When you consider everything that goes into running a small business, this should come as no surprise. There are just too many factors that can sink your business before you even realize something wrong is happening.

It soon becomes quite obvious that you need to do everything in your power to safeguard your small business from failure.

But, how do you do this, exactly?

Surround yourself with the Right People (and Keep them)

It may sound a bit idealistic to some, but it is a simple fact that your business can only be as good as your employees. No matter how you cut it, your people will be responsible for the biggest portion of your success and you will do well to surround yourself with the best people you can find.

When you hire the right people, you can count on them to provide the most responsible approach to work, maximum productivity and an endless stream of ideas on how to improve your business.

Unfortunately for many SME owners, retaining employees has become one of the most difficult tasks when running a business. Employee loyalties are waning, the gig economy is taking a hold, and it is safe to say that very few people know how to keep their best employees.

Treat them well, provide them with benefits and allow them to advance their careers and improve their skills. This is the best place to start.

Use Software

The majority of small businesses use some sort of software in their day-to-day operations, but it is safe to say that business software is generally underutilized among SMEs. This is especially true since the proliferation of Software-as-a-Service solutions.

Namely, with these SaaS solutions, small companies can now get access to software that used to be unattainable for them due to exorbitant prices. This new way of procuring software has made such software far more affordable and it enables SMEs to, for example, use business analytics software that used to be reserved only for the largest companies.

There are innumerable ways in which the smart use of software will safeguard an SME from failure. It will provide a much more fact-based decision-making process, it will streamline many operations and it will increase productivity manifold.

Don’t Neglect Cybersecurity

There used to be a time when small companies didn’t have to worry about cybersecurity as they were not attractive targets. However, as even the tiniest companies started operating with sensitive customer data and storing it, they also started becoming more and more alluring to attackers. This is probably best seen in the rise of ransomware, which is a very cost-effective way of making a living and it pays to attack small businesses too.

As an SME owner, you need to make sure that you pay attention to cybersecurity. This will entail installing all of the latest cybersecurity measures, especially if your customers/clients leave sensitive personal information with you. You will also need to educate and train your employees, as well as promote a culture of cybersecurity. It will also be a good idea to update your cybersecurity policies and to make sure your third-party vendors are secure.

The reason why you will want to go through all this trouble is that data breaches can be fantastically expensive, especially when you factor in the recovery period during which your company might have to be shut down. Keep in mind, these recovery periods can last up to a few weeks or even months. Can you afford to shut down for that long?

We didn’t think so.

Be Careful with Your Money

Perhaps the easiest and the fastest way for your small business to fail is to lose track of your money. Perhaps your revenue is being eaten up by something like shipping and it takes you a few months to notice. Perhaps you have been paying your taxes the wrong way and you soon find out you owe a substantial amount in back taxes. Perhaps you decide to buy out a competitor and take out a really bad loan. Perhaps your employee turnover or legal fees are making you haemorrhage money.

There are innumerable ways in which an SME owner can lose track of where their money is going and how liquid their company is. When something like this happens, you start getting into damage control mode and, for a very long time, you are always a few steps behind, sticking your fingers in a leaking ditch, trying to stave off or prevent a catastrophe.

Always make sure you have your finances in order and if you are not sure you can do it yourself, hire an accountancy agency to handle this for you. You may not have planned to do so, but you simply need to.

Rethink Your Marketing

It is difficult for a small business to become relevant and stay competitive. The competition is almost always very strong and there are never enough customers to go around. One traditional way to go about this is to do some marketing, but unfortunately, many SME owners do their marketing the wrong way.

There are two main schools of thought and action when bad marketing is in question.

The first one is the traditionalist school of bad marketing where nothing that was invented after 1950 is a good idea. The proponents of it refuse to acknowledge customers that might find them online and they sink huge amounts of money in local media, even if it does nothing for them.

The second school of bad marketing is the ‘join the hype’ one, where every marketing buzzword gets them excited and throwing money at it. They rarely track actual results and spend time and money on (mostly online) tactics that need far more expertise and context to work.

