Business Planning

Virus Worries Force Cancellation of Major Tech Show in Spain

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By KELVIN CHAN and MAE ANDERSON, AP Business Writers

LONDON (AP) — Organizers of the world’s biggest mobile technology fair are pulling the plug over worries about the viral outbreak from China.

The annual Mobile World Congress will no longer be held as planned in Barcelona, Spain, on Feb. 24-27.

“Global concern regarding the coronavirus outbreak, travel concern and other circumstances, make it impossible for the GSMA to hold the event,” John Hoffman, head of the GSMA organizing body, said in a statement Wednesday.

The decision comes after dozens of tech companies and wireless carriers dropped out, with the latest cancelations by Nokia, Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom and Britain’s BT on Wednesday. Other companies that dropped out earlier include Ericsson, Nokia, Sony, Amazon, Intel and LG. The companies cited concerns for the safety of staff and visitors.

Organizers and government officials had sought to hold out against growing pressure to cancel the annual tech extravaganza, which had been expected to draw more than 100,000 visitors from about 200 countries, including 5,000 to 6,000 from China. The show normally represents a huge source of revenue for hotels, restaurants and taxi companies. Authorities have estimated the show was to generate 473 million euros ($516 million) and more than 14,000 part-time jobs for the local economy.

Spain’s vice president, Carmen Calvo, said there was “no public health reason” to call off the show. She said Spain had a good health response system and was following all of the recommendations from the World Health Organization.

Dr. Mike Ryan, the WHO’s emergencies chief, said before the cancellation that the show could have gone on.

He said that while no mass gathering is ever risk-free, with the potential for food poisoning, injuries or building collapse, most events “can continue if the proper measures can be applied.”

Spanish labor unions said that the show was called off due to the panic of the major technological companies. The CCOO union’s regional leader, Javier Pacheco, denounced “the alarmist attitude of the technological companies that from their position of global supremacy don’t care about the local impact.”

But Tim Bajarin, president of consultancy Creative Strategies, said cancellation was prudent with all the unknowns surrounding how the new virus is spread and the fact that many companies had already pulled out.

These days, most big companies hold their own product launch events anyway, as Samsung did Tuesday in San Francisco. But Bajarin said Mobile World Congress was still an opportunity for many people in the mobile industry to meet in one place.

“It allowed for a lot of networking and business dealings, so in that context, it was a significant loss,” he said.

The GSMA, the wireless trade body that organizes the fair, had said it was meeting regularly with global and Spanish health experts and its partners to ensure the well-being of attendees. It had already urged participants to avoid handshakes and planned to step up cleaning and disinfecting and make sure speakers don’t use the same microphone.

Earlier Wednesday, Nokia said it had decided to withdraw “after a full assessment of the risks related to a fast-moving situation.” The company said “the health and well-being of employees was a primary focus” and that canceling its involvement was a “prudent decision.”

The departures of Nokia and Ericsson had left China’s Huawei, a major sponsor of the fair, as the only remaining major network gear maker still planning to attend. But even Huawei was scaling back by assigning European staff to the show instead. Its chairman had planned to hold a media briefing by video because he wouldn’t get to Spain with enough time to undergo a two-week self-quarantine period.

Organizers were caught between risking potential backlash over public health concerns if they went ahead or facing big financial losses if they canceled, said Stephen Mears, a research analyst at Futuresource Consulting.

Even before the cancellation, Mears said his five-person team was considering dropping out or shortening the trip as many participants they wanted to meet wouldn’t be there, including those from China, which accounts for an increasing share of the global smartphone and mobile network industry.

“It’s becoming less and less valuable for people like us to attend if we’re not able to get meetings with the high-level executives,” he said.

Ben Wood, chief of research at CCS Insight, said companies now have to figure out “the best way to salvage something from this difficult situation.”

Randy Nelson, head of insights at mobile data firm Sensor Tower, said his company had planned on having a booth at Mobile World Congress. He said his firm expected to recoup the exhibiting fees since it hadn’t pulled out, but had not heard from organizers yet.

While the cancellation was a disappointment, Nelson said, the work that went into planning for the show can still be useful for future events, including the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco in March.

___

Mae Anderson reported from New York. Joseph Wilson in Barcelona, Spain, and AP Medical Writer Maria Cheng in London contributed to this report.

___

Read all the AP stories about China’s coronavirus outbreak and the worldwide reaction to it at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak

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Business Planning

US on Track for First $1 Trillion Budget Deficit Since 2012

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By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. budget deficit through the first four months of this budget year is up 19% from the same period a year ago, putting the country on track to record its first $1 trillion deficit since 2012.

The Treasury Department said Wednesday in its monthly budget report that the deficit from October through January was $389.2 billion, up $78.9 billion from the same period last year.

The deficit reflected government spending that has grown 10.3% this budget year while revenues were up only 6.1%. For January, the deficit totaled $32.6 billion, compared to a surplus a year ago of $8.68 billion.

President Donald Trump sent Congress a new budget blueprint on Monday that projects the deficit will top $1 trillion this year but then will decline over the next decade.

The Congressional Budget Office, however, is projecting that the deficit will top $1 trillion this year and remain above $1 trillion over the next decade.

