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How to boost your PR |Small business edition

by with No Comment Business TipsMarketingSales

“It’s just for PR”, “it’s a PR stunt”. Public Relations PR] sure has bad PR 😂 We can imagine most people’s idea of PR is “it’s just for show”, and that it’s how big corporations and the government spins their words and people’s perceptions using propaganda. That’s not entirely true, let’s break it down. 

PR is all about reputation. Whatever has been put out there, a business/organization’s PR strategy is meant to protect its reputation. In this blog, we will help you see PR in a different light, and most importantly, how you can implement it in your small business planning. 

To enlighten you. Public Relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their public. It is NOT advertising, it is NOT marketing. The whole point of PR is to create a positive narrative of the brand, which could be of course to grow the client base, for referrals, the media, etc, with the aim to help the company achieve all its goals. 

As much as PR can help bring in sales, it does not bring in sales as much as marketing efforts do. But rather, it helps proactively manage your company’s appearance online and in the media, so you can make sure that people associate your company’s name with good things. Otherwise, you could be turning away prospective customers before you ever meet them. 

Here are 5 ways Small Businesses can boost their PR:

1️⃣ Treat your employees, and customers well

This might be overlooked, yet so important. It is not cliché that people remember you, for now, you treated them. So treat your employees, associates, and customers well, they will become your greatest ambassadors and recruiters. 

2️⃣ Improve your online presence 

This has been spoken about a lot, and we have spoken about this too in one of our blogs. Invest some time and money to polish up your website, social media, and anywhere else that people can find you online. If you need help, hire a professional like a social media manager or digital marketing strategist. If you feel this will be too much of a cost for you, consult with them at least once a month to make sure you’re doing this the best way possible. 

3️⃣ Issue a press release 

Write a short, interesting story that the media can pick up and run with. This could be telling an inspiring story of how your brand started, how you scaled, etc. Write it and send it to different news organizations, make sure you contact the right person. What can also help is to connect with journalists through social media platforms like LinkedIn or Twitter. 

4️⃣ Book speaking gigs/local radio interviews 

A great way is to increase your company’s reach and improve your reputation within your community. Don’t look down on local radio stations and events. Connect with event organizers or radio hosts. Don’t be afraid to approach and ask for a feature. Put yourself out there. 

5️⃣ Stage a publicity stunt 

Be careful with this, it can get tricky depending on your strategy. All you really have to do is something strange enough to make news, if only in a niche or local media. Be creative, smart, and weird. Here are some ideas you can learn from: https://www.liveabout.com/advertising-pr-stunts-to-get-your-brand-noticed-4139850

There are a lot of ways to boost your credibility, we just hit the tip of the iceberg. Let us know which one of these will you be trying. 

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How collaboration can benefit your business

by with No Comment Business TipsMarketingMoney TalksSales

You have probably heard a lot about this before.. So let this be a reminder, education, or maybe just adding to what you know. We like to start our blogs with a brief explanation of the subject matter and in this case, let’s define COLLABORATION: which is basically the act of working together to produce something (desired outcome). This does not only happen between individuals, but amongst businesses too! 

We’ve seen big brands successfully do this, and you know what they say… if you want to be successful, copy what successful people do. ADIDAS and YEEZY did this successfully, so did OFFWHITE and NIKE, and many more. If anything, collaboration is essentially combining efforts to produce unique products that benefit both your cash flow and customers.

Collaboration is great in that it does these two things very well:

1️⃣ Open new markets: this is beyond boosting sales ut can lead to longterm results, collabos  help you grow brand awareness and followership, ultimately growing your customer case. 

2️⃣ Good for PR: this gets people talking!!! Social listening will help at this point because you get to fully understand your target audience and deliver what establishes strong personal relationships with your consumers.

An underrated one:

✳️ You get to learn: there is always opportunity to learn if you are observant. Always seek that opportunity. See how the other team from the other brand works, listen attentively and observe to see what you can take from those experiences. 

