Expanding Your Business: 5 Necessary Positions to Fill to Ensure Future Growth

A business owner must look to the future and make plans accordingly. This will allow an entrepreneur to succeed without as many growing pains. To do so, a company must fill positions when anticipating growth. With that being said, here are five necessary positions to fill to ensure future growth.

Electrical engineers

When making plans for the future, many companies will need plenty of electrical engineers as they can help the organization save money and implement new strategies. Without a doubt, when a potential employee has an OU Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering, the company will have a good employee on its hands. Engineering career possibilities are huge, and a company must fill this void ahead of time.

Online marketing

It is no secret that Internet marketing has exploded in popularity in the past few years. This will continue as companies use SEO, Facebook and PPC to get more website visitors. Ideally, a business should support its marketing campaigns by hiring qualified and educated online marketing experts.

Accountant

At first, some entrepreneurs do their own taxes and bookkeeping. While this is a great way to save money, a company should hire a qualified professional. With an accountant, the organization can avoid problems with tax authorities. At the same time, when using an accountant and CPA together, the business will rarely have problems with the books and should save money on taxes.

Human resources

Most small business owners cannot justify the hiring of a full-time human resources worker. As time goes on, one will need to rethink this as an HR rep can help a business avoid breaking laws and can also foster employee relations. Remember, any serious company will have a qualified HR representative that work with the business and employees to make it better for everyone.

IT specialists

When running a small office, some opt to outsource the IT tasks such as server and computer maintenance. This will work to a point. However, when a company grows, it will need a comprehensive solution and will require multiple employees to manage the tasks. Luckily, when hiring qualified IT staff members, a company can have a smooth transition and will not suffer from any serious and irrecoverable errors.

When building a business, one must realize that it is crucial to look to the future. When anticipating problems and needs, an entrepreneur can make more money, and the business will grow faster and with fewer growing pains.

4 Online Marketing Services that Drive Success

To do well with a business, one must have a multifaceted approach that involves trying to find customers with a variety of different methods. However, this is not always easy, as many new business owners do not know what actually helps to build a strong a customer base. Here are four online marketing services that drive success. 

SEO

With high organic search rankings, a company can see a lot of traffic to their website. To get started, most people opt to do it on their own and experience poor results, since it is difficult for the average person to do it right. Luckily, a professional SEO company can, with ease, help a website reach the first page of the major search engines. They can do this by helping the business create solid content and gain links from a variety of quality sources. Thus, when you are even looking for a dental practice marketing service, you should first consider using an SEO company in order to generate a large amount of natural attention. 

Email marketing

With email, one can market their ideas to a wide audience and find a lot of success. To begin, one should hire a service that can construct a marketing email that will bring in new visitors to the website of the company. These same companies, such as 123 Postcards, will also be able to provide your company with a direct mail service, which will make sure that you reach out to as many people as possible. This is a perfect option for a business that has a hard time getting people excited about their product using other methods. 

Social media marketing

Most people fail to build a sound social media marketing plan, as they do not know what will interest followers. The problem is that many people will simply give up when they don't see results from their efforts with social media. In order to see the best results, you should consider using a professional company that will know how to build and use your social media sites with the maximum amount of efficiency in mind. Remember, social media is here to stay, and a company must embrace this early on if it wants to succeed. 

Surveys

When owning a website, one will, inevitably, have both satisfied and angry customers. To understand the reason for these varying opinions, one should conduct surveys. This will not only help the business to understand the mindset of clients, but with this information, the business owner can improve the situation and avoid causing issues with current and potential customers. However, most people do not know how to conduct a survey tactfully, and it is best for an entrepreneur to pay someone to do this task, since it is necessary to ask the right questions without alienating or bothering visitors that come to the business. 

With these four services, a company can build their customer base and achieve long-term success.

How Baby Boomers Are Affecting New Businesses

Baby boomers are those who were born between 1946 and 1964 and make up about 20 percent of the population in the United States. Baby boomers are so called because they are among the group of babies born during the "baby boom" that occurred after World War II. Because of the sheer numbers of baby boomers in the U.S., there are many opportunities for businesses. Not only can new businesses hire baby boomers that want to keep working; new businesses can be developed for the purpose of meeting this group’s needs and interests. 

