Creating and running your small business means that you’ll need to procure the right assets without facing financial difficulties in the process. The hard reality is that most new companies fail within their first five years, often due to financial hardship.

In order to combat this, you’ll need to secure the assets needed in a smart and responsible manner. 

Determine If You’ll Be Paying with Cash or Credit 

If you have the cash available to start your new company, this can ultimately save you from taking out loans or using lines of credit.

However, we don’t all live in a perfect world and many entrepreneurs require financial assistance in order to begin their journeys. If necessary, consider applying for one or more credit cards to obtain the products, machinery, vehicles or equipment that you need to start working.

The key is to keep up with credit card minimum payments, preventing them from becoming late and affecting your credit score. Avoid maxing out your credit cards, as this can have a negative impact on your FICO score. 

Take Out a Loan 

Let’s say that you are thinking of opening your own flower shop. You need the equipment inside of the store itself, but you also require delivery trucks so that you can get the products to your customers. This means that you’re going to benefit from taking out a loan, both for the vehicle and the shop.

The same can be said about a landscaping or mobile pet grooming company. Business vehicles can be funded with their own loans, saving you from adding fees to your credit cards or company budget. However, when it comes to the establishment itself, a loan can help to provide you with the money needed to get things started.

You will then be required to pay back the money owed in a timely fashion. If your establishment begins to make a profit, try to pay back the lender as soon as feasibly possible. 

Choosing to Lease or Buy 

Regardless of the type of establishment you’re running, you must have machines and equipment to get the job done. Machinery can be downright costly, eating up much of the funds that you have available. This is why it is crucial that you look into the pros and cons of leasing these items.

Restaurant equipment rental means that you’ll pay less short-term but more over the course of time. If you’d rather own what you use, you can purchase the items needed without having to worry that they’re not yours to keep. 

Consider Buying Used Assets 

If you’re just starting out, a great way to save money and still be able to provide the products and services that your clients want is with used assets.

For example, if you are looking to open a restaurant, you might benefit from buying used restaurant equipment rather than spending tens of thousands on brand new machinery. This helps you to save money while still having the equipment that you need to function each day.

Be aware of the quality of the used items you’re looking to buy, as you’ll spend more over time if the machine needs to be replaced. 

Whether the whole company is you, or whether you have a couple of people working for you is by the way. If your business needs a crutch, no matter how many people you have working for you, then we’re here to help.

You’ll often find however, that for most businesses, this time of year is the busiest time of year. Rather than needing a crush, they need a push through the winter rush to make sure they can meet all the sales targets, and actually deliver products and services on time. You’ll often find that the feeling of needing a crutch is going to come within the next month or so.

As soon as the new year hits and people realise how much they spent over the Christmas period, they’re not going to be splashing the cash so easily. So, this crutch offer is one for the future, but the period of time when you’re going to need one really isn’t far away, so have a read on to find out more.

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Lean On Your Employees

Employees are the biggest asset to a company that we feel just gets taken for granted so often. The employees should be considered to be the heart and sole of the company, rather than just the people who are doing the jobs that nobody higher up wants to do anymore.

Is that the case for a lot of companies? It most definitely is.

So, rather than being like that, if you are, think about leaning on your employees. Because they’re the crutch that you’re going to need before any of the down time even starts happening. They’re a pre crutch if you will.

Over the Christmas period you’re going to be faced with a  rush of traffic from your customers that we just know you’re not going to have prepared for. Some company owners just ignore completely the busiest time of year, and then are more than confused when things start hotting up so much so that the business can’t cope.

So, to ensure this most definitely isn’t going to be you, lean on your employees and make sure that moral is at the absolute highest at the moment. You have to make sure your employees are super keen to work, and that they have the enthusiasm for your company to push themselves to do more. If you feel like a few of your employees aren’t like this, or perhaps you just want to give one big extra push, then we thinking opening up your pocket is going to help. If they all have a bonus to earn if they meet the targets you want them to meet, they’re obviously going to power through the working day to get the extra money.

It’s the most expensive time of year, so there won’t be one employee you have that won’t be looking for some extra cash.