The actual deficit for the 2019 budget year, which ended Sept. 30, was $984.4 billion, up 26% from the 2018 imbalance. The rising deficits reflect the impact of the $1.5 trillion tax cut Trump pushed through Congress in 2017 and increased spending for military and domestic programs that the president has accepted as part of a budget deal with Democrats.

In his new budget plan for the 2021 fiscal year that starts on Oct. 1, Trump is proposing spending $4.8 trillion but would seek to hold down deficits by making cuts to domestic programs like food stamps and Medicaid.

Trump’s plan projects that if Congress goes along with his spending cuts, which is highly unlikely, the budget would return to balance in 15 years.

Through the first four months of this budget year, government spending has totaled a record $1.57 trillion, up 10.3% from the same period last year. Revenues also set a record for the first four months of a budget year, increasing by 6.1% to $1.18 trillion.

The government first ran $1 trillion deficits from 2009 through 2012 as revenues fell during the worst recession since the 1930s. Spending increased for safety-net programs such as unemployment benefits and to rescue banks and auto companies following the 2008 financial crisis.

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Local Marketing

14 Yard and Garage Sale Tips for Success

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Hosting a garage sale isn’t as easy as throwing some old items out on your curb and hoping people show up and offer you loads of cash for your unwanted items. If you want to actually make money from a yard or garage sale, you’ll need to plan accordingly. Here are some garage sale tips you can use to make your next garage or yard sale a success.

Yard and Garage Sale Tips

Check the Weather

If you hold your sale on a cold or rainy day, you’re not likely to get a lot of foot traffic. So you’re not likely to sell a whole lot. While you can’t always know what the weather is going to be throughout the whole day, you can at least try to plan on holding your sale on a day when it’s supposed to be relatively warm and free of precipitation.

See if Your Neighbors Want to Participate

The bigger the sale, the more customers are likely to show up and make purchases. So if you have neighbors on your street who also have items to sell, you can make it into a larger sale or even a block sale to attract more potential buyers to the area.

Price Items Clearly

If you don’t put prices on things, your customers will be forced to come to you to ask what the price is every time they see something they like. Instead, you can save their time and your own by clearly marking the prices on each item. Or at least create signs that outline the price for each product variety.

Set Up Sturdy Display Tables and a Table for Purchases

You’ll need a variety of tables in order to hold a garage sale. You need tables to hold all of your merchandise, as well as tables for customers to lay down their items and for you to collect money from buyers. In addition, you need to make sure that those tables are sturdy enough to hold the weight of all your items, since you don’t want anything falling over while people are shopping.

Stock a Cash Box with Change and Small Dollar Bills

Garage sale shoppers pay in all different kinds of increments. You’ll have people handing you 20’s, 50’s and maybe even 100-dollar bills for items that cost just a dollar or two. So you need to be prepared with a variety of small bills and change in a cash box.

Provide Clearly Marked Parking

When shoppers show up to your garage sale, where should they park? If you don’t want them pulling up directly in front of your house or in your flower beds, make it clear where else they should go. If possible, put up or orange cones to indicate the parking spaces available to shoppers.

Set Up the Night Before

People show up to garage sales bright and early to get the best items. Even if you advertise that your sale starts at 8 AM, people are likely to show up at 7 AM. For that reason, it can be beneficial to get everything set up as early as possible. Get items organized and marked with prices the night before so you can just pull everything out in the morning.

Offer Beverages and/or Food for Sale

People are more likely to stick around and shop if they’re comfortable. So if they’re hot or thirsty, they might just leave before seeing that item that convinces them to buy. Providing bottled water for sale and even hot dogs can keep shoppers lingering longer, particularly if it’s a block or neighborhood sale, and can also boost your profits that day.

If It’s a Neighborhood/Block Yard Sale, Invite a Face Painter

Children tend to get bored quickly and yard sales and garage sales will not hold their attention for long. If you are able to, invite a college student or local art student to perform face painting for children. This enables their parents to shop while their children are having fun and the face painter gets to earn money too.

If a Face Painter Isn’t Available, Sell Balloons

Every child loves a balloon. If you can’t get a face painter to attend, consider selling balloons for a dollar each. This will keep children happy and engaged, freeing up their parents to browse longer. You can even go to the local dollar store and purchase mylar balloons for a dollar or two each. Then you can double the price on and sell them for $2 or $4 each.

Keep Items for Sale in Areas that are Easily Accessible

If people can’t get to your items for sale, then they’re not going to buy them. Don’t hide items up against the back wall of your garage or behind heavy barriers. Bring them out into the yard or driveway and place them front and center so that people can actually access the things they want to buy.

Advertise in Advance

To get more people to come to your yard sale, consider advertising it a during the week leading up to the sale. You can pay a few dollars to advertise it in the local paper, newspaper inserts, and online in social media and online boards as well. You can even get your yard sale included in various mobile apps that are sometimes included with newspaper ads.

Provide Clear Directions

You can also use signage around your home to direct people to your sale. Start at the main roads and then post clear signs with large text that’s readable from a moving vehicle at a glance and direct people right to your door, block or into the neighborhood where the sale is occurring.

Offer End of Day Specials

No list of yard sale tips would be complete without mentioning deals. Most yard sales and garage sales end between 2 and 4 PM. But you will get stragglers that arrive late for last minute deals. At 2pm, mark all of your items as 50 percent off, place a large sign out that advertises that, and watch all those items you do not wish to keep or haul back into your home vanish right before your eyes.