Baby Boomers Bring Experience

If 50 is the new 30, then expect baby boomers to work well into their seventies. Many baby boomers have not saved enough money to retire early; so new businesses can expect applications from persons in this age group. Some may desire only part-time work while others will seek full-time opportunities. Those seeking part-time work can save money for a new business if they do not need health insurance and other benefits that full-time workers seek.

A new business can benefit from the expertise of baby boomers. Many have spent years in their professions and can help new business owners avoid some pitfalls that new businesses may face. Baby boomers can make great mentors for younger, inexperienced workers. Contrary to some beliefs, younger workers and baby boomers can do more than coexist in the workplace. They can become good friends and develop lasting relationships.

Baby Boomers Make Dependable Employees

New businesses would do well to hire baby boomers along with younger employees. Baby boomers may be willing to fill in when younger workers need to be away from the workplace when children are sick or when there are parent-teacher meetings at school. Many baby boomers work because they want to keep busy and may not mind working a few extra hours to help out a younger coworker.

Baby Boomers Create Business Opportunities

As people age they require services that can easily be offered by a new business. For example, many baby boomers want to remain in their homes for as long as possible. New businesses are steadily being developed for the purpose of providing assistance to older baby boomers. These services may include cleaning, cooking, transporting individuals to appointments and running errands. These are services that are not typically provided by home-health agencies, but they are important in helping aging baby boomers remain independent.

Akin to in home assistance is the concept of homes with universal design. Universal design involves outfitting current residences or building new residences with amenities that make living easier for aging boomers. Examples include grab bars in baths, kitchen cabinets with pull out drawers and counter tops that are built at a comfortable height. A new business could be developed to address such housing needs.

Baby Boomers Affect Marketing

Many baby boomers have disposable income and are looking for products that fit their unique lifestyles. Those responsible for marketing to this group would do well to develop messages that will resonate with this age group. This includes using actors to whom baby boomers can relate. Those who interact in person with baby boomers need good communication skills to work with this diverse group. Baby boomers come from various social economic and ethnic groups. Perpetuating stereotypes when dealing with baby boomers can result in losing business. Those who seek the business of baby boomers must treat those in the boomer population as individuals and show respect rather than being condescending.

New businesses should not underestimate the power of baby boomers. This group not only brings expertise, they also require products and services that new businesses can offer. This makes the relationship between baby boomers and new businesses a win-win situation or mutually beneficial situation for all involved.

Author Bio Joshua Turner is a writer who creates informative articles in relation to business. In this article, he explains the influence of baby boomers on businesses and aims to encourage further study with a information systems MBA, for more information click here.  

5 Things That Are Important For Your Company To Invest In

One of the challenges of running a company is determining where to invest money and resources. It is not always clear that a particular investment will have a worthwhile return. Similarly, some individuals underestimate the value of different parts of a business. Every company should take the time to invest in five specific areas that will contribute to long-term success.

Employees

The employees of company determine the success of the business in a very direct way. It is important to invest in workers before, during and after employment. Talent management means spending the resources to find the right workers. Employees should receive training regularly to keep up with new procedures and systems. Retaining talent also means investing in retirement plans or other incentives.

Infrastructure

Infrastructure refers to the basic systems that a business needs to produce goods or perform services. It is important to invest in infrastructure so that there are no barriers stopping employees from meeting business goals. This might mean maintaining a strong information technology infrastructure or a cloud-based service. It might also mean investing in the aesthetics and comfort of a storefront or larger product inventories.

Internet Marketing and Advertising

The reality is that every modern business needs to invest in Internet marketing and advertising. Services like OrangeSoda provide search engine optimization (SEO) that increases the visibility of a company online. An OrangeSoda Facebook business page creates a branded marketing channel that will attract new customers or create sales leads through social media. Effective Internet market has a high return on investment.

