• Introduce Yourself
• Get Across Two Points
• Make a Connection

So, let’s break down the most effective way to do this for your time, assuming you only have half a minute to get this done.

Starting the Elevator Pitch: Introduce Yourself

To begin, this is where it gets big. Think Sun Tzu, win it before you start. This is done with “the intangibles.” Additionally, think about how you dress, and how you approach the meeting – your voice, and your body language. These are all defining things that will speak volumes without taking any of the floor time. For that reason, when you are dealing with limited stimulus you have no room for nuance. Even the best elevator pitch will leave them feeling you have the same nuance as Wile E. Coyote. It’s too short.

So, introduce yourself with everything you are bringing to the table; good clothes, well-kept, professional mannerisms, a great tone, a bright smile, and a winning attitude. Demeanor can be picked up instantly.

Get Two Points Across

I switched it there, did you notice? The same number of words. The same exact words, a slightly different feel. These are basically reductionist points to the core of what you’re there to do. You are there to make a connection. So, this is just the formality on the page so that they have a reason to meet you, a reason to listen to what you have to say.

Likewise, keep it to the point, but opt for a presentation that lets you show those secret, deeper, more lasting qualities that you want to get across. People won’t remember what you say, but they will remember how you made them feel. Remember that – that’s something you should remember what is said.

Make a Connection

This is the point of the elevator pitch. It’s a segway to a better pitch. But right now you don’t have the benefit to show that. Your job is to be likable and sell them on yourself, via the approach to your chosen points. By making that connection you’ll have an opportunity to either meet or reach out later and seal that connection for future more nuanced opportunities.

If you are in the market for a quick set of ideas, I would look here. However, beyond that, I have opted for what are four ideas for successful elevator pitches you can use.

The Question

Ask the question. Also, qualify the question. Answer the question.

Question:

• Are you overwhelmed by elevator pitches?

Qualify:

• You have to convey your message quickly.

Answer:

• It also means you get to focus on your number one selling point. Know it best, focus on it and you leave little room to go awry.

Include a Shocking Statistic in Your Elevator Pitch

Present an insane statistic. Subvert its necessity. Illuminate.

Insane Statistic:

• The average person spends 2 hours on a single elevator pitch.

Subvert necessity:

• The average pitch lasts only about 30 seconds.

Illuminate:

• It’s better to understand the single point clearly unsteady of overcomplicating an essentially simple thing.

Make Your Elevator Pitch to the Point

Likewise, don’t waste any spare time. Get to the point.

Value:

• Elevator pitches succinctly put forward your value proposition.

Advantage:

• This saves time and keeps things efficient.

Feature:

• You don’t waste time with people who have no interest.

Elevator Pitch Credibility

Put forward your experience. Put forward why you prefer what you do. Why it works.

Experience:

• I have written a lot of professional pitches and documents.

Preference:

• You waste a lot of time writing unnecessary words that don’t move the conversation forward.

Why it Works:

• You’re going to be saving a lot of time, highlighting and improving the fewer lines you have. What you are left with will be better and receive less divided attention.

To conclude, the elevator pitch is a good way of boiling down a factor to its pure essence. Avoiding all the long-winded jargon and unnecessary formalities to get to the point of the pitch and the outcome sooner.

The post An Entrepreneur’s Elevator Pitch: Four Awesome Examples appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The Appeal of GTE Technology

The appeal of GTE Technology is as follows: most standard transactions require an objective third party, either a broker or a bank, etc. However, GTE uses a database that allows for fast, liquid transactions to be operated between two individuals. The database operates in current-time, with transparency. Once each deal has been finalized it is published and non-reversible, clearing it as an unobtrusive, and secure brokerage opportunity.

While this system uses Tokenization, a key for independent trading, it is similar, albeit different to the Non-Fungible Token. Which again, is also yet another form of decentralized government birthed from Blockchain technology.

Okay. So what does that mean? Essentially it means that there is an international market of people looking to “tokenize” commodities for mass division and decentralized ownership. Think of it as “stock” in a product or item.

Tokens and GTE Technology

The primary purpose of using tokens is to increase liquidity and make easier exchanges. Additionally, it will make it easier to handle larger amounts of exchanges. This combined with the database allows for fast, extremely liquid exchanges and money to rapidly trade hands.

Beyond this, and similar to Stock Options, there exists the automated smart contract. This allows for easy exchanges to be made whenever an agreed set of already agreed-to circumstances has been met.

It is helpful to cut out intermediaries and have more transparency. This way there is a faster and more solid grasp of what is being exchanged for what. Additionally, how quickly and seamlessly it can be done. In the long run, this can save massive amounts of capital for businesses and individuals running an immense amount of deals and transactions through what would be significantly more devisable and shrouded intermediary services at often slower times. Beyond this, as each token is “minted” in the system its information is always secure and easily on-call, protecting your rights and what you own with ease.

GTE Technology and the Blockchain

According to “Media Foundation” the GTE token has a full supply of 1,000,000,000 total tokens. There will be a breakdown of the token distribution as follows:

• During the token sale, the company will sell 50% of the total supply.
• The team and early investors will reserve 20% of the total supply.
• A reserve fund will hold 15% of the total supply.
• Additionally, 10% of the total supply will be utilized to incentivize platform users.
• 5% of the total supply will fund marketing and partnerships.

The GTE Technology runs on the blockchain, which is better as it maintains a complete list of every data point ever accumulated. This goes with how the data is stored, the best metaphor being that the current Database Structure functions as a User operated Table.

This means a human operator that needs to be acting in good faith and a Tabletop with limited total storage. The blockchain connects functionality without a human operator, making everything completely operable and 100% transparent as well as logging all the data in “blocks” “chained” together.

Conclusion

With the internet, automation, and AI pushing the arena further away from the land-locked geo-political bound idea of money, faster, cleaner transactions from a transparent and mathematically perfect entity will become more and more necessary – and common as time passes. Ensure that you have at least a good understanding of the methodology behind the technology so that you can comprehend what is happening around you as software and platforms, such as GTE Technology, become more prevalent over time.

The post What Is GTE Technology, and Why Are Billionaires Investing in It? appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The platform allows for image and video posts to be directly pushed through users’ feeds via story and wall-post features. This is a great natural way to break obscurity and let people know about your business and your message. By creating posts, you yourself can have free content to share your brand and your services with the world.

However, when you are just starting out it can be difficult to catch that wind and break your obscurity. When growing your small business it is good to have several tricks and strategies to make sure you are using your time and material to its fullest on the app. Here are several key components and strategies to help grow your small business on Instagram.

How to Grow Your Small Business on Instagram?

Use New Features

Instagram wants the adoption of its new features by fully utilizing the application to its fullest and most respectfully frequent amounts, Instagram will reward the post with boosted algorithm standing. Think about “the Carousel” feature, when it was getting pushed it got pushed first to the accounts with the highest usage and traffic. Subsequently, it became operable to the crowd with less frequent engagement both within the app and the app itself.

By utilizing new tools and opportunities a business can help boost familiarity and usher the UI – User Interface, experience to all the future adopters. Again, by harnessing a new tool and serving Instagram by boosting familiarity. This is huge.

Frequent Posting

As stated previously, boosting appeal is the number one way to get adopted. Instagram wants user retention on the app. This causes them to boost content that increases retention and has a positive response. Think Mr. Beast’s “replace ‘algorithm’ with ‘audience’ and restate the sentence.”

The app’s purpose is to push the content people enjoy to them so they will give more time and attention to the platform. For the marketing-minded this is to integrate an idea of necessity with the Instagram brand and to increase visual time and opportunity to sell whatever it is, a business is pushing them to sell.

Sponsored vs Organic Traffic

Think paid vs played here. What have you earned and how have you earned it? Where is your position within the algorithm? Where is your position within the audience? Frequent, high-quality posts will earn you followers. By gaining followers, the software recognizes you and pushes more potential followers your way. Likewise, if those clicks just aren’t coming through or your content seems to be falling on deaf ears you can always make the jump to sponsored content.

