged will keep you on the right path to long-term business success.


Need help kickstarting your startup idea or getting media exposure for your brand?
Feel free to reach out for a free 20-minute consultation where we can chat about your business and how I can help! To schedule your time: CLICK HERE

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

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7 Benefits of Running a Business in Houston

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Is the cost of living in your city becoming unsustainably high? If you’re trying to get a new business off the ground, high prices for everything from real estate to labor can set you back. Or perhaps you’re opening a small local business, but you’ve found that the lack of a thriving business community in your area is making the process harder. You’re thinking about moving for the sake of your company, but you want to make sure your family will be happy wherever you settle down.

If you’re trying to figure out where your entrepreneurial future lies, you might want to consider moving to Houston, Texas. In contrast to cities with higher costs of living, it’s a great place to build up your business without making major financial sacrifices. And with PR coaching from consultants like Keetria, you’ll see business growth in no time. Plus, it’s a fantastic city for families! Here are a few reasons entrepreneurs can thrive in Houston.

Reasonable Cost of Living

Houston is a major metropolitan area with a surprisingly low cost of living, and reasonable prices have drawn in entrepreneurs and their families. For instance, if you’re thinking about buying a home, Millionacres states that you can expect to spend about $263,000. Median rent prices are also quite realistic for families and young professionals at $1,464 for a rental unit. Furthermore, there are plenty of apartments available for rent in the city, with a healthy rental vacancy rate of 7.4%.

And the low cost of living won’t just benefit you when it comes to renting or buying – it also means that you won’t have to spend as much to entice top talent. With lower labor costs, you can relax, knowing that your business has a longer “runway.”

Growing Population

Houston is a growing city, and this massive metro area is only gaining more residents. For business owners, this is a bonus: there is an ever-expanding talent pool in Houston, and every day, more professionals who are seeking new opportunities are choosing to settle down in the city. Right now, Houston is growing by 0.07% annually, and since 2010, the population has grown by 10.68%.

Diversity

Are you hoping to hire talent that can bring varied perspectives and creative solutions to your business? It’s time to start thinking outside the box and approach your recruiting and hiring process with diversity in mind. Houston has large African-American and Hispanic populations, and residents of the city speak more than 90 languages. The greater Houston area is definitely a cultural melting pot, and if you want to prioritize diversity within your business, it’s an ideal place to relocate your company.

Highly Educated Workforce

Houston doesn’t just have a large business network – it’s also a hub for higher education. Business owners can hire educated recent graduates from right in the city, and you can even bring on interns from local universities who want to gain valuable experience. These Houston colleges and universities graduate bright students who are more than ready for the professional world:

  • With multiple local campuses, the University of Houston offers unique programs in subjects like Space Architecture.
  • Rice University is consistently ranked as one of the best colleges in the United States.
  • Baylor College of Medicine is a top medical school for research students.

Entrepreneurial Community

No entrepreneur is ever on their own in Houston. You’ll be part of a community with loyal customers, helpful business owners, advisers, and local leaders. When you’re dealing with a problem, you’ll have the guidance you need to push forward, and you’ll feel inspired to take on bigger projects and challenge yourself. Bold Patents recommends these supportive organizations for entrepreneurs:

  • The Small Business Development Center provides free educational resources for business owners.
  • The Indus Entrepreneurs facilitates networking and mentorship opportunities for entrepreneurs.
  • LaunchEffect is a local incubator that offers lots of helpful services to entrepreneurs, as well as classes, hackathons, and more.

Fun Local Activities

Simply put, you’ll never be bored in Houston. On any given day, there are plenty of things to do, and no matter where your interests lie, you’ll be able to find an outlet in the city. From the eclectic restaurant scene to the gorgeous green spaces, you can enjoy a very high quality of life in Houston. And this benefits the local workforce – after all, happy employees are more productive and motivated! Here are a few places and events to check out in Houston:

  • Explore an extensive trail network and view stunning art installations at Buffalo Bayou Park.
  • Spend a day perusing the gardens, renting a pedal boat, and having a picnic at Hermann Park.
  • Let loose at the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo and revel in the city’s creative side at the Houston Art Car Parade!

Business Launch Resources

If you’re relocating to Houston from another state, it’s important to make a checklist of all the requirements you’ll need to fulfill in order to officially open and run a business in Texas. A few important tasks for business owners include:

  • Choose a unique business name that is not already on file with the Texas Secretary of State and file to register your business entity.
  • Apply for state licenses and permits, such as a sales tax permit from the Comptroller of Public Accounts, relevant regulatory permits, and necessary occupational licenses.
  • Take out a business insurance policy and open a business bank account.

And with so many transactions conducted remotely, you’ll need a strong internet connection to launch and grow your business. To find a fast and reliable internet service, check out local internet providers that cover your area and research their average maximum speeds. If you can get fiber optic internet service in your area, it’s worth the investment – it’s generally about ten times faster than DSL service.

With so many perks for entrepreneurs, it’s no wonder that business owners and hard-working professionals are flocking to Houston. For Houston’s entrepreneurs, the future is bright! The low cost of living, growing business community, and bountiful resources mean that success is well within your reach in Houston.

Ready to start building your business’s brand? Seek PR coaching from Keetria! Schedule a free consultation call through our website today.