Final thoughts:

We have pretty much covered the important points to emphasise the importance of collaboration. You save money (as collaborative relationships split intellectual contribution, hands-on work and, sometimes, expenses). All this, while bringing in the numbers, and taking your team through a learning experience. 

Have you explored the power of collaboration? Let us know in the comments how that has worked for you! 

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How to gain a competitive advantage amid load-shedding

by with No Comment Business TipsMarketingMoney TalksSales

Eskom has warned us about load-shedding likely to be here for longer than we had anticipated and this is something we should be prepared for. A few things businesses are suffering due to load-shedding include but are not limited to spoilage of cold storage items, compromised [hysical security, and unhappy customers. Only businesses who make loadshedding work for them will gain a competitive edge, this will of course depend on what type of business you’re running. 

Here are a few things you can invest in:

Power bank: this is one of the most affordable and sustainable ways to keep your devices charged/on, including smartphones and card machines. This means you can still keep marketing and communicating with prospective customers, as well as accept card payments for those who don’t carry cash. 

Dongles and routers: an affordable and reliable option for mobile internet connection yet! You can connect multiple users at a time (e.g. your employees/digital marketing team), These devices use cellular data though, you can consult with your internet service provider to find out about affordable data costs. 

Generator: this can be a big cost for some businesses, but buying one can be intimidating. However, we have a few ideas that might help! Just like most things, you don’t have to totally buy a new one. You can either buy a second-hand generator from online markets and other avenues, or you can ease one. Just make sure you do your research here so you can get value for your money, calculate the numbers first and see if it makes sense. 

Other ways to stay ahead of the competition:

Give clients no excuses. Even though we’re all affected by load-shedding, no one really likes to hear “we can’t, we have load-shedding”. Give clients no reason to want to take business elsewhere but hurl their money at you!

 

Keep marketing so customers will never forget about you. You can do a month’s worth of work in just a few hours and schedule/automate. We wrote a full blog on this, take something from this:

Business Doesn’t Have To Be Hard. Read These 7 Tips
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Do you need a blog for your business?

by with No Comment Business TipsMarketingMoney TalksSales

Without assuming you know, a  blog (short for weblog) is a regularly updated web page that can either be used for personal use or to fulfill a business need. Regardless of your objective for your blog, a blog is a great tool to increase the visibility of your business online and communicate with existing and potential customers. Common uses are: to create an online presence or to drive traffic to your existing website.

However, blogging does require time, which can steer you away from the normal day-to-day running of your business. When managed correctly though, your return on investment will be far greater. In this blog, we will look at some of the benefits of blogging that can improve your business. 

A blog can help your business in this way:

Create an online presence and community

You don’t have to have a coding background or be tech-savvy for this, or you can just pay someone to do it for you. There are many blogging platforms you can choose from that make it easy for you to write and publish your content ideas. A blog gives you an online presence and creates a community outside of social media.  

Gives your business a human voice

Blogs are generally known for sharing information, OPINIONS, OBSERVATIONS, EXPERIENCES, and likes. In this way, it can open up a conversation, people get to relate as it is personalized and shows personality. One other thing is that people get to understand your brand. Blogs are a great method to share your small company’s voice, foster trust, and increase its likeability.

Drive traffic to your website

If you already have a website, a blog is a great tool to complement it and drive traffic. Sometimes people search random topics on the internet, and with the right use of keywords, they can stumble upon your blog…thus learn more about your business. More visitors to your website implies more opportunities to market your goods and services and draw in new clients.

Improve your search engine optimization

With search engines like Google, it’s a keywords game. The higher your website’s ranking, the more clicks you get. By increasing the number of pages that search engines index from your domain with each blog post, a small business blog is a terrific strategy to raise the ranking of your website in search results.

Does your business have a blog? Let us know how it has worked for your business! 

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Freemium Model

by with No Comment Business TipsMarketingMoney TalksSales

Have you ever heard of the Freemium business model? You’ve probably had this occur to you without knowing. First things first, FREEMIUM is a business model in which a company offers basic or limited features to users at no cost, and then charges a premium for advanced or additional features.