Marketing is about making money. It is about finding ways to attract new customers that will spend money with you. It doesn’t matter if you use VR marketing or if you paint the side of a cow.

If it works, it can help you avoid failure that is inevitable once the customers run out.

John is one of the directors at RE:SURE a remote CCTV and security company with bases in Dublin and Belfast. The company provide live monitoring and live audio for CCTV security systems.

The post 5 Ways to Safeguard Your Small Business from Failure appeared first on Starting a Business in Ireland | Help for Ireland's Entrepreneurs | Start Up Your Own Business.

1. Be organised, be ready and don’t be late

Under self-assessment there is a common date for the payment of tax and filing of tax returns – the 31^st of October each year. With all the demands of starting a new business, this date can often sneak up on you. It is absolutely vital that you are ready for this date each year and have everything you need optimally organised to make the process as easy, quick and pain-free as possible. You can file your return in advance of this date once you are ready. Do not leave it until the last minute to file your return. Not only are there fees for missing the deadline, if you rush there is more chance that you make a mistake or leave something out, which can also result in a financial penalty or even a potential tax audit.

2. The Start Your Own Business Relief

There are a number of tax reliefs, deductions and exemptions in place that contribute towards the creation of jobs. The start your own business relief provides tax relief for someone who has been unemployed for at least 12 months before starting a qualifying business, and provides an exemption from income tax up to a maximum of €40,000 per annum for a period of two years.

3. Keep receipts and records of all your relevant expenses

Once an expense is directly related to the running of your business, you can make a claim for it in your sole trader tax return. However, you must be able to prove that you have made the expense by keeping all relevant receipts and a record of them, for six years. “Allowable expenses” for the day-to-day running of your business include items such as: the purchase of goods for resale, rent, rates, repairs, lighting, heating, the running costs of vehicles or machinery used in the business, accountancy fees, interest paid on any monies borrowed to finance your business, lease payments on vehicles or machinery used in the business, equipment, motoring expenses and commuting expenses. Things like mobile phones and cars can be a tricky area as many sole traders use them for their own personal use as well. Only the usage that is directly related to the running of the business can be claimed.

4. Don’t overlook your pre-trading expenses

Because you’ve only recently launched your business, you may be eligible to claim a tax deduction for some qualifying pre-trading expenses in respect of the business in the three years before the commencement. For tax purposes, these expenses are treated as if they had been incurred at the time that the trade started. These may include business-related costs like: leasing costs, legal fees, the cost of preparing business plans and feasibility studies, accountancy fees, advertising costs and rent paid for the premises from which your business operates.

5. Broaden your understanding of allowances

While the reliefs available to you when doing your income tax return are enough to keep you busy, there are other assets for which you may be entitled to claim a tax deduction for. If you look hard enough, they can make a big difference when getting your new business off the ground. Things that can easily be overlooked include things like intellectual properties your company may have acquired such as trade names, brands, know-how copyright and even good will, assets the cost of which qualify for tax relief; research and development costs; and even tax treatment on any losses you incur.

About the Author

Selfemployed.ie have over 25 years experience helping people through their self-assessment and income tax returns. So, if you are self-employed, involved in a start-up, working on a contract basis, or earning any other second income and need any help with any aspect of filing your income tax return, you can get professional, experienced income tax service starting from just €150 (+VAT). Get in touch with the experts today to get started.

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Name it!

One thing that often gets lost in the beginning of a business is the thoughts towards a name or a logo for the business. The most important element of the personality of your business of product comes out of the logo. This is the coal face of your business and will give your business it’s much hoped for lasting impression.

Now, I know it’s our job to help with the logo and we can do that. However, coming up with a name can be a very subjective process. A name represents the company, explains its personality, its brand, it can lend credibility or fun to the business and picking the right name is crucial. There’s notone beter than the business owner to come up with it but its not always that easy for them. I remember in the past some clients ridiculing business names out there and erring on the side of caution and sticking with a defined combination of company owner’s names or a name that spells out exactly the prduct. This can indeed work but its one thing to be serious and reliable and a totally other thing to be memorable. If there was one company I could point at its Google. It’s possibly one of the most memorable and alternative names and yet, one of the most successful global brands. By all means be safe and serious but give thought to giving your company more than your own name. And giving it a sparkling personality! Either way come to us with your thoughts and we can work together to get the right name for your business.