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

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How To Build A Business with Little Money

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A Newbie Entrepreneur’s Guide to Creating a Business from the Ground Up

INTRODUCTION – THE INTERNET AND DECREASED BUSINESS COSTS

Entrepreneurs today are lucky to be hopeful business owners during an era of resources. It used to be that business owners would work hard and only have a small hope that their business would take off in their area, but the Internet has now globalized the way we think about how to build a business.

The best part? It’s extremely inexpensive. Unlike marketing methods of the past that would cost entrepreneurs an arm and a leg, we’re now living in an age when social media, digital and content marketing strategies are inexpensive and easy to utilize, vastly increasing a business’ ROI potential.

Traditional physical business models are always going to be here to stay, but the age of the Internet is upon us. Entrepreneurs who want to save money while still creating and owning a business can now lease digital room at a rate that’s a fraction of the cost of a brick and mortar storefront.

The Internet is a Global Platform. It allows business owners to introduce themselves to a virtual audience while making real profits they can take to the bank.

Not only does the Internet give entrepreneurs a platform on which to reach their audience, it opens them up to audiences from around the world. Businesses that have a global potential can find success via the more than 3 BILLION users online as of August 2015. Since 1995, the Internet has grown at a staggering rate with 42% of the global population now having access to the Internet in some way.

This allows entrepreneurs to grow incredibly large businesses without investing that much capital. As businesses grow, of course, more money is needed to maintain the company — but profits grow with businesses online. Jeff Bezos created Amazon as an online bookstore and didn’t have a sale for a year. Now he owns the largest online retailer of any product imaginable.

When you use this ebook article as your guide to starting a business, you learn the benefits of the Internet as an online business platform, how to maintain costs and keep them low, as well as learn about incredible resources that can help your Internet storefront thrive.

I. BUSINESS MODELS THAT WILL KEEP COSTS LOW AND PROFITS HIGH

Let’s back up. At this point, you haven’t made a business yet, whether it’s a brick and mortar storefront or an online ecommerce hub. Before an entrepreneur ever launches any kind of business, crafting an executable strategy is the first step to success. 

First, entrepreneurs must test their marketplace. When you know your audience and what they need, you can better plan for your business launch.

The first step in marketplace testing should always be to examine market presence and competition. The easiest way to do this is to simply Google your potential business’ purpose online, like “haircare for kids” or “pet training kits.” What ads show up? How many relevant results are there? Perform your searches with quotation marks and examine how many results there are — any number under 50,000 is your sweet spot. This means competition will be minimal.

From here it’s easy to examine the competition that does exist and adjust business expectations accordingly. If a business idea has too much market competition, it may be time to rethink things.

Now we can examine the benefits of information marketing and media downloads. This is the sale of information online and media, respectively.

Information marketing is one of the most budget effective forms of business because it’s original, based on information a person already knows and only requires two things to be actionable: a website and a .PDF. Selling ebooks or online courses also help an entrepreneur grow their credibility. It’s one thing to sell a product, but the knowledge about that product is much more valuable. For instance, a dog training kit doesn’t present the same credibility as an ebook on simple dog training tips.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t a downside to information marketing. An ebook isn’t worth a lot of money in the long run, and entrepreneurs who marketing ebooks or online courses at exorbitant fees will find they don’t move a lot of volume.

In general, you make what you put into information marketing. A five or six-page ebook isn’t worth as much as an in-depth, professionally designed, four-week course package. The amount of money to be made will vary based on the quality, length and credibility of the product.

Media downloads are similar but include a different formatting. Instead of “print” media, media downloads include videos, podcasts and other forms of auditory or visual media. These, however, require more investment capital — it costs a lot less to write an ebook as compared to selling a successful podcast.

Do you have a talent or skill that can translate into online sales? Selling online services can be a great way to make money online with a personal brand as a business.

Whether you’re a writer, a graphic designer or video specialist, you can make money online without a fully-realized business to invest in. The goal may be to build up to a content marketing firm, but brand establishment is important when you’re starting out. Sites like Freelancer, Fiverr, and Upwork are great for advertising your services so you can work your way up.

There are obvious benefits and negatives here. The pros are that you get to make money without spending money and you’re performing a service you already know how to do. The negative is that you aren’t protected in the way you would be if you owned a business of your own.

On the other hand, you may already have a brick and mortar store or physical products. How do you translate a physical business into digital sales?

This can be a bit trickier when it comes to keeping things on a budget. This requires a true online business, though it doesn’t mean a lot of capital has to be invested. There are either different skills or objects needed to make this happen:

• Knowledge of ecommerce solutions

• Web design skills

• Graphic design skills

• Online-to-offline business integration

• Attention to detail

• Copywriting abilities

• Domain name & website hosting

• Customer service

With all of this work comes a lot of profit, however. The benefits of an online storefront include owning your own business, there are resources that make the process easier and easy access to scaling up a business.

This also applies to selling someone else’s physical goods as a reseller. If you want to create a business based on selling physical goods that haven’t yet been, understand that creating goods increases business startup costs by a large margin.

Sometimes it’s possible to make money in business without creating your own products or even selling your own services. Entrepreneurs can make money via other business owners via commission.

