For some companies and business owners, the holiday season is the best time of year in terms of sales and generating revenue. Whether you are an entrepreneur or a seasoned business owner, knowing how to take advantage of a holiday sales spike can significantly impact the overall success you achieve each year. Here are some things to keep in mind when preparing your business for a sale.

Keep Walkways Clear

If you are the owner of a storefront or a brick-and-mortar store, it is imperative to keep walkways outside of your property clear and free from ice and debris at all times. Ensure that you salt and protect each walkway surrounding your business during the cold and wet months to prevent injuries and encourage more foot traffic into your store.

It is also imperative to keep all walkways to your store or place of business clear from ice, damage, cracks and other risks as this may leave you legally accountable for any accidents or injuries that occur. Always verify that you have proper liability insurance for your business and storefront, especially if you live in an area where ice and snowstorms are common or expected each year.

Hire Seasonal Employees

Statistics show that holiday sales account for 20 to 30 percent of profits in most industries, which is why so many employers and companies hire seasonal and part-time workers throughout the busiest times of the year. Consider hiring temporary employees during your busiest holiday months to minimize full-time payroll taxes while also ensuring that your current employees do not become overwhelmed and too stressed out to continue working for you. Additional help on the sales floor and throughout your store can dramatically improve the overall environment and atmosphere in your workplace, especially during busy, hectic and stressful times of the year.

Get Creative Using Social Media

Social media is a great tool for promoting holiday sales and generating interest in your brand and business. Using social media is an effective way to generate brand awareness while also garnering support from new followers who may become loyal customers. Getting creative with the use of social media is possible by hosting contests and giving back, especially during the holiday sale season. Social media is also a great way to share special sale codes that can only be used if they follow your page or subscribe to your newsletter. This is a great way to bring in more attention for your business.

Big holiday sales can seem daunting. As a business owner, knowing how to take advantage of a holiday sales spike can make or break your company each year. With the right plan of action, you can expand your reach while maximizing the revenue you are capable of generating.

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Keeping your workplace clean and free from hazardous obstacles is an essential part of maintaining a successful business. However, hiring staff to clean each and every day can become rather expensive, especially for start-ups. This is why so many companies choose to go the route of simply hiring a cleaning service to come from time to time. However, before you sign on the dotted line, here are a few things to look out for.

Affordability

Although it’s much cheaper to hire a cleaning service than bringing in your own staff, it can still get expensive. It is important to consider the affordability of the service as well as what you get. Note that you should not choose a company because it is the cheapest option. As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. So, in order to make an educated decision, always look at the level of service you get with each company. You will notice that some companies may charge a lot but will have certain restrictions, while others will go above and beyond for less.

Thoroughness

One of the most common reasons a company gets sued is because of an accident at work. This is why it is so important that you choose a company that is thorough with its cleaning. Slippery unmarked floors are no laughing matter, so make sure they don’t just clean but mark areas that might be dangerous. It is highly recommended to ask for references and talk with prior clients about their history with the company. A few calls can potentially save your company thousands.

Insurance

Simply said, accidents are going to happen. A computer will be dropped by accident or that expensive painting in your lobby might be damaged. Thus, one of the first things you should ask a cleaning service is what kind of insurance it has. You are going to want a cleaning company that can not only cover damages on objects within your office but also personal accidents. This is especially important because that worker can potentially file a lawsuit against not only the cleaning company but your business as well.

Business leaders have a plethora of things to do. However, hiring the right cleaning service is not a detail that should be thrown to the wayside. So, take the tips listed above into consideration and conduct your own personal research to determine which cleaning company is the right choice for you.

You might also be interested in this article: How Creating a Positive Work Environment Can Make Your Employees Happier

Giving your employees a fair salary, comfortable work environment, and good benefits are all great starting points for a positive work environment. Still, it requires more than that to really create a stellar company culture. To help employees feel like their employer truly cares about them, there needs to be regular attention paid to morale. These are some ways a more positive work environment can increase happiness among employees.

Fitness Challenges

Staying active and healthy is already a challenge for many people, but you don’t have to sit by as your employees struggle to stay in shape. Health and physical fitness challenges create greater well-being in the workplace. Your employees can be encouraged to do things like avoiding meat on certain days of the week. Send out reminders that they’re free to stretch or do anything else active that helps them stay alert. Mental health is another good thing to focus on. You need also to assess how your own actions could be leading to poor mental states, such as giving too much work with unrealistic deadlines.

Say Encouraging Words

Have you ever been given a sincere compliment or word of encouragement and not had your mood lifted at least slightly? Even if your employees aren’t showing any outward signs of duress or unhappiness, they could be dealing with these feelings on the inside. Talk to your employees in a personal way that shows you appreciate their effort and that you care about how they’re doing.

