Category: Business

Avoid impulsive shopping during the holidays by making your plan and sticking to it.

One method to avoid the madness, according to Real Simple, is to work out a complete gift plan, then set aside one day for shopping.

Before the big day, shop sales for specific items and download any necessary retailer coupons and price scanning comparison tools onto a smartphone for real-time help.

On the big day, get up early, eat a healthy breakfast, dress for business, leave the credit cards at home and plan on using cash only.

By some estimates, spending cash only will save you up to 23 percent on your shopping trip.

While at the store, shop solo, avoiding salespeople, unless you really need help.

Buy cheaper items first. If you buy the big ticket items first, tossing around $20 or $50 here and there seems easy. So start small.

Break up the day with a coffee or soft drink to stay in a good mood and make better choices.

Get in and out of stores more quickly by checking out in less crowded areas of major department stores and steering clear of sales pitches.

During lunch and dinner breaks, cash in credit card rewards on discounted gift cards and exclusive special offers to round out the list.

An extra sneaky tip is to load up an online cart but cancel it right before finalizing. Often, they will send an email offer with a discount code but if not, there is no harm in asking the live chat representative.

Special holiday offers and charity events top the list for best promotions during November to January.

December Holiday sales in 2018 are expected to pass the $700 billion mark in the U.S. with at least a 3.8 percent increase over the prior year, according to Retail Touch Points.

This spike is hot on the heels of a 5.5 percent increase from 2016 during the 2017 holiday season, the month of November and December. Small businesses should be doing everything they can to maximize their exposure to potential customers and driving sales throughout this period.

Fit Small Business tapped small business owners to find out their most powerful marketing and promotions during the holidays that nearly any owner can incorporate into their strategy.

Many events focus on creating scarcity and a sense of urgency through limited-time-only specials such as a 12 days giveaway that offers something new for one day only. This allowed social media marketer Proko to increase the daily traffic to their website by 20-30 percent each day as customers checked to see what was on display and boosted sales throughout the promotion and into January as well. Creating a product or two with a limited-edition holiday run can create instant demand among existing customers that don’t want to miss out as well as new customers intrigued by the offer. Suit maker Shinesty, for instance, creates 100 suit batches of a unique design that, once sold, will never make it back into their shop again.

A great way to tap into the giving spirit during the holidays is to avoid the overplayed Buy-1-Get-1 specials and create a Buy-1-Give-1 promotion that pledges to donate a product or a portion of the profits to a good cause whenever someone buys something. For traditional businesses with a local presence, doing good in the community can bring benefits long into the future by cultivating a positive brand image. Once all of the fun ideas are planned, don’t forget to ensure that there is enough product on hand to last through a busy sales period.

Buying into a franchise business of any kind allows the owner to go into business for themselves while providing the benefit of a proven business model, but it can come with a substantial cost, according to Entrepreneur Magazine. For those that have never owned a business, franchises can take much guesswork out of the equation because they will automatically receive the brand recognition, marketing, training, and all other resources that the corporate headquarters will provide.

Another benefit of being a franchisee is that they won’t have to worry about new product development, design, or even the financial systems necessary to keep the business fresh and their territory will be protected within their market. According to The Balance, they also typically benefit from the economies of scale that a large corporation enjoys so their inventory will be cheaper, and they will have better access to employee recruitment. Essentially, a franchise owner is purchasing a turnkey business with a much higher success rate than a startup.

Unfortunately, companies understand the value that their franchises can provide to investors, and it often requires a substantial fee to get started as well as paying ongoing fees or royalties to continue using the brand each year. Operating a unit within another person’s company also means that the franchisee must conform to someone else’s idea of how the business should be run and there won’t be much room to change things or add a personal touch. Successful operators must also worry about how their peers are performing in units of their own as a product or human resources scandal in one location could have implications far outside of their local area.

Facebook is the new media driving small business sales, marketing experts say.

According to Content Marketing Institute, a full 97 percent of all business-to-consumer marketers that use social media are using Facebook ads as part of their advertising strategy and 88 percent of those using it feel as though it is their most effective platform for reaching customers and converting sales. With 1.37 billion daily active users and 2 billion monthly users, Facebook has a massive audience, but it is the targeted nature of their ads that make them so useful, according to USA Today.

A local restaurant, for instance, could decide on Tuesday morning that they want to advertise a special on oysters that night and turn to a Facebook ad to drive traffic to the promotion. With a few clicks, the owner can target an advertisement to users in their zip code that like oysters and eating out and are over 21 so they can buy drinks. The cost of such an ad could easily be under $100.

Meanwhile, traditional ad campaigns in print or radio would require significantly more planning time and cost.

Another feature, lookalike audiences, allow a business owner to automatically find people with traits similar to those who are already following their Facebook pages, according to Inc. Magazine. This approach generated $5 for every dollar spent on this type of ad.