Affiliate marketing is a way to make money online without even creating a website. How is this possible? Essentially affiliate marketing is the art of sending traffic to someone else’s website or product. When that person makes a purchase, the company makes money AND so does the person that sent them there — A.K.A. you.

Owning a website and affiliate marketing for multiple companies is the best way to make money in this “business,” but it’s not something that’s required. If you already own a business, affiliate marketing isn’t something you can’t participate in. It’s all about promotion and being paid for this promotion.

The cons of this method of money making include being at the mercy of the business in question and being distanced from the product itself. On the other hand, it’s money that can be made easily with little to no time or capital investment. The company is the one dealing with products and customers — not you. In general, affiliate marketing is great for entrepreneurs that want to put their foot in the door while still making some cash at the same time.

There’s also CPA — cost per action marketing. The difference here is that there’s no selling of a product, but instead the money comes when you get someone to take some type of action. This can include something like a trial membership, newsletter subscription or another type of CTA (call to action). The purpose? Businesses know that getting in new customers or creating actionable leads is worth commission.

Finally, entrepreneurs must look at this variety of startup models and ask themselves a few questions that cement their identity as a business person.

Before deciding on a specific type of business model, these are three questions that you need to ask yourself:

• What is it that you’re good at?

• What do you enjoy doing, and can it be actionable as a means to make money?

• How much of your own business are you capable of handling yourself, whether because of your skillset or time management?

How you answer these questions may determine the business model you should choose. It’s important to know the answers to these questions in order to create a business that you’re comfortable fostering and continuing — it should be based around your wants, needs and capabilities for the sake of longevity.

II. ESTABLISHING A SENSIBLE BUSINESS BUDGET

You’ve asked yourself some hard questions and decided your business model. Now what? The next step is deciding what your budget is going to be. While the cost of your business model will vary greatly depending on the model you chose — for instance, creating a product and then establishing a website won’t be as inexpensive as an affiliate marketing site investment — it’s also worthy to note that there are always inexpensive options to choose, no matter the model you went with.

For your business start up, avoid spending money on all the business bells and whistles. Look for free tools and resources that will lower your costs.

For both startup investments and continuous operational costs, there are three different types of costs that factor into these different business areas.

The costs being discussed are:

• Fixed — These are one-time investments that you’ll only have to spend once or very rarely.

• Recurring — Costs that are cyclical and will be a constant concern, whether monthly, weekly or yearly.

• Invisible — Hidden investments that relate to a business but not specifically.

To keep things simple, let’s break down each type of cost and common expenses that fall into that category, as well as an estimated cost for that expense:

FIXED COSTS

• Software needed to run a business (can be free or up to $500)

• Web design (free to $2,000)

• Extra development (up to $500)

• Branding creation (free to $300)

• A computer for work ($350 to $1000, laptop preferred)

• Business cards and other startup marketing material ($20 to $50)

RECURRING COSTS

• Domain registration (varies depending on your host, but typically $10 to $15 a year)

• Web hosting (varies depending on host, $6 to $15 per month at startup)

• SSL certification ($70 to $300 per year, not totally necessary but recommended)

• Maintenance ($100 to $2000 depending on your experience level)

• Payment processing (usually 2.9% commission)

• Advertising (free to varied, like $5 per day via Facebook advertising)

• Email autoresponder ($20 or more per month depending on email volume)

• Shopping cart (free to $200 plus per month)

• Cloud storage (free to $10 per month)

• Site backup (free to $5 per month)

HIDDEN COSTS

• Time, in the context of wage and business cost

• Rent or mortgage of your own home, A.K.A. your business hub

• Bills for Internet, phone and electricity

• Education required to run said business

• Email management

It’s important to make a very obvious note here:

This is an example. It is used as a starting point for one type of business model. Some expenses may apply to your business model, some may not. Some may not be listed. Your own budget depends greatly on your business model, experience and the tools you need to get started.

Smart business owners will look for ways to cut their costs and vet any only deals they think can lower their budget. For your own reference, copy this sheet to a document of your own and edit it accordingly. What does your own budget look like?

III. TOOLS ENTREPRENEURS CAN USE TO HELP STAY WITHIN THEIR BUDGET

You now have the business model you want to go with and the budget required to make it happen. Now the next step is to further estimate those costs via reliable and cheap service providers that can further decrease your budget.

It’s worth saying that just because a service is cheap, it isn’t worthless — many big name companies still use “tight budget” companies because there’s no use spending lots of money on a service when you could be saving all that cash for something else.

For each area, three different inexpensive service providers are listed. Choose one of these or do your own research on a cheap service alternative!

If your business requires one of these services, consider the recommendation:

DOMAIN REGISTRATION

• GoDaddy.com

• Domain.com

• Name.com

WEB HOSTING PROVIDERS

• Ehost.com

• iPage.com

• Bluehost.com

For more information on choosing a provider for your business, check out this best web hosting provider resource from Digital.com.

WEBSITE PLATFORMS

• WordPress.com

• DoodleKit.com

• Moonfruit.com

ECOMMERCE SOLUTIONS

• WooCommerce (Free plugin for WordPress, but expensive for additional features/extensions)

• Shopify

• 1shoppingcart

FREE BUSINESS LISTINGS

• Google My Business 

• Bing Places for Business

• Yahoo Local

We also suggest using a PASSWORD MANAGEMENT SYSTEM to protect your information. Check out this complete password management systems guide from PasswordManager.com

These are just a few types of resources and a few examples of each resource — this gives you a starting place for looking for your own inexpensive resources.