Garage sales don’t need to be complicated, but you do need to put a little effort into them if you want to see results. With these garage sale tips, you should be better suited to make your next sale both profitable and worth your time.

Garage Sale Photo via Shutterstock

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Local Marketing

PinMeTo Is Key to Your Local Marketing

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Management of a digital presence that can reach and affect customers locally can be a challenge for any business. That challenge is exceptionally difficult for companies that have several locations across the country, all with varying business information and data (hours, contact numbers, addresses, etc.). As consumers continue to embrace a mobile-first experience at a constant rate, the importance of maintaining an impactful digital presence becomes increasingly important.

In the wake of that challenge, marketing platform PinMeTo has developed extremely effective solutions that allow small and major brands alike to maintain a consistent, effective online presence. PinMeTo’s ability to localize the presence and performance of franchise-sized brands results in considerable success regarding engagement, performance, and exposure.

PinMeTo Tools Provide Local Marketing for National Brands

Using PinMeTo, national brands can gain a local presence on Facebook, Google+/Search/Maps, Apple maps, Instagram, Foursquare, Twitter, Pinterest and essentially every other app, platform and service out there. It utilizes the platforms that customers use the most to contact businesses, find and post reviews and follow for future updates. The tools include:

  • Dynamic Text-Templating: Automated posts to one, some or all of your pages. Despite the automated posting, the fields contain locally relevant information.
  • Filter and Segment Locations: Management of content or special offers in a specific city without disrupting every page existing for separate business locations.
  • Post Scheduling: A calendar/clock to schedule posts when your audience is most active and engaged.
  • Local Insights: Data summaries that outline how consumers react and engage with the content you’re posting. Includes impression, reach, photo views, link clicks and overall performance to a single post on a single location.

The results of PinMeTo have gained the attention of software and digital authorities, such as TechCrunch, as well as a slew of positive reviews and success stories, and the numbers don’t lie. Based on an analysis of PinMeTo’s clients, the increase in exposure and brand presence is little less than dramatic in value increase.

Getting Started

Through the PinMeTo website, you can request a demo for your business and get a feel for the benefits the service has to offer you. You can also subscribe to their newsletter for the latest in location marketing trends, tools and ideas, and follow their blog to keep up with their growing success.

Republished by permission. Original here.

Images: PinMeTo, HigherVisibility
More in: Publisher Channel Content

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Local Marketing

Newly Free Angie’s List Will Increase Appeal of Small Biz Listings

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Angie’s List (NASDAQ:ANGI) has finally torn down its paywall.

The online reviews site, which has traditionally charged its visitors a $40 annual fee now has its reviews and ratings available for free. This change, which hasn’t attracted a lot of attention online, does actually have a strong implication for many businesses that use the site in terms of managing online reputation.

The recent move simply means that any consumer will now be able to surf the website at no cost and more easily choose a service provider, whether it’s an electrician, a painter or a plumber. And just like Yelp, you will also be able to submit your review at no cost.

Angie’s List has always had an edge in the home services market. However, unlike Yelp where it’s hard for businesses to cover up bad reviews, in the case of Angie’s List, bad reviews could only be seen by those who pay to access the site.

So, get a bad review on Yelp and the whole world knows. But get a bad review on Angie’s List and subscribers might know, but at least it wasn’t all over the web.

All that’s changed now, and it means listed businesses also need to get their acts together.

Free Angie’s List Removes Barriers for Reviewers and Reviewed

On the other hand, the paywall has always acted as a “barrier” that has stunted the company’s growth. Arguable it has also restricted the growth of businesses that choose to rely exclusively or mostly on referrals from Angie’s List subscribers.

The company was first launched in 1995 — almost a decade before Yelp. And the subscription model it has been using since then predates, by many years, internet services that operate on a “freemium” basis. Unsurprisingly, the company has really struggled with its finances in recent years. And in a move to right the ship, the company brought in a new CEO, Scott Durchslag, last fall. Among his major changes is the recent removal of the reviews and ratings paywall.

Obviously, the recent change will come with a decline in membership revenues, but this will most likely be offset with the spending of fewer marketing dollars. In an earlier press release the company announced expectations to grow their total revenue to $750 million by 2020.

The company also believes that the move will drastically increase its user base and so, of course, pay off in the long run. “We get over 100 million visitors each month, but 90 percent of them have been bouncing because of the reviews paywall,” CEO Scott Durchslag  told TechCrunch. “We expect to see traffic explode with the change.”

Looking back, Yelp started out as a restaurant review site but it has expanded to cover many other businesses and going by this, it can be expect that Angie’s List will also try and grow beyond its current home services niche. This simply means that many more businesses will soon have an opportunity to be listed on the platform.

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Business Planning

Q&A: How Virus Is Impacting Asia's Cruises and Passengers

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By DEE-ANN DURBIN and DAVID KOENIG, AP Business Writers

A new viral outbreak is wreaking havoc on cruises in Asia, where some passengers are stranded aboard ships and others can’t leave China.

Japan’s health ministry has confirmed 174 cases of the virus aboard Carnival Corp.’s Diamond Princess, which is docked in Yokohama, Japan. The ship that carried 3,700 passengers and crew into Japan is expected to remain under quarantine until at least Feb. 19.

The operators of a cruise ship that had been barred for days from docking by four governments said Wednesday it will finally dock and disembark passengers in Cambodia.

