Shannon Gronich – Page 28

How to Keep Up with E-Commerce Competition

January 24, 2022 by Shannon Gronich Leave a Comment

E-commerce has been the major wave for new businesses and entrepreneurs in the past decade. E-commerce is any business model that relies on or solely relies on online transactions as the source of business. E-commerce stores do everything, but mostly you will find your e-commerce success stories are stores that sell physical products online. While e-commerce has made it easier for people to start a business, it also means there is way more competition out there than ever before. Here are three key strategies to help you keep up with e-commerce competition.

Adopt Their Strategies

With marking being one of the largest industries today, we see advertisements all around us. From bus benches, to online to billboards. When marking a particular product, you are sure to have a competitor wanting to market your same products. Send the time to investigate how they reach customers. You can use their methods to attract the same clientele base. You want to have access to the same consumer they are reaching to prove your product is better. This is especially true in E-commerce where you don’t have an in-store opportunity to market your products

Create a Mobile Shopping Experience

How many applications do you have on your phone? Many apps exist today to create a mobile shopping experience. About 47% of consumers use mobile phones to shop online. With the ease of Instagram and Facebook advertisements, mobile phones create a unique platform to market shopping. They provide easy access with shopping just one click away. There are no more cutting out hours to drive to a mall and try on clothing. The key to truly utilizing mobile customers is to craft a mobile shopping experience, much how you would craft an in-person shopping experience.

Improve User Experience

The last key to staying ahead of the competition with your e-commerce business is to improve the user experience, or UX, of your website. User experience is anything that your customers experience or interact with while working with your ecommerce site. If your website is clunky, slow, or not intuitive, then you are behind the curve compared to your competition. Customers will search for the easiest to use and most intuitive e-commerce site to do business with, don’t count yourself out by being clunky.

E-commerce is one of the best possible business models for first time business owners. But e-commerce business also has the struggle of dealing with a lot of competition. Try utilizing these three strategies to ensure that your e-commerce site stands out against the competition.

Check out this article on how to reduce your taxes as a small business

Filed Under: Business

How to Make Your Company an Attractive Place to Work

January 14, 2022 by Shannon Gronich Leave a Comment

A big part of running a successful business is finding ways to bring in great employees who love to work there. This can take a lot of time and is generally more difficult than you might imagine. But by doing things like offering competitive wages, providing great benefits, and building a positive work culture that truly emphasizes work life balance, you can make your business the kind of place where people really want to work.

Create a Great Benefits Package

The benefits may not be the first thing you think about when you consider what you are offering to your employees, but it may be the most important thing. Because your employees need to have their needs met, benefits can be an important part of why they choose to work with your business at all. Offering great insurance with a few different options, retirement and a generous vacation plan can help you to bring in employees with impressive resumes and a high level of loyalty to your company.

Offer Equity for Compensation

Another great way to bring in great employees is to offer them equity in the company in exchange for their work. This would help them to feel more invested in the company you are building together and give them a greater reason to work for you. The amount of shareholders you are able to have will vary depending on the kind of corporation you register as. For example, an S-corp can only have up to 100 shareholders.

Acknowledge Good Work

Everyone likes to be acknowledged when they have done something useful or impressive. And you should make it a part of your company culture to really celebrate the good work your employees do. You should not only give lip service to their good work but you should also reward employees with bonuses, raises, and other incentives. When prospective employees know that they will be valued at your business, they will be much more likely to seek you out and accept a job offer. Take time to notice what good work is being done and reward employees accordingly.

If you believe in the work you are doing, you should invest in the employees you hire. They will notice the difference and they will then be more willing to do what they need to do to make your company a success. This will create a win-win situation where everyone works together to make things better.

Check out this article on how to reduce your taxes as a small business!

Filed Under: Business

How to Reduce Your Taxes as a Small Business

December 30, 2021 by Shannon Gronich Leave a Comment

Tax season is nearly upon us, and that means that it’s time to start getting things in order if you haven’t already. There’s a lot that can go into the taxes a small business has to pay, so it’s never a bad idea to get a head start. That’s not the only thing you should be thinking about though. You should also be thinking about what you can do to reduce the amount you have to pay in taxes.

Start a Retirement Plan

Everyone should have a plan for retirement. It’s never a bad idea to start planning for the future. You don’t have to wait until then to realize the benefits of retirement plans, however. Setting up a retirement plan and contributing to it as an employer can be a good way to reduce your business taxes. You can even use it to amp up the contributions to your own retirement as the owner. Maxing out your contributions as both the employer and an employee of your small business could see as much as $58,000 through a SEP IRA going into your retirement account every year.

Offering Health Benefits

Health benefits are becoming an increasingly expected employee benefit. It’s no wonder, given how relatively affordable health care tends to be for employees when it comes through their employer. It’s not just something that can benefit your employees though. Having a health insurance plan that you can offer your employees can help reduce your taxes. Your business may qualify for a tax credit if you offer group health insurance. Think carefully about the sorts of plans that make the most sense for you to offer and how to go about doing it. That way both you and your employees can reap the benefits.