Have Some Down Time

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Once all of the Christmas and new year rush is over, because we hope that you’ve planned major sales for both to draw customers in, you’ll notice that everything just sort of drops to the floor. The orders drop, the number of customers walking through the door stops, and you can generally feel like you’re paying yourself and your employees more than you’re actually making.

So, rather than struggling through this time and losing out on money, why not think about actually having some down time. It could only be super temporary, maybe only a month or so. You could direct your employees to agency work with the promise of their role being open when they got back.

Your business will spend pretty much nothing, and you can relax for a couple of weeks until you can get back on your feet financially. If you don’t like the idea of this, we would at least push as hard as possible to ensure all staff are working hard, orders are coming in, and you’re doing everything you can to promote your business.

Better Your Business

Sometimes the best crutch for your business is itself. Sometimes all you need to do is better your business, and you won’t feel like you need that crutch so badly.

We bet that all you’re thinking is that we’re making this sound more simpler than we are, which we actually are. There should be a fair few areas to your business at the minute, and learning how to change each one to better your business is going to be hard. It starts with identifying problems.

You have to look at each area and think about what you think might be slowing it down, how that could be stopped, and how it will change the area. You can even get things like machine learning to help you in some areas. It’s a computer based software that learns from itself, and can give you invaluable information towards things like sales and predicted sales trends. There’s similarly deep learning that some companies use as well.

Machine learning and deep learning are rather similar, so it would be up to you as to what you chose. If you think you’re going to struggle with this, then the best people to talk to are actually your employees. You’ll often find they have a better understanding than you do because they’re working with the issue every day. They can give you invaluable feedback, and actually working alongside them to solve problems that might have been slowing them down can be seen as a little employee/employer bonding session. If you show your employees that you care, you’re instantly bettering your business.

Once you start working through the problems one by one, you should start to notice that running your business becomes that little bit easier.

Don’t Hide Behind Competitors

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You most definitely shouldn’t be hiding behind your competitors. You should actually be using them as your next crutch.

Sometimes you’re going to go through times where your business just hits a bit of a stand still, like after the new year, and you’re not sure which way to turn. You know you need a new direction to keep customers coming back, but you’re not sure what. In comes your competitor crutch.

Sometimes analysing what the people who are doing on better than you are doing, and then applying it to your business is all you need to do. Of course we’re not saying to directly copy, but you should definitely think about how to change certain elements of your business to replicate others. If they’re doing well at it, there’s no reason why your business can’t either.

Cut Back On Your Financial Spending

This might be a hard pill for some of you to swallow, especially those who like pocketing a lot of the money that the business makes. If you’re going to go through a period of time where your money is going to take a hit directly, you need to think about the cutbacks you could do.

The first cutbacks would come to the business spending. We know that you’ll have many different areas where money is flying out of your account. You might have business subscriptions, you might be paying for employee benefits etc.

If you can cut back on all of the things that you don’t necessarily need to spend the most money on, such as yourself, then it will ease the strain financially, and not push you towards the route of business loans. Money is the biggest problem for so many companies out there, so just don’t let one of them be yours.

Read on to find out the most important factors you need to consider before taking out a loan for your business.

Know What You Really Need

If you are unsure how much money your business needs to run or grow, take the time to meet an accountant or adviser before heading to a lender.

Keep in mind that you’ll be required to supply the certain documentation and provide the lender with information about your business model, finances, and future plans. That’s why you need to know in advance how you’ll be using the cash.

For example, you may show how the loan is going to be used to hire additional staff, purchase new equipment, or expand your business location.

Get Familiar With Your Credit Score

Before getting a small business loan, every traditional lender will check your credit score. For that reason, you need to familiarize yourself with your numbers before contacting any bank or lender.

That numbers can be found in a personal credit report, so make sure to request it. Then check for any mistake. If you notice an error, contact your lending company (and the credit bureau if needed) to solve the problem.

Your credit score may fall anywhere from 300 to 850. The higher your credit score is, the better credit terms you are likely to get.