By utilizing either method you are able to unlock a platform for a new audience. Once that traction has been acquired you are free to roll forward however you see fit. Keep in mind that while boosting your post with sponsorship may help initially, there is no replacement for frequent, active engagement on the platform.

Organized Posting and Optimizing

Besides just posting often and using new features it is not uncommon for there to be an ideal time to post, when it will hit the best possible gamut for algorithmic dissemination. Maybe that’s Wednesday at 3 a.m. Maybe that’s Sunday evening. Or maybe it’s during your late Monday lunch break.

Regardless, knowing the little nuances of when and how can greatly increase the “intangible” impacts that your post may carry. By knowing this and harnessing the most optimum time to post, you can once again increase the “bang for your buck” with each post. Getting them to appear in a space where they can reach their full potential in either a consistent upload schedule or specific times of the day or the week can greatly increase traffic without added work or headaches.

The post How to Grow your Small Business on Instagram with Marketing appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What Companies Are in the Technology Field

Alphabet Inc.

Let’s start off this list with a company nobody’s heard of. When Google restructured itself, back in 2015, Alphabet Inc. was created to be the parent company of the setup. That means Google, Gmail, YouTube, all of it. Alphabet Inc. is the umbrella it falls under. This multinational conglomerate company is valued at 1,581.72 Billion. It is stationed in Mountain View, California, and among its numerous subsidiaries hosts over 156,000 employees.

However that in and of itself does not qualify it as a tech giant worthy in standing amongst some of the best, let’s list the Alphabet subsidiaries and touch on their respective fields:

Google – Internet Services

Google Fiber – Internet Access

Deep Mind – Artificial Intelligence

Intrinsic – Robotics Software

Waymo – Autonomous Driving

Wing – Drone Based Delivery

Calico – Human Health

Verily – Human Health

CapitalG – Venture Capital

GV – Venture Capital

X Development – “Moonshot” Technologies

Yes, you read that last one correctly. “Moonshot Technologies” are essentially described as major problems addressed through a utilitarian, radical solution. X Development is quoted as a semi-secret lab aimed at the research and development of such technologies. Google’s self-driving car incited the inception of the lab that became this.

With all these conglomerated technologies: AI, internet services, massive databases, autonomous automation, and a literal Johnny Quest-style laboratory, this is surely a tech company to watch – particularly its subsidiaries, into the future.

Apple

Valued at around 2,604.32 billion, Apple has revolutionized technology and the world with its take on the smartphone. There are also their tablet technologies and Apple continues to improve upon them with its 1,608,000 employees. Their specialty is in electronics and software. Additionally, they boast other online services.

Last year, Apple claimed a 2.3 trillion valuation boosting its worth over Meta, Amazon, and Alphabet combined. All other giants on this very list.

As a business that deals in the invention of electronics and its software there is little doubt that Apple has a competitive edge in the product generation market. Besides the hardline-backed necessity of tangible merit, their footing in app development and both TV and News services provide them a competitive edge over simply logistic-based operations.

Amazon

Little understood about Amazon is the immense weight that is placed upon its algorithm. The 1,468.4 billion dollar company started as an online market, with an implementation of the aforementioned algorithm. However, over time Amazon Web Services and their Prime Logistics feature have carried them into both vertical and horizontal market expansion.

Amazon, like other tech giants, has brought research and development into autonomous driving, their car being Zoox. While this could be expected to work in tandem with their logistics services, it is said that Amazon intends to do this to rival Uber and Lyft in competition with rideshare services.

Meta

Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp. 499.86 billion. While it has been fumbling in recent memory, Meta is a tech giant that deals particularly in data and analytics. Beyond this, these services hold massive stock in the marketing space with Facebook and Instagram respectively holding the top two spots for digital marketing as of 2023.

The “Metaverse” itself has largely been deemed a joke, however, it also serves as an interesting case study as the technology trudges along. With Web3 in discussion and the advent of NFTs and other similar decentralized happenings, if these were to come to pass it could boost the Metaverse into public consciousness and give Zuckerberg and Meta a once again stranglehold monopoly within the new space.

Microsoft

While not as flashy, or seemingly as modern as many of the other tech companies on this list, Microsoft has remained in the public consciousness since 1975. Consumer electronics and consumer software leave it with a similar background to Apple. And with its acquisition of LinkedIn, it has a social media presence as well – the third best for digital marketing, in fact.

Unlike other tech giants, it has focused on largely retaining its lane and staying within the general consensus of its core space. Its MS Office features are integral to many companies, businesses, and individuals alike across the planet.

Tesla

There it is, the electric car company housing over 110,000 employees and 650.10 billion in total market value is unsurprisingly another tech company to keep on the brain within the foreseeable future. The company’s focus is on car automation and car functionality.

This leads to the development and integration of “smaller” technologies into the “bigger” picture of the vehicle. Regardless of whether that is working in conjunction with SolarCity. In intent to navigate toward renewables, or simply Tesla’s own self-driving efforts. Anything that falls under Elon Musk’s umbrella is certainly something to pay due note to as pieces are often linked within each other like looking at an aerial view of a puzzle constructed in pieces over multiple elevations.

In addition to cars and solar integrations, Tesla develops general electric battery production and research. Similarly, the car manufacturer works in the software space by designing multiple programs and interfaces within the realm of self-piloting vehicles and camera recognition and AI software.

Across the board, there are a lot of multi-billion dollar tech companies all vying for clear market dominance in the “tech” space. This all diversifies and branches out in its own specific and nuanced ways, however ultimately the key point and takeaway is, as a good rule of thumb; look at all the technology companies that are doing essentially the same thing.

The post Top Tech Companies of 2023 appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Each business has its own apparel, that while streamlined, serves tailored toward an air of professionalism. Each is built appropriately to suit the job’s numerous functions and economically-stratified levels. So with each seeking out professionalism at its appropriately deemed level, there becomes a new question: what is business attire?

There are several key levels of dress outside of an issued uniform. This article will seek to illuminate the general articles (of clothing) that one would typically come across at each level and additionally what an outfit would most typically be appropriately composed of.

Women’s Business Attire

The Suit

This is the hallmark of business attire. The mainstay itself. A strong suit is tailored.  Always clean and pressed. Equally important, the suit should be a darker color: black, gray, and navy are all consistently accepted colors. It can be worn with either a skirt or pants suit accordingly. Make sure the fit is not too tight, small, short, or baggy. Professionalism comes from form.

• Pressed and Clean
• Dark and Neutral Colors
• Tailored, Worn with a Pantsuit or Skirt

The Blouse

Blouses offer generally more stylistic opportunities than most business attire. Furthermore, the blouse should always be clean and can come in either the collard or simple round neck variety. Softer pastel colors are often allotted beyond the usual white. Avoid anything excessive or trendy.

• Collared or Round
• Soft Colors
• Well Fitted, Pay Mind how the Collared Blouse Wears

The Shoes

Shoes should be used to complement the outfit. This will typically exist in the form of a classic pump. Heels themselves are not required but should never exceed past 4”. Ultimately go with an option that is clean and polished, but one that you are comfortable walking in. Likewise, avoid trendy, overstated footwear.

• Complement the Outfit
• Classic Pump
• Heels Remain at or Under 4”

Hosiery and Accessories

The hosiery should be worn with a skirt suit. Find a sheer style without any pattern. The color should match well with the suit. All accessories should complement the outfit while remaining understated.

• Hosiery with Skirt Suit
• No Flashy Accessories

Men’s Business Attire

The Suit

The suit itself is the flagship enterprise of business attire. Ever the safe bet, a traditional suit should sport dark, neutral colors and avoid being distracting or trendy. Also, the pants should match the suit (in most cases) and all should be kept at the appropriate length – sleeves to hands with the jacket possessing a roughly 80% overfold on the glutes and crotch. A proper suit should be pressed thoroughly.

