Month: July 2018

In India, about 57% of SMBs use a company website as their primary online presence. 1 A website allows you to promote and engage with customers directly. It is also easily scalable to meet the needs of your business. So you can start small and invest more as needed. It is the best online marketing tool to invest in.

There are six reasons why SMBs invest in building a website:

1. Reach new customers: The top priority for most small business owners is finding new customers. A great way to find these new customers is by expanding your business footprint through a website.
2. Increased credibility: About 62% of SMBs in India created a company website because it makes the company look more credible. 1 A website lends a sense of legitimacy and credibility to businesses.
3. Improve customer interactions: About 73% of SMEs in India would recommend investing in a website to their peers.1 Websites help businesses create awareness and strengthen customer relationships. They also help establish and maintain communication between businesses and their current and prospective customers, which may include among other things, business initiatives and promotions.
4. Increased visibility online: You can start taking advantage of marketing tactics such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM). So it’s easier for potential customers to find you online.
5. Complete brand control: With a website, you control how your business is presented and can manage your online identity according to your individual preference. Even free, template-based, website builders offer a good level of customization.
6. Enhanced marketing opportunities: With your own website, since you’re no longer restricted by the limitations of someone else’s site, you can provide ample information about your business in the most optimal way. In addition, a website can act as an aggregator of all your marketing activities including, among other initiatives, what you do in social media. You can also take advantage of free cloud services, such as video creation tools and blogging tools, to amplify your marketing efforts.

Get Started Online | Search your business domain

Before getting into how to inspire your employees to be create, and think beyond the traditional ideas let us first determine why it is important for your employees to be creative, even if your don’t consider yourself a business that requires it. It’s simple: Creative people tend to be more motivated because they’ve achieved something. They’ve discovered a better way of doing things or they’ve solved a problem by thinking outside the box. By successfully finding solutions, they’re more motivated to work. And the more motivated they are, the more productive they are. And the more productive they are, the more satisfied and motivated they are. The cycle endlessly recreates itself.

Here a few tips on nurturing and encouraging creative thinking at the workplace.

1.Identifying the problem – Before you can increase creativity in your employees, you need to figure out why they’re not creative now. Once you know where to look, the answers are usually obvious. If you decide your employees don’t have the best knowledge, skills, abilities and resources, then you need to decide how to get them further education and training, hire better people or provide more challenging experiences.

2.Encourage Free Thinking – It may seem obvious to promote free thinking, but it’s not always the way that businesses work. Often we stick to the tried and tested route, simply because it works. But free thinking helps keep your business sharp, relevant and profitable. It’s all about leaving behind old, outdated models, and discovering new ones. Create a culture in your business in which employees are encouraged to think freely and express their ideas.

3.Schedule Brainstorming Sessions – Sometimes the best way to encourage creativity is to schedule it into the day. Set aside time for a weekly brainstorming session that involves all your employees. Encourage employees from different departments to interact with each other. These kinds of cross-workplace discussions can lead to ideas that are better simply because diverse viewpoints are taken into consideration.

4.Set an example – The best way to encourage employees to be creative is by setting the tone at the top. Display an appetite to be creative and bold, by straying from the usual path wherever it can be done. They will be more likely to follow your lead with confidence.

5.Adequate Break Times – The best creative thinking comes when the brain has time to relax. Frequent and scheduled breaks can actually boost the creative spirit in the workplace.

6.Take Field Trips – Get out of the office and take your employees to visit other companies, conferences or even just parks. Field trips can get them—and you—out of their everyday comfort zone and into a space where new thoughts and ideas can take hold.

7.Communicate Openly – No matter how creative your employees are, you’ll never know about it if you’re not talking with them about their ideas. Talk openly with them, both formally and informally, about what can be done better, what can be improved, and what their overall ideas are for changing the business.

8.Evaluate, Measure, Track – When your employees come up with creative ways to improve the business, boost sales or bring about other improvements, make sure to evaluate the changes. The evaluation process is just as important as the implementation stage, since it can give you and your employees a sense of what works, what doesn’t and why. It can also give you the chance to fine-tune new procedures in order to make them work even more effectively.

Creative business practices can seem abstract and out-of-reach, but in fact, they’re accessible to any business owner who’s willing to foster them. Once you make creativity an active and important part of your working culture, your business—and your employees—will flourish.