Colour my logo

Colour is exceptionally important and a blend of colours can explain so much about your brand personality. Consider blues and darker tones for more serious, corporate reliable businesses. Green is often considered calming and reflecting nature. Purple is an outstanding colour celebrating individuality. Red, obviously for a passionate type but in a logo, it can be representative of sustainability or alternatively danger. Yellow is often seen as a fun colour giving thoughts of summer days and bright futures. However, colours can change personality when combined and can indeed set the tone and direction for your stationery, your website and your brand. My advice would be to start with what you like. After all you will be looking at it most of the time. After that, speak with your designer and work together on whether you can get a proof of a selection of colour options or combinations so that you can pick one that work for you. When it comes down to it, you will know what you like and I always encourage the client to go with their initial gut feeling.

Fonts – which is which?

There are several types and designs of fonts. Firstly the main 2 styles would be Serif and Sans Serif. A Serif is like Times Roman and has the small chiseled edges or ticks. Generally Serif Fonts can be representative of being reliable & dependable. If you are considering a Serif Font, your business may be of a more corporate nature. Having said that, Serifs have moved forward in recent years and there are others available that have less of a traditional feel to them. Sans Serif Fonts are like Ariel that are clean at the edge and don’t have the chiseled ticks. These are seen as being fun yet clean. Some say they are easy to read. Online, though a Serif often works better for reading. Most businesses I know use both. Maybe a Serif for headings and a Sans Serif for body text in brochures, flyers or information leaflets. Again, your designer will be able to pull some recommendations together for you. If you in doubt, you can always go to https://fonts.google.com/ and search what they have to offer. They are some of the best.

Of course, we can’t ignore Scripts. Scripts can be seen as being old fashioned, traditional or if used correctly give a feeling of a funky personality and approachability. For example my own logo at www.designerg.ie where I chose cool greens and a clean, black background to reflect my own design business and personality.

What’s extremely popular right now is the hand-drawn style font. I have written about this on my blog https://www.designerg.ie/the-hand-drawn-fonts-phenomenon/. It explains how this style of font is working well in terms of fostering a hip and relevant look and feel to various elements within design.

Whatever combination you decide to go with give yourself a break and go with what you want. Get the options you need from your designer. A good designer will get a feel for the business from your briefing meeting and be able to provide you with enough options to get you going. If there is one thing I know from experience is that once the logo is designed, my clients are usually thrilled. It’s the minute the business feels real and you can start working on getting your business or service out there. Good luck with whatever you decide!

This article was kindly written by Sinead at www.DesignerG.ie

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Your content and your delivery. Each one determines just how well your audience receives your new idea.

Part 1

Your Content: Pitch Decks

Online software presentation companies like Prezi, Emaze and Canva have now over 100 million users of pitch deck templates from all corners of the globe. From 2009, as Prezi set out to take on Microsoft’s PowerPoint, the world of pitching and presenting changed drastically.

By 2017, investors and audiences now expect that you have a well designed deck that clearly tells them the WHAT, WHY, WHO and HOW of your business.

Key things to remember with deck slides:

• Develop Your Story – Before you throw yourself into some colourful creatives, break down exactly what you want to say and how it should start, flow and end. 

• Define It–  Decide what’s most important to your startup that you really want investors and backers to take away with them. Make it memorable by weaving through interesting stories and facts that drive home the unique selling points of your product. You are playing to the head and the heart of your audience.

• Design– Image and Text. Balance between strong images that convey your product or service and compelling words that add value to your brand. 

               Text – Don’t use heavy text that reads like paragraphs – If your audience has to read a long worded explanation of your business, chances are they have lost interest by the second slide. This shouldn’t be work for them, you are supposed to do the work for them by explaining your business in an easy and simple manner.