• Pressed and Clean
• Dark Color
• Tailored for Jacket, Sleeves Fall at Hands

The Shirt

A good shirt should in theory, typically boast the same lengths as the suit jacket – hands, butt, crotch. It should be cleaned and pressed. With this in mind, a long sleeve and button down to reach the proper pedigree – this is not business casual. The shirt should theoretically be white, or another similarly understated color. It does not have to be tailored, however, it should fit well.

• Long Sleeve Button Down
• Simple, Soft Color
• Well Fitted

Socks, Shoes, Belt, Tie

Shoes should be clean and either brown or black. Socks should match the suit. The same goes for the belt. Utilize a solid belt pairing for added cohesion and professionalism. The tie is often where you can have the most “fun” if you can call it that, but it should typically be conservatively understated as well. Think of a typical solid, potentially soft color, or an underwhelming pattern.

• Cohesive
• Compliment Suit with Colors
• Distinct, but Not Distracting (should add to the outfit)

Women’s Business Casual

Blouse

The blouse can and should remain largely unchanged from the business attire. Provided that it is clean, pressed, and well-fitted. This can once again be either round or collared. It should be soft and understated, avoid flash, pomp, or anything overtly bright.

• Clean, Pressed, Fitted
• Round or Collared
• Soft, Unassuming Colors

Pants

Dark colors are preferable for pants. It’s important that they’re well-fitted and freshly ironed. Business casual exists to set a level more than any particular style. There is a chance to express oneself via one’s choice of clothing, so long as the trousers are properly tailored for business and the colors are not garish.

• Darker Colors
• Well-Fitted, Especially in Length

Shoes, Accessories

Shoes should be clean and dressier in nature. Generally, one should make sure to avoid anything flashy or overly ceremonious. Heels are fine for business casual dress. Once again, avoid the grandiose or trends. Accessories like scarves can be used to pull together an outfit, but once again should be used for stylistic cohesion.

• Heels are Fine
• Accessories Should add Professionalism and Cohesion, Not Distraction

Men’s Business Casual

The Shirt

Business casual dress offers far greater wiggle room for personal affinities or stylings. For the torso, there is the freedom of options. A clean, well-pressed shirt is standard, obviously. Also, a polo or a simple collared shirt is fine. Furthermore, a sport coat is optional assuaging the need for a tie.

• Typically Short Sleeve
• Sport Coat Opportunity

Pants

The pants should pair well with the shirt and be of a typically nicer fashion. For the most part, they are more often in essence non-suit dress pants. Think khakis. Avoid jeans. Think Justice Stewart’s “I know it when I see it.”

• Khakis
• Simple Color (brown, tan, gray, etc.)

Socks, Shoes, Belt, Tie

Lastly, socks should match your shoes. Generally, shoes should be one of the nicer pairs, with room for the individual’s proclivities and distinctions. Furthermore, a belt is a requirement, as the shirt should remain tucked. Find a belt that once again plays well between the shirt and pants. Additionally, common business casual attire does not often include a tie. If you are wearing a sport coat this remains the case.

• Dress Shoes
• Paired Belt
• No Tie

In conclusion, these are the most common forms of dress that will be appearing in your typical workplace. After grasping one element, be it the suit, blouse, or dress shirt, the outfit will typically pull itself as well as its stylistic choices together naturally.

The post Small Business Guide to Business Attire appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Control the Environment

It is common practice to believe that there are no distractions in a healthy and productive work environment. And well that is typically true, but that may not always be the case. However, when looking to figure out how your employees work best it is imperative that you find the proper consistency.

By having a consistent environment you can begin to add and eliminate factors that you can measure for finding each individual’s most productive work habits.

Set Up the Units

How do you measure the productivity of your employees? Once your environment is stable you can begin finding out the units of productivity you are aiming to measure. This is how you will measure everything and is inextricably tied to the question you want to ask. How much work is being completed?

Keep in mind that any survey will not be completed in a vacuum so there is an extra amount of incentive to make sure that whatever tasks are deemed as “measurably equal” are indeed close to being so. As well as understanding any confounding variables that may affect the work from external departments, or a catch in the pipeline that may be unavoidable and throw off your data.

Several reputable metric ideas are:

• Projects Completed
• Work Hours/Overtime Rate
• Effectiveness Ratio – Achievables, Assets & Inventory
• Turnover Rate
• Sales Growth
• Revenue Per Employee

Establish the Baseline

This is a three-part metric, How fast for the person, how fast for the company, and how fast for the industry. And while speed is the chosen metric for this article, replace “fast” with “well”, “diligence”, or “competency” and you have a similar slew of insights with which to be presented.

Similarly, when interrogators are trying to read the habits of a subject they often establish a level of baseline characteristics as they are searching for a particular deviation, more so than any specifically direct indicator.

By deciding which metrics are important you can begin to map them in the “stable” environment discussed. By understanding an individual’s baseline you then alter aspects to find out how it affects each employee.

Add in Variables

Life may do this for you. Throwing in numerous variables like having to work remotely, employees getting sick, on the days leading up to, or coming off of a major holiday, and off-work happenstances resulting in debilitating physical or mental issues. The possibilities are endless. If you have established the ways that you effectively measure what productivity you are going for – hours worked, tasks completed, inquiries given, you will easily be able to begin to cross-referencing aspects of life – good and bad to find what stimulus makes each of your individual workers most productive.

Maybe one of your workers uses the weekend to recharge and is most productive on Monday but by the time Friday returns, is something of a distraction. Perhaps a worker is incredibly effective remote and you need to rearrange some desks. Potentially a worker performs exceptionally well under the very prominent stress of the holidays. Or maybe a typically productive worker has fallen off and you should inquire about their personal life.

Most importantly as an employer or supervisor, your best undertaking is to create a stable and suitable work environment. This way, you begin A/B Testing your employees and find a way to optimize their best attributes. Everyone has a distinct way they like to work. Yet, it works even better when they find efficiency. So in this case, how do you measure the productivity of your employees? By finding their baseline you can begin to shape your company to the productivity of your most important resource.

The post How to Measure the Productivity of Your Employees appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Reasons for Entry Level Jobs in Sales

1. Universal Skillset

Regardless of where you wind up, selling is universal. Even think about the interview process. Where else can you get a job that pays you to prepare for your next job? Even if that is in a completely different industry. Sales is essentially the art of targeted communication – clear and concise, etc.

These are skills that you can take to any event at any level. Communication is quite literally the most universal skill. And command over communication is one of the most universally priceable skills. While salesmanship is largely rooted in a deep understanding of the product, the product of the sale is rarely the product. The product of the sale is the subject of the sale. The human you are selling to.

If sales are the communication then the words are the topic and the person is the page, read and rewritten. Selling is a skill set that can have any of your future efforts or endeavors sublimated upon it and it will continue to serve you. Like marketing it is a set of skills that function regardless of medium. That makes it a great place to start.

2. Low Barrier of Entry

Sales are often seen as fast-moving, high-stress positions. While there are elements of this that are true, it would be more apt to deem that sales are a metric-driven position that come into focus based on their achievement. This means that it comes down to one simple thing: can you do the job?

If you can, you’re in. Forget the degree. Forget the experience. This gives people who took a path that offered them little money or are not fortunate to have come from the abundant opportunity to work and create abundance for themselves.

It should be noted, however, that this makes the application process far more rigorous as many applicants apply for these roles. Starting in a lower-tier cold-calling position can open this up. Additionally, the interview process is additionally very rigorous and serves as a very, very critical point. Meaning that it can make or break the applicant’s good or bad application.

3. High Ceiling

Sales offer one thing that a lot of jobs do not: a near-limitless ceiling. Sales positions are skill sets like any other, however, in a more juvenile metaphor they are a technique of coloring, not a particular medium of coloring. This means you can throw off the skin of an insurance salesman, and move to software, and eventually, high-grade medical equipment. Sales positions offer ample height in their cash ceiling. And offer work in multiple industries across the marketplace.