Customer Intelligence

Every successful business invests in some form of customer intelligence. Customer intelligence is the collection and aggregation of different pieces of data about consumers who have interacted with the business. This can be gathered through outbound surveys, online tracking or even direct written feedback. This allows a company to stop working in the dark and to start responding to quantifiable customer needs. This will improve loyalty and satisfaction when implemented correctly.

Expertise

There will always come a time when a business does not have the experience or expertise to continue growing successfully or to handle certain problems. These are situations when it is important to invest in outside expertise from consultants or other experienced professionals. Investing in outside experts will help to guide a business through some of the more difficult periods without making common mistakes.
It is important to measure the results of each investment over a period of months or years. A particular strategy might require adjustment in order to work for a specific company. Alternately, an area that has seen successful returns might benefit from additional investment.

Five Ways Technology Marketing Can Improve Your Sales Targets

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Despite the downturn, businesses are still investing increasing amounts of time and money into the digital marketing arena. A raft of new technology means that communicating with consumers is more exciting than ever, with touchscreen tablets and smartphones leading the way. 

Technology also continues to make advances in the field of business-to-business marketing with technology marketing companies providing software designed to enhance the sales and marketing function. 

Use a CRM system 

A customer relationship management system can be a powerful tool when it comes to marketing your business and can increase both productivity and profits. CRM systems enable users to build up and maintain detailed customer profiles, which in turn can be used to develop sales and marketing strategies based upon specific needs. Marketing automation takes this concept one step further and delivers personalized content in response to consumer's online behavior. 

Be social, not antisocial 

Unless you have been living under a rock recently, your business will be utilizing platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to communicate with consumers. With more and more brands vying for attention, you need to ensure your social media messages are engaging and aligned with your marketing strategy.

Be aware that boastful status updates are likely to encourage customers to hit delete and it is bad form to follow people on Twitter on the off chance they will follow you back. On the other hand, requesting feedback can be a successful way to engage with existing and prospective customers on social media platforms. 

Search engine listings

In order to be found, your website needs to be indexed by major search engines such as Google and Yahoo. There is software available that will automatically submit your URL, website name, keywords and description to popular search engines, bringing more traffic to your website. 

E-mail marketing

OK, so e-mail marketing may not be new, but it continues to lead the way as a cost-effective marketing tool, particularly for small businesses. You can build you own e-mail database from existing contacts and use your website to capture new data. Ensure you offer an incentive for signing up and make sure your e-mails contain valuable, relevant information or genuine special offers. 

Mobile technology

The use of smartphones continues to grow rapidly and this looks set to threaten the humble PC. As millions switch to mobile phones to connect to the internet, send e-mails and access applications, businesses that ignore the mobile marketing platform do so at their peril. Mobile technology can also change the way organisations conduct business as employees have access to company data 24 hours a day from wherever they are.

The digitally connected world paves the way for exciting technology advances that offer businesses an increasing number of marketing opportunities. However, increased competition and an uncertain economy mean businesses must seek innovative ways to gain a competitive edge.

Everyone would be wise to remember that traditional marketing techniques can still be valuable in the digital age and often the most successful campaigns take elements from both the old and new.

Louise Smith is a digital marketing consultant. She has been writing for websites and printed media for over ten years. Louise uses sources such as technology marketing to research developments in the industry.

The Imperative of the New Marketing in the 21st Century Business Environment

Could marketing be new? This is a very fundamental question that readily comes to mind at the mention of the words ‘’New Marketing’’. It also logically entails that there is an old marketing. For the sake of clarification, the new marketing refers to the use of the social network in advertisement and marketing while the old marketing refers to the use of the conventional marketing media such as newspapers, magazines, bulletins, and so on. 

Due to the sophistication of the contemporary age, the social media has become the second nature of man because it seems he cannot do without it. Consumers continue to have the flair and enthusiasm over the internet, Smartphones, social media, and other online networks. This equally requires a paradigm shift in the marketing strategy of any business that wishes to survive in this 21st century world. Smart businessmen know this fact and waste no time in tapping into the opportunities.