               – Powerful images that convey your message – Humans are visual. We are drawn to images that help us see something more clearly. Investors are the same. Use illustrations that help them see the bigger picture with your product and lets them visualise a scenario that they can relate to. Do not, however, rely on just beautiful images that have no relevance to your brand, it will distract their attention away from your product.

Getting Started

Opening Slide – This is your hook. You have a very short amount of time to reel them in, so you need to use this to entice your audience and point your pitch in the direction you want it to go. 

Problem

A popular way to kick off is to create a problem slide, as you immediately get straight to the point of your business and show that you have created something that solves a common issue or problem. You are trying to engage your audience here to give them something that they can relate to.

Question

Another opening method is to simply put a one-line question on a slide. If your question is interesting enough, your audience will mentally answer it and you have their attention before you even speak.

Hard hitting fact or figure

Great ways to pique curiosity is to throw a ‘bold’ number or percentage out there that has great impact on the audience or investor. It can be something that is relevant to your market or industry or just a general figure that is not very well known. You are educating your audience now and giving them something new that they were not aware of before now.

Story Slides:

Now that your audience is listening, the platform is yours to tell your story and share your vision with them. Bring them in to how you created your product, how it is going to directly benefit customers and how it will change the industry you are targeting. You can also show them what you have learned along the way and how your product will keep improving with the right investment behind it.

Marketing Slides:

No great pitch deck is complete without showing how you are going to get to your customers or clients. It is often left out and yet it is an essential part of any new business plan or idea. Failing to show your route to market means that you might not have properly thought through all aspects of your business to be successful.

Money Slides: 

Always, always, always include how your business is going to make money. This is where investors decide just how credible you are and how serious you are about turning your idea into a profitable and viable business. Rarely can a new idea be sustainable without paying customers to build and grow it into a success. A graph or chart that explains how you will scale up your revenue streams over a reasonable time should always be included.

Wrapping It Up:

‘The last thing you say is the first thing they will remember’. This is your final chance to leave your audience with a positive impression of your business and something memorable to take away. The most important part of your idea should be placed here. Going back to your opening slide can be effective as it ties up the whole point of why you created your product in the first place.

This post was kindly provided by www.Vidpitch.com – if you need help with your pitch get in touch with the guys on hello@vidpitch.com

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One area where people are traditionally slow to make the move is with their accountant as they feel it can be very time consuming and lead to a lot of headaches. Getting the right accountant for your business is of paramount importance and if you are not satisfied with your current accountant you need to make the move!

Below we look at some of the reasons businesses give for not making the move and why they should not hold you back:

There is loads of paperwork to complete –

The switching process is actually very simple. Once you find a new accountant more suited to your needs they will send a letter to your old accountant informing them that you have decided to switch and requesting the latest financial information relating to your business. The old accountant will then give their clearance to the new accountant to take over along with the information they requested and the switch is complete. You may wish to contact your old accountant yourself out of courtesy but it is not a necessity.

I need to wait until my last set of accounts are finished –

The process of switching accountant can take place at any stage during the year. The old accountant will need payment for any work done to date but a new accountant can pick up straight from where the old accountant left off with the minimum of fuss

My old accountant will not release my books and records if I switch –

Accountants are bound by ethical guidelines and are required to release any property belonging to you should you request it. This should not be an issue but your new accountant will assist should any issues arise.

Revenue keep an eye on people who switch accountants –

Switching accountant will not trigger any suspicions amongst Revenue as it is seen as a normal part of business life whereby people will choose to switch service providers from time to time, they will not see it as an attempt to conceal anything.

A new accountant will not understand my business like my old accountant does –

A good accountant will be able to get to grips with your business in a very short period of time and it has the added benefit of having a fresh set of eyes look over your business. This can often result in new ideas being suggested which can grow your business and put more money back in your pocket.

This blog was written by www.Taxassist.ie – if you would like to find out more please email info@Taxassist.ie

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For many it is a very attractive option which allows them more control over their career and offers opportunities that may not present themselves in the traditional employer/employee scenario.