Sales also serve as the bedfellow of business operations. That means that if you ever wanted to truly remove your ceiling altogether you can take those skills there. And if you do in fact prove more apt at selling than you are at management or business strategy there is always a slot for you to return to… and likely beat out a sales rep hopeful that did not jump into the field earlier.

4. Teaching Motivation and Self-Starting

Sales teams are ultimately their own island. To keep the poor metaphors rolling. Sales would have you as an island in an archipelago. An island, – but not really. What sales positions do relay to the individual is a staunch appreciation for driving their own schedule and meeting their own metrics.

This confers responsibility and internal motivation. Additionally, learning skills of how to take rejection in stride and keep rolling along. These are elements of individual character that like sales training, can be carried through life. Incidentally making the approach to proper sales an approach to best living a healthy life.

5. No Loss From Experience

Sales skills are universal. There is a low barrier to entry. They can be taken to any industry. The skills can help you with elements of selling yourself in life. They have an insanely high monetary ceiling. They can impart deep life lessons. Many companies are hiring for these positions right now – even in the worst of economic times.

There is not any recognizable loss from the experience of entry level sales jobs- save if you were to spend that time learning one of the other three metrics of economics – either advertisement or production. Both are diametric to sales, with even advertisements sharing much crossover. Regardless, sales stand as one of the three pillars that drive any economy and are necessary for any individual looking to make themselves a fully realized person and an unadulterated master of business.

The post Five Reasons Your First, Entry Level Job Should Be in Sales appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

A “bot” is a computer program that operates and impersonates a human on the internet. They feature artificial intelligence to varying degrees and are not always necessarily a bad thing. Google and Bing use bots to comb the internet. It’s part of how organic SEO is constructed.

LinkedIn bots work similarly but not entirely to the same ends. LinkedIn bots are often used as part of a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and are sent on full automation to comb LinkedIn for leads. Here is an almost nearly comprehensive article breaking down the best consumer-grade bots to let loose on LinkedIn.

However, if you are not in the lead generation mess that is CRM you could fall prey to getting combed by a fake sales representative looking to peddle who knows what to you unwittingly. Here are some helpful tips to help break down who or what exactly you’re talking to on LinkedIn.

Account Frequency and Activity

LinkedIn bots can post frequently and without fault. A normal person may post often, however, it is unlikely they will be posting excessively, multiple times over the course of a day. Given the hours and nature of the content, it can reveal much about the nature of the entity on the other side of the screen.

The higher the frequency, time of day, and subject matter can give you clues. Yet ultimately, the higher the number of posts the more likely an automated response software or bot is behind the account.

The Flow of the Conversation

Bots are typically punchy, short, and to the point. While they have gotten their hold on more capable AI in recent years, they are often still clunky and repetitive. They tend to pull from a list of discernible targeted responses and will lack the nuance to have a slight change.

The greater the similarity of the individual’s comments may indicate that you are dealing with an automated response bot. Try asking the same question in a slightly different way. As the program has to elect to operate any given number of responses to filter into a given answer it is likely the entity – if it is a bot will respond with the exact same answer.

Two-Step Disassociation

Have question a, lead to question b. And have the context for that second question rooted in the first. Think,

Q: Where are you working?

A: Seattle

Q: What is the weather like outside?

A: Can you please rephrase the question?

This is indicative of bot behavior; a human would likely understand the nature of the question and comply; however, a bot cannot logically jump between the two at this point.

The Profile

It is unlikely that bot profiles will detail a rich and well-lived history. Most people give at least a general overview of their life. Where they’ve worked, their professional accolades, and so on. A bot will typically only have a profile image and a company, with maybe a school they went to or so on. Bots typically only have the most essential necessities to appear passable. Again, think of nuance and personality to discern humanity.

The more the “life” feels “lived” and the greater the personality the account has, the more likely it is in fact a real person. With bots, it can be handy to revert to the overall feel of the conversation. Once again, think Justice Stweart’s, “I know it when I see it.”

The post How to Identify Bots on LinkedIn: Fake Sales Representatives appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Here are the four most prominent KPI examples are:

1. Customer Satisfaction
2. Employee Satisfaction
3. Internal Process Quality
4. Financial Performance Index

Other places exposit that there are 11 or 12 types of KPI, here are three of these as follows:

1. Quantitative Indicators that Can Be Presented with a Number
2. Quantitative Indicators that Can’t Be Presented with a Number
3. Leading Indicators that Can Predict the Outcome of a Process

When targeting KPIs for your business, it is important to keep in mind the idea of what metrics matter most to the business you’re operating. Generally, KPIs that focus on time and finance budgeting include variables for all businesses to focus on.

• What is the Estimate Time for Completion
• How Much is the Actual Cost for Project Completion

These both stand as Project Management KPIs. Set with keeping things to task and focused on the actual campaign itself as the starting hub. With all questions answered intent on responding to that. Additionally, others focus on Human Resource KPI and monitor things like:

• Total Revenue Per Employee
• Employee Satisfaction Index

Another big KPI metric falls under Financial KPI.

This is the bread and butter for a lot of major companies looking to set themselves apart and stretch their margins. Financial KPIs include:

• Profitability KPIs
• Liquidity KPIs
• Efficiency KPIs
• Valuation KPIs
• Leverage KPIs

These smart KPIs examples allow for growth and to make sure a company holds itself to tasks. However, the KPI itself potentially sets barriers to entry that make it harder to acquire success if it adds that restrictive cap.

The post How to Define Smart KPIs Examples and Milestones: What the Experts Say appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The online phenomenon jumped from a predicted range of a respectable, albeit mere 17.8% of the global market, into a 5.5 trillion behemoth of 21% as of 2022 with even higher projections including a 14.7% compound annual growth rate from 2020 to 2027.

Thus tapping into the eCommerce market has never been more accessible and yet, technically never more saturated. However, there are several ways to best target your market and disseminate your product and message to the many potential-adoring fans around the planet.

Beyond choosing a product, getting a domain, and setting up a website there are several key components on each that will lead to a subset of answers. Here are some of the best eCommerce platforms for your startups.

For example depending on your experience level then selling should be moved from platform to platform to set up your online business. Seems straightforward but given varying degrees of internet savvy and business acumen this can greatly vary where you fall on that x,y graph.

Shopify

In recent years Shopify has become the ideal startup site to launch your store into an online market space. It has incredible capabilities and can be tailored toward numerous business ventures and ideas. The web setup is easy and intuitive, which takes much of the guesswork and time out of the process.

Beyond the web drag-and-drop builder, there are opportunities that allow the store owner to connect apps to their store. This can be used to improve functionality and connect new features to the website. Additionally, you can sell digital products, physical products, dropshipping, and more. Even subscription plans are an open market for Shopify.

There are three main plans Lite, Basic, and Advanced totaling $9, $29, and $299 a month. The “Lite” plan allows for increased sales functionality to be run through an existing website or blog. The “Basic” plan allows for a totally new store/site to be built from scratch via the platform. The “Advanced” option allows for cuts in transaction fees, adding more staff accounts (5+), and can serve with improved shipping rate calculations.

Squarespace

Squarespace is a web-building platform that boasts a heavy visual component. There is a wide range of editing tools and software that allow for greater editing power and site impact. Additionally, Squarespace is one of the few platforms integrating CSS editing into the software allowing for unique, custom edits to be built into the site itself. Thus changing the site’s composition greatly.

However, there is currently limited app integration available to Squarespace presently, which makes diversifying your business as well as scaling a major issue on the site. Unlike Shopify however, Squarespace permits more realized capabilities more readily with its lower plans. Allowing more rapid ascension to the site’s full potential.