• High credit score (from 700 to 850) – Chances are good that you will get an attractive personal loan interest rate.
• Mid-level credit score (from 600 to 700) – It’s very likely that you’ll get a loan for your business but it will come with a higher rate.
• Low credit score (below 600) – In this case, you may have a hard time getting a loan, but it isn’t necessarily impossible.

Understand All The Options Available

You can choose between traditional lenders (like credit unions and banks) and non-traditional lenders – also known as alternative lenders. 

• In general, the alternative lenders offer more flexible loan terms and the faster approval process. Moreover, they are less strict when it comes to the credit score.

• The banks, on the other hand, offer more attractive interest rates for small businesses. The drawback is a lengthy approval process and strict regulations.

• Merchant cash advance is another option. With this option, you should expect higher fees and interest rates. However, there are some significant perks. It’s easy to get approval even if your credit score is poor. When it gets approved, you will quickly receive the cash.

Once you consider all the factors mentioned above, you’ll be ready to take out a loan.

Be sure to choose the option that will best work for your business.

However, there are still some practices that are better than others when it comes to cutting your staff. These are some tips for how to announce (and go through) with layoffs in a professional and safe manner.

Don’t Waste Time

If you and your management team have come to the conclusion that there needs to be layoffs in certain areas, you shouldn’t waste any time in completing this process. Obviously, this doesn’t mean you should rush into firing people as soon as you feel profits are in danger.

It does mean that once you have done some deliberating, and have officially decided you need to make a move, you need to act. Waiting too long will allow for rumors to leak, which will circulate through your company like a plague.

Once your employees stop trusting management, you’ll have a whole new problem on your hands.

Don’t Avoid the Issue

The easiest thing to do in conducting a layoff is to send out a memo, and hide in your office until things calm down. This is a mistake.

You need to tell your whole employee base why the layoffs are happening and what they can expect going forward. If the people who are staying with your company don’t think you’re being transparent with them, they’re going to start sending out resumes that day.

It’s also important that you don’t shy away from questions from employees. Resist the urge to run. Great leadership requires active management. You will lose the respect of your employees if they feel you can’t face them.

Have Written Answers for People

There’s a lot going through someone’s mind when they hear that they’ve just lost their job. The last thing that they’re going to be doing is listening to every word coming out of your mouth when you announce the change.

Make sure that you offer people some form of written document that expresses everything they need to know about the layoff process. Explain when they will lose health coverage, when they will stop receiving payments, when they should stop coming into work, and anything else that’s crucial to their future. This will help them, and your HR team. With this, you can consult the best employment law firm to guide you with policies and help you solve the issues within the company.

Furthermore, you could find yourself in court with employees if they feel you misled or lied to them. You can get business insurance to help with this. But the easier solution is to just be transparent from the get-go.

Make Sure People Have an Exit

While actually delivering the news to employees that they will be losing their jobs, some will get more emotional than others. It’s possible that a few might even let their tempers get out of control.

In order to avoid any situations that everyone might regret later, it’s wise to give people direct access to an exit when telling them that they’re losing their job. If this is being done in an office, make sure the employee will be able to easily leave if they so choose. And if you’re breaking the news to a whole team of people, don’t do it in a room with only one, narrow exit.

People will often do things not entirely in their control when they hear that they’re losing their job. Prepare for this by choosing and setting up the venue to give people plenty of personal space.

No one wants to tell someone that they’re getting laid off. This process is hard on everyone. Follow these tips to make your employee layoffs hurt a little less.

“The immediate point of the fish story is that the most obvious, ubiquitous, important realities are often the ones that are the hardest to see and talk about.”

In other words, since water was everywhere, the fish didn’t notice it. It’s hard to take a step back from an environment that surrounds you and see it for what it is. The same goes for employees and company culture.

Companies that are too focused on the bottom line may try to reprioritize   company culture. But it turns out that the two are inextricably linked. As Entrepreneur reports, one study from Columbia University shows that companies with rich organizational culture have a turnover likelihood of 13.9 percent. Companies with poor culture have a turnover of a whopping 48.4 percent.

If your company wants to avoid high turnover rates, disgruntled employees and a fleeting legacy, it’s time to focus on what you can do to shape your company culture over time.