Becoming a self-employed contractor is not without its pitfalls and below we consider the top 5 things that should be considered before making such a decision:

1. Job Security/Job Flexibility

As an employee your rights are protected by a raft of employment law swhich ensures that your employer is obliged to comply with. As a self-employed contractor you forfeit these rights and protections. It is also important to note that when work dries up contractors will be first to lose out on work as opposed to employees who are guaranteed certain protections by law. You are not entitled to any redundancy payments as a contractor.

While being self-employed, however, you are your own boss. You get to control the hours that you work, where you work and you get to be solely in control of how your career progresses. The better you perform your tasks the more likely you are to profit from managing your workload efficiently.

2. Contractor Rate/Salary

Contractors tend to get increased rates for performing the same job that employees would do. This is due to the fact that the employer does not have to account for holiday pay, sick leave, employers PRSI.

If you are on a salary as an employee you will normally be assigned a payment date each month and you are pretty much guaranteed that the money will be in your bank account on that date. As a self-employed contractor you are treated the same as any other supplier and getting paid on time can prove to be an issue which can lead to cash flow problems for the contractor.

3. Travel

The world of contracting opens up a huge number of possibilities as regards getting to see the world. Countries with skill shortages in certain professions can offer very generous rewards on short/medium term contracts which can be attractive depending on your personal circumstances.

On the flip side, if work is scarce in your particular field close to home you may be forced to travel further away from home than you would like especially if you have a young family, etc.

4. Social Welfare

As an employee your employer will deduct and pay over your PRSI contributions on your behalf. These contributions, usually under Class A, entitle you to a whole raft of benefits under the social welfare system should you require them.

As a self-employed contractor you will pay your own PRSI under Class S. While still entitled to certain benefits, this type of contribution does not provide the same level of benefits should you need them e.g. jobseekers benefit, disability benefit, etc.

5. Tax/Administration

As an employee, your tax is withheld at source by your employer and is paid across to Revenue on your behalf. Your obligations as regards filing tax returns and other administrative burdens are minimal and you don’t have the worry of additional costs for preparing annual accounts, etc.

As a self-employed contractor you are obliged to register for Income Tax at the very least and potentially VAT, payroll taxes, Relevant Contracts Tax, etc. All of these tax returns have to be prepared on a periodic basis with fines and penalties being applied should you miss a deadline or file an incorrect return. If you decide to trade through a Limited Company you will also have an annual return to make to the Companies Registration Office and will have to comply with extensive company legislation.

The Revenue Commissioners have become very active in investigating the area of contractors, as historically due to lack of knowledge and poor advice many contractors were found to not have their tax affairs in order.

The area of tax and accounting should not provide a burden for you, however, once you have an accountant on your side who knows the industry and can guide you past the many hurdles that you may face as a contractor.

By Alison McGinley

Contact www.Taxassist.ie for further information..

The post 5 Issues To Consider When Becoming A Contractor.. appeared first on Starting a Business in Ireland | Help for Ireland's Entrepreneurs | Start Up Your Own Business.

What a relevant quotation to use in business. It has never been as easy to make a living from what you are passionate about. But the thought of starting can seem a thousand miles away.

Not everyone can make a living from what they enjoy, but they can be definitely try to. It is advisable to use a stepped approach to a starting a new business. Once your bills and other financial commitments are covered each month by your day job you can now explore your passion.

Here are some ways you can explore before you commit to jumping in to a new business full time.

Start small.

Starting out you don’t have to have a 100% finished business, all you have to do is make a start. There are a number of ways to test your products/goods or service. Friends, family and work colleges are usually a business’s first customers, other popular options are Local farmers markets these are a great way to test your goods. See http://www.bordbia.ie/consumer/aboutfood/farmersmarkets/Pages/default.aspx to see where you local Farmers Market is located.

Concentrate on one thing at a time.

So you start off sell/making/providing a good or service on a part time basis, it is important to concentrate on just one thing at a time and not to get ahead of yourself. Doing too much too quick can have an over bearing effect on you. Better to do one thing well than doing ten things bad. Once you have developed one thing well you can try the next thing.

