The image and reputation of your business are vital for the overall success of your brand. It’s not just the physical appearance of it that matters either, as to how people perceive other areas of your company is just as critical. A negative image can cause all sorts of issues from lower sales, reduced customer retention and higher complaint levels. In order to maintain a positive brand image and reputation for your company, there are a few simple things you can do to make the process really simple.
Take a look at some of the top ways to improve and sustain a good brand image to convert more sales.
Spruce up your premises
Whether your business is office-based or has a storefront, the outside appearance of it matters. If people walk past and see a messy and poor looking frontage, it immediately turns people off from entering the building. There are a few different ways to make it look more appealing; however, some do require a little more investment than others. Simply methods include putting a lick of paint over tired-looking walls or installing new fixtures to modernise the place. For larger projects, you could consider installing new windows and doors or repairing leaks with commercial roofing.
Create an online presence
Most people are online these days, so if your business isn’t, you could be missing out on tons of opportunities. Social media is the first port of call for improving your brand image and visibility. However, it’s always important to remember that there is also a negative side to everything being online. You’ll need to create a marketing and reputation management plan to ensure everything your publish is consistent with your overall brand messaging. Using social media will help you interact and engage with potential and current customers, and also allows you to target audiences to improve your sales.
Collaborate with other businesses
No business is an island, and you can’t afford to think that you are the top dog among your competitors (even if that is true!). Building a relationship with other businesses can help to forge strong bonds with like-minded individuals while potentially getting something more out of it in return. Collaborations and partnerships with suppliers is a great way to join together to enjoy better costs and opportunities. Plus, it gives you a positive image in your industry niche.
Move towards a sustainable model
There’s no getting away from the fact that climate change is affecting everything we do now and for the future. Businesses are at the forefront of media scrutiny, and this can affect how people shop for your products and services. Moving towards a sustainable model shouldn’t be seen as a chore but a way to improve your brand for the better, in both profit and responsibility. There are numerous things you can do differently to make smaller and more significant changes across your organisation. Check out resources online to make simple adjustments to your operations, but for the broader elements, look into hiring a sustainability and change expert to help revamp your business model.
If you can’t handle a little bit of stress, then you shouldn’t be in business; it’s just the name of the game, there will always be a little bit of stress involved in running a company. However, while a little bit of stress is necessary to keep on pushing forward, it’s important that things don’t become overloaded. There’s little good that can come from being crippled by stress-induced anxiety. While you can’t control everything that happens, there are some stressful things that are under your control. We take a look at a few examples below.
Any individual task could be straightforward, but if you’ve got a long list of tasks on your plate, then it’ll of course be stressful. When it comes to your business, this means avoiding piling too much on your plate. It always feels good to have a long list of ideas under your belt, but it’s another matter putting them into practice. Try to avoid having too many ambitions too early on in your business career. It’s much better (for your state of mind and your business) if you have a narrow, refined offering rather than trying to be all things to all people.
Trust Your Employees
There are some business owners out there who walk around like they have the whole weight of their company on their shoulders, and it’s kind of true: they’ve placed the failure or success of their venture entirely on themselves, even though they have a staff. If you’re going to employ a team, then it’s important that you trust them to get the job done. There’s little value in hiring someone to do a job for you, if you’re just going to look over their shoulder the entire time. Let them get on with whatever task they’re entrusted with, and it’ll be one more thing off your plate.
Outsource the Complicated Tasks
Running a company is about much more than whatever services or products you’re providing. That’s half of the game; the other half are all those tasks that every company must do to be successful. You’ll know how to take care of your company’s core tasks, but the extras? They’ll likely cause stress. As such, one way to get around this is to outsource jobs such as your IT and accounting needs to external companies. Schedule a consultation with an IT company, and put an end to stressful internal network management. For your accounting, visit with a few professionals, and pick the one with whom you have a good rapport — you could end up working many years with them.
Look After Yourself Finally, remember to look after yourself. You’ll be much more prone to feeling stressed if you’re not living well in your professional life. Look at eating well, exercise, and engaging in stress-busting activities when you’re outside of the office; they’ll all make you better able to handle the pressure when you’re working. Meditation during the day can also help you to be at your best, too.
IT is a necessary resource for most businesses today for a variety of reasons. From small, medium, and large companies alike, a lot of companies are yet to hire or purchase the service that works hand in hand with your IT systems – the IT support. This is to ensure everything is in ship shape, to problem solve and prevent errors, and to make your job a lot easier than it is without it. If you don’t have IT support systems set up yet for your business, here’s why you should invest your time in sourcing a reputable IT solutions company.
PC Breakdown
Other than switching the computer off and on, what else would you do if your PC just randomly decided to break down? Do you spend a fortune replacing it, take time out of your day to make it to a repair shop and have it fixed a few days later, or bury your head in the sand hoping that it’ll magically fix itself? These options all have a negative impact in common – spending time and/or money out of your working day dealing with a problem that you have hardly any power of fixing. With IT Solutions businesses that provide emergency services; however, you can get your business PC diagnosed and repaired by an expert quickly. For a few reasons why hiring IT solutions should be on your agenda, here are three of many.