What do you want your reputation to be? Once you pinpoint your cultural goals, use these three methods to make them a reality.

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Lead from the Top Down

Leadership means more than just cultivating authority and respect. You have an obligation to set the tone for the entire company.

As Forbes points out, it’s up to you to decide what’s important and live that truth. If you’re trying to build a teamwork-focused culture, you and your executive team must collaborate smoothly and demonstrate how cooperation produces results.

If you’re aiming for a transparent culture, your management staff should be ready to keep their doors open through good times and through bad.

Use Culture in Decision-Making

If you don’t incorporate your company’s values into your decision-making processes, your claims about your organizational environment tend to ring hollow. After all, actions speak louder than words. So how can you avoid this common pitfall?

An important step for building new culture, according to author and entrepreneur Ron Ashkenas for Harvard Business Review, is to “use desired behaviors as criteria for hiring, promoting, rewarding and developing people.”

When you sit across the desk from an interviewee and tell them about your company culture, are you describing the way things really are? Or are you talking about the way you wish it could be? Any company can talk the talk, complete with buzzwords like “fast-paced,” “work hard/play hard” and “close-knit.” But at some point, you’ll have to walk the walk and show that your company culture is thriving. That’s something you simply can’t fake.

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Team Build Beyond New Hires

Oftentimes, a new hire means a flurry of introductory and team-building exercises. Why not work to maintain this communicative culture year-round? Help employees forge strong professional and social bonds by opening the lines of communication even after their first few days.

Poshly uses a culture calendar full of events (like birthdays, meetings and group challenges) to create a sense of sharing amongst its employees. All employees can access this ever-growing calendar and even add their own ideas for future events.

Your culture problem may simply be that your employees don’t know each other well enough to put names to faces. In that case, periodic icebreaker questions can help refresh new and veteran employees alike on each other’s names, positions and interests.

Some employees may even discover that their long-time coworkers have a few surprises up their sleeves, like a penchant for hot air ballooning or a world-famous collection of postcards!

It’s important to remember that company culture won’t build itself. Your organization must make intentional choices and act on them to help shape the work environment into all it can be.

Otherwise, your employees may just feel like fish out of water.

The truth is, there are certain ingredients that all businesses need to have in order to be built in as strong a way as possible.

In this article, we are going to take a look at what those essential ingredients might be. Knowing this is likely to help you hugely, so make sure you take this on board.

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Tech Support

When you are building up a business from scratch, one thing which always proves to be essential is the technological support. These days, all businesses need to focus on having a certain variety of technological solutions on board. This also means that they need to have the relevant kind of support, just in case anything goes wrong.

Unfortunately, there is always a great deal that can go wrong with any kind of technology, and it is always necessary to ensure that you have the right kind of support on board. This will help you to build your business up much better and in a much stronger way, and will also ensure that you are keeping your business as well protected as possible.

One of the biggest concerns in terms of a business’ technology is its data. You need a decent data disaster mitigation and recovery plan if you want to build your business as strongly as possible, as well as a decent internet protection service.

Marketing Campaign

Even before you get going for real in business, you will need to make sure that you are starting to draw people in. The better you do this, the more likely it will be that your business will enjoy some continued success further down the line.

Of course, you will need to make sure that your marketing campaign is well designed if it is to draw in as many people as possible. This is why you should think about spending a decent amount of time on your marketing campaign if you want to be as successful as possible in the long run.

The more effort you put into this at the start, the better off you will be. You might even find that a better marketing campaign puts you in a stronger position from the very start, something which can be hugely useful.

Vision

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All businesses need some kind of vision, or a philosophy of how to do business. Without a vision, it is much easier for a business to flounder and fail in its overarching mission.

A vision doesn’t even need to be stated in order to be effective, but it must be at least inherent in the way that the business is run if it is to have an effect.

You might be surprised at just what a difference it can make if you have a strong vision as part of your opening business plan.

Like many entrepreneurs, you may see your company as your baby. When a human baby is born, the first thing parents do is to take him or her to a doctor to ensure that everything is alright and that the infant is getting a good start on life.

Think of an accountant as a doctor who can help your business live and grow.