Make your product /service better than anything else out there.

Chances are if you have an idea; there is someone already in that market, one way to differentiate yourself is to have a better quality good or service. By concentrating on quality you are also establishing your target market. EG. What is the difference between a restaurant and a take away? Both have the same goal to sell food, Quality of service may be the key differential.

Be willing to learn

Develop a learning mindset, if you work as an nurse and you want to bake cakes, learn all you can about the business, if you’re a electrician and you want to become a message therapist, do the courses. Educate yourself and apply what you learn. Don’t be put in a career box. If you have a real interest in something you owe it to yourself to try.

Once you have explored how viable your business can be, you can decide whether to commit to it full time or continue on a part time basis.

Take that first step, and see how far the journey takes you, the knowledge you get from the experience and the people you will meet along the way will make it worth your while.

I hope you find some benefit from this post, please get in touch if you have any questions at  www.mbaccountants.ie

Martin

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One of the easiest ways to gain a competitive advantage on your competitors is to get better with daily business operations and master them. If you can optimise, automate, and master everyday business processes, you’ll find yourself doing better than most of your competitors.

Retailers struggle managing daily tasks. Master it to gain competitive advantage.

If you just started a new retail business, using SAP Business One will help stand out from the crowd and get better with managing your business.

This is, however, just one benefit of using SAP B1. It helps your new retail business in several ways across all verticals.

Here is a sneak peek into what it can do for you.

Is SAP Business One for you?

Before you can even think of using SAP B1 for your business, you must figure out if it is really for your retail business and it is really the best solution available.

Ask yourself following questions.

1. Are there multiple teams in your organization?
2. Do teams find it hard to communicate and share information?
3. Is it a pain to streamline tasks and projects?
4. Do you’ve multiple people working on the same projects?
5. Do you’ve to ask for reports and data for analysis from multiple teams and individuals?
6. Managing business activities and integrating information is complicated?

If the answer to all of the above questions is a loud Yes, SAP Business One is for you.

How it will help your new retail business

Let’s dig a bit deep and see how it will help your retail business in reality.

1. Business process integration

Imagine you’ve two (or even more) employees working on the same task and you only find it when at the month-end they come up with similar reports.

Imagine the resources wasted.

SAP Business One helps you streamline and integrate business processes. It helps you save resources. You and your team know what they have to do, how it has to be done, and they can monitor the progress in real-time.

All the business processes are integrated.

A new customer order will show in the sales immediately, the inventory will be recalculated, the financial statement will be adjusted, assets will be revalued, cash flow will be updated, and customer account will be created and updated.

Imagine doing it manually.

It will take at least a couple days for the order to reach finance department and warehouse where you then realize that you’re out of stock.

Nothing like this happens with the SAP B1. Everything works smoothly and the entire business operates as a single whole.

2. Automation

Don’t be afraid of automation.

In fact, putting your retail business on automation from day one will give you a jumpstart. If your business’s routine daily processes run on autopilot, you’ll have all the time to deal with strategic business processes.

SAP B1 has the power to put your business on automation. Starting from customer order processing to inventory management to order fulfillment to order shipping to customer services to billing to financial management to reporting and analysis.

You just name it.

It covers everything.

3. Easy decision-making

Making right decisions at the right time is crucial for retail businesses. Not just the decision has to be right but it must be timely.

You need to data and reports to make decisions.

SAP B1 helps you in making right timely decisions in two three ways.

1. It generates meaningful reports automatically on the basis of data that it deals with on daily basis.
2. Workflow-based alerts help you make decisions on the basis of specific business events such as reduction in conversion rate.
3. It keeps a record of exceptions and creates reports automatically. For instance, if sales increased significantly on any given day, SAP Business One will generate a report on the same and you’ll be notified. You can then take necessary action accordingly.

Since analysis and reporting are real-time, therefore, you don’t have to wait for your reporting and analysis team to create a meaningful report for you. It is always there in the system.

This allows making decisions right on time when they’re needed.

