Category: BUSINESS

When looking for the best sales engagement platforms, you should base your evaluation on the platform’s ability to increase quality engagement and support various cases. It would help if you had a strategy that will improve the productivity of each user type and allow the integration of CRM data into workflows. Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

• How easily will my team understand and adopt the platform?
• Will the platform seamlessly blend with the existing processes of my team?
• What effect will it have on data security and compliance?
• Can it accommodate the needs of customer-handling departments?
• How much time is the platform going to save my business?
• How long does it take to manage the platform continuously?
• Will it make the sales rep more effective?

When it comes to the capabilities of a sales engagement platform, consider the following features.

Does it Allow CRM Integration and Ease of Administration?
To reduce sync errors and unlock advanced automation, you need a platform that facilitates native integration of CRM. By streamlining collaboration, it reduces data latency. Also, find out if the platform provides CRM data access in Microsoft 365 and Gmail. LinkedIn integration would also be an added advantage so you can view related leads and mutual contacts. You can test the ease of use by giving team members a demo to hint out any setbacks. All users should navigate the tool with ease and incorporate it into their workflows. Otherwise, there would be no value if they can’t use it.

How Robust is the Automation?

The best form of automation for a sales engagement platform extends to all crucial aspects of a business. You need a mix of A/B testing, automatic messaging, auto-dials and call logs, calendar syncing, email syncing, online planner, advanced activity capture, and speed to lead.

Can it Support Every Team?

An effective sales engagement tool positively impacts teams creating valuable touchpoints when engaging customers outside of the sales. Examine the platform to see how well it supports various cases from finance, account management, marketing, and full-cycle sellers. A good platform is easy to adapt and customize for multiple teams, offering collaboration spaces between cross-functional teams. The leaders should be in a position to see the performance and point out areas that need improvement. So, you’ll be looking to have better workflow management, effective workspaces, and activity log with real-time insights.

The answers to the above questions should guide you in assessing the features of the best sales engagement platforms. But bear in mind that these platforms are created differently. Let your sales processes, business structure, and existing CRM direct your choice of a sales engagement platform.

Are you aware of the how to determine the value of a business? Or are you like some entrepreneurs who do not know how to determine the value of a business and doing nothing about it? After hard work, it pays to assess where your venture stands in the present. It would help if you also had a professional appraiser in various scenarios, as explained hereunder.

Securing the Assets

You’ll protect your assets better when you understand their real market value. It is a way of protecting a business in operation in case of death, divorce, legal charges, and taxes. Develop a baseline value for your venture to know where it stands in the current market. How far have the prized assets come since the inception? How are you competing with similar companies? By quantifying your assets, you can gauge them from an economic point of view to motivate partners and employees toward future growth.

When Partners Need to Sell Shares

Buy-sell agreements disrupt businesses, especially the small ones. But when partners know the business value, the transition becomes smoother, leaving the venture in the safer hands of the owners. If the owner becomes disabled or reaches retirement age, a buy-sell agreement helps figure out how to fund the buyout to reach a consensus. That is why it is good to determine the value of an enterprise every year to revisit and update buy-sell agreements.

Exit Strategy

Suppose you want to sell your company. It helps to set a baseline value and develop a plan to increase profitability and consequently boost the value. If the exit strategy entails merging with another entity, a business appraisal helps to determine if the offer price is reasonable or not. If there are any shareholder disputes, an independent valuation is needed to agree on a fair settlement for an ownership interest.

Litigation Support

Objective business appraisals help with negotiations of pretrial settlements. Sometimes, legal cases go to trial and arbitration, and expert testimony by a certified business appraiser is needed. This strengthens a case in which the business value is the main concern.

Business valuations are intricate financial assessments that only qualified valuation experts can perform. The benefits of determining the value of a business range from minimizing the financial risks of a litigation process to finding defense during an audit. Moreover, you can reduce taxation in estate tax and gift situations. As such, obtaining an accurate valuation is a fundamental aspect of an ongoing business strategy.

It is not possible to employ all types of professionals for your company. Sometimes you have to use the services of independent vendors and other professionals as and when needed. It helps overcome many difficulties faced in running a business or organization. You do not have to keep all types of IT systems to manage your business. Get access to latest IT solutions by outsourcing your IT jobs. Contact an IT company to receive managed support services. It will provide you onsite, offsite and remote services for all types of IT issues.

IT Hardware Services

You will need these services to overcome the problems of faulty computers and network systems. The IT company will solve your IT hardware issues. It will send computer technicians to fix your computer and laptop problems. These technicians can repair all types of computers, servers and peripherals. Specialist network engineers and technicians will be sent if you need any service for your network system. They can install a new network system or replace an existing one.