Be Strategic about Hiring

There are a few things you can do when it comes to people who do work for your company to reduce your taxes. For starters, there are tax benefits you get when you hire family members. If you hire a spouse, for example, you don’t need to pay unemployment taxes. You don’t have to pay employment taxes on children you hire either. Then there’s the matter of employees vs independent contractors. If you contract work out to independent contractors, you’re off the hook for employment taxes for them either.

No one likes paying more taxes than necessary, so it’s always good to figure out what you can do to reduce your taxes. In many cases, it comes down to how you choose to spend the money your business brings in. In other cases, it can be strategic employment decisions. Remember, you can always consult a tax professional who specializes in business taxes if you ever have questions or are looking for more ideas on how you can optimize your finances in regards to the taxes your business owes.

Click here for more strategies that can save your business time and money!

Filed Under: Business

Upgrades That Will Help Your E-Commerce Business Thrive

December 30, 2021 by Shannon Gronich Leave a Comment

Anyone can have a business. But it takes savvy tactics and smart business practices to successfully own an e-commerce business. The e-commerce industry is constantly developing to better meet client needs, so upgrades are important to keep up with competition. Here are a few of the most important upgrades that will help your e-commerce business thrive!

Change the UX

UX refers to the human experience of your website. A website user is a potential customer, and their ability to navigate your website is their experience and impression of your customer. If your website is difficult to navigate, loads slowly, or doesn’t provide what they are looking for, however, you will lose their business. Get inside your user’s mind to find the most simple, logical, and enjoyable shopping experience you can provide for your customers. If you build a great experience, you will attract customers. UX plays a pivotal role in driving conversions.

Add Features to Your App

Adding features to your app will significantly improve your user’s experience and the reach of your company. After all, more than 50% of internet searches are done on a mobile device. Most individuals prefer using their device because they always have it on them, so making your site and app mobile friendly will help to convert customers. Features you should add to your app include a quick registration, product filtering, and multiple payment options. By allowing multiple payment options, including smart wallets, you reduce abandoned carts.

Capitalize Customer Reviews

Over 60% of consumers read customer reviews before buying. The reviews you receive from your customers are vital to your business’s success. You can use them on your website and social media. Use reviews as an opportunity to market your product. When the reviews are positive, they are a great advertising tool for you. Negative reviews should be seen as an opportunity to improve your product and generate a bigger following. Responding to reviews in a positive manner will also make you more personable to the customer base. Upgrade your e-commerce by including customer reviews on your site.

With so many websites competing for your customer’s attention, the most important thing you can do is make your business stand out, and that means staying up to date with the newest innovations in e-commerce technology. Upgrade your users experience, add features to your app, and capitalize on customer reviews to receive the greatest visibility.

Read this next: How to Finance Your New Business Venture

Filed Under: Business

How to Form Lasting Connections with New Customers

December 2, 2021 by Shannon Gronich Leave a Comment

As a business owner, you obviously want to maintain your past customers, but you also want to make sure that your new customers continue to work with your business in the future. One of the best ways to ensure this is to form lasting connections with your customers in your interactions with them. Here are a few points that will help you to form those connections and relationships in a way that makes your customers feel special and seen.

Make Their Experience Memorable

First of all, you want to make sure that your customer’s experience with your business is memorable. If they are a walk-in customer at your brick-and-mortar store, take a bit of time to get to know them. Complement the products that they are looking at. Share comments from your own experiences that will humanize you and help you to relate to each other. Of course, customers will remember your business if they are in love with your products, but it is the excellent customer service that they receive that will make their experience unforgettable.

Stay in Contact

Once you’ve helped a new customer, you want to make sure that you stay in contact with them so they are encouraged to return to your store. There are lots of ways to approach this goal. You can offer a discount code or exclusive access for customers to sign up for your emails or texting services. Getting customers to download your mobile app lets you send them push notifications. The more you are able to stay in contact with your customers, without being overly pushy or annoying, the more likely they are to buy from your store again.

Listen to Them

When customers make comments about what kinds of products or services they’d like to see from your business, make sure that you keep those in mind. Even if they have complaints about your website or experience, validating those complaints and seeking to remedy them can help persuade your new customers to continue to come back again and again. If your customers see that you’re truly listening to their concerns or suggestions and trying to incorporate them, they’ll feel appreciated and important.

Forming real, long-lasting connections with your customers will not only help them to return to your business but will also increase the likelihood that they’ll refer someone else to you. Even though this takes extra time and effort, especially if your business is run online, it will be well worth it. Remember to take the time to communicate and connect with your customers and you’ll see how your business will benefit and grow as a result.

Read this next: Why Should Your Business Partner with Larger Retailers?

Filed Under: Business