4. Easy-to-implement and use

SAP Business One is affordable, easy to implement, and easy to use complete business management system.

The transition doesn’t take ages, it is instant. Once it has been installed and implemented, your staff doesn’t need the training to get started, it is simple and extremely easy-to-use. Even if they need training, there are free online training resources available to choose from.

Here is a list of some major features that make SAP B1 user-friendly as well as business-friendly.

• It has a simple user interface that’s intuitive in nature. It is just like using Windows or any other software. The user-interface makes it super-simple for your employees to get a hold.
• It needs minimal maintenance and modification. Once it has been installed and implemented, you’ll rarely have to modify it.
• Managing and administrating the entire SAP system is quite simple that reduces the cost as well as helps streamlining the operations to a significant extent.

5. Improve customer satisfaction and relationship

Making your customers happy is a piece of cake with SAP Business One. It deals effectively with Customer Relationship Management by monitoring and understanding your customer needs based on demographics, buying patterns, and other variables.

Based on the advanced reporting on customer needs and behaviors, you can take steps to make your customers happy. Not just happy but you can increase revenue per customer and at the same time, convert customers into loyal customers.

Planning to start a customer loyalty program?

SAP Business One allows you to create and implement customer loyalty programs for your retail store. This helps increasing revenue and in building strong relationships with your customers.

This is just a basic overview of how SAP Business One will change the way you manage your retail business. Once you’re onboard, possibilities are endless.

The post How SAP Business One Can Help Your New Retail Business appeared first on Starting a Business in Ireland | Help for Ireland's Entrepreneurs | Start Up Your Own Business.

The logo should be the “hero” of the card, so that the brand and business is memorable and recognisable. A well-designed logo will represent the business and offer a hint to the personality or identity of the business. Consideration should be given to printing on both sides of the card. This might allow the business card to have the actual company logo on one side and contact details on the reverse. This frees up space and allows the details to breathe.

Check out here how we can help design the right logo for you.

If there is a website, emphasis should be placed on that as more information can be included there. More and more businesses are encouraging traffic to their websites for full information.

Another element of the design process for designing a good, decent business card is considering the board they are printed on and the finish. For a long lasting card, a finish can be put on top of the card to keep it clean and strong – a matt laminate will do the trick. This is extremely important when engaging with new business.

One of the best-designed business cards could simply have a logo, telephone number and website address. Ultimately nothing else is necessary.

My advice would be to engage with a good graphic designer for this and avoid the tempting offers of cards online. If an offer seems too good it probably is. It’s evident that little or no thought is put into the designs of the cards as every card should reflect the company and it’s identity. And the print quality is usually pretty awful and the card is cheap. This is not what you want for your business.

Click here for tips on getting the most from your Graphic Designer

Get in touch with me to discuss your business card requirements and how I can make this valuable sales tool work for your company!

Designer G is a Dublin-based Graphic Design agency with a passion for launching, rejuvenating and propelling brands – www.DesignerG.ie

The post What makes a well-designed business card? appeared first on Starting a Business in Ireland | Help for Ireland's Entrepreneurs | Start Up Your Own Business.

You don’t want your startup to have the same fate, right?

Nobody wants to start a business that will eventually fail. Circumstances lead to failure.

Lack of marketing strategy leads to failure.

The list below has some of the most effective marketing strategies for startups that are sure to help you succeed – eventually.

1. Influencer marketing

Influencer marketing is the best strategy to promote your startup.

Influencer marketing is a type of marketing where you target influencers in your target market. These are the individuals that control your market, have a strong influence on your customers, and they have a massive following.

You sell a health supplement and Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) tweets about your supplement, you know the outcome, right?

Johnson is an influencer in the fitness industry. He has over 70 million Instagram followers and 55 million Facebook followers. They love him. They do what he says. They buy what he recommends. They dress like him. They follow his fitness tips. And so on…

You got the idea.

Similarly, Katy Perry with her 95 million twitter followers can change the fate of your product and startup.

So how to use it?

Follow the steps below to create a powerful influencer marketing strategy for your startup.