More Productivity

An employer who seems indifferent toward their workers isn’t going to inspire them to work more productively, and it especially won’t work if they’re constantly badgering them. People put in an effort when they feel appreciated, and a positive work environment allows employees to be productive without straining themselves. You can’t just throw compliments at employees when it’s the busy season. The positivity needs to be a constant fixture in your workplace and spread easily from one employee to another.

When you hire new people, they should quickly feel love all around the office and look forward to diving into their work. Going to work doesn’t have to feel like a struggle, but so many people clock in and out every day feeling like their employers don’t care about them. You need to create a positive work environment in authentic ways. This will let your company not only see more productivity, but it can also lead to employees coming in and out of work with smiles.

Local festivals and events tend to draw good crowds filled with people looking for adventure and fun. Many times, they present excellent marketing opportunities for small local businesses to attract new customers and put their brand on display. Attending local festivals is a smart business strategy that can be accomplished at little expense.

Find an Event

The first step is to find a suitable event. Usually, municipalities advertise their special occasions well in advance, and many will also openly court the participation of local businesses. One of the keys is to know who your target audience is and determine if it coincides with that of the event. While some businesses have more universal appeal, others attract specific niches of consumer demographics that may not overlap with the expected attendees of the festival. It’s also worth checking historical trends. If events are planned closely together, choose the one with the best draw and broadest appeal to your target audience.

Plan Your Attraction

You’ve found an appropriate festival and gained permission to have a booth or display. Now, you just need to plan the right way to get people to check out what you have to offer. Of course, you’ll want to be friendly and engaging, but there’s more to it than that. Put some thought into your presentation. There are so many unique attraction ideas that can draw all sorts of people to your area—the possibilities are endless! Your space should be clean and well organized, but it is helpful to have items that customers can interact with or that generate movement, which is an eye-catcher. Things like spinner wheels or other games interest people. Having branded freebies like mugs, pens or hats can enlist people to become brand ambassadors. Lastly, don’t forget the logistics. At an outdoor event, you’ll need a cover in case of rain. Determine if you require power or water hookups, and how far you will have to transport items from your vehicle.

Collect Information

These events aren’t just for giving things out; they’re also for acquiring important information, customer email addresses in particular. Smart email use can give you additional marketing opportunities far beyond the festival itself. Email is fast and cheap, and it allows for direct communication. Try incentivizing people to sign up by using giveaways or contests in exchange for their information.

If you are trying to sell locally, then it makes all the sense in the world to market locally. Festivals and events give you a large, ready-made audience. As long as you do the research and get the details right, your vendor booth could be a big potential boost for your business.

For more help with your business, schedule a coaching session today!

The power of the internet is proven. It offers several solutions for those who are trying to develop a personal brand, grow a business, or receive attention for another endeavor. Additionally, there is a good mix of free solutions as well as paid solutions. Here are four simple online strategies that can help your business reach more potential customers that are worth trying out.

Google Maps

If your business has a location, whether it is a storefront or office, it should be listed on Google Maps. Approximately 154 million people use Google Maps each month, making Google Maps a phenomenal tool for business owners to reach a huge potential audience. This is a free service that only takes a few minutes to set up. When a user is searching for a mall, restaurant, or movie theater, they may accidentally discover your company when scrolling around the map. If they are searching for a specific address, Google Maps shows what else is next to it if those companies are listed.

Advertise on Social Media

When your company’s budget allows, consider advertising on social media. You can always test the waters and decide whether to continue or not based on the results that you receive. You can also pick the best social media platform to advertise on based on the market you are trying to reach. Ads on Twitter are great for those who can write witty banter with a limited amount of characters. Instagram is great for the beautiful photos and visual ads, while Facebook has served as a good catchall. You can pick from display advertising, pay per click, and remarketing campaigns as well as affiliate advertising and video ads. If you speak with professionals in the digital marketing sector, they can go over your options. Based on your goals, budget, and preferences, they can offer you a number of suggestions.

SEO

Search engine optimization, or SEO, used to be an afterthought and an add-on service for digital marketing firms. Today, everything that has to do with online marketing and advertising begins with SEO. When professionals build a new website or revamp an existing site, they will deliver the final product optimized for the search engines. It is very important to ensure all your digital assets are optimized for the search engines because it allows them to be indexed. Indexing leads to exposure, and if your SEO strategy is well-executed, it will rank your website in the top three results. Optimized websites are architecturally sound, contain no broken links, and are full of relevant content. The search engines feel it is their duty to protect their users from those trying to game the ranks, so their algorithms weed out the bad websites as well as potential scammers.