Thailand denied permission for the MS Westerdam to dock at a Thai port after it had already been turned away by the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan. The ship has been unwelcome because it stopped in Hong Kong on Feb. 1., but no cases of the disease have been confirmed among the more than 2,200 passengers and crew on board.

Here are some questions and answers about the virus’s impact on the cruise industry and passengers:

___

HOW MANY CRUISE SHIPS ARE IN ASIA RIGHT NOW?

The Cruise Lines International Association — which represents around 90% of global cruise capacity — says around 10 of its 272 member ships are currently in Asia. Only the Diamond Princess has confirmed cases of virus, the association said. At least six of the 10 ships have canceled their itineraries for now, including Royal Caribbean’s Spectrum of the Seas and MSC’s Splendida.

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HAVE ANY SHIPS BEEN ALLOWED TO LET PASSENGERS OFF?

Yes. On Sunday, Dream Cruises said passengers on its World Dream were cleared to disembark in Hong Kong after screenings found no positive tests for the virus. The ship had arrived in Hong Kong four days earlier.

In Italy, more than 6,600 passengers and crew were allowed to disembark from Carnival’s Costa Smeralda on Jan. 31 after a Chinese passenger was found to have the flu and not the virus.

And in New Jersey, passengers were allowed the disembark last Friday even as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tested four passengers for the virus. The passengers tested negative and the CDC cleared the ship for its next voyage.

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ARE CRUISE SHIPS BANNING SOME PASSENGERS FROM BOARDING?

Yes. Policies vary, but in general, cruise companies won’t allow passengers or crew to board if they have visited, traveled from or passed through airports in China, Hong Kong and Macau within a certain time period — usually 14 or 30 days. They also aren’t allowing people to board if they have been in close contact with someone with the virus. Royal Caribbean was banning all passengers with passports from China, Hong Kong and Macau, but the company lifted that ban Monday. Norwegian Cruise Lines is still banning passengers who hold those passports.

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IS A QUARANTINE THE BEST WAY TO HANDLE A VIRAL OUTBREAK ON A CRUISE?

According to Tara Smith, a professor who researches infectious diseases at Kent State University’s College of Public Health, a hospital — not a ship — is the best place to keep people quarantined. The Diamond Princess may have already had environmental contamination when the quarantine began, which puts passengers and crew at risk of further transmission. “I think this was done without a lot of thought to consequences of ongoing transmission within the ship and the mental health of the passengers,” Smith said.

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WHAT OTHER PRECAUTIONS ARE CRUISE LINES TAKING?

Cruise lines are scanning the temperatures of passengers and crew and having them complete questionnaires before they board any ship. MSC says it’s conducting deep cleaning on its ships. Royal Caribbean also says it has stepped up cleaning of its ships and air filtration systems.

___

CAN PASSENGERS CATCH THE VIRUS THROUGH THE VENTILATION SYSTEMS?

Japanese health ministry official Masami Sakoi said the cabins on the Diamond Princess have separate air-conditioning systems, so guests aren’t sharing the same air. “We do not consider the air-conditioning system as the cause of spreading infections,” he said.

___

WHAT IS LIFE LIKE FOR PASSENGERS ABOARD THESE SHIPS?

Christina Kerby, a communications director with a health care company in San Francisco, struck an upbeat tone in her Twitter posts aboard the Westerdam. She says the ship is holding spin classes, magic shows and towel-folding demonstrations. But she expressed regret when Philippine crew members couldn’t disembark in Manila to see their families, as they’d hoped. The situation is more grim aboard the Diamond Princess, where those under quarantine watched as officials in hazmat suits carried off sick passengers. Passenger David Abel has described the ship as a “floating prison.”

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WHEN WILL CRUISE OPERATIONS RETURN TO NORMAL?

That’s unclear because the situation is very fluid. Royal Caribbean has cancelled eight China sailings through March 4. Princess Cruises has cancelled at least 12 cruises, including two scheduled to leave Shanghai in June. Holland America said it’s weighing port restrictions in Asia before deciding on a cruise scheduled to leave Yokohama on Feb. 28. Cunard says the Queen Elizabeth won’t make scheduled stops in Hong Kong and Shanghai in March and April. Norwegian Cruise Lines has canceled scheduled Asian cruises on the Norwegian Spirit through Dec. 7.

In some cases, cruises are being rerouted. Norwegian said a 24-day cruise leaving South Africa on March 22 that was supposed to end in Singapore will now last 27 days and end in Greece, for example.

___

HOW MUCH WILL THIS IMPACT CRUISE COMPANIES?

Asia is not yet a major destination for cruises. This year, around 10% of cruise ships worldwide were scheduled to be deployed to Asia, according to Cruise Lines International Association. That’s down slightly from 2017, and compares to 32% deployed to the Caribbean and 28% to Europe and the Mediterranean.

Still, companies say the disruption will affect their bottom line. Carnival Corp. said Wednesday that if the company suspends all its operations in Asia through April, it will shave 55 cents to 65 cents per share off its 2020 earnings. Wall Street is expecting the company to earn $4.47 a share this year, according to FactSet.

The virus may not have much impact on cruise bookings outside of Asia, says UBS analyst Robin Farley. Past experience shows that concerns about viruses usually remain regional, she said.