1. Understand your target audience. Create buyer personas.
2. Identify influencers in your industry. These should be people who control the minds of your target audience.
3. Connect with the influencer. Follow, comment, subscribe, and try to stay close to the influencer. The idea is to make him used to your name and the brand. Be the first one to comment on the new blog post.
4. Alternately, you can directly contact the influencer and ask for a promotional tweet, video, blog post, etc. This is a rather expensive approach. Influencers are expensive as hell and they are choosy. They do not promote anything you through at them.
5. Track and monitor the progress of the campaign. Does campaign increased sales, conversion rate, or revenue?

It seems to be a lot of work and yes, it is but it is the best startup marketing strategy that works in every niche.

2. Social media marketing

Not considering social media for reaching your target audience is the biggest mistake a startup could ever make.

Because 2.34 billion people on this planet use social media and the number is expected to reach 2.95 by 2020. This is the best way to reach your potential buyers.

Here is a simple way to create a social media marketing strategy.

Step #1

Do research. Find the social networks that your target audience uses.

Not all the people use all social networks. For instance, LinkedIn is used by businesses while Instagram is used mainly by those interested in images.

You need to find the social network that your target audience uses.

This is something that cannot be done without asking them. Consider conducting a survey or maybe interviews to see what type of social networks your potential buyers prefer using.

Step #2

Define goals.

What exactly you plan to achieve from social media?

Are you interested in increasing sales? Getting more subscribers or you are interested in brand awareness.

Create SMART goals that are:

1. Specific
2. Measurable
3. Achievable
4. Realistic
5. Time-based

It is recommended to write goals.

Step #3

Create an editorial calendar for posting on social networks.

Ask yourself following questions.

• What type of content your target audience loves? Images, text, videos, infographics, podcasts, case studies, etc.
• What should be the posting frequency?
• Who will create the posts?
• Who will manage the social accounts?
• Will this type of content help achieve the goals?

Based on the answers, create an editorial calendar. CoSchedule has a perfect social media content template.

Step #4

Automate. Monitor. Track. And tweak.

The starting point is to define key metrics for measuring the success of your marketing strategy. How’d you know if your social media marketing strategy is really working.

Define metrics to track performance such as engagement or conversion.

Use tools like HootSuite or Buffer to automate social media posting. Use Google Analytics to track conversions and/or engagement.

This will give you an idea of how things are working.

Tweak the strategy if it is not working.

3. Content marketing

Over 70% of marketers plan to focus on content marketing in 2017 and beyond. There is a reason why.

Content converts.

The internet is all about content (text, videos, images, etc.). Think of anything.

Your best video, the viral post that you recently shared on Facebook, the blog post that you commented on, the image that you shared on Instagram, are all the types of content.

Your startup will cease to exist on the internet without content and content cannot be generated without a content marketing strategy.

Follow the steps below to create a potent content marketing strategy for your startup.

1. Create buyer personas. Define target audience, the biggest challenge they face, how your product solves the issue, and try to understand your audience in the truest sense.
2. Define goals for your content marketing. Are you interested in brand awareness? Do you plan to increase sales by a certain percentage in next months?
3. Market research will reveal the type of content your audience loves the most. A survey will do the job.
4. Define content type, posting frequency, types of posts, and other aspects by creating an editorial calendar.
5. Create awesome content that adds value and gets the job done in the best way possible. Use Skyscraper technique to create content that stands out from the crowd.
6. Convert your posts into videos, slideshows, podcasts, infographics, PDFs, and other types of content and share them with your audience.
7. Track conversions and engagement to see how good or bad your strategy is performing.

Conclusion

So you have the three best marketing strategies for your startup, what’s next?

Choose at least one of them and get started with it.

Master the strategy and get serious about marketing. You cannot outperform your competitors without marketing. Period.

Eimear is the Marketing Manager for Powerpoint Engineering. She has managed the launch of four new websites during the last year and knows how important planning is for the success of each site.

The post Effective Marketing Strategies for Startups appeared first on Starting a Business in Ireland | Help for Ireland's Entrepreneurs | Start Up Your Own Business.