This goes without saying, people love free things, discounts, or paying less for things – even if they are of high value. Moreover, consumers like to know the value they stand to get from a product or service before making a buying decision. It forces companies to spend a lot of money on advertising, sales demonstrations, and other marketing initiatives to provide clients with the knowledge they need.

To avoid any confusion, this is not your typical  ”15 days free trial”, free trials often only lasts a week or so, giving the customer a firm deadline by which they need to decide if they want to pay for the product or not.

With Freemium though, the basic premise of the freemium model means a company offers a product, often software, with basic features at no cost.

“The easiest way to get one million people paying is to get one billion people using.” ~ Phil Libin, Evernote

However, there are some restrictions on this product, which occasionally makes the consumer demand more from the service. Giving away the entry-level goods for free makes it simpler to entice people and build a clientele.

The freemium business model offers the advantage of allowing potential customers to try out a product without feeling pressured to buy it.

The needs of your users can be scaled using freemium. A customer may not require full functionality when they first join up, but as they develop, their demands will change. Additionally, it may be more difficult to transfer to another product and start over as needs change since your product is already incorporated into consumers’ typical workflow. 

Some everyday examples of Freemium businesses:

LinkedIn 

Connecting to people, recruiters companies? FREE. 

Publishing posts and articles? FREE 

To get access to insights about profile visitors, finding leads and targets, and many other functionalities, it will cost you. 

YouTube 

Free music streaming, watch videos and download SOME video, although WITH interruptive ads. For ad-free streaming of videos and music, as well as unlimited download, you have to pay a fee. 

Spotify 

Free music streaming; paid subscription required for offline, ad-free listening.

Mailchimp 

Free newsletter service with a little monthly cost if you wish to send more newsletters.

Dropbox 

Data sharing and storage are both free; extra storage capacity costs money each month.

The Ultimate Guide To Financial Software for Small Businesses in South Africa

by with No Comment Business TipsMoney Talks

You know what they say, Cloud Accounting Software helps business owners keep a finger on the pulse of their finances. 

To do this, one needs agility decision-making skills, and those decisions must be based on the real-time financial truth. Accounting software may assist business owners with a number of typical duties, such as keeping track of transactions, sending invoices, storing receipts, and tracking sales taxes. It can also help with managing cash flow and has a tax management tool that makes tax filing a little bit simpler. 

The advantages of using Accounting Software include, but are not limited to:

  • Efficiency – it saves time and money
  • Clarity – helps you see your financial health
  • Accuracy – the automation feature helps you speed up the calculations
  • Tax compliance – helps you stay ready for tax season.

Do you NEED it?

If anything, using Accounting Software has more advantages than disadvantages, perhaps things like security should be at the top of your priority when choosing one that’s best for your business, followed by cost, support, etc. Also, consider what special needs your business has outside of accounting, do you need simple bookkeeping and accounts service, or do you require other features, like assisting with company claims, tax returns, custom invoices, etc?

2 additional tips to help you choose the right Accounting Software for your business:

Access – it’s easier when you can access it from anywhere: from any device and location, at any time of day.  

Easy functionality –  it is important to choose the option that provides an easy-to-understand dashboard with access to all your important financial information. 

A few trusted Accounting Software companies you can check out:

Zoho – starting from R99 p/m

Quickbooks – starting from R115 p/m

SMEasy – starting from R150 p/m

Xero – starting from around R160 p/m

Sage – starting from R3,220 p/a

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5 best ways to sell your business

by with No Comment Business TipsMarketingMoney TalksSalesSavings

Implement search engine optimization

To put things into perspective, Search Engine Optimization (A.K.A SEO), SEO is the process of improving your website to increase its visibility when people search for products or services related to your business on Google and other search engines. In essence, Search engines help people find what they’re looking for online, this is a free benefit for businesses.  