The ability for small businesses to create inexpensive, targeted ads whenever they want creates a fantastic opportunity to market-test new promotions, sales, and other initiatives. They even have a Lead Ads service that lets companies without a website gather email addresses from potential customers that have shown interest in their ads.

You can gain more respect in your area of expertise by using a few basic strategies, according to Entrepreneur Magazine.

Start by narrowing your field of interest, then follow up by writing articles, speaking to groups, and doing podcasts and radio.

Micro-specializing is key. An interior designer might know generally about home and business design. But the idea is to become an expert in one particular type of design. Choose fitness centers or CEO offices, for example, and know everything possible about the needs in the niche.

Publish your results, observations and advice on your specialty in trade journals, or other professional media. This way you become known in the industry.

Once you’ve established yourself in an industry, you could consider taking your most popular or even controversial topics and delving deeper into them with a book focused on solving a problem or informing an audience.

Ultimately, one of the best ways to become an expert or even a celebrity in your field is to move into speaking engagements at professional conferences.

In small towns and cities all over America, malls are closing, shopping centers are vacant, and the cause is e-commerce.

But physical stores still have power and some sectors are showing resilience, according to Forbes.

Nine companies on the list of Top 10 U.S. retailers is made up entirely of players that rely on foot traffic: Wal-Mart, Kroger, Costco, Home Depot, CVS, Walgreens, Target, Lowe’s, and Albertson’s.

The principal markets for these retailers are groceries, clothing, and home improvement supplies — all more desirable when purchased in person. Consumers still want to examine fresh produce.

They would rather try on new clothes before they buy. Home improvement products such as lumber and tools are still get-it-now items.

In addition, according to a study by the CBRE Group, 70 percent of Millennials — the largest, most connected consumer base — still prefer to shop in stores.

Amazon, the big destroyer of retail, must know that too. Their recent purchase of Whole Foods for $15 billion is a dramatic example of their play in the brick-and-mortar space.

Parents can help with a down payment on a house for the kids, while protecting their money, with a shared-equity mortgage.

It’s not a common way to help the kids get in a home, but it can give parents some security when they loan money for a down payment.

In a shared-equity mortgage, parents pay a portion of the down payment and are promised a percentage of the profits when the kids sell the home.

The percentage depends on the agreement, according to mortgageloan.com.

Upon sale, the parents could recoup their entire investment or even make more if the value of the house rises. On the other hand, if the home isn’t well maintained or if prices drop, parents could lose their investment.

The key is frank communication between family members and an agreement that all parties understand and agree to. The agreement might require the kids to sell the home by a certain date, or it might require them to refinance. It should also spell out what will happen if the kids default on the mortgage. Will the parents take ownership of the property, or will they lose their investment?

What if real estate prices drop, leaving everyone with less money than they started with?

What are the general maintenance requirements that all parties agree to?

What say will parents have over optional remodeling?

Perhaps for these risks, this type of mortgage is unusual. Today many alternatives exist for first-time home buyers, including FHA loans and special state programs.

Starting a small business can be a daunting task that has led about 1.6 million owners to seek out a partner to add leadership support or to help provide skills that they lack, according to Forbes magazine. While teams formed around a common business goal are likely to be well-aligned and full of trust in the beginning, there are many reasons the relationship can fill with doubt, frustration, and disrespect over time which can ruin a business quickly. According to Entrepreneur magazine, starting a business can be extremely stressful even without worrying about coexisting with a partner and differences in leadership style, skills, commitment, and even personal habits. All of these can cause tension.

Having two bosses with entirely different styles, for example, can negatively affect everyone in a company if they are sending mixed signals or spend too much time arguing. One might be a task-oriented disciplinarian that values efficiency and order over the laissez-faire, creative mindset of their partner who would rather make sure employees are happy and having fun. Perhaps the partners come from a background of management and design, respectively, and they tend to lead based on the skills they are already familiar with from their past. Each person will privately value their own perspective more than the other, leading to conflict.

As the initial stages of a startup wind down and time goes on, the commitment and personal habits of each partner become a more significant factor in maintaining a successful relationship. Two people will likely have different coping mechanisms and work-life balance priorities along with changing ideas on their role within a company. In this situation, it is incredibly easy for the 50/50 balance of a partnership to swing in one direction or another, leading to feelings of guilt or resentment as the inequality builds.

Although there is no perfect system, it is recommended that partners talk openly at all times about their expectations, feelings, and sense of progress while being careful to avoid unproductive ‘mudslinging.’ Be prepared not to find agreement on every issue, and the more willing partners are to discuss matters, the better their chances of long-term success. If an owner feels like there is an unresolvable impasse looming, they should consult with a lawyer on an exit strategy and be prepared to leave an unreasonable partner.