The pricing plans for Squarespace sit at $16 – Personal, $23 – Business, $27 – Basic Commerce, and $49 – Advanced Commerce respectively. Most features unlock at the Business Level, ($23) except it still maintains a 3% transaction fee.

Wix eCommerce

Another heavy hitter in the site building market, Wix has in recent years, built itself into a reputable eCommerce platform juggling its trademark ease of use and intuitive features with an integrated AI that focuses on optimizing your website.

While currently, there is a limited set of capabilities as far as the range of sellable items, the galleries and image capabilities of Wix match most online platforms. Given the ease of use of the site as well as its optimization features, Wix eCommerce can provide an initial edge to any business not looking to invest or spend the time to ruminate over their web’s design.

To get access to Wix eCommerce you need to upgrade beyond a typical Wix plan into a business-worthy plan, think along the lines of their “Unlimited Plan” – $22, their “Basic Business” Plan – $22, or “Business Unlimited” Plan – $32. There are other plans, but these are the cheapest and easiest for the fledgling business.

BigCommerce

This is the most scalable site constructing service which is why it is one of the best eCommerce platforms for startups. When you ultimately take your business online you need a platform that can allow for that huge growth. This means whether for rapid, short-term acceleration or for a more drawn-out metric of time.

BigCommerce, while less known than others on this list, is that site. BigCommerce is a fully integrated website builder, which means you do not have to worry about plugins as you may on other sites. This allows for the ultimate results in freedom and functional capacity. It does still, of course, offer apps for integrated actions if desired.

Like nearly all of its peers, BigCommerce has four tiers to its plan. The first tier is the simple Standard Plan – $29.95. Similar to Shopify. The next plan is the plus plan – $79.95 per month. After this, the plan is the “Pro Plan” at $299.95 monthly. And then the “Enterprise Plan” which like many others requires contacting BigCommerce for a specified quote. These prices are a little high but fall almost directly in line with Shopify. Plus, they follow a similar tier structure to nearly all other site programs.

Square Online

For the offline store moving toward an online market, Square Online is a natural choice. This site can automatically sync both online and offline orders and inventory. Small business around the world similarly uses their price syncing technologies to once again have a natural ease of transaction and commerce flow.

Of course, it still offers the option of an online store builder. With regards to this, the website designer offers all the typical features. These include blog capabilities, a customizable storefront, and customer service options.

The prices run far simpler and more competitive with three tiers: “Free” – $0, “Plus” – $29, and “Premium” – 79 USD. This is right in the typical sweet spot for this type of site and the free plan can offer the new user familiarity with the basic software and a solid buffer before they decide to up their game with a paid plan.

Branchbob

For many, price and presumed knowledge stand as the main barrier to entry among the considering entrepreneur. That is where Branchbob comes in as another best eCommerce platforms for startups. It is one of the sites on this list that is completely free to use and offers basic, simplistic features that are intuitive and easy to learn and pick up.

Again, no monthly pricing or transaction fee exists. The only billing occurs if you want to increase Branchbob’s features and capabilities. This of course extends to website themes. Overall Branchbob stands as a fundamental transaction site between the business and the customer. It also allows budding businesses with limited capital to break ground in the eCommerce market.

The post Best Platforms to Sell Products for Your eCommerce Startup appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Staying Motivated

This could go for any top performer in any field. It’s an underpinning of success and necessary for any objective completion. Action completes tasks and motivation is the ability to rev up the engine.

Motivation on a goal-oriented mindset allows for the top salesperson to focus-in on the task’s achievement and level up their game accordingly. Served as “the desire to act in service of a goal,” being motivated translates into often relentless action (given the degree of motivation) towards the ascertainment of a given outcome. Being able to stay in this state is what allows for greater completion and thus more tasks being completed over time.

Being Goal-Oriented

If motivation is the hypothetical ability to drive forward, being goal oriented would seat itself as the destination to where you are heading. Motivation is the drive, but that in and of itself will not complete the puzzle. The capability to move does not mean productivity.

The top salespeople set lofty metrics, often both in terms of results and of expectations. Think I will make thirty calls in the next hour, or I will close three deals this week. Regardless of the particular metric in which they work the top sales individual focuses in on mapping a high objective and then working relentlessly toward it.

It is often better to fail at greatness than achieve at middling mediocrity.

Stay Focused

Top sales performers need to hone in on their objective, then be willing to work toward it. If both of these are achievable then the premiere salesperson will need to stay on track until the objective is met.

Focus is the ability to tailor your course to your goal and then shrug off distraction and detraction until the objective is achieved. It can help to take time to break down the bigger goals into readily available and achievable milestones. The point is to find whatever beats you as a salesperson require to stay involved.

Time Management

Another top habit of sales performers is time management, as everything you do in life will require time to complete. Everything. Making your bed, brushing your teeth, and reaching your goal. Feeling existential yet? Not to worry. While each task that is undertaken will require a specified amount of time this also means that the salesperson can allot the time needed to accomplish the task. Likewise, remaining time conscious allows the top salesperson to keep the objective in mind and be mentally available toward its completion.

Surround Yourself with Better Salespeople

Networking is huge. Via the top salesperson’s network, there are mentors, competitors, and potential clients that can all add benefit and status to the aspiring salesperson. Regardless of what the developing individual needs to up their sales acumen, it can be found in the network.

Sales mentors can offer advice. Competitors can push the salesman to dominate the market. Clients offer the saleswoman a chance at honing the craft and potentially closing the sale. Networking is huge for salesmen of all levels. Learning to properly network can be what even land you the deal in the first place.

Reading and Listening

The top salespeople are always concerned with how much information they know. Specifically, in what ways they know can help present them with the information or opportunity to lock in a deal. Listening and reading help the top salespeople know what to do, in potentially pivotal situations before they ever occur.

Many sales professionals have either spoken or written at length about their process, perspective, and nuances that have appeared to them over their tenure in sales. The shrewd sales-minded individual recognizes this and pulls from that pool of knowledge.

Remain Consistent

Often starting something off is deemed the hardest part. This typically holds true for sales. Yet, there is the discipline required to keep production high even after sales numbers begin to take off. The top salespeople are able to maintain a high level of action, motivation, and performance throughout their careers through focus and dedication. Keeping an eye on the level of production is a tip many salespeople advise. This is especially imperative as the sales novice starts down the road to becoming a veteran.

Knowing the Product

One of the top habits of sales performers is also the best advice. What the salesperson is selling can vary greatly, and while there are many philosophical outtakes to help a general sell-all mentality there is no makeup for knowing the thing that is being sold. The top salespeople on any given product need to have a thorough enough grasp on the thing and system in which they are selling to answer whatever questions a potential buyer may address.

Understanding the common thoughts, typical questions, and their frequency as well as the common woes of the individual on the opposite end of the sale allows for great closing rates among the top sales professionals. This also can offer insight into what areas of the product they should understand most thoroughly.

Persistence

In essence, persistence combines motivation, focus, consistency, and passion. There is no remedy for persistence. Passion is persistence’s best bedfellow. Passion and persistence make sales.

Persistence will often close whatever deal the top salesperson is facing largely off the point that no is not an operable answer until it is the only answer. Not conceding until necessary is an often unbecoming aspect of the typical salesman, but absolutely critical to a goal-oriented, top sales focus.

Mentality

Finally, the last top habit of sales performers is perspective. The lens through which you see the circumstances inform how you may address the world. By tailoring sales to produce agency, the top salesperson can put him or herself in a place where they are ready to look on to the next sale. Whether previously met with triumph or defeat, a strong mind creates the top salesperson’s most versatile weapon.

The post 10 Habits of Top Sales Performers appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

The lean startup essentially purports a product that has an already existent demand. It’s a method that launches either a product or company typically on behalf of another product or company. Think “lean.” This is a company that’s not coming with the bulk trying to muscle through. The lean startup is a product that people have an already expressed desire for when it drops. The company knows this desire is there, ergo making it a substantially safer launch.