To give you a less technical explanation, this is how search engines work:

Search engines provide results for any search query a user enters. To do so, they survey and “understand” the vast network of websites that make up the web. They run a sophisticated algorithm that determines what results to display for each search query.

Source: Mailchimp

This could do a lot for your business, people conduct thousands of searches each day, including products and services. 

Create and verify your Google Business Profile

Your Google Business Profile (Google listing) is what allows your business to show up in Google results including your business name, services (need good SEO), Google Maps, etc. 

If you’re ranking on Google Maps, this means your business is basically promoting itself 24/7. Moreover, you can publish posts directly to your Google listing, this puts you right in front of your target audience (at a time when they have high intent) when you put up attractive promotions.

Create a landing page offer

Yes, a landing page, not a website. Websites generally contain a lot of information, which can get overwhelming. A website convinces people about an offer, instead of focusing primarily on the offer itself. On the other hand, a landing page is more driven. It focuses on a good offer and Call to Action, which can bear more results. 

Advantages of a landing page:

  1. It focuses on ONE goal, usually selling, or call to action.
  2. Minimal distractions on the page
  3. Messaging and design precisely matched the goal

Run social media ADS

By now, you are familiar with social Ads, you have come across one at some stage. While optimizing search is good for a long-term strategy, sometimes you need more immediate results if you are running a SALE for instance. This is where ADS comes in!

Social media ADS are consistent in that they show up on your target audience’s feed every time they scroll on a specific app. When done right, the Advanced targeting feature on social ads ensures your ads are shown to only the most relevant audience. This is a great way to attract more followers/new audiences to your page, helping you build a community and loyalty around your business.

There are many different goals to select from when running social ads, it can be getting new audience/followers, running a SALE/discount offer, driving traffic to a website, and many more. Depending on your goals, this is a good option to consider.  

Online directories

An online directory is a website that tends to have high traffic. They can help enhance your online presence, and promote your business to high-intent customers. In fact, some consumers regularly visit online directories to search for businesses that fit their specific needs. Let’s just say, sometimes YOU do it without noticing. These directories can help people discover you, and sell your business without even visiting your website. 

Those are just a few easy to go about it, let us know in the comments which one you will be trying, or which one has worked for you so far. 

Business hardships

Business Doesn’t Have To Be Hard. Read These 7 Tips

by with No Comment Business TipsMarketingMoney TalksSalesSavingsTax

 If you have been in business for some time, you know how challenging the entrepreneurial journey can be, it can get lonely too. It’s worse if you are a solo entrepreneur or don’t have a dedicated team you work with. In this blog, we will share some tips that will help make your journey a little less of a pain in the butt. 

Running a business shouldn’t take up all of your time, especially with small tasks. Thanks to technology, there are automation tools, and many other business systems you can put in place, that can make your life easier. Which we will get into. These shouldn’t cost you a leg and an arm either, especially for small businesses. 

According to reports and statistics, some of the common reasons why startups fail are due to, but not limited to lack of knowledge, and poor sales and marketing. Let’s get to it below.

7 tips to make running a business easier:

(1) Build cultures: the culture of an organization affects the running of it largely. If you share the same values, beliefs, attitudes, and practices that you live by in your organization, not only will you work well together, but you will get more done. For instance, let’s take it back to one of our examples of the common startup failure reasons stated above – lack of knowledge. If you have a reading culture in your business you get to learn more and ultimately earn more. 

(2) Hire young people: this is practically free. Organizations such as SEDA can lend you, interns, for free. You don’t have to pay them a salary, but mentor them and give them work experience. This can also help you save coins on taxes, this is called Employment Tax Incentive.  In his 2022 Budget Speech, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced an increase in the ETI values from 1 March 2022.

(3) Automate: we can’t emphasize how much time you will save by automating things. From bookkeeping systems, accounting, marketing, social listening, and so forth, these things can save you so much time yet do so much for your business to keep it running smoothly. It is even becoming unnecessary to hire an administrator because these things can be automated, even email responses. Depending on the kind of business you’re in, automate things where you can, while you tackle tasks that need your attention more. 