Cruise companies will likely see lower passenger volumes coming out of Asia. The association said its members expected 4.2 million passengers from Asia this year, or 12.5% of all passengers. That would be up from 3.4 million in 2016.

But even if 2020 passenger volumes from Asia are lower than expected, they can recover quickly. In 2015, a viral outbreak in South Korea hurt demand for cruises from China. But by 2016, South Korea was once again a top destination for Chinese travelers, Farley said.

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Local Marketing

4 Ways to Capitalize on Consumers’ Desire to Support Local Business

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written by sshrx_ns3li1

Good news for small retailers (and, indeed, for all small businesses): Consumers prefer local businesses to national chains, according to a new study by GoDigital. How can you capitalize on this preference, and more effectively market your retail store to local customers in a way that appeals to their natural preference for shopping local? Here’s what the report had to say.

First, consumers don’t need a lot of extrinsic motivation to patronize local businesses: 55 percent say they do so because they like to support their local communities, and 30 percent say they do so in order to support small businesses (even if those businesses aren’t right in their local area). The factors you might think would make a big difference in choosing where to shop — such as convenience, product selection, staff knowledge and prices — are far down the list of consumers’ reasons for shopping local.

The takeaway: As long as you sell what they’re looking for, consumers are predisposed to shop at your store simply because it’s a small, independent business. The key to building on that natural desire, the study says, is to make connections with prospects and build lasting rapport with customers.  Here’s how.

Customers Support Local Business so Make that Work for You

Facebook is by far the most popular social network among surveyed consumers, with Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram tied for second place. Start your social media outreach by building a strong presence on Facebook. To get more interaction on your Facebook page, the report suggests emphasizing your independent, small business status. You can do this by sharing photos, quotes or information about yourself, your employees and your store. The goal is to make customers feel like they know you personally so they’re comfortable walking in. Don’t forget about Facebook advertising, either: nearly half of respondents in the survey say they are somewhat or very likely to click on relevant Facebook ads. Although your Facebook presence should be your primary social media outlet, the report also recommends having a presence on Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter as well.

Fight Showrooming

“Showrooming” is a legitimate concern for local retailers. Some 31 percent of survey respondents say they use their smartphones to look for better prices on products sold in-store. However, you can counteract this tendency by using pay per click (PPC) mobile ads that target a very specific radius around your store. When a prospective customer searches for a better deal for product you’re selling, the ad will serve up a discount at your store. It doesn’t have to be a big discount to get results: Most respondents say just 10 percent off is enough to sway them to shop at a local retailer.

Get Good Reviews

A whopping 92 percent of respondents say online reviews factor into their decision to patronize local retailers at least some of the time. Just eight percent never look at reviews when deciding where to shop. Be sure to claim your store’s listing on ratings and review sites, and monitor your reviews daily to make sure you quickly respond to any negative reviews or complaints. Use window stickers, decals or text on your receipts to encourage happy customers to “Review us on Yelp” (or whatever review sites you use. Watch what people are saying about you on social media, too: Two-thirds of survey respondents say they would review businesses on Facebook or Google+ in addition to the typical review sites.

Plan Your Promotions

Although 27 percent of consumers don’t need the motivation of discounts to shop at local stores, 73 percent say they are interested in promotions (even though that’s not their primary motivator). Discounts and loyalty programs are the most effective promotions your retail store can offer — and it doesn’t take a huge discount, either (remember that 10 percent rule). You don’t need to try to beat big retailers at their game of 40 percent, 50 percent or even 60 percent off. Instead, the report suggests, save big discounts for slower months when you need to bring in customers, or for highly competitive times of year such as the holiday shopping season.

Shop Small Photo via Shutterstock

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Business Growth

Cracking the Code on Cutting Costs and Increasing Profitability as a Solopreneur

by sshrx_ns3li1
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Solopreneurship is about as small as a small business gets. As a solopreneur, you don’t just run an entire business, you are the business. This means you are the CEO, accountant, manager, marketer, and what have you. Or, simply put, you wear all the hats.

Sounds scaringly good, right?

The probability of success, however, won’t sound very promising. You see, small businesses have a tendency to fail. For instance, of all small businesses started in 2014:

  • 80 percent made it to the second year (2015);
  • 70 percent made it to the third year (2016);
  • 62 percent made it to the fourth year (2017);
  • 56 percent made it to the fifth year (2018).

What’s more, 82 percent of businesses that fail do so because of cash flow problems. Being the smallest possible business, you are extremely vulnerable to cash flow issues. While you focus on bagging more and more clients to keep the work (and money) rolling in, it is equally important to slash unnecessary spendings to maintain and increase profitability.

Ways to Cut Costs in a Small Business

So, here are four fundamental ways to cut costs in a small business including tips to reduce expenses, maximize your budget, and ultimately grow your solo venture.

Use Free Alternatives to Paid Tools

Online tools and apps are at the heart of your solo business. From sourcing clients to getting paid, everything you do involves the use of modern online tools. And for every task, there are countless options available on the market today. Setting up your suite of business tools thriftily can go a long way in maximizing your revenue.

