If you want to ascend to the upper echelons of the business world, then you need to be prepared to work hard, long hours, deal with the ups and downs, constantly be looking for new and improved methods of doing things, etc. With so much work and sometimes not much reward, it may, at times, seem a little pointless. Therefore, it is natural that you will suffer from a lack of motivation from time to time. However, what will mark you apart is how you deal with this and overcome it. Here are some ways on how to keep your motivation up in business:
When you first started out on this venture, you must have had a reason for starting out more than just making money. A lot of entrepreneurs have a vision, some sort of driving force behind them, which inspired them to start up. This could be how you can help people, what you can do to help the world, how you can raise awareness about certain issues using the business as leverage. It may help if you wrote a mission statement to re-energize yourself. Remembering why you started out on this venture will help you stay motivated to achieve your goals.
Inspirational activities
If you create a list of places, people, videos, podcasts, or blogs, for example, where you can garner inspiration, it will help you stay motivated. If you are feeling down and are finding it hard to stay on your top game, plug into these sources, and they will be able to drag you out of your lull. It may even be a good idea to invest in seeing a motivational speaker such as Scott Burrows. Not only will this act as inspiration for you continue on your journey, but you will meet many other like-minded people who are all feeling the same way you are. You may be able to connect with these people and continue inspiring each other well after the event has finished.
Network and build connections
You may be able to start this at a motivational talk, but networking with other entrepreneurs and employing the right kind of people to help you stay on track will give you a huge boost. It will give you the opportunity to bounce ideas off of each other and share experiences. This kind of companionship is a great way to stay motivated and allow you to know that you are not the only entrepreneur feeling the way you are. Why not create a networking event?
Find time for you
Remember, it is not all about the work. Ensure that you find a few hours each week to do something you enjoy that has nothing to do with the business. Try to stay fit and healthy too. The simple fact of rhe matter is, if you are trying to deal with a big problem, then when you step away from the situation, suddenly in the middle of your run, for example, the answer will become alarmingly clear. So ensure you have space away from work as this will help you stay motivated.
When it comes to setting up a new business, it can often be an anxious time as you have no idea whether your venture will be a success or a failure. Many entrepreneurs have to invest a lot of money into their startups, paying for things like leasing premises, hiring staff, buying equipment and machinery, and so forth.
An exciting way to cut down on costs and “test the water” is to set up a pop-up store. In case you didn’t know, a pop-up store is one that operates out of a trailer or van and can get set up virtually anywhere. If you’re thinking of setting up a new retail business, here’s five reasons why such a concept works so well in the 21st century:
One of the brilliant things about pop-up stores is they allow you to get close to your target audience. You don’t have to worry about leasing a retail store that could potentially be positioned in an area with little foot traffic, nor do you need to concern yourself with the associated costs. A pop-up store enables you to select somewhere in your locale that you think will be busy most of the time.
2. You can spend more on stock
It’s a well-known fact that the more you order from a wholesaler, the lower each unit price will cost. With that in mind, you can position your prices so that you maximize your profit. For example, let’s say you wish to open up a pop-up store selling beauty products. Because you don’t need to pay expensive store leases, you can afford to invest more in your stock from wholesale health and beauty care suppliers.
3. You can form relationships with your customers
A pop-up store, by its very definition, is a small retail outlet. As there isn’t much physical stock or store floorspace to manage, you can afford to spend more time talking to your customers and learning more about their buying habits. Another advantage is that you build a rapport with them, resulting in increased repeat customers. Those are two things you can seldom do if you’re running a business from a retail store.
4. You can take your store to special events
It’s physically impossible to remove a bricks and mortar retail store and temporarily locate it at a special event such as a social gathering or festival. As you can appreciate, the fact that a pop-up store is mobile means you can take it with you and set up your storefront wherever you are in the country!
5. Pop-up stores create a sense of urgency
One of the downsides of having a retail outlet is that it gives customers the impression they will be there forever. As such, they sometimes forget to buy anything from such places. With a pop-up store, many customers will have the impression that your store might only be a temporary thing and so will “snap up” any products sooner rather than later.
If you’re looking to buy a house or make a real estate investment, then you’ll come across something called a down payment. Those of you that have never encountered this term before will be confused as to what it means and why it’s important. So, here’s everything you need to know about mortgage down payments!
What is a mortgage down payment?
Down payments are payments that you make to cover some of the costs of a large purchase. With relation to mortgages, it’s basically a percentage of the overall loan that you have to pay upfront.
For example, let’s say you want to take out a $500,000 mortgage to buy your dream home. In order to get this loan, you will need to make a minimum down payment. The amount you pay gets taken off the overall loan, meaning you have to pay the rest back in installments.
How much do you have to pay?
This honestly depends on where you’re getting the mortgage from and how much you’re willing/able to pay. Generally, you can get your mortgage loan from mortgage bankers or brokers. Places like Evolve Bank & Trust are mortgage bankers as they handle everything in-house and will provide you with the money themselves. Brokers will act as a middle-man to help you find the right mortgage.