IV. YOU’VE STARTED A BUSINESS…NOW HOW DO YOU STAY ON A BUDGET?

Creating a business and setting up a budget are actually the easy steps within this ebook. Now we get to examine how to continue to stay on a budget as your business grows and resources necessary to keep things on track.

Maximizing business profitability is something a lot of experts talk about, but new entrepreneurs often don’t understand how to make it happen. Thus, they’re often lured into profitability scams — or resources that live by the old adage “you have to spend money to make money.” The sad thing is that entrepreneurs will spend money on these services, then find they aren’t making the money they were promised.

Starting a business doesn’t mean you have to spend lots of money to make it work. It’s essential to understand how to manage a business while simultaneously making money doing what you love.

First, don’t throw away your day job just because you got your first ecommerce sale. A startup company shouldn’t be what you sacrifice a living wage for, especially when you don’t know if your first attempt at business ownership will be successful or not.

Learn how to barter for goods and services. Being cash poor doesn’t mean you aren’t extremely wealthy due to your assets, skills, abilities and connections. If you can’t buy graphic design work, why not leverage your content writing abilities for a logo design?

Do you watch Shark Tank? You don’t have to go on national TV to find a great business investor. There are venture capitalists out there that would love to give you money to run your own business in order to see an expansive return.

Always look for ways to be thrifty. Don’t ever spend money without thinking first: “can I find a less expensive way to accomplish this task?” If you like looking for deals while grocery shopping, apply those same techniques here. Look for coupon codes, do your research and always be willing to haggle.

Finally, don’t spend big bucks on invoicing or accounting. Budget marketing tools like TurboCash or FreshBooks exist for a reason.

It’s also unnecessary to spend big bucks on marketing. Online marketing is cheap, easy to do and gives businesses an incredible ROI.

Online reviews are your friend. When a business is starting out, credibility is paramount. CTAs (calls to action) and requests for reviews can make all the difference in the world. Promote your business on sites like Yelp! or Google+ Local for an added incentive.

Blogging can be another way to make your business more credible while simultaneously creating marketable content. Blogs are easy to link to on social media, create SEO potential and establish yourself as an industry expert.

Speaking of social media, businesses that aren’t on social media are behind the times. Promoting products and deals on sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn (depending on whether your business is B2B or not) can bring in new traffic, generate new leads and give businesses the ability to connect with consumers.

You should also consider joining industry groups. Whether they are forums or chat rooms, these are vehicles for building great industry relationships while also promoting SEO in search engines.

Sites like HelpAReporter.com, or HARO, will help to promote your business via press releases or news stories you provide them. This helps media channels to find verified information about your business.
Connect with other businesses via a tit-for-tat relationship. Promoting another business via testimonials or cross-promotion efforts can mean they’ll do the same for you.

CONCLUSION – CREATING AN ACTION PLAN THAT WORKS

It’s one thing to have all the information necessary to start a business, and yet quite another to actually make it happen. I’ve provided you with advice and resources — now it’s your turn to turn it all into an incredible business!

You now know:

• It’s possible to make money online and to lay the foundation for an Internet business without investing a lot of capital.

• The Internet can give any business global reach.

• How to create a budget and stick to that budget with easily actionable tips.

• You can start and own a business for as much as $1,000 to as cheap as being completely free!

You don’t have to fully commit to all of these tasks yourself — outsourcing can be an incredible asset to new entrepreneurs.

It’s always important to consider what you’re capable of and what you can delegate to someone else. As your business grows, so will your need to ask others for help and to create new jobs for new employees. Every business starts with one person, but great business owners will soon realize their small startup has the potential to be something much bigger than they ever thought possible…

…and all of that is possible thanks to the Internet and low-cost business techniques.

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

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Why you Should Add a Business Line to your Smartphone

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Entrepreneurs often wait until it’s too late to add a separate business line to their smartphone. Using your personal phone number is economical and convenient when a start-up is in its early stages. But when your company begins to develop its brand, getting a separate phone number for business communications becomes very useful, essential really. There are lots of great reasons why you should go ahead and take the leap as soon as possible.

Reasons Not to Use Your Personal Phone Number for Business

Studies show that 75% of consumers say a phone call is the easiest way to get a response, while around 52% who convert following an online search do so over the phone. Having a business phone number for your operations regularly rates better in popularity for consumers, regardless of how digitally linked you are to social media and online mobile applications.

What’s more, many businesses you interact with, government agencies, and other services use your personal phone number for identity verification. Your personal number can provide access to highly sensitive information and potentially lead to identity theft or other online scams.

The list of reasons why you shouldn’t give out your personal number to customers, clients, or suppliers is a long one. Here are a few key reasons to avoid using a personal number for business, in a nutshell:

1. Exposure to online threats like scammers and phishers

2. Exposure to telemarketers and robocalls

3. Your business is tied to your personal number and is difficult to change

4. Limited calling features that don’t scale with company growth

5. Lack of control over additional business lines

6. Personal privacy is compromised as you can always be reached

7. Inability to distinguish between work and personal phone calls

8. Lack of control over work vs. personal time with friends and family

9. Inability to transfer calls to team members when needed

10. Using a personal number for business just looks unprofessional

Benefits of A Separate Business Line for Your Cell Phone

A business phone number is a critical part of your brand identity and provides an essential convenience for customers. 70% of mobile users who look for goods and services online opt for a phone call over other forms of communication. 94% of users call a business after searching for it on their phones. Here are some other great reasons to get a separate business line for your smartphone.