Also, this is the most critical point: the lean startup is the consumer dictating what types of products they are offered by their respective markets. Not the markets dictating the products the consumers will receive.

Basic Parts of a Lean Startup

The basic tenets of the lean startup are to build, measure, and learn. They are instrumented on hypotheses and are largely similar to the scientific method they are tested against for optimization. The idea is to target a highly specific area or segment with a very discerning eye on their particular needs. Then provide the service or product and see what the consumer opts toward in practice.

Lean startup examples include Dropbox, Zappos, and General Electric. All of them floated an initial hypothesis only to measure the success and perform new iterations. General Electric has even developed a program called, “Fastworks”, with Eric Ries the “Father of the Lean Startup” to create iterations on some of their product launches. With some products even going through 18 iterations before hitting the market. Optimization at its finest, targeting an incredibly well-realized product.

Below are three more lean startup examples, written in a far greater depth about the nature of their work and the proximity toward lean startup principles.

1. Slack

Slack was a lean startup, pre-built for a different intention, tested incrementally over time.

Sometimes things do not go as planned. Your company can crumble, people go awry, and so on. However, it is often in the darkest shadows, the faintest light shines brightest. Originally, developers build Slack as an internal communications software built for TinySpeck. TinySpeck had the aspiration of creating a multiplayer online game boasting a subscription model. Called Glitch, the game itself launched in 2011 only to fall back to beta production a year later.

However, offices responded incredibly well to their internal communications software, allowing for TinySpeck to begin offering trials to external companies and receiving feedback. Thus testing the demand in the market. The response was phenomenal with feedback from larger companies being instrumental in the growth of the software. After several iterations of the app and allowing nearly universal access the company is credited around 27 billion USD.

2. Buffer

A soft-sold product. Partially tested and partially invested. Yet, it is another one of our lean startup examples.

Founded by Joel Gascoigne and Leo Widrich, Gascoigne created Buffer in roughly about seven weeks. Gascoigne had read the work of Eric Ries and decided to subscribe to his ideas of the lean startup methodology. Widrich established a landing page that effectively floated the idea to potential customers.

So, the two opted to see if people could become invested in the idea of a social media planning service. While only around 18 of the nearly 190 investors they talked to were interested in the prospects of the company they secured roughly 800,000 dollars and were able to continue moving forward with their plans.

3. DropBox

The poster boy for the lean startup.

Okay, so I kind of lied. We’re going to go back and talk about DropBox again. Drew Houston created the startup. Many also know him as the man Forbes quotes as the entrepreneur who “Out-Steve Jobs’ed Steve Jobs”. Explored in greater depth by the mac-daddy of the Lean Startup itself Eric Ries, this article details the nature of Ries’ ordained “MVP” (minimum viable product).

An MVP essentially means a product that has enough features and aspects that it attracts “early adopters” as customers and is validated as a product early in its development cycle. So, this is where the lean startup comes in. It can be tailored toward consumer demand as massive interest is raised early in the product’s life cycle. This is also where the comparison to Steve Jobs is raised –  think of his classic pitches to excite people for products.

The idea is that by having the product be the bare minimum idea it allows the consumer market to start shaping and tailoring it to their whims and optimize the product to reach the highest potential demand. This is what DropBox did. By hallmarking the idea to instantly copy and share numerous files across devices, regardless of size it allowed the project to tweak and grow into a tech behemoth with over 250 million in funding.

The post What Is A Lean Startup: Three Good Examples appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

What is Mail Merge in Word? Mail Merge helps you create a personalized batch of documents for a given recipient. Emails, letters, envelopes, directories—Mail Merge covers all of these. It works by amalgamating data and automatically placing it in the appropriate location.

It does this by using “merge fields.” These fields go even further than mere location placement, by ordering the information in the proper places as well. 

To do this you will need to choose where you are pulling the data from. Most commonly it is pulled from either a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet or an Outlook contact list. However, while these are the most common, any database that can be connected to Microsoft Word will work as a source. If you do not yet have a pool from which to pull the data you can type it up in Word.

Each process is fairly streamlined, and follows the same general procession however here are individual links to each:

• Letters
• Directories
• Email
• Envelopes
• Labels

Beyond this, the personalization allows for an extra air of professionalism and when done in bulk as demonstrated can save copious amounts of time in the administrative backend.

Let’s walk through this process for “Letters.”

1. Prepare the Letter

In general, the process begins when an individual opens Microsoft Word and goes to “Mailings.” From here the new “Mailings” menu bar will appear below. In this bar will appear a button near the front-left corner: “Start Mail Merge.”

Here you can pick between the paths of Letters, E-mail Messages, Envelopes, Labels, or Directories.

For this, you will select “Letter.”

Now go type the body of your letter in the Word document. This will be the letter that you send to your mailing list. 

1. Set Up Your Mailing List

Your “Mailing List” is the data source that Word uses to compile the information that it will use to fashion your individual letter.

Here are potential data sources for you to implement in your “Mail Merge” experience with Word.

You can edit your mailing list as well if you want to be more particular in your mailing selection.

1. Add Personalized Content Within Your Letter

Go to “Mailings.” Look for “Address Block.” Here you can change the format you want the recipient’s name to appear, specifically find this in the “Insert Address Block” box.

From here choose “OK.” Then continue by navigating back toward the Address Block option. Next to this button, you should find a “Greeting Line” option. By clicking on this a similar box will appear and you can select the style of greeting line you would like to use.

Click “OK.” Now would be a good time to save as well. (File > Save).

1. Preview the Letters

Go to “Mailing.” Then “Preview Results.” Choose either “Next” or “Previous” to make sure the data is appropriate and names are thus, apt.

Selecting “Preview Results” again will switch you back to your merged fields from your merged file. 

1. Printing the Letters

Select “Finish and Merge”, then “Print Documents.”

Here you can choose to “Edit Individual Documents”, “Print Documents”, or “Send Email Messages.”

While the minutia of each field is particular to the medium’s nature, nearly all fields function similarly in Word. By the simple approach of individual personalization to a mass disseminated letter, or the filings of subsets of labeling. 

The key takeaway is to have an established database. By doing this you will be ready to approach Word’s “Mail Merge” feature readily, without any time lost. Beyond this, having the substantive text ready for whatever you are pushing through the Mail Merge feature can also ensure limiting any spare time that may get lost in the projects.

With these two areas closed, the time saved within the process is extreme and more than beyond checking out or learning the experience of.

The post How Use Mail Merge in Word appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

This approach relies heavily on the ability of the salesperson to use nuance and their communicative ability to fetter out the proper and easiest path to sell the product. While both hard and soft selling could be equated to water – think something akin to the old Bruce Lee adage about water.

Soft selling in this sense is “becoming the cup.” Ascertaining the shape of your client’s needs and filling them appropriately based on the situation. While hard selling brings the client toward becoming accustomed to you, soft selling requires the salesman to become suited to the client.

In essence, there are three parts to an effective soft sell. Here is the general basis of soft selling listed below.

1. Ask Questions
2. Ascertain the Client’s Needs
3. Offer Appropriate Targeted Feedback

1. Asking Questions

Asking questions acts in essence to lay the groundwork for the rest of the sale. To keep the running theme of this article going, this is Jordan Belfort selling the pen – section starts at 1:36. This is the part where the needs of the client are assessed so that the proper service or product can be matched to the client. Salesmen are pushy facilitators – not con men.

By connecting the dots of needs and wants to purchase potential they are selling themselves time and likelihood of money. This is true of both soft and hard sales. Needs must be assessed and highly important and specific questions are necessary to properly figure out those desires. After this, it goes to the salesmen to listen well and think fast. This is where sales skills come into play.