Make sure to take advantage of the cost savings many free (or almost free) tools offer while providing the same capabilities and features as their paid counterparts. Here’s a tried-and-true toolkit for you to take inspiration from:

  • Google Drive: For creating, easily sharing, and safely storing documents, spreadsheets, presentations, etc. It is completely free.
  • Trello: Free web app for efficiently managing your projects the Kanban way.
  • Slack: A great app for real-time messaging and file sharing.
  • Canva: The start-to-finish, beginner-friendly, and free design app for all your social media graphics needs.
  • Wave: Free software for all your accounting and invoicing needs.
  • Unsplash: The best free collection of stock photos.
  • Join.me: An ideal free tool for remote client meetings and screen sharing.
  • BuzzSumo: The ultimate tool to source ideas for your content and social media strategy.
  • Grammarly: A must-have freemium tool to detect and dodge grammatical mistakes in your emails and content.
  • Clockify: Time is money. Track your productivity for free with this neat little app.
  • Hunter.io: Find email addresses for pitching prospective clients with this freemium tool.

Reassess Your Work Location

The freedom to work from anywhere and be your own boss is the biggest reason why working professionals nowadays are ditching their conventional jobs and opting to become a solopreneur.

Chances are you have similar reasons, too. If you haven’t already, consider moving away from expensive city life to not only cut costs but to also experience the thrill of traveling and exploring new places. You can quite literally save hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars by shifting to a pocket-friendly (yet beautiful) location.

Some spectacular locations where you can move to easily and continue growing your solo venture efficiently include:

  • Hanoi, Vietnam
  • Bali, Indonesia
  • Buenos Aires, Argentina
  • Lisbon, Portugal

When working remotely, consider a co-working space to ensure reliable internet connectivity, among other necessities, is in place. Check out Nomad List, a website specifically designed for researching feasible places to live as a remote working professional.

Outsource with Intelligence

Being a solopreneur does not mean you actually have to do it all yourself. It means you are the only one responsible for getting the job done.

It is safe to say you’re no expert at everything. No one is. But that shouldn’t stop you from taking on projects that still interest you or grabbing lucrative opportunities. If a part of your deliverable requires you to do something you’re not particularly skilled at, or you know you can spend the same time on something else at which you’ll be more productive, you should definitely consider outsourcing it.

Sure, it may appear as an expensive option which seemingly won’t help in cutting costs. But if the person/agency you outsource the work to does an outstanding job while you work on the stuff which you’re good at, the end result would more than satisfy your client leading to positive reviews and recurring work for your business (aka you).

Besides, platforms like Fiverr are super affordable. Outsourcing work on such well-known platforms is relatively straightforward and safe.

Review Expenses, Rinse and Repeat to Cut Costs

Last but certainly not least, take some time at the start/end of each month to keep a rigorous check on your monthly expenses. Review every expenditure and try to root out the ones that don’t positively affect your business growth. Because as a solopreneur, your business’s growth is all that matters in terms of being financially secure and successful.

This way, you’ll slowly but surely streamline your expenses and increase your disposable income which can be invested back in growing your business ? learning more skills, attending networking events, optimizing your website and online presence, and so on. Also, ensure you have an emergency fund aside for times of crisis. And if worst comes to worst, you can always borrow some instant cash from credible short-term payday loan providers like Peachy or Speedy Cash.

What tips do you have on cutting costs and increasing profitability as a one-man army? Do share your ways to cut costs in a small business in the comments below!

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Business Growth

The 7 Biggest Mistakes You Can Make While Trying to Expand Your Small Business

by sshrx_ns3li1
written by sshrx_ns3li1

For most small businesses, growth is a primary objective. And while achieving growth is wonderful, it often presents issues for companies that are unprepared to scale up. When these issues aren’t dealt with swiftly and effectively, the business will eventually crumble due to scaling mistakes.

Managing the Chaos of Growth

Growth is a topic entrepreneurs love to contemplate, but it’s not one that gets studied enough. If you’re willing to learn from the past – and even your peers — you’ll discover that others have already made a litany of scaling mistakes so that you don’t have to. They’ve also enjoyed profound successes and discovered what it takes to foster authentic growth.

Think about the most successful people, nations, groups, and companies in history and consider the way in which they grew. The Roman Empire, for example, had an expanse of five-million-plus square kilometers at its height. But it didn’t grow to that size overnight. The Roman Empire lasted for well over 1,000 years and was built over hundreds and thousands of invasions, battles, and political maneuverings — one square kilometer at a time.

Consider a modern example: Facebook. When Mark Zuckerberg and his fellow Harvard College students and roommates launched the online social network, they didn’t immediately start a national or global blitz and attempt to take over MySpace (the major social networking platform of the time). Instead, they started small. In order to join, you needed a Harvard.edu email address. Then they added another college. And another. And another. Eventually, they launched to anyone with a college email address. Finally, they launched to anyone and everyone.

Learning From Facebook

The Facebook launch model was all about the phenomenon of critical mass. They knew people wouldn’t join Facebook if they didn’t have friends on it. So instead of targeting hundreds of millions of people, they started small. They believed — and rightly so — that a few dozen users would lead to a few hundred, which would lead to thousands, millions and possibly even billions of users.

The Roman Empire and Facebook are an unlikely pair, but they are just two examples showing that growth has always been a huge focal point in politics, business, and life in general. However, for every story of successful growth, there are dozens of companies that attempt to scale up and end up crashing. Generally speaking, it’s because they fail to lean on the proven advice of those who’ve gone before them and attempt to scale up prematurely or too fast. In doing so, they bring on countless problems.

