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Resources to Build a Successful Business

By | Craig Middleton

Building up a great business requires careful planning, hard work, and a lot of hours. Here are some ideas about resources that you can use to build up your business in ways that won’t drain your business’ budget. 

Look for Commercial Space Online

Whether your business needs a location for a storefront or simply just an office space where staff can work, you need to choose a space that fits your business’ needs and budget. If you’ll be receiving customers or clients, you need to choose a location that will be good for business. You want to try to avoid moving in next door to the competition while also choosing a space that will generate a healthy volume of traffic. To find the best commercial real estate location available for lease in your area, try to use an online search platform geared  towards small businesses instead of just relying on a broker’s recommendations. In the world of commercial real estate, brokers may tend to push the properties that have been vacant the longest rather than the property that will best suit your business. Do some of your own research and due diligence about the price and availability of commercial space in your area. Independent research using online resources will help you make a well-informed decision about where you plant your roots.

Stay Organized Administratively

When you’re still working out administrative logistics for your growing company, it’s easy for files and financial information to get out of order. Nevertheless, it’s imperative to stay organized administratively in order to build a successful business. Budgeting effectively and closely monitoring your business’ performance requires having a recordkeeping system in place that makes it easy for you to access information whenever you need it. Establish a formal recordkeeping policy and assign responsibility for compliance to a key staff member. Official recordkeeping requirements for business entities are regulated by state statute and IRS guidelines. Some records need to be kept as long as seven years, and some corporate documents need to be kept indefinitely. To keep all of your company’s important information in order, consider a cloud storage-based recordkeeping system. A shared file drive will make it easy for you and your staff to access the records, and it will prevent important information from getting lost.

Establish a Manageable Payroll System

Having the right payment software can help reduce how much time you spend managing your staff’s payroll. When you use traditional accounting software that isn’t specifically geared towards making paystubs, you’re more likely to run into confusion when you tally up pay rates. Having a dedicated payroll management system will minimize confusion and save time. Consider a system where you can generate an online pay stub so you can instantly generate payment information for your staff.

Pursue Networking Opportunities

Sometimes networking with other businesses can help you build your own. It may seem counterintuitive to try making connections with your competition, but it may actually help you better establish your business in your community. Joining professional associations, attending trade events, and getting involved with community-based business bureaus or main streets initiatives can be a good opportunity to learn more about the ins and outs of doing business in your area while also helping you gain some exposure for your business. Your city may also have an association for minority or women owned businesses that can help you find local opportunities in your industry.

Get Feedback from Your Customers

Some business owners behave as though they’re more focused on having customers write reviews for them online rather than hearing from directly about their experience and learning from their feedback. However, your customer base may be an invaluable resource for identifying what’s working well about your growing business and what still needs refinement. While not everyone will be able to offer you constructive feedback, sometimes your customers can provide unique insight to what the rest of your customer base wants. Moreover, you customers will appreciate that you really care about their experience and you want to make sure that they’re happy with your business’ products or services. Using a customer-focused metric to help measure success will be sure to help generate positive long-term results and good relationships with your business’ expanding base of customers.

Building a new business can be challenging and working with a limited budget may present additional obstacles. Taking advantage of low-cost resources that can help you stay organized and produce good work will help you maximize operational efficiency as you take your business’ operations to new heights.

 

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