2. Ascertaining the Client’s Needs

Largely done by positing the right questions as they appear in conversation, in this part the salesmen will begin building a profile of the buyer. I’m sure there’s a “Criminal Minds” reference here but it’s not really appropriate. By beginning to understand the client you can properly navigate them through and around your inventory. What time frame, what expense level, and maybe even what item they should be buying in the first place.

In this, a skilled salesman simultaneously operates passively in a conversation, while also formatting and effectively “cross-referencing” that with the inventory he’s able to capably move. Knowing the client’s needs is what will help you facilitate them toward the goal. This once again is part of both hard and soft selling.

3. Offer Appropriate Targeted Feedback (the Close)

This is the most distinguished difference existing between the two camps of hard and soft sales. Hard sales produce the offer in what is ultimately a more or less take-it-or-leave-it option. There can be possibilities for negotiation. But, these salespeople are here to close with that being the prime and typically only of their objectives. This is often referenced as the preferred method for short-term selling. Yet it can permeate into a long future of consumer/proprietor relationships.

Soft selling rather offers a more “friendly” consultation angle. Instead focusing on building a relationship and pursuing potential sales opportunities in the established relationship as they appear down the road. For your buzzword think, consultation.

This is the opportunity to implement the “Soft Sell” into your selling style. With all business and life, relationships are maintained through a mutual exchange of value. Be it real or perceived value is necessary. When working in a Brand to Brand (B2B) type business especially, the displayed value is often the best and most readily accepted way to present value within a company.

It’s free value, “it’s free real estate.” Offering a much more open consultation about services and products that can fit presented needs gives some salesmen an out for their conscience as you are providing an informed service.

Additionally, soft selling tendencies can also be employed freely in any form where a salesman opts to take a backseat and shelf their more assertive sales tactics. Once again opting to listen and inform the prospective buyer’s decision. This is an extremely employable method across the board that can and should be used in conjunction with hard selling to best navigate any tepid or tumultuous sale.

The post Soft Selling: What is it and How to Implement It into Your Sales Strategy appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

This is the purpose of branding is to create that necessary distinction between you and the person working for that same industry dominance. The brand isn’t what you sell or what service you’re offering. Branding is how you sell it. The nature behind that comes to embody the idea of the company itself.

For a small business however intent on saving money and time, using creativity within the packaging itself is a surefire way to distinguish your identity. There are five ideas a small business can use in its packaging that can give them the edge.

Branded Box

Technically a branded box can be as simple as a logo, stamped on its side. Simple but necessary. This is “the box.” It is the first physical interaction your customer will have with your brand. It captures and notes the pedigree and offers waves in the total product experience.

While the customer orders the product and has some general idea of what to expect the customer rarely has a clue about what to expect with the packaging. By getting this right, the brand itself is taking one last chance to affect the customer’s expectations before the final point of product acquisition. This is very powerful stuff.

Thank You Note / Custom Internal Packaging

While the box’s outside offers a formal introduction to the brand and product, the inside is the point and purpose of the purchase. By branding the internal packaging/tissue, you are offered an opportunity to once again separate your brand.

A thank you note sent with a product offers grounds for a more intimate experience personal to your brand. By presenting what is there as higher, greater, and better. You can often have your product deemed as such. This assists with your product’s merit. When your product is as much your brand as anything else it’s key to keep in mind: packing peanuts are dead.

How the Box is Packed

This offers an entirely different dimension the brand interaction. This is experiential and very low cost. While it may not equate under the “one-size-fits-all” mentality, it offers an edge to the meticulous side of the growing small business.

Just based on how a box is organized, can create an opportunity for an experience for the buyer. It’s the “a-ha moment.” The big reveal. It’s Hitchcock’s bomb under the table. In essence, it’s the first impression after a long point of anticipation. All that build-up hinging on a split-second reveal. The highest and most critical single point in deciding a customer’s feelings on your brand.

This is clear from all the numerous “unboxing videos” brimming across YouTube. Turn the mandatory waiting period from shipping into a weapon at your disposal. Play off of your buyer’s anticipation and excitement and you have an opportunity to turn an impressionable moment into a lifetime of support.

Freebies

A little extra. The transaction is in essence the mobility of value from one entity to another. This is an opportunity to give them that little extra value prematurely. It shows good faith, and if it’s branded properly can serve as a self-contained advertisement put straight into the hands of someone who enjoys your brand. Here are some common freebie ideas:

• Stickers
• Magnets
• Shirts
• Tote Bag

They all come on their own scale and level, obviously tied to their own cost and presumed benefits. Regardless this offers a guaranteed through line for whatever is decided to be put in that box. The closer it is tied to your brand the more clever, and often more well-received it is.

Fully Custom Packaging

This is it. The full amalgamation of everything. Besides the layout of how the box is organized, this is the only other way to truly craft an experience for your customer. Especially when considering that this is an opportunity that can raise brand standing. Essentially, this is the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. By means of what the box has printed, the materials it is made out of, how it’s laid out for the merchandise to be removed, and so on. Here are several examples a company can play out in fully custom packaging.

• Brand Colors
• Packaging Material
• Packaging Shape
• Product Layout (which will be removed first)
• Notes/Freebies/Asides
• How the Box Opens

And the list goes on for small business packaging ideas. Just as each website has a generally similar design, but remains completely unique in its forte and experience, so is your brand’s packaging. It is an opportunity to play with brand expectations and product and use the presentation to become more in the eyes of your customer than they were expecting possible. All with the built anticipation and elements of subversion and surprise.

The post 5 Examples of Creative Small Business Packaging Ideas to Inspire You appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Individuals create small businesses due to many reasons. Some include the passion to fulfill a need, generate wealth, and/or drive the economy. Yet most small businesses average around 2-3 years before they start turning a residual profit for their owner. That being said, with proper financing the shrewd owner can cut the time for their small business to reach that turnaround and more importantly keep a business well above its baseline.

Removing unnecessary workplace inhibitors will help you reach a pronounced and streamlined workflow that will allot you more time and peace of mind throughout your client acquisition, through the final transaction process. Here are six simple ways that can effectively teach you how to organize small business finances. Some options are cheap or even free. Likewise, they are partnered with an alternative that may cost more, for the business that has caught its wind.

Organize Your Workspace

Keep things clean. Like any aspect of success, a business propagates itself by accomplishing tasks. By reducing any unnecessary clutter a business is able to hone in on the focus at hand: Completing tasks.

Sort through and purge unnecessary or outdated files. Begin factoring them into areas and files based on their necessity, timeliness, and proximity. Keep your workspace sorted so that everything on your desk has an easily noticeable and recognizable impact.

Look into specific deskware that may help break and structure your documents. Many recommend a standing desk as an alternative to the much more-widely articulated sedentary alternative. Beyond a desk, utilizing an employee to take some time to organize files, or getting a secretary altogether may help offer streamlining utility.

Take Your Files Digital

A major answer to how to organize small business finances is technology. Additionally, one of the things technology has granted us is efficiency. By keeping files in the digital space you reduce the clutter of your physical location. This in turn should begin to create mental clarity and objective-based focus within yourself.

Take records to the computer. Your computer is your most simple and basic outreach hub. Have your files there. By doing this you are offering yourself the ability to have a centrally loathed storage hub for all your separate entities, while also having the retrieval time condensed thanks to the absence of physical space.

Keeping things digital also allows for seamless storage and recollection allowing for a unique ability to juggle, balance, and elect any different document or set of documents at a moment’s notice.

Use Free Software to Ease Workflow

This is one of the key steps to an easy workflow and seamless project pipeline. Using software in the cloud allows for multiple employees to simultaneously develop and critique all projects and workflow ideas actively regardless of schedule or proximity. This includes client management software like Keap or Monday, both of which exist to streamline internal workflows and easily maintain that retained client base.

Now, while these paid software and programs are nice and take it to the next step, proper use of the Google Suite can allow for what is essentially free internal communications software. And again, while this may not be as fully comprehensive as other options it will allow for a streamlined production method for the developing business.