The Right Foundation

Many business owners wait until they are being overburdened with taxes or run into another financial challenge before consulting with an accountant.

The time to get solid financial advice is before your company has been launched and when it is in the planning stages. A certified accountant can discuss your financial goals with you as well as your business plan and can help you find ways to structure your company.

In addition, he or she will guide you in making accurate predictions of cash flow and develop reasonable expectations.

The Regular Checkup

We all need checkups with our doctors from time to time, and your business can benefit from examination by an accountant.

You should have accurate bookkeeping on a day-to-day basis to ensure your resources are flowing where they should. An accountant can advise you whether your goals are realistic or whether it is a good time to make an investment.

As a business owner, you can try and handle the taxes yourself. There are plenty of tax estimators and tools available, but it can still get pretty tricky. It may be a job best left to the professionals. Look for an accountant who can handle the nuts and bolts of taxes as well as guide your business as a financial advisor.

Looking at Credentials

Anyone who has a bachelor’s degree in accounting and who has passed the CPA exam may work as an accountant. However, you may prefer someone who has specialized knowledge and experience advising small business owners.

Look carefully at your accountant’s credentials and don’t underestimate a degree earned online. UAB online offers rigorous accounting courses, and there are many accredited institutions that allow you to earn your accounting masters degree online.

The Best Software

Efficiency experts can let you know of ways to save time and money when running your business, but the best way to use your resources effectively is by investing in the right software. An accountant can help you choose bookkeeping software that best suits your operations.

You can automate much of your day-to-day tasks, and an accountant can analyze the data and give you feedback and advice about how best to apply the information. With the help of a qualified accountant and effective software, your company’s finances no longer need to be an added hassle, but you can concentrate fully on the running of your business.

More Than Just Taxes

A tax advisor can help you find ways to reduce your payment to the taxman, and this can free up significant resources for investing in your business.

However, an accountant is more than just a tax advisor, but can be involved in the early stages to help you set up your business efficiently.

If you don’t have customers, you don’t have a business. It’s a simple as that. This makes it all the more bizarre that so few business owners take the time to ask one simple question.

“What do my customers really want?”

We look for ways in which we can connect to customers, market to them and draw them in. But if your business isn’t able to offer them what they want, then you’re just going to be wasting your efforts.

Here are some things that your customers might actually want from your business.

Choices

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Nobody likes feeling as though they have no choice in a situation. It’s part of the reason the market can sustain quite as many businesses as it does.

People want to be able to choose for themselves; they don’t want to feel funneled into a decision. So why do businesses insist of offering so few options to their customers?

Oh certainly, you might have a variety of products at different levels but why stop there? 1 in 4 consumers expect retailers to offer financing options. You should make sure that your customers are constantly provided with the chance to pick the best options for them.

Personality

Customers don’t care about businesses. That’s something you need to come to terms with pretty quickly.

Businesses and corporations do not interest customers in the slightest. But what customers are interested in is people. People have stories to tell, they have emotions, it’s possible to relate to people.

You’ve got to be able to show the personality behind your business. If your business is nothing but a well-oiled machine, then that might be impressive to investors, but customers aren’t going to find anything to connect with.

Let them see the people behind the company, tell them your story, connect with them on a human level and you’ll find that they will be much more interested in the things you have to offer.

Loyalty

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Every business knows how important it is to create a sense of loyalty from their customers. Without loyalty, you get no returning customers, and eventually, your business ceases to be viable. This is obvious stuff that every new business owner should be aware of. But what many business owners, even experienced ones, forget is that loyalty is a two-way street.

Customers want to feel cared for. They want to feel as though the loyalty that they show to you and your business is being repaid in kind. This could be something as simple as rewarding their loyalty with discounts, offers, and other things.

Making them feel valued and recognized as someone who has shown an interest in your business is a fantastic way to really make a customer connect with your business.

As the old saying goes, be good to your customers, and they’ll be good to you.

While there are some truly brilliant small businesses out there, I’m sure you’ll agree that most people feel a little safer buying from a larger, more established company.

You can’t make your start-up a multi-national corporation overnight and there are certain steps you can take to make your business appear larger.