Improve Customer Satisfaction

A phone number used explicitly for your business works to enhance customer service and satisfaction. Customers can get frustrated when they try to get in touch with a specific company, but can’t find their contact information or easily reach you.

If you do continue to use your business number, take care when using it on the internet or giving it out to clients and suppliers. Getting a business line makes sure customers can easily find your contact details and reach you. People can reach out to you and get answers to their queries and doubts.

Reliability and Portability

Whether you own a small or big business, having a business phone line works wonders. It gives your business credibility and works to promote your brand. It’s also easy to transition to a new location, so even if you move your business your customers can still contact you with the same number.

Separate Your Personal & Business Communications

We often change our personal numbers, but your business number needs to remain consistent. By separating business from personal contacts, you can more clearly distinguish calls and messages from friends and family, or from work sources. Also, using your personal number on marketing materials would render all those materials obsolete if you had to change it.

You Can Choose a Business Number That’s Easier for Customers to Remember

Thousands of local and toll-free phone numbers are available across all area codes, so you can get one that’s convenient and easy to remember. A toll-free number will appeal to landline callers especially, and can give your business an added appearance of professionalism, making it a potent marketing tool.

More Control Over Employee-Customer Communications

If your employees use their personal numbers when dealing with customers, you have little control over their communications in your business’ name. Perhaps more importantly, you won’t have access to call records and notes about clients that help streamline efforts among internal teams.

Easier to Maintaining Work-Life Balance

Giving out your personal phone number for business reasons, your personal and professional life can get mixed up. Customers and providers can always reach you, and your privacy gets restricted. Having a separate business line with set hours helps maintain a seamless work-life balance.

Minimize Your Need for New Devices or Hardware

Many small businesses and start-ups begin by using their personal number for business, but as the company grows, having a second number becomes more and more important. If you operate as a solopreneur, maintaining a second cell phone and business calling line can quickly add up in expense.

Why You Should Add a Second Phone Number to Your Cell Phone

Modern phones have gotten more powerful and easy to use than ever, and communications are getting better, faster, and clearer all the time. There’s never been a better time than to try out using a separate business line. There are lots of advantages of having one phone with two numbers, including:

  • Personal privacy: keep your personal information and details safe from your business-only contacts.
  • Work-life Balance: easily maintain separate personal and professional communications.
  • Saves money and time: keeping two cell phones can get confusing and expensive.
  • Mobility: connect with customers and colleagues from home or on the road.

Personal numbers are not meant for doing business, not to mention they lack professional calling features. Getting a phone number for your business is affordable, is a great idea for companies of all sizes, is convenient, and safeguards your personal data from scammers. A virtual phone system will allow you to put up a professional front with a very low cost.

Adding a Separate Business Line to Your Mobile Device is Easy

Many great business line mobile apps are available on Google Play or Apple App Store for iPhone and iOS. Mobile calling apps also provide essential extra features, such as voicemail transcription and auto-attendants. Incoming calls have a characteristic ring so you’ll always know who is calling. Operating a virtual business phone system helps you easily expand to additional team members. It doesn’t matter what hardware you use: smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktop computers, office IP phones, or traditional landlines. All your business phone lines will be linked to one single number for anyone who calls in.

You can sign up for a free trial of most business calling apps to get a better idea of how their features can work for your business. Tiered pricing plans are available for businesses of all sizes. Bring your business calling into the 21st century by adding a business line to your smartphone today.

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

The Ins and Outs of Financial Projections and Why They’re Essential for Your Business

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Do you have a solid grasp of the financials of your business and your future financial goals? Financial projections can be used as both an internal planning tool and a way to communicate with stakeholders, helping you make the best decisions about where you want to take your company. This article will take you through the process of creating accurate financial projections. 

What are financial projections?

Financial projections are an essential tool for any business owner or entrepreneur and provide valuable insights into your company’s future. With accurate projections, you can see where your business is headed and how it will grow or shrink over time, depending on your assumptions. 

The best thing about this type of planning is that it’s flexible. If something changes, like a new opportunity or challenge you didn’t foresee, you can adjust your numbers accordingly to accommodate these new circumstances. 

What financial projections do I need? 

There are many types of financial projections that might be useful, depending on your company. 

The most widely used ones are projections of profit margins, which can include revenue forecasts and expense budgets. But don’t forget to consider your cash flow statement, especially when planning to scale up your business, as you are likely to need cash available to make significant investments such as purchasing machinery or land. 

And a balance sheet can also help you project future success, as it gives a great overall view if you’re trying to get funding from banks or investors. 

How do I create financial projections? 

A great place to start with this process would be looking at historical data from previous years to have some baseline against which to compare any future scenarios. 

From there, you make assumptions as to what will happen in the future. Don’t forget to document the reason behind each assumption to make sure they’re realistic. 