Your mortgage provider will basically set the minimum rate for a down payment on the mortgage. It’s believed that the average down payment is around 5.3% of the total cost of the house. However, some people will pay up to and over 20% of the house cost – it depends on how much you can afford to pay. As long as you can afford the minimum requirement, then it’s basically up to you!
Why are down payments important?
A mortgage down payment is critical for a couple of reasons. Mainly, they’re a key factor in determining if you’re eligible for a mortgage or not. Fail to meet the minimum down payment requirements, and you won’t be able to get the loan.
Also, down payments can influence how much money you have to pay back on the loan. A large downpayment results in smaller payments that last less time, while a small one is easier to save up for but results in a longer mortgage term.
However, the main reason these payments are important is that they make homeownership more accessible for the average person. Instead of needing to save up tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for a home, you just have to save up enough money to cover the down payment. This means you can access a mortgage loan and get the home you’re always dreamed of.
Final thoughts…
So, if you’re looking to invest in real estate or buy your first family home, then you need to know about down payments. The biggest thing to think about is how much you can afford to pay. Weight up whether or not you want to make a big down payment or a small one. Either option comes with pros and cons, so decide which will work best for you.
In business, investment is everything. But of course, investment without a return is just wasted expenditure. However, sometimes it can be that the return we seek is not necessarily easy to place a financial value on, or in retrospect said investment may be priceless. Staff training is perhaps a consideration that can be defined in this way.
Sure, you cannot exactly predict the dollar return you’ll gain when ensuring staff are well trained and qualified. Yet this will lower your staff turnover due to providing new opportunities for them to grow, and it will also increase the net competency of your entire business. This last point is important to consider, because when you think about it, the ‘brain retention’ of your company is important to manage and improve. Skills are essential, and high quality staff can quite literally be the difference that edges you out over the competition.
So how can you invest in business competency and do so with care? Is it solely to do with training your staff through and through? Let’s explore the following advice to consider this:
Hire Essential Training & Outfitting Services
It’s essential to hire services that will aid your firm in one way or another, and while this can be to do with training, it can also be a more systemic outfitting of your company on a grander scale. For instance, this excellent boss laser cutter review will not only show you how your staff can utilize this specialist equipment, but how it can be perfectly managed within your enterprise’s development. It’s these developments that are worth taking care of.
Establish Excellent Compatibility
It’s also important to establish excellent compatibility with industry standards and various practices that are. Let’s consider a small example. A small print shop will need to be able to service clients requiring printing of all different types, on all different ‘canvasses’, with different dimensions, color profiles, and experiences levels. They must be masters of their craft in order to ensure they can properly add value to the business dealing they hope to attract. This might mean compatibility for different file formats, or cloud storage options or transportation of the finished product. Think of how your own business can refine its compatibility so that it might, itself, add value.
Consider Additional & Referral Functions
It ca be nice to add additional and referral functions to your brand if you’re unable to completely satisfy the needs of a particular business to business connection or client. For instance, you might suggest a service you are in alignment with for them to complete the job or add onto the fundamental work you have conducted. For instance, a personal trainer may recommend a great massage therapist for someone training and yet dealing with the remnants of a sports injury. Again, this ethos can be used for your business to help refine its output, even when it can’t produce.
With this advice, we hope you can fully invest in your business competency once more.
When the time comes to grow your small business or scale it – whatever you prefer to call it. It can be a challenge in many ways, even for those who are very experienced in what they do. You’ll need to deepen your understanding of what is involved and how you can accommodate it better. You might even need to think about if you should change your business model or even your branding.
As you grow, your clients will change too. They will likely be more significant, and your organization skills will need to improve a lot too.
Not everyone will know when the right time to grow is, and there might not be an obvious pointer either. But if you can see an increased income, or that you are asking people to work longer shifts, or need to hire more people. It might just be time to ask yourself – is it now?
Here are a couple of considerations for you:
Sales Funnel
Many businesses will go through this basic point of growth. A great sales funnel will actually be a point that can kick start your growth. Managing to automate what you do will help. There is a time investment here, and depending on your subscribers, you might not have a cost initially. The foundations for a sales funnel will be the initial set-up, and writing a great funnel. Typically funnels:
New sign-ups
Downloads
Upselling
Hot leads
You can carefully curate these and increase your sales.
Competition
You will always be aware of your competition unless you have created a market or you are working in a new industry. As you grow you, competitors will change. They will be bigger, fiercer and they will be putting more money into their marketing too. You can use Similar Web to research your competitors. Have a look at their online strategies and their funnel techniques you can get a feel for what you are ‘up against’.
You can take parts of their strategy and see where it fits with what you are doing. More prominent companies tend to have a tried and tested method, and it is worth researching.
New Opportunities
Often it is not until we take stock of everything that we can see things differently. If you have been intensely focused on specific tasks, then you might well have missed areas that you can expand into, or opportunities to increase sales. Have a look at the demographics of your newsletter, has it changed over time? Do you have new buyers? Where are they based? Can you create a popular package to advertise based on that information?
Growth of your business isn’t just exciting from the financial point of view. It can be an enjoyable challenge than can see your business evolve into something that you had pictures in the very early planning days. Whatever your growth looks like, move forward with the idea that you want to bring value to your customers.
Recent Comments