(4) Use customers as advocates: a happy customer will give you free marketing! You can use this as a strategy. You’d be surprised how easy it is to get people to do stuff, all you need to do is ask. If you are selling products, send them a personalized card and ask them to tag you when they use it. If you’re selling services, ask them to leave you a review on your page or website. Endorsements are effective, but you need to fully satisfy customers.

(5) Tell stories: people love hearing success stories and things they can relate to… which can help you with their confidence in your product or solution. Storytelling is the use of evoking emotions to connect your brand to customers. Be authentic when building your brand, show what it takes, or what it took for your business to get where it is. Share highlights of your business, awards, the evolution of your logo, social proof/client testimonials, and show them before and after service of a client’s success. Take your community along with you on your journey. 

(6) Keep your books updated: you can either do this by setting up software or hiring a bookkeeper to keep your books in check. It can be easy to use business money for personal use, especially if you’re a solo entrepreneur. Poor money management can lead to business failure. Not only does keeping your books up-to-date let you know how much you made or lost, but it also makes things easier during tax season. We have a full guide on this, which we discussed in our Bookkeeping Workshop. Get in touch with us if you are interested in getting the session recording + materials: info@accasesolutions.co.za 

(7) Cut down unnecessary costs: don’t wait until your ship sinks till you save, start now. Saving money is critical for the survival of your business. Cut down on traditional marketing and go digital, stop attending unnecessary meetings and do virtual meetings instead, unless it’s necessary to do so. Partner with other entrepreneurs, creators, or freelancers, in that way you save on costs while getting serviced. This can also take us to our first point – hire interns. 

Let us know if any of these have worked for you, or which ones you are going to try, Feel free to add more in the comment section down below. 

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Top 3 Mindset-ships for Business Owners

by with No Comment Business Tips

Mindset is everything!!! It is the only change that is long lasting, it happens WITHIN us. Sure there may be external benefits, but it starts from the inside. It starts with a MINDSET.

There’s a social media coach that likes to say…

“Entrepreneurship is a reflection of your inner world. If you are not getting paying clients, it’s because you’re not (emotionally) ready for them. If you don’t get what you want, you’re getting what you need.”

Business care is a self care shift from “I have to do XYZ” to “I want to do, I am going to do, I love to do XYZ” In any situation, you can change, leave or accept it.

You won’t have to start over if you don’t quit.

Unfortunately success has no shortcuts, you just have to go through the process. It has thorns but the outcome is beautiful. Be in your journey

Today, we’ll share with you our Top3 Mindset-ships you need to develop as a Business Owner:

(1) Actions create clarity more than thinking could… STOP tweaking behind the scenes. 

Be clear on:

* What your offerings – post about it on social media along with testimonials.

* Who is it for/not for?

* What’s the process to go about rendering your service/buying your product? 

Cut the thinking and start taking actions to get experience. 

(2) Don’t ask anyone to do what you wouldn’t do. 

If you’re gonna ask someone to see a therapist, have you or would you? Walk that talk. If you take the leap of faith first, you can tell a story of what that looked like for you. 

(3) Stop comparing yourself. 

Yes it helps you understand where you are in life and or where you place yourself. It helps you know where you are ahead of the game, what you need to improve so you know when to pat yourself on the back or to put yourself in line. But when it mutates into jealousy, insecurity, it becomes a cock-blocker. 

A bonus tip from us:

“Don’t think about what can happen in a month or year. Just focus on the 24 hours in front of you and do what will get you closer to where you want to be.”

There’s a difference between being patient with success and passively waiting for it. You still have to put in the work for your goals, you can’t expect handouts from the universe.

Let us know in the comments the mindset you had to adopt as a business owner, we’d love to hear it! 

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How-To Plan your Business Finances in 2022 |

by with No Comment Business TipsMoney TalksSavings

Most people can agree that the past two years have been unlike any other in so many aspects including, but not limited to finances. Businesses also took a head knock, especially those that were not on digital platforms. If anything, we’ve all learned that life can be unpredictable, no one would have thought we would be battling a global pandemic. 