There are many online resources available for creating financial projections, such as software like Excel spreadsheets. All you need is basic knowledge of how to use the tool, and if you want inspiration, there are plenty of online templates available to help you. 

Do you need help? 

Many financial advisors and accountants specialize in creating financial projections and can offer assistance or answer any questions if you get stuck. 

And if you want to deepen your knowledge about financial statements and what they can do for you, a good option might be getting an online accounting degree. Not only will you learn about financial statements, but you’ll also gain insight into accounting principles and standards. 

By earning your degree online, you can work around your existing schedule so that your work and personal life don’t suffer while you learn. And you will find that it gives you more confidence to handle the financial challenges your business faces.

Financial projections are an effective tool to understand how money is coming in and going out of your company so you can make more educated decisions about where it should go next. Accurate financial projections can help your business find funding, communicate with stakeholders, and grow.


Need help kickstarting your startup idea or getting media exposure for your brand?
Feel free to reach out for a free 20-minute consultation to chat about your business and how I can help! To schedule your time: CLICK HERE

 

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you want to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

Two Steps to Launch your StartUp Idea – Don’t Lose Momentum!

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Here is a simple two-step process that will help you get started with launching your startup idea today.

Launching a startup can be an intimidating process. Taking ideas from your head and putting them into an action plan starts with deciding to bring your vision to fruition. Running a startup is no easy task, and launching one isn’t either. For those who are just starting, taking baby steps is recommended to prevent yourself from becoming overwhelmed or discouraged before you get started.

These steps can help you gain the momentum you need to get your startup up and running today.

Determine the Goal

Starting with your goal in mind will save you tons of time and energy. Just like taking a road trip, it’s best to have a sense of where you would like to end up. Know where you want to see yourself, even if you’re not sure about the final destination.

Determine what your destination would look like – is it more money, and if so, how much and why? For what reason do you want to make a specific amount of money? Is it the freedom to work anywhere in the world? Maybe your goal is to solve a problem for medical professionals who work in the healthcare industry. Know and understand your “why.”

Once you know your goal, you can proceed with creating a plan of action to achieve it. Most startup failures are due to a lack of clarity – no goals, no vision. A goal will serve as your guidepost and help you kickstart the required action steps to get things moving in the right direction. Most startup founders set out on this journey to make a difference. Startups play a pivotal role in changing our world.

Start with Simple Resources

Don’t let not having a website ready discourage you from getting your business online. We live in a world where social media is a big deal. If you have the name of your business, the official logo, and an overview of what your company does, that’s enough to get going. If you are in the middle of filing paperwork like business registrations, copyrights, trademarks, and similar items of that nature, I would suggest finalizing those necessary documents before going online.

In addition, there are also other tasks you can do that will help position your startup online when the time comes. These tasks include creating your brand mission statement or company overview, determining which social media platforms to use, and registering them. It is also a great time to start thinking about the marketing strategy and the best ways to promote your startup. This level of activity will spur your mind into action. Completing the simple stuff will make way for the next set of tasks you need for a successful launch.

Wrapping up

Hopefully, the steps above have given you some clarity and insight into why it is crucial to take action now on your idea. Even though you may experience levels of uncertainty or doubt, you will create momentum by moving forward. The goal is to start where you are with what you have. I’m sure you may have heard the quote, “An idea not coupled with action will never get any bigger than the brain cell it occupied.” ―Arnold Glasow.

Need help kickstarting your startup idea or getting media exposure for your brand?
Feel free to reach out for a free 20-minute consultation where we can chat about your business and how I can help! To schedule your time: CLICK HERE

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

Podcast Recap: Food Truck Culture and Entrepreneurship with Podcaster Ariel Smith

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Ariel Smith, host of The Food Truck Scholar podcast centered around the food truck business, food culture, and black entrepreneurship talks about the inspiration behind her podcast. She also shares several tips and ideas for aspiring entrepreneurs seeking to get started on their ventures.

1) Creativity is necessary

Creativity is important but not sufficient for a food truck business to get successful. An entrepreneur should try new foods and incorporate innovation in this business, but some important points must be kept in mind while doing so. As with all businesses, the food truck business also has its own risks and can fail if food quality, customer service, or any important other factor is not paid attention to. Such a mistake can be destructive for the business even if creativity is employed. In short, small factors may have significant effects on the business in the long run and thus must be considered.

2) Significance of the Food truck business

The food truck industry is an important one serving a lot of people daily. It is growing ever more significant as it has the potential to offer the same quality and variety of food that a person enjoys at a restaurant. Furthermore, food trucks cater superior food like lobsters and crabs to people of lower socioeconomic statuses while restaurants only serve such food to upper-class people. This growing significance of the food truck industry makes it a viable business option and promises a lot of opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs.

3) Social media marketing is essential

Social media is an essential marketing tool for food trucks, without which marketing can be said to be virtually impossible. It can help in maintaining a good customer relation, engaging them, disclosing opening, and closing times and routes which reduces the communication gap between the food truck operators and the customers. While many social media sites and apps are available, the most important ones in this business are Instagram and Facebook. The critical points in social media marketing of food trucks are that social media accounts must be updated with new posts regularly. Excellent photography must be employed in the posts about foods and a schedule of time and routes must be communicated to followers and should be followed.