IT Software Services

Different types of services are provided under this plan. Expert technicians will install anti-virus software program in all your computers. They can install new operating software and application programs. These jobs may look easy but when you have to do it across dozens of computers and do not have a competent person to do this job, it is better to outsource this job to an outside company. Sometimes the problem is with the hardware even though you are seeing only the software issue. For example, a software that requires high end computer will not run on low configuration computers. In such a case, you have to increase the power of the computer by installing high configuration parts.

Disaster Recovery

It is an important part of any business that stores data of its customers or clients. There are many reasons that can lead to losses of data. You have to use preventative measures to prevent such incidents. The IT company will install proper setup in place to prevent data loss and breaches. The data can be backed up at the onsite server or in the cloud. You will need services of a cloud platform to store your data in the cloud. These options will make it easier to get back your lost data with just a few clicks. The data will be stored in multiple locations and secured with various features.

The IT company offers all these services and more. Backup your data and secure it to prevent damage to your reputation. Use qualified IT support services to keep your IT hardware and software systems working continuously.

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems perform an important role in any organization. They provide visibility about core business processes and provide for resource tracking and reporting, asset management and data sharing that allow for advanced reporting and planning. It is vital, however, that ERP systems be kept up to date to take advantage of new features and the latest technology and why an ERP upgrade strategy is a significant aspect of ownership.

Part of any upgrade strategy is ensuring that the management team and outside partners understand why an ERP system needs to be kept up to date. Such a strategy should be based on a five year planning period that includes a plan for the timing and frequency of updates. The main issue is the significant risks that can result from running critical business functions on unsupported or out of date software. A strategic upgrade plan will ensure management understand the risks and benefits if upgrading solutions and provides defined timeframes for upgrade projects so that financial and resource planning can be put in place.

While ERP upgrades can appear costly, they are much less expensive and disruptive than having to deal with poor information or errors resulting from unsupported software versions. Decisions about whether upgrades should be made must not come solely from IT but from an overall business planning function. Educating management, employees and external partners about the necessity of upgrading ERP solutions is also an important part of any strategy.

Upgrade projects for ERP upgrade strategy methods for beating the competition through the ability to integrate, standardize and improve all business operations across the entire enterprise. Providing an up to date ERP system is more than chore for IT – it provides a means of re-assessing business procedures and transforming them. This is because ERP systems are closely linked to core business strategies that impact processes and procedures across the entirety of the organization.

The employees that are impacted by the upgrade must be provided with training for enhanced features of the system and management buy-in is essential. This is best achieved by outlining the strategic plan and showing how process improvements will lead to tangible cost savings and improved return on investment. While these can be subjective and dependent on individual business circumstances, the upgrade plan should show how improvements to the ERP system will transform processes and cut costs so that productivity is improved in order to justify the costs and resources involved in an ERP system upgrade.

Feeling proud of yourself daily is the key to boosting your self-esteem. Starting you own small business is a top method for making this possible and knowing the things to start a business can help. Learning reasons reasons to consider a task like this one is a great place to start.

Work your own hours

Working when you’d like each day can help you appreciate life the most and stress less in the process. It’s a fact that you may wish to only work at night or on the weekends when others aren’t doing a lot of work.
Not having to rely on the assistance can be one of the top methods for ensuring you get more out of the day. Choosing hours that allow you to feel more content when working is a top place to start.

More pride

When you are your own boss, you may not worry as much and this can allow you to be proud. Stressing the least about many issues in life is the ideal way to want to live a happier and longer life.
Making the most out of doing the things that accompany things to start a business. Stressing less can be good for your health and allow you to appreciate life the most.

Ensuring you have the most pride will be much less challenging when you feel proud to go to work to do the right tasks.

Hire others

Hiring people to assist your business and earn a living is a great idea. You are certain to be appreciated for your efforts and this won’t take a lot of time to do.

Are you ready to ensure you do your part to help make others more content in life? If so, it could be a fantastic idea to enlist the aid of many people you know to help your company succeed.

The ideal thing you’ll want to do is to start with earning money. Being your own boss can bring you a great deal of happiness and contentment. You can work hard and make certain all of your dreams do come true when you know the best steps to take. Taking the time to enlist the assistance of others and owning your own company can allow you to feel good about life. It’s entirely possible to have the success you want when you do the right things.