Internet marketing:

The new marketing is basically focused on how to gain customer loyalty through the use of the social media and online sources. The new marketing attracts customers by offering useful information about the business in a more concise and precise manner using the online method. This is done with the belief that the majority of people cannot do without their social network applications. Because of the social media, the kingship of the customer (remember the popular marketing maxim that the customer is the king) is more enthroned through the social media. This is because the customer now determines the type of information he wants, how he wants it, and when to receive such information.

In the new marketing, Google and the social media become the main avenue through which your clients can find you. The clients do not need to come to the corporate office. All discussions between you and the clients about your business take place through the internet. This is the core area of the new marketing as major implication of the social media marketing. You create an account with Facebook or twitter, and people who have an interest in your products start to follow you. Offering useful information about your products is the surest way to gain their full loyalty.

Social media marketing:

In the course of the social media marketing, it is ideal to reserve some budget for promotional giveaways. This will help to get your followers and clients fascinated. Plan it in such a way that such giveaways will be given to clients and followers who participated in contests and won. This will increase the participation of the followers and clients. You will be surprised at their positive response.

When you open an online marketing site, it is advisable that you make an inclusion of other issues such as entertainment, news, education issues, sports, and other things that have the potency of fascinating readers, especially the youths. These will serve as baits in getting more clients to your site or social media page or business profile.

Author Bio:

Austin Richard is an IT professional from Selftesttraining. Have you really looked for this Selftesttraining.com Assistance? Move ahead to take the benefit of SAP Certification Exams and pass your exam easily.

Step by Step Guide for Starting a Restaurant Business

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It seems like new restaurants, fast food chains and coffeehouse are popping up constantly, and while there will always be a demand for restaurants and food business, it’s not so easy to launch a new one and make it into a profitable business. You might think that it’s as simple as renting a space, hiring chefs and servers, and purchasing equipment, but ask a few restaurants owners and they will tell you making money from the start isn’t quite a piece of cake. 

If you’re looking to start a restaurant, you must follow the guidelines given below, because overlooking any of these steps will seriously hinder your chances of making it big.   

 

Research & Niche Selection

Just like in any other business, you must avoid making decisions based solely on your own likes and dislikes. Your expertise and preferences will matter, but that shouldn’t be the only criterion for choosing your niche. You need to finalize the details after conducting a through market research. To decide between the many different types of restaurants (fast food or formal dining, for example) and what type of food you’ll serve (soup and sandwiches, pizza, diner food, Italian or Chinese, for example) you will have to decipher the demand, competition and location.  

Planning & Financing

Once you’ve chosen a niche, the next step is to set down a proper business plan. While planning, don’t let the excitement or unnecessary optimism affect your rational thinking. You will have to analyze all risks and opportunities with a balanced mind. Because you will have to arrange finances in advance, remember that regardless of the quality of your food and ambiance, it will take some time before your income statement starts to show some kind of profit, so you need to have the funds to survive that initial period.

Food & Equipment

One of the biggest expenditures in starting a restaurant will be the restaurant equipment like tables, chairs, cookware, bakeware, ranges, pizza ovens, grills, boilers, refrigerators, dinnerware, and the likes. Instead of trying to cut corners with used or low quality items, you should invest in high quality, commercial grade products and superior kitchen equipment. When people come to a restaurant, they want a dining experience far superior to their home dining routine. Having said that, décor or ambience will go far, but even more important is the food you serve. Focus on the taste, quality and cleanliness of the food that you’re going to serve.

Marketing

The reason many restaurants fail to make it big, despite having excellent food and an inviting atmosphere, is because the owners aren’t really business-savvy, especially when it comes to marketing and promotions. Remember, you cannot rely solely on word-of-mouth marketing to attract new customers. You will have to implement aggressive marketing at least in the first few months to get your name out. Try to make the most of the Internet, especially social media or special deals websites to attract new customers. In addition, you can try inserting advertisements in local newspapers, magazines, or TV channels.

About the Author: Farah Mustansar writes on restaurant marketing and equipment related topics.