Hear this: Growth is good. However, growing too fast is arguably worse than staying put a little longer than you should. Yes, under certain circumstances, temporary stagnation can be better than premature growth. That’s not something everyone will agree with, but it’s a truth that’s supported by dozens of case studies and business obituaries over the decades.

Most businesses try to grow for the sake of growth and, in doing so, forget about the importance of establishing a strong foundation that can withstand the downward pressure that’s applied when there are more resources to manage, prospects to chase down, customers to keep happy, and money to allocate. You don’t want to make these same scaling mistakes.

7 Scaling Mistakes Companies Often Make

Now that you have a big-picture overview of the importance of scaling at a slow and steady pace, let’s explore some of the top scaling mistakes companies make that prevent them from doing so (and how it affects different areas of business).

1. Unnecessary Innovation

Growth is something that needs to be managed by people who have strategic leadership qualities. While everyone can have a say in how your business grows, be wary of letting innovators take the lead.

“Innovators are an invaluable part of your team, but they’re often not the best people to put in charge of scaling,” business consultant Rhett Power mentions. “The constant search for new ways of thinking and doing requires a heavy investment of time, energy, and — eventually — money. There will come a time when it’s more practical to focus on maintaining what you’ve built rather than redesigning it or trying to dramatically improve it.”

On a related note, product innovation is only one aspect of differentiation. As you grow, you’ll discover that it’s often more cost-effective and less resource-intensive to innovate customer service, customer experience, shipping/logistics, etc.

2. Poor Hiring

In terms of hiring and managing human resources, two things happen to startups as they grow:

  • First off, people leave for new opportunities. Either they realize they can’t handle the uncertainty of startup life and want the predictability of another job, or they choose to go off on their own and start a new business.
  • Secondly — even if nobody from the original team leaves — you find yourself in a position where you have to add positions in order to account for growth.

Whatever the underlying cause for hiring new employees is based upon, growing businesses frequently make the mistake of hiring the wrong people. While they may consider a candidate’s resume or technical skillset, they don’t take nearly enough time to evaluate whether they’re a good “fit.”

When hiring employees, ask yourself questions like: Do they possess an attitude that meshes well with our mission? Are they willing to sacrifice short-term gains for long-term results? Do they understand the vision of the company?

3. Disorganized Accounting

When your business is small, it’s fairly easy to keep track of finances. But as your company grows, you’ll find that it takes a much more purposeful approach to keep accounting in line. One of the biggest scaling mistakes growing companies make is losing track of accounting and drowning in disorganization. Not only is this frustrating, but it can have serious tax repercussions and legal consequences. Here are some suggestions to avoid a similar fate:

  • Hire a full-time CPA or outsource it to someone who is responsible for staying on top of financials. This is no longer something you, the business owner, can handle in addition to your other responsibilities.
  • Get your accounts receivable under control. Simplify your invoicing process and don’t let anything slip through the cracks. A failure to collect timely payment can hurt cash flow and limit your flexibility.
  • Reconcile all accounts at the end of each month. If you wait until the end of the quarter, you’ll find that it’s far more time-consuming and difficult to uncover what went wrong, where it went wrong, and how it can be fixed.

Accounting isn’t sexy, but it provides significant peace of mind. When you have your finances under control, you’re freed up to focus on other areas of the business.

4. Too Much Debt

Debt is a strategic tool for growth, but it’s not something to become overly reliant on. Many well-intended founders have relied so heavily on debt to grow that they unwittingly handcuffed themselves and eliminated future flexibility.

Whenever possible, try bartering instead of taking on more debt. If you’re in the B2B world, this is especially useful. You can offer your services to a company in return for theirs. By building out this network, you lower your overhead expenses and prevent the need for excessive debt. Obviously this can’t be done with everything, but it is a valuable strategy in many situations.

5. Too Much Focus on Sales and Marketing

When growth is the primary focus of everything you do, you’re inclined to spend all of your time and resources on sales and marketing. After all, that’s how you get new customers! But this may actually be a mistake.

When all of your attention goes to sales and marketing, you neglect creating value for your customers. Innovation goes by the wayside, customer service takes a backseat, and the errors and kinks in your product fail to get worked out in a timely manner. The result is a sub-par customer experience that negates any progress you make on the sales and marketing front.

6. Failure to Listen to Early Adopters

Another problem with constantly marketing and selling is that you don’t take the time to listen to your customers. Your early adopters, in particular, will let you know what they like, don’t like, or want to see. If you’re the only one doing the talking, you’ll miss the chance to implement simple improvements before scaling up your customer base.

7. Failure to Develop a Culture

“If you’re scaling successfully, you’ve probably got great people working for you. Losing them at this stage is very easy if you’re not paying attention,” entrepreneur Matt Doyle writes. “Sometimes it’s just that responsibilities grow too fast, but I’ve also seen teams fail because the earlier members didn’t get along with all the new people who came aboard and didn’t understand/couldn’t maintain the culture that got you here.”

Culture is something you have to focus on from the very start. While it can evolve over time, it’s hard to go back and create an entirely new culture from scratch. Decide on what’s important and really instill these values in every existing employee and new hire.

Disciplined Scaling, Not Growth Hacking

This article isn’t meant to scare you away from growing, but it should give you pause and make you think twice before you pursue growth for the sole objective of getting bigger.