Moving from the stable life of a full-time employee to the uncertain and chaotic world of owning your own business requires a change in mindset, something that many new entrepreneurs don’t realise. In fact, the habits that you worked on to build to be a successful employee may not necessarily bring you the same benefits and success as an entrepreneur.

Your mindset and attitude is probably the major determinant of success in pretty much every walk of life. The thinking patterns you habitually adopt largely govern the results you achieve. But different circumstances and situations require different ways of thinking, something that anyone looking to leave paid employment and make it on their own, must be aware of.

Here are a few tips on how to manage the move from an employee to an entrepreneur, and the shift in thinking that is required.

1.Put money aside – While success as an entrepreneur often boils down to mindset, there are practical aspects to be considered, like cash. You’ll be going from a salaried employee to wondering when your next check will come in. If possible, before you leave your job, put away an entrepreneur fund with 3-6 month’s worth of expenses (perhaps more, depending on the nature of your new venture). Having a solid safety net will allow you to focus your energy on building your new business, rather than worry about how you are going to pay the bills.

2.Not agreeing to every request – As an employee, you probably got used to saying “yes” to any and all requests that came your way. It meant you were reliable and a team-player. But, this approach won’t get you far as an entrepreneur. As you will be pressed for time, agreeing to and doing everything just isn’t possible. But more importantly, as an entrepreneur, you need to set the agenda, not just follow everyone else’s wishes. Get used to saying “no” to everything but your main priorities.

3.Responsible for all decisions – good and bad – Entrepreneurs have an incredible opportunity to create something from nothing, in a way that’s not possible working for someone else. But this means making big decisions about what must be done, when and how. You can’t wait for things to happen, or for someone to tell you what to do, you must make them happen. Successful entrepreneurs also understand that opportunities may be short-lived, and so develop a sense of urgency that helps them achieve their goals.

4.Short and long term vision at the same time – Work for others and you are mainly responsible for ensuring that what needs to be done now, is done. As an entrepreneur, you have to think ahead and see the bigger picture. You have to consider the potential pitfalls and opportunities, and make decisions based on uncertainty. This requires you to come to terms with the fact that your actions today, will have an impact on your business in the immediate and even far future.

5.Breaking out of your ‘comfort zone’ – As an employee, you’re used to working within set boundaries and rules. As an entrepreneur, there is no box to limit you. You see what others don’t, test new ideas, seize new territory, take risks. This requires courage, a thick skin and the ability to keep going despite rejection and scepticism.

6.Long hours will be common occurrence – The typical entrepreneur often finds that he or she needs to work longer hours than back at the office. This is why it’s important to start something you love. Also, as an entrepreneur, while you might not be tied to a desk or computer 24/7, you will always be thinking about your business, what it’s doing well and what it could be doing better.

7.Constantly upgrading yourself – As an employee, you have a job description, requiring a specific skill-set. Being an entrepreneur involves learning many new skills, unless you have the funds to outsource what you’re not good at or don’t want to do. That could be learning to set up a spreadsheet, getting investors on board, marketing your ideas, crafting your perfect pitch, or using unfamiliar technology. What needs to be done, has to be done – there is no other way.

8.Being familiar with important numbers – Where numbers are concerned, it’s enough for most employees to know what’s coming in and what’s going out. As an entrepreneur, you have to delve deeper, because your cash flow is what will keep you in – or out of – business. Ultimately, it’s your sales, costs, profit and loss that will either give you sleepless nights or an enviable lifestyle. But without the guiding light of those numbers, you won’t be able to track where your business is going.

9.Being a multi-tasker – As a company employee, there’s someone to call when the server stops working. And you probably don’t think about if the office was cleaned or the plant was watered. But, when you start your own business, you’ve now got to fill a number of different roles – from tech support one hour to sales and marketing the next, and accounting, even cleaning. Before setting off on your own, ask yourself if you’ll be comfortable wearing all these hats, including the less-than-glamorous ones

10.Social life may have to take a backseat – As an entrepreneur, and being in charge of everything and everyone under you, there is a lot on your plate. The concept of weekends probably won’t exist anymore because you are hard-pressed for time and need to sacrifice days off. This is something you need to be prepared for, and at the same time find ways to work around. You don’t want to overwork yourself and get burnt out in the initial stages of setting up your company.

These are just a few basic changes that you should expect when you make the jump from employee to entrepreneur. The earlier you adjust to a business owner’s mindset, the better for you and your company.