4) Research is a must

Aspiring food truck entrepreneurs should do a lot of research before entering the business because this helps them avoid future problems. A person entering the business must research all the available options and choices and select the ones that cater to his or her needs.

5) Deciding and planning

A person willing to enter the food truck business should decide and plan everything as soon as possible. He or she should know the category of food they want to serve and whether it would be pre-prepared or will be prepared in the truck. It should also be decided if they plan to buy or rent the truck, and if someone else is working for them on the truck, how credible and trustable is that person. Most importantly, the person must build a following on social media accounts way before launching the business so that he or she knows that people are actually going to buy the product.

6) Passion is vital

Lastly, passion is a vital ingredient to enjoy success in the food truck business. It is not as easy as it seems and there are days when a person must work in very harsh conditions with patience and effort and such a contribution can only be made by a person who is working for his or her passion, not just for earning a quick buck.

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

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Could Home Office Improvements Lower Your Tax Bill?

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Discover more informative content by checking out the Keetria blog and podcast.

Planning updates to your home office? If you are doing so to support a small business, you could be in for potential tax savings. Tax planning and accounting services can help you make the most of these savings and also help you avoid issues with the IRS. It also helps to know upfront which expenses and updates can be deducted and which can’t. Check out this list of possible home office credits:

Some or All of Your Internet Costs

When it comes to self-employed tax credits, you can typically only write off things that you absolutely need to run your business. You may be surprised to learn that this includes either all or some of the fees you pay for your home internet connection. If your family utilizes the same connection for other tasks, like online learning, you can only deduct a percentage of the cost.

Many of Your Digital Security Expenses

Keeping your connection protected is a worthwhile endeavor, especially if you plan on storing personal information on devices or doing your taxes online (for instance). Without proper security measures in place — including antivirus software and a VPN — your information could end up in the hands of online criminals. Plus, you should be able to deduct any related expense.

Dedicated Home Office Space

If you’re creating a dedicated workspace at home, you could be eligible for the home office tax credit. This deduction can trip up many small business owners, but as long as you use your office exclusively for conducting business tasks, you should be okay.:

Keep in mind that employees who receive a W2 from their employers are not eligible for the home office deduction. Even if you work from home full time and have a dedicated home office, if you receive a W2, you cannot claim this deduction.

Direct Expenses Related to Your Business

Did you have your new home office carpeted? Or did you buy new office equipment and furniture? If your space qualifies for the home office deduction, you may also be able to write off these additional expenses. All of these costs should qualify as direct expenses for your small business. You just need to have receipts and documentation to prove as such.

Repairs Needed to Update Your Home Office

Other potential tax breaks you can take include those that offset the cost of needed repairs to your home workspace. Once again, taking these detailed deductions requires clear documentation and quite a bit of work. This is why so many small business owners may be better off taking a simplified home office tax credit to save themselves the time and hassle.

General Improvement/Repairs for Your Home

Okay, so you can’t claim most updates and home improvements on your business taxes. However, if these improvements add value to your home or are made to accommodate a family member with a disability, you can use related deductions to save on your personal returns or if you decide to sell your home in the future. For instance, if you finish an attic to create more bedroom space and free up a room for your home office, these expenses should qualify.

To make planning for these home improvement projects less overwhelming, websites like Angi provide a simple way to connect with the services you need. For example, if you’re looking for a handyman, you can find a top handyman near me and easily check whether they’re certified and how many ratings they’ve earned. You can also see which services offer deals and coupons, so that you’re not only lowering your tax bill, you’re also saving money on the costs of home repairs.

Business Owners Should Beware

There are quite a few ways that making home office or general home updates can save you money come tax time. As you may have noted though, we used a lot of terms like “may” and “could” throughout this guide. That’s because taking advantage of these money-saving deductions does require some professional savvy. If you are interested in maximizing your savings without triggering an audit, consider working with a professional tax preparation service.

Making improvements to your home office can increase your productivity. It may also help you save on your tax bill, depending on the sort of updates you make. Your best bet is to consult a professional accountant as you plan your project and certainly when you complete your taxes.

 

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

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Podcast Recap: Business Growth Strategy & Execution with Mal McCallion

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Growtion Founder & CEO Mal McCallion shares valuable business growth strategies and startup activities he has gained over the years. Over the course of his career, Mal has been involved with the launch of national brands such as Zoopla and Primelocation. He’s also contributed to the development of dozens of small-to-mid-size enterprises (SMEs). To listen to the full SOB The Podcast interview check out the video below. Here, we share 7 key takeaway points directly from the interview.

1) Importance of execution

Mal places a lot of importance on the execution of an idea or a plan. His own organization-growing is a blend of growth and execution; the philosophy behind it is that execution of growth is more important than mere theories. He believes that a theoretical plan that only relies on knowledge but not on actual practice or implementation is destructive for startups. So, he considers an executable plan a very important part of a business or startup strategy.

2) The essential aspects of growth

The three essential aspects of the growth of a startup or business are product, marketing, and sales, the rest of all the business operations are of secondary importance and if these three aspects are executed with perfection the other operations also become quite easy to handle. The product should be made while keeping the target audience in mind which helps in increasing sales and promoting word of mouth marketing among people. For the second step, marketing, social media is very important as it helps to gain a following and promote a sense of brand among potential customers. Lastly, sales are also essential because a common mistake that a lot of entrepreneurs do is that they hope that marketing would be enough for selling their product which, unfortunately, is a wrong notion.