Here are some tips for harnessing this blowfish effect.

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Take Away Your Title

If you’re running a company as a single person, then whatever you do, don’t put any kind of professional title on your business cards, letters etc. Yes, technically, you are the CEO of the company.

However, as the sole worker, you’re also the receptionist, janitor, marketing executive, and so on. If someone reads your letter head and calls your business, and finds that the CEO is answering calls from the public, they’re immediately going to start wondering how professional and competent this business they’re calling is.

Don’t adopt a formal title until you’ve started to build a decent-sized team. I know that this may sound a little counter-productive, but that big, professional title can often draw people’s attention to how small you really are!

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Don’t Take Calls Yourself

I mentioned it above and I’ll mention it again: if you answer your own phones and you’re carrying the title of CEO, customers aren’t going to think you’re all that established or successful.

You may be making some big leaps forward in terms of growth, but as long as you’re answering calls like a one-man show, you’re going to create a pretty potent stigma around your brand. If you can afford to, hire an experienced receptionist or PA.

They’ll not only give off a more professional image through answering the phone, but will also be able to save you a lot of time you’d otherwise spend doing their job yourself. If you can’t afford to take on a full-time employee, you may want to consider outsourcing a call answering service.

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Adjust Any Numbers That Make You Look Small

Your invoices, company cheques, and even worse website view trackers can all show your prospective customers how small of an operation you’re running where you don’t want them to. This may seem like a trivial detail, but it’s something people notice, and has the potential to really hurt your image if you let it.

Don’t give your first invoice the number #0001. Instead, use a different system which will hide the fact that you haven’t been in business long.

Banks will allow you to start with any number for your business cheques too, so don’t start them too low either. Although this kind of tactic may seem dishonest and even petty, it’s nothing new, and by failing to adjust your numbers you may end up losing business to more “established” competitors!

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Take these steps, and you’ll be able to create a larger, more established image for your business.

However, more often than not, an overly cautious business owner won’t achieve the success they desire. Over-thinking decisions and failing to take risks leads to a failure to achieve your maximum potential.

If you’re finding yourself in this position, changes need to be made. Here’s why.

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Conformity

Being overly cautious results in a desire to conform to the ideals that are expected of you. There’s nothing wrong with that, and you’ll achieve success to a degree by doing this.

However, you’ll only get so far. Those who succeed the most in business are the ones who sometimes bend the rules a little. They don’t go too far and put their business in danger, but they employ clever tactics to get ahead.

That’s just the way the business world is, and if you’re too conformist, you’ll fall behind.

Adversity

If you’re the sort of person that struggles in the face of adversity, you’re going to have a bad time!

You will find yourself facing adverse scenarios with customers, clients and more. You need to be able to stand up for yourself in the situations that matter.

For example, Business Insider on Hampton Creek talks about the company arguing with the FDA in its defense. It worked out for them, allowing them to retain an important piece of the company.

Would you have done the same, or would you have backed down and accepted what you were told?

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Risk-Taking

When we think of a cautious nature, we think of someone who refuses to take any risks. The business world is littered with risks that you’ll need to face from time-to-time.

If you can’t handle them, you’ll probably make the wrong decision, putting your business in considerable danger. You need to be someone that can embrace these opportunities and make educated decisions.

Massive successes like Bill Gates have taken huge risks to get to where they are today!

Respect

There comes a time when your cautious nature will result in a lack of respect from customers and business acquaintances. Customers will start to flock to the competition when they see that your business isn’t moving with the times.

Acquaintances will fail to understand why you aren’t progressing your business properly. It will create a ripple effect, ruining your reputation and limiting your future opportunities.

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Desire

If you’re overly cautious, you’re doing the same things all the time. If that’s the case, how can you possibly have the desire to achieve success with this business?

Eventually, it will all start to feel dull, and without goals to work towards, there’s no reason to keep pushing yourself. The attraction of profits will only motivate you for so long.

It’s OK to be a cautious person! However, don’t be afraid to take a few calculated risks every now and again.

Stand up for yourself and your business, and set future goals you can strive towards.