Amazon may be far ahead in the eCommerce industry but other companies are growing at impressive rates as well. Sellers who are having difficulty in the saturated platform may want to consider expanding into new places that will allow them to reach greater heights. Walmart is definitely one of the leading alternatives given its status as the main eCommerce rival, its mastery of retail, and its significant resources. It is also worth noting that Walmart opened its Marketplace and filled it with impressive sellers that offer high quality and genuine products. The results are making heads turn, to say the least.

Exponential Growth

It’s true that eCommerce took a massive leap forward as a whole during 2020 because of harsh realities brought about by the pandemic. However, the numbers for the retail giant are still remarkable with 69% Q4 growth that looks to sustain its momentum in 2021. The company’s online sales now comprise 6.2% of its total sales from just 2.1% a year ago. Meanwhile, actual revenue figures rose from $15.7 billion in 2019 to $21.5 billion in 2020. Consumers are definitely changing in their shopping habits whether due to forces of nature or due to the convenience offered.

In-house Fulfillment

In the past, merchants had to fulfill all orders. Now they can rely on in-house fulfillment which can drastically reduce business complexity while improving the speed of delivery. Eligibility rules are strict but those who can get in will be able to enjoy the perks that they may have enjoyed in the competing platform. Of course, those who want to retain the ability to fulfill their orders can do so. This may be a better option for some who have invested in their own fleet or have partnered with other logistics operations.

Store Policy Control

Marketplace sellers are given greater control over their own store policies. There are minimum requirements for everyone on the platform but these are few and fairly manageable. For example, there is a standard 30-day return for most items. High-priced items tend to have longer periods. Customers may send back products to the seller or to a Walmart location which can be much easier for them. Sellers can charge fees, set their own return process, and make their own timelines.

Diversification is usually a good idea as you limit your risks while expanding your upside. Just make sure that you study the move thoroughly and prepare for it well. Consider using Helium10 for Walmart as well. It has Helium10 for Walmart that can prove helpful in this eCommerce platform.

Business disruption refers to a situation in which a market entrant with fewer resources completely changes the way an entire industry works through innovation of new business models. Such innovations usually attract most customers, causing other existing businesses to lose relevance in the market. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA) 1 in 12 businesses collapse every year in the US due to factors such as stiff competition and no market need. Although such businesses usually start and stay operational for some time, business disruption creates more competition as well as decreased demand for their products, eventually driving them out of market. Here’s a look at the pros and cons of disruptive innovation.

Pros

The consumer is the greatest beneficiary of business disruption such that, high quality products and services become accessible in the market. Other pros include, among others:

• Brings changes that make the market better — In any industry, change is a vital factor that brings about improvements in the quality of outputs, lowers costs, and promotes modernization through innovation. This way, evolution in business becomes possible when new players come up with improved versions of existing products and invent more effective solutions to existing problems.

• Increases competition that encourages more quality production — While unhealthy competition is bad for the market, a healthy one can cause massive improvement in the quality of products and services. This is because in a competitive market, every business strives to attract customers by offering their best services.

• Promotes environmental conservation — In the modern world, most businesses are going green to save costs while protecting the environment. With most customers in support of environmental protection, businesses that use unsustainable forms of energy may most likely lose customers.

Cons

With a new business that offers better services in the market, the existing ones either have to improve on theirs or lose customers. This means that existing businesses have everything to lose after business disruption. The cons include, among others:

• Collapse of businesses that are unable to adapt to the changes in the market

• Fights in the market — When you enter the market and threaten the existing businesses, you’re likely to get pushback from businesses that would prefer to maintain the existing state of affairs. Consequently, you may face obstacles, such as lawsuits, that may discourage you.

Conclusion

Disruptive innovation is necessary in every industry for improvements to happen and make lives better. Even so, being the innovator can make you a target of lawsuits and slander.

If you are thinking of selling your business for whatever reason, you should look for the best broker in the city to help you find the right broker for your business acquisition needs. To sell business in Florida for a huge profit, you need to be careful how you go about it. You cannot just accept the first offer you get. What you need to do is search the web for the best brokers and potential buyers. This is going to take time, so you need to spend a bit of your precious time scouring the internet for information.

Obviously, you will need professional help when looking to sell your business. Below are three simple steps to follow when thinking of selling your business:

Step 1: Have Your Business Appraised

Your business can either be worth more or less than you think. If you overvalue your business, you will have a hard time finding a suitable buyer. Similarly, if you undervalue your business, you will be shortchanged. Since you want to get the best possible value for money, therefore, it’s crucial you have your business appraised by a professional. Once you know its value or worth, you can quote a price that’s just above the actual market valuation.