Subscriptions

To reach more people online, consider starting an email list. Subscriptions to a blog feed, email list, or social media account updates help your followers remember that your company exists. Ideally, you are going to email relevant content that they will share with their friends and family. When that email list begins to grow and you have solid open rates, you can become confident that your online reach is growing too. 

Given that 3.7 billion people have set up at least one social media account and that at least 80% of consumers conduct online research before purchasing a product or service, capturing clients online is to your advantage. There are several simple strategies that can be used to help you gain traction among potential customers including Google Maps, online advertising, and SEO.

Interested in learning more marketing strategies? Check out this article next!

Cell phone use in the workplace is a hot topic. Some experts claim that cell phones in the workplace can improve productivity. Others, however, say that it reduces focus among employees. Here are some things to consider.

Wasting Company Time

Companies and individual employers want to create and maintain a workplace that values efficiency and output. Allowing employees to use their cell phones while working can have unintended consequences. Depending on the type of work your employees are engaging in, it might be acceptable to allow the use of cell phones during designated times and in designated areas. However, permitting workers to have their cell phones out while on the floor can result in wasted company time, which is a risk you definitely want to weigh before permitting employees to use their mobile devices at work.

Improving Internal Communications

With regard to internal communication, however, the intentional use of cellular mobile devices in a work environment can have a positive impact. Allowing cell phones at work can increase access to information that is relevant to the task at hand, which, in turn, can increase productivity. Apps can be designed to facilitate internal communication with employees, which can lead to greater employee engagement. This potential for increased engagement and an enhanced work ethic should be considered when you’re making a decision about whether to welcome cell phones in your workplace.

Striking a Balance

Just as no two businesses are exactly the same, cell phone policies are often unique and depend on the type of work being carried out. For businesses that rely on internal communication advances, a cell phone policy that allows for certain apps to run while others are blocked is a strong compromise. On the other hand, if the work carried out requires complete concentration and could be potentially hazardous otherwise, a stricter cell phone policy will probably make more sense for that specific business. There is no one-size-fits-all cell phone policy, just as there is no right or wrong answer as to what a cell phone policy should look like. Knowing what your workers need to be safe and productive is key.

When all is said and done, ensuring workers remain on task and in good spirits is what matters the most. Having a strong knowledge of your employees’ work ethic and individual needs will help you best determine what cell phone policy is appropriate for your workplace.

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If you have decided that you want to build a scalable business, you’ll need to quickly learn how to lay down the proper foundations to support it. Not all profitable businesses are able to climb up the business ladder quickly. To build up a business, you need a business model that can quickly multiply revenue at a minimal incremental cost. For example, a piece of software takes a lot of labor to develop, but once developed, it can be copied repeatedly with the same minimum cost. However, a family restaurant is vastly different. Labor and fresh ingredients are costly, and while a family business can grow well and be profitable, it would be a poor business model. Here are some ideas on how to lay the proper foundation for a rising enterprise.

Set Your Business Plan

One of the most crucial mistakes when building a scalable business model is not starting with a business plan. Eventually, businesses will need to begin searching for investors and having meetings with bankers. Your business plan should be ready to go. However, a business plan is more than just a description of your product. Your business plan should contain information about the problem you’re solving for your target market, your solution, how your solution will benefit your target market, and the financials and forecasts to back it up.

Automate Wherever Possible

One of the key requirements of a scalable business model is that there is a set system for accomplishing tasks, and everybody follows the same system. Automating as much of your mundane tasks, such as data entry, is one of the first things you should set up so that you can save on hiring additional employees. You can also automate email responses and appointment reminders. At instances where automating is not possible, consider hiring a virtual assistant instead of a full-time employee to manage routine tasks. This will save you time and resources so that you and your key team members can focus your attention on the clients, product development, and potential investors.

Intelligent Sales Software

Many software solutions such as CRM and POS can help generate more sales, improve customer experience, and scale your business. When searching for software solutions, try to search for those that have integration functions so that you can integrate as many applications as you need into an application suite. Not only are application bundles usually less expensive, but software from the same family are also usually more powerful when synced together. In addition, adequate training and education on existing software can help your retail stores save time and money at the point of sale.

The Corporate Shield

Setting up your business as the right business entity can save you a lot of hassle and headache. While there are many business entities types available to register as LLCs and LLPs are the main business types that can help protect your business assets in the event of legal proceedings.

Building a scalable business model is a hefty enterprise that requires a lot of preparation beforehand. If you are thinking of building a business or is interested in making your current business profitable, make sure you follow these tips to build with a solid starting foundation.

If you need help setting up your business, I can help! Contact me to learn more about my coaching services!