Security
The utmost care needs to be taken with your business data, to ensure there are no leaks of confidential information, and online criminals are unable to access your data. It’s common for business owners to assume that the probability of their business being hacked is slim to none, and so they refuse to invest in any IT support. More often than not, a business is hacked and stripped of their private company information. Just imagine, your bank account details, client details, future business plans to be executed, gone in an instant. Investing in an IT service, however, to take care of your cyber security shall mean IT professionals are on the frontline defending your business from all kinds of attacks. If you value your business, as most owners do, you should also value IT solutions to protect the business intel you’ve built this far.
Cloud Service
Imagine your very own cloud service dedicated to your business, so that all workers, including you, can access essential data when you’re on the go (providing there’s an internet connection). Cloud service solutions created by IT professionals allow you to tailor access to your business data so that employees only see what you want them to see (adding a layer of security to your business data). Opting for an IT solutions service is also you making the decision to relieve yourself of a lot of the stress that arrives with being a business owner. As you try your hardest to build a strong team of employees, market your product effectively, and network with new clients, there’s no time for you to even think about how to solve your IT solutions – thus delegation to an IT company is critical.
It’s not easy running a business. You’re the one that rolled the dice and tried to build a successful company, and that means that the pressure is on your shoulders, nobody else’s. You also have to steer the ship in the right direction, and make sure that everything’s running smoothly, including managing any staff you may have and ensuring that your customers are happy. Normally, you can manage it just fine, but what if you’re going through a difficult personal moment? Then it becomes complicated. Below, we take a look at a few ways to do the best for your business when times are tough.
It’s in your best interests to try to switch off your personal problems when you through the front door of your office. It’s not easy, of course, but it is necessary. While you’re at work, there’ll be nothing that you can do to make your personal problem any less of an issue, so use it as a chance to take your mind somewhere else. You’ll be fixated on the problem at every other moment of the day; when you’re at work, look straight at the tasks in front of you.
Your Support Network
You have to be a leader at work. To keep everything in its right place, it’s best that you don’t use your employees as a shoulder to cry on, unless you’ve already got that open and friendly type of relationship. But that’s not to say you should keep everything bottled up: you absolutely shouldn’t. Draw upon your support network for help and guidance. When you’re not at work, you can get together with the people who will always be there for you. Even if it’s just a quick fifteen-minute chat, it’ll be an invaluable way to lift some of the pressure.
Work With Professionals
There’s often a lot that needs to be managed and handled when you’re going through a personally difficult moment, especially if it involves a death in the family. When you’re trying to run a business and come to terms with what’s happened, the paperwork and tasks that go along with a passing can be an unwelcome aspect. As such, it’s a good idea to work with a professional wherever possible. A probate attorney, for example, can handle the complicated matters of the deceased person’s estate. As well as allowing you to focus on yourself and your business, it can also prevent other problems — like issues between siblings — from arising, too.
Delegating Work No matter how hard you try, it’ll be unlikely that you’ll be at your best when you’re going through a personal problem. So it might be necessary to step back a little when the going really gets tough. At these moments, look at delegating work to your employees. It’s fine to take a reduced role for a little while. Some bosses power through, but this isn’t good for them (nor the business). Go easy on yourself, and treat yourself well — your staff can handle things for a little while.
If you’re a business owner, you’ll know the difference that a great team can make. Without this, you can feel like your office is lacking in productivity, and that your staff turnover is a lot higher than it probably should be. However, attracting – and keeping – the best employees can seem like a difficult task, and it’s hard to know what really pulls in the best talent out there.
There are some things that great workers generally look for, though, and you can champion them in order to get the right people behind you. We’ve noted down some of them here.
Your existing employees are the best ambassadors for your business, and don’t underestimate the extent to which word will get around if they’re not happy in their jobs. You should be OK with potential new recruits talking to your team, because you know that they enjoy what they’re doing. If this isn’t the case, then work on the happiness of your team members first, and you’ll find that this is useful for everybody!
Offer opportunities for progression
One thing that usually puts off great talent is the inability to progress through the business. People who are great at what they do don’t want to sit around in a stale workplace, working in the same role whilst their boss shuts all of the doors on them. Always think about progression opportunities, and what you can do to give people an incentive to work for you. Great people love rising to a challenge.
Think about the details
Showing that you put your employees first is in the details, so don’t underestimate the small things that will show that you care. Offering office workstation DSE online training will show that you’ve considered their physical and mental health, and even just ensuring that there are refreshments for your team is important. Showing that you’ve thought about this is a good sign for your potential employees.
Invest in training and development
Not only should you be offering the opportunity for progression within your business, but you should also be investing in training for your team members, too. This is, ultimately, an investment in the future of your business, and it’s one that you will always benefit from. If your new staff can see that you’re willing to do something to help them, then they will feel more inclined to help you.
Be open-minded and approachable
One of the best things that you can do when going through the hiring process is showing people that you’re a transparent and approachable person. Ultimately, nobody wants to feel uncomfortable at work, especially around their boss, and successful people want to know that you’re open-minded, and that they can express some creativity in the workplace. This will push your business forward, so encourage it!
So, if you want to have a great team, then you just need to invest in their futures, as well as considering their happiness and wellbeing. It’s not too hard, is it? Good luck finding – and keeping – the best employees, and seeing your business flourish into something great as a result!
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