Step 2: Hire a Business Broker

While it’s possible to find a buyer on your own, you can get better results when you hire a business broker to help you with the search. Only certified business brokers with a lot of experience in the industry should be accorded any consideration. Therefore, you have to compare experiences, reputation, fees and commissions and every other pertinent detail before you make your final decision. That said, there are many business brokers out there, so you’ll not have a hard time finding a suitable broker.

Step 3: Engage a Business Lawyer

Business sale transactions are legal transactions with serious consequences. They entail the transfer of assets and liabilities from one entity to another. There are also staff involved, so you need to involve legal professionals in the transaction to ensure you do not get disappointed in the future. Therefore, you need to hire a trusted, reliable and experienced business lawyer to help you with the paperwork and due diligence.

To sell business in Florida faster, you should publish the sale on social media and online business listings. This will help create publicity and attract potential buyers. Once you get the offers, you can start comparing them.

A Small Business Tax Accountant is a valuable asset for your business. If you have one, you know that it can save you a lot of time, money, and stress. It is one of the most important things to have if you are a small business owner. In addition to that, they provide a service that is very beneficial to your business.

A Small Business Tax Accountant helps your business calculate the right tax payments to be made. They can also highlight and fix any problems with your tax that could affect your bottom line. They do all this while assisting you financially responsible and following national, local, and international tax laws. These accountants can help you save time and money in other areas, such as preparing and filing your annual returns. By hiring tax accountants, you become less susceptible to errors.

By getting help from business tax accountants, you can improve the use of your time, money, and energy. You can maximize productivity, especially in handling your financial accounts. These accountants are equipped with the knowledge to make efficient use of every account, increasing productivity, leading to increased profitability. By hiring small business tax accountants, you can maximize your profitable business activities by ensuring that you pay the appropriate taxes.

Another advantage in hiring small business accountants is that they are capable of providing effective tax preparation services. They have professional bookkeeping services to handle all your tax preparation and submission needs. You can also hire them to work on a project-by-project basis as long as they can finish the whole project within the set time.

In addition to that, tax accountants have the skills to manage and maintain your financial records. You can hire them to prepare and submit the annual income tax reports, payslips, and quarterly and annual financial statements. Thus, you can understand your financial status better. If you are planning to open a business, you can hire a tax accountant to help you prepare your annual return and other important documents.

In addition to that, you can also hire accountants who can offer bookkeeping services. These professionals can handle your business accounts as well as cash transactions. They are capable of preparing and filing the payroll as well as the balance sheet reports. Thus, they can help you keep track of your finances and ensure that your business is not involved in any tax controversy.

To sum up, you can use tax accountants’ advantages to improve your business operations. You can achieve these by hiring professional bookkeepers. Therefore, you should ensure that you engage only those bookkeepers who have the knowledge and experience necessary for ensuring your success. Several companies can help you find and select reliable small business tax accountants.

It has been said that the most valuable assets a company owns is a well-known and trusted brand. Some surveys show that almost 60% of consumers prefer to purchase products from familiar brands. No matter the size of your business, it is vital that you create a solid brand so that you stand out from your competitors.

Brand building involves more than simply creating a logo and spending some money on advertising and hoping for the best. Your brand needs to encapsulate the why, how and what of your business and to reflect your ideal customer’s positive perception of your business. In essence, a brand reflects the good reputation of your business among your potential customers.

A successful brand will communicate the values of your business in a consistent way. This can include through its office; signage stationery and other print collateral; website and online presence; sales and customer service experience; and how employees are valued within the business. Clearly, a brand cannot be built overnight and takes some effort to get the message out there. However, with the right strategy, brand building will establish a long-lasting relationship with your customers that will pay significant dividends over the longer term.

At its simplest, brand building is the process of generating awareness about your business with the goal of creating an image in the marketplace that reflects the value of the services or products that your business provides. Part of this is having a positive image associated with your brand and making sure that it stands out from your competitors. This can be broken down into three elements: strategy, identity and marketing.

A brand strategy will define how your business is different from your competition, why it is trustworthy and, ideally why it should get a positive response from your customer and be memorable. It conveys the purpose of your business, the problem you solve and the promise you make to your customers to meet their needs. A brand identity refers to the way that you communicate your brand to the public. It can include visual elements, messaging and your experience. How you present your identity will be influenced by your overall brand strategy so that they align for maximum impacts. Brand marketing reflects the way that you communicate and highlight your products and services in the marketplace. This should be done by communicating your values and goals to the desired audience through appropriate communication channels for that audience.