Some also think that 2021 was even more challenging from day 1. What are your thoughts on this? Let us know at the end of the blog. For now, let’s plan our business finances. Whilst many things are out of our control, we are still in charge – let’s plan and prepare! 
Some also think that 2021 was even more challenging from day 1. What are your thoughts on this? Let us know at the end of the blog. For now, let’s plan our business finances. Whilst many things are out of our control, we are still in charge – let’s plan and prepare! 



3 tips to plan your business finances in 2022: 

Before anything, you need to set goals and objectives. Just to enlighten you: a goal is a desired result that you envision and commit to achieve, while an objective is a strategy or implementation steps to attain the identified goal. 

Start here: How much money do you want to make in 2021? (Goal)

Secondly: How many products do you have to sell, or clients do you have to serve to make that amount? (Objective) 

Have you had that figured? Let’s get started; 

Budgeting – this can never get old, it helps you navigate where every rand goes. “budgeting is knowing where your money is going, and not wondering where it went”.

To help you get started, here are six steps to create your financial plan:

1️⃣ To start off, think about what you want to accomplish and ask yourself… Do I need to expand? Do I need more equipment? Do I need to hire more staff? Do I need other new resources? Most importantly, how will my plan affect my cash flow?

2️⃣ Create monthly financial projections by recording your anticipated income based on sales forecasts and anticipated expenses for labor, supplies, overhead, etc..

3️⃣ Through the year, compare actual results with your projections to see if you’re on target or need to adjust. Monitoring helps you spot financial problems before they get out of hand.

We wrote a full blog on this, see here: https://accasesolutions.co.za/2021/05/27/plan-to-succeed-finance/

Pricing – pricing directly defines your positioning – it tells people where you are in your business. Do you have to increase your prices? Let’s dive a bit into this: 


Although this is not compulsory, it’s worth considering. Sometimes demand outstrips supply, there’s inflation and all those kind of things to consider. Review your prices and consider raising them. Take a solo entrepreneur that runs a consulting business for instance – attending workshops, seminars, taking online courses here and there – that’s a lot of knowledge for someone to charge the same rate year in, year out. 

The more you learn the more you earn, it’s not clichè. Businesses charge for their value, not cost of production, etc. But it’s important to remember that whatever you do, have your target customer in mind. Don’t overprice. 

Things to consider when pricing your services:

1. Figure out your service delivery costs – fixed and variable costs

2. How many hours it takes you to deliver your service

3. Taxes

4. Account for dry season and holidays

5. Most importantly, profit. 

…for products, you might want to consider:

1. Cost of production/manufacturing 

2. Cost of delivery

3. Market price 

4. Taxes

5. Profit 


A few other things many people consider this:

* What is everyone else charging? 

* What is the top person in your industry charging? 

* Where do you fall?

Savings and investment – we preach this all the time, but is it ever enough? Would your business survive another hard lockdown? 

There are 3 most important things to take into serious consideration in 2022: savings accounts; emergency account, investment, and insurance (if need be). 

Savings and investments are important for your personal and business reasons. Savings means keeping your money, investment means growing your money: both are important. With savings, you can have specific goals attached to it – this also helps decline you to be committed. 

When it comes to emergencies and/ or unforeseen circumstances, many like to say that your emergency account should at least have 6 months of your monthly earnings for unforeseen circumstances: if you earn R10 000 per month, your savings account should at least have R60 000. 

The pandemic taught us the importance of all these accounts, we never know what will hit us tomorrow. When it comes to insurance, it really depends on the type of business you have, or even where you are (stage) in your business. These are things you might want to consider factoring in, in 2022. They go in your budget and come first. 

Here’s a comparison of different banks and institutions to help you make decisions for 2021:  https://www.google.co.za/amp/s/moneytoday.co.za/best-savings-accounts/amp/ 


Let us know your thoughts – opinions and comments, feel free to add your tips as well!