3) The importance of Why

The main question that every entrepreneur or businessperson should ask himself is that why they are doing something. This applied in every single activity of business from meeting to management to marketing to customer relations to investor relations it is important to ask yourself that why are you doing this? This helps in clearing the vision as well as connecting with other people who share the same vision. It also helps in minimizing the distractions that surround a person.

4) Building a relationship with the customer

Building a relationship with the customer on a personal level is very important because that builds the reputation of the company and helps in better satisfying the customer as they feel themselves being considered important in it. A story or narrative around the product is very important; this helps in attracting customers who have the same vision as you and helps in gaining their trust.

5) Common mistakes of entrepreneurs

The most common mistake among entrepreneurs and business people is that they get carried away by the distractions that their environment offers. The immense amount of information that surrounds a common person in this age makes it very difficult to be decisive and this, in turn, can lead to a person pursuing a lot of different goals at the same time, which ultimately is destructive for the person or the organization. This is why the three important aspects of a business product, marketing, and sales have been mentioned which if focused on can help minimize distractions.

6) Steps of sale

Important steps of sales have been mentioned as the identification of the potential customers, engaging with them through social media or any other means, converting them into followers, and then, the most important step, urging them to actually buy their product.

7) Words for aspiring entrepreneurs

Lastly, he mentions that the pandemic has brought many opportunities for aspiring business professionals and entrepreneurs. The importance of working remotely and online has grown significantly which has made its effects on the business world giving rise to these new opportunities. People who want to be successful should recognize them and try to innovate their business accordingly to succeed in this domain.

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

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4 Tips for Making Your Way in the Sharing Economy

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This is a great time to start or grow a small business. With the rise of collaborative consumption as a viable economic model, people are inventing brand-new ways to earn a living and reshaping the world of work. It’s much bigger than Uber and Lyft; people are using phones and computer-based apps to find all manner of peer-to-peer work. Airbnb and Couchsurfing allow you to rent a room in someone’s home. You can also locate pet sitters and custom crafters online. There are even apps where you can hire someone to make you soup when you’re sick. Human ingenuity has no bounds; if you can imagine it, you can monetize it. However, it just takes the right setup and planning to become successful in the sharing economy.

The following tips from Keetria can help you find your footing in the sharing economy.

Understand What You Need to Do

Thanks to the gig economy, you don’t need to be an experienced entrepreneur to run a successful business today! As long as you find a platform where you can offer your services and find your first customers, you can start your own business. First, you’ll need to work out a business plan and preliminary budget. These documents will come in handy should you ever decide to apply for grants or look for a business partner.

After you’ve sorted out these important documents, think about how you’ll pay yourself and any staff you hire. It’s important to keep your business and personal finances separated, and you need to dogear funds to send to Uncle Sam on a regular basis. You should also set aside money to pay for health insurance, retirement, and so forth. A payroll app like Quickbooks is the easiest solution. It will remind you about paydays and tax deadlines, allows you to do things like generate payroll on the fly, and even provide you with free direct deposit. The easier you can make it to tackle mundane and complicated concerns like payroll, the better!

Find Your Niche

Having a great idea is just the beginning. Do a little homegrown market research and find out if you have competitors. If you do, consider taking one to lunch. For the price of a meal, you can pick up some information about the nature of the work you plan to do and what the market for that work is like. Look around online to see what is doing well in your area and what platforms exist to support your work. Make sure you avoid the most common pitfalls. Businesses fail when they forget both sides have to get something they want. Sharing should be a win-win situation. However, if you provide poor service or fail to solve the problem you’re addressing, your business will fail too. Make sure your focus is narrow enough to make you stand out from the competition and your consumer base broad enough to support a profit.

Create a Workspace

When your jobs come in on your phone around the clock, it can feel like you’re always working. Designating a workspace and work hours can help you balance your life. This can be a room or area at home where you keep your computer, printer, and records for your business, but it can also be a place you leave home and go to each day. Individually rentable office space is another big part of the new economy. The point is to have a place where you handle work-related business away from your personal life. This will help you to be more productive during the hours you are working and allow you to “leave work at the office” mentally when you aren’t.

Get Buzz Going

It’s hard to get clients if you aren’t easy to find. Make sure you’re on social media and all the relevant apps and platforms. Think of it as good advertising. You may even want to up your game as you get a little more successful and network with others in related lines of work. Say that you’re running a tidy little shop online making custom wedding cakes. You have a friend who is running her business over on Etsy doing calligraphy and etching glass. Consider working together to throw each other clients; people who want wedding cakes often want engraved champagne flutes as well. These supportive networks can be as important to your success as the very platform you use to market your work, so don’t neglect them.

If you are a successful small business, making use of online apps, social media marketing, and the sharing economy will really help you to reach new customers and expand your brand. And if you’re thinking about going into business, the sharing economy means it has never been easier. Every day brings some new way to find your market, and the future is limitless.

 

Keetria is an entrepreneur, wellness advocate, and brand strategy coach for creatives & entrepreneurs with 16 years of public relations expertise working with some of the world’s leading brands, startups, media personalities, and entertainers. If you would like to work together, don’t hesitate to reach out!

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