It seems that the biggest problem among today’s entrepreneurs and young business leaders is the belief that growth can be hacked. There’s even a buzzword for it: growth hacking. It’s the idea that you can implement a couple of shortcuts or find a few loopholes and grow your business in weeks or months, rather than years. Unfortunately, the notion of growth hacking has permeated the modern entrepreneurial mindset and led people to believe that they can do things that really aren’t possible or healthy in the long run.

Your primary objective should not be growth hacking. Instead, try focusing on what we’ll call disciplined scaling. You want to grow at a pace that’s purposeful, strategic, and steady. Sometimes this growth will happen fast, but more than likely, it’ll follow the gradual path of other successful groups, nations, and companies. And if this means avoiding a premature collapse, then by all means, slow and steady is a good thing.

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Banking & Credit

Be the Best Trick-or-Treat House on the Block Without Breaking the Bank

by sshrx_ns3li1
written by sshrx_ns3li1

Halloween is the scariest time of the year, but that isn't always due to the ghosts trick-or-treating you, or the creepy clown sightings on the news. The price of Halloween candy, not to mention the cost of costumes and home decorations, can give anyone the heebie-jeebies.According to the National Retail Federation, which surveyed 6,791 consumers from Sept. 6 to 13 about their Halloween shopping plans, the average American will spend $82.93 on Halloween, up from $74.34 last year. All in all, Halloween spending is expected to reach $8.4 billion in 2016.Fortunately, if you are worried about going overboard this year, many decorating experts maintain that it's possible to have the best trick-or-treat house in the neighborhood without breaking the bank. It simply requires a little imagination and preparation on the front end.[See: 9 Scary Things Consumers Do With Their Money.]Candy. We'll start here first, since it's the easiest thing to find cheaply. Buy your candy several days or weeks in advance, so you can be on the lookout for discounts.If you belong to a warehouse club, buying in bulk might save you money. Digital coupon websites like Coupons.com and RetailMeNot.com have coupons for candy and Halloween costumes that you may want to utilize. Just make sure that if you do buy Halloween candy weeks in advance that you hide it, so your family doesn't eat it and gobble all of your savings.Halloween decorations. Check out the dollar stores first. Sure, that may sound obvious, but if you're something of a dollar-store snob, it also may be the last place you would consider."You would be surprised [at] the fantastic finds that can really add value to your Halloween display. There are plastic skulls, dismembered body parts, creepy spiders and so much more," says Felicia Ramos-Peters, who lives in Hurleyville, New York, and is the founder of GetHolidayHappy.com, a website aimed at helping people celebrate holidays with ideas for recipes, decorations and gifts.Jeanine Boiko seconds the dollar store. Boiko is a New York City publicist who also blogs about home decor and owns an Etsy.com shop called Okio B Designs."Stock up on fake skulls, rats and crows, and jars, window decals," she suggests, adding that, "a can of orange or black spray paint can work wonders on sprucing up dollar store finds and creating the 'eek' factor."And if you see nothing you like at the dollar stores, leave. All you have wasted is some time.[See: 10 Oddly Practical Things You Can Rent.]Lights. But one thing to think about while you're at the dollar stores? Lighting."Lighting is everything," says Jamie O'Donnell, an Orlando, Florida resident who has been an event planner for more than 15 years. "Replace the bulbs of your outdoor light with LED lights in orange or purple to cast your house in a spooky glow. It's fairly inexpensive and only takes a few minutes to do but creates a dramatic look."Judging from what you can find online, festive LED lights may run you around $20 to $30 for a string of, say, 40 to 100 lights (which could cost a small fortune if you intend to light up your entire home). The conventional holiday strings of orange or purple lights are generally cheaper, and will likely run you more along the lines of $5 to $15. Of course, you can always buy your lights after the holidays, when they're on sale, to prepare for next Halloween.Sounds and music. Ramos-Peters suggests using sound as part of your Halloween atmospherics."I think music is an underestimated element for outdoor Halloween displays. It is really easy to download or purchase some scary music and sound effects," Ramos-Peters says. "You can turn heads with a display that has some spooky sounds like a chainsaw or evil witch laughing."[See: 11 Ways to Save Time and Money.]Pro Tip: Use What You Have in Your HomePamela Layton McMurtry, an artist and designer in Kaysville, Utah, and author of the e-book "A Harvest and Halloween Handbook," feels it's always effective when homeowners create a spooky scene on their lawn."I love creative, alternative decor for Halloween and go wild for themes taken from literature," she says (think "Alice in Wonderland" and "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz").Now, that might sound like a surefire way to destroy your future retirement funds. You want to entertain your neighbors, not create a multi-million dollar Hollywood movie. But McMurtry says you may be able to find props in your home or at thrift stores. If you really want cheap and effective, McMurtry paints this picture: "Set up a fake campfire with cricket sounds and sad harmonica music. Mound dirt for a grave and put a pair of cowboy boots nearby with a clue about [what happened to] the demised, like a rubber snake."Something else to look for in your basement, attic or thrift store, Boiko suggests, is a long-forgotten Scrabble game."You can use the tiles for easy Halloween decor by spelling out spooky words. I painted the tile holders black and spelled out creepy words on mine," Boiko says.And if you can keep your Halloween costs low, you won't be tempted to spell out Scrabble letters to make phrases like "holiday debt" and "I'm broke." On the other hand, that may be a creative idea. The children on your block may not get creeped out by those words, but you'll send a chill up the spines of their parents..

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