All of this will help reduce clutter in your physical workspace. Plus, by design, will act as a hub for your business’s dealings that can keep you organized. Essentially, this saves you time and allows for greater mental clarity to enjoy that time.

Streamline Payment and Billing Practices

Keep your finances clean cut and focused. Like everything within the enterprise, managing time and mental investment is the goal here. Whatever system your company uses, look to trim any unnecessary junctions. Keep the system as “a-to-b” as possible. The fewer stops mean fewer hands are used. This means the less money it takes, and the less of a chance for errors.

Look into whatever software or people-related assets you already have and see if they are capable of cutting in certain areas or conjoining them with others to more fully encompass the most necessary tasks of getting those payment options secured.

Additionally keeping payment frequencies consistent and aligned is critical. While this may seem like a given, having everything on a set date once again cleans up your “human RAM” and should grant more holistic focus to other business happenstances and ongoings.

Keep Everything In-House

While at first this may seem counter-intuitive keeping things in-house is a great way to maintain efficiency throughout any messy or seemingly unknowable moment. Finance management software can be a lifesaver with this. And even if your company is not in a place to justify such means, keeping it in the company with an individual bookkeeper is a great way to have all your finances directly under your feet and readily available when you need them.

Limit Unnecessary Investments

This is the big one on how to organize small business finances. Know when to grow aggressively and when to grow at a financially-conscientious rate. By separating the two, you can hold your finances more tightly when needed by allotting time for rapid expansion-centric purchases. By knowing the trends of your last several quarters, a business can set itself up to understand the outlook of future quarters and plan accordingly. This allows the smart investor to capitalize on key purchasing moments. Plus, they don’t get bogged down in a finance book or production with a new piece of equipment to manage and integrate.

This article has largely been about streamlining and organizing your small business. Obviously, why not trim unnecessary expenditures and streamline the process as much as possible? However, it is just as much an article about the psychological benefits of a clutter-free work life. By keeping mental control over a greatly reduced set of stimuli your brain can relax by feeling more understanding and in control of what it needs to have under it.

The post 6 Cost-Effective Ways to Organize Small Business Finances appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

How do you do it? Where do you start? What qualities should you look for? What does any of this mean? Oh, man. Don’t worry. Building your first sales team. Here are five things you need to know.

Know Your Goal

This is everything. A team, while it is composed of sentient and autonomous people, it ultimately does serve as an instrument with which a goal may be accomplished. Remember your team can appear for a multitude of reasons; they like the work, they like the company, and they share in your vision. Whatever. Regardless of whatever it may be, they’re going to expect money in their account on a semi-weekly basis.

If your employees don’t care about getting paid then what you might have is a cult and you may be working in the wrong industry. But, if your team is like what I can only hopefully imagine is 99.99% of the rest of the world, they will want money.

This is where you need to keep them to the goal. By knowing what that goal is, you can set up a team that is both passionate about it, and work toward it with some degree of autonomy. Finding people who are passionate about their work is always a good rule of thumb.

Beyond this make sure that they are willing to ascribe to the vision or goal. As well as your individual take and approach to it. Whether that is through their appreciation for the work, pride in the job they do, money that you are paying them, or loyalty you have instilled inside them.

Culture First

This is mapping out one of the intangibles. Company culture precedes any of the work that you will be doing. Anything that comes out of the company will start within that company be it a product, or a service. This is the mentality of the company, and now with a team of your own, you can decide the nature of that team. 

Culture is what will govern your team when you are unable to. You are one person, and at a specific point, your team will begin to drive and furthermore business than you. By hiring based on the culture you can effectively pre-co-sign the decisions of the company. Think about the story of the Three Little Piggies. What you chose to build your house with will in turn have an effect on the ability of that house to reach its specific goal.

Find people that share a common outlook and will easily adopt your goals. By setting the stage with a similar culture and emotional baseline, you can confidently begin to extrapolate to strategy.

Find the Right People

The best part about a sales team and position in the modern age is that they are largely geo-independent. With commonplace technologies of our time salespeople are free to work remotely and more importantly come from anywhere.

As the team builder, this allows you to remove location as a barrier and thus put greater emphasis on elements that are harder to find and target in a team. Attitude, opinions, demeanor. All the little things that go into a culture. You can coach strategy. You cannot coach attitude. Do not be afraid, based on your company’s barriers to reach into unconventional areas to find the team that best suits your company’s lifestyle and demeanor.

This is informed by the goal, which shapes the culture, and the culture ultimately helps set the prerequisite criteria for the qualities and attitude of your team. Look for the things that are the hardest to instill in your community and then partner and cross that with the traits that are the most necessary and most valuable.

Understand Your Hiring Priorities

Your team is an instrument, intended to be set toward a task that it must complete. This means you as the team lead, get to place priorities on making your hire. If you are in a big company there is likely some level of involvement coming down from the top, however, it is your team at the end of the day.

Know what you seek to have around you and work with on a daily basis. For this reason, many people hire for culture over even attitude and attitude over skills. However, if you are in desperate need of action maybe skills take precedence given the time of training and gamble of unclear on the untested’s industry mettle. 

Regardless, having your situation and circumstances clear and your priorities recognized, will better align you with the appropriate people. Whether that be on the basis of culture, outlook, skills, or coachability.

Know the Industry’s Climate

The world is always changing, and always growing. A new piece of technology can revolutionize and change an industry. Likewise, the often subsequent “spiritual death” of another medium can once again, albeit less often, change an industry. In sales understanding, the current market informs how you can best organize your sales team. Sales are about understanding and communicating. Additionally, connecting with people. Specifically the right people in the right way. Your team should be able to understand where the world is at and have a thorough enough understanding of the product and the climate to reach out and connect with the individuals you want to buy into your product. 

Find the right team that can become an inverse mirror of your client. The one that understands and reflects the pain. Yet the team that offers the solution. Find people on your team that are distinct enough in their talents and lifestyle and approach that the team can balance itself out fully and also be enough in tune with each other that they always agree on the baseline and don’t eat each other alive.

The main aspect of recruiting is perspective. Find and connect with people who all agree on what needs to be done but are unique and distinguished enough in their ways they can all bring new solutions to the table to accomplish that.

The post Building Your First Sales Team? Here Are Five Things You Need to Know appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Budget

The worst part about student loan debt is that it serves many as the first real foray into the real world of adulting. Trust me there will be home loans and car notes aplenty in the coming years. But that does little to mitigate the harsh reality of a 23-year-old staring into the abyssal debtor for the first time and trying to figure out how to pay off student loans.

So make a note – how much debt do you have? What is the term length? And so on. By getting a feel for the boundaries of the space, you can begin to learn the realistic scope of what you are dealing with. Once you have made a legitimate assessment, begin crunching the numbers.

These numbers are the pieces that make it possible and really, this article could end right here. Budget and pay over your minimum, i.e. know how much you have to pay and when, and then pay over that amount, while balancing a modest lifestyle with your current income.

Pay Over Your Minimum

Paying off student loans over your minimum payment works twofold. Not only does it get you closer to your endpoint faster, but it also lowers the interest you owe. So a win-win. While this is seemingly simple it does come with one major downside, with that being the ‘cost of living’ part of the budget shrinking substantially to accommodate the loan. Keep in mind the targeted dates are set for realism, but any amount you can assuage gets you closer to being able to put 100% of your take-home back in your pocket.

Make Financial Sacrifices

There are as many types of people under the sun as there are hues in an evening sky, however just as you must look upward to find the horizon’s full view, you may look to any given individual and know that they find something pleasurable that costs them money. Food, hobbies, family, whatever. Making financial sacrifices is about adhering to the budget and foregoing the smaller luxuries that you may otherwise afford.

Adhere to the Debt Snowball

In circumstances where the debt is varied and spread over multiple loans, it is advised to utilize ‘the Debt Snowball.’ The Debt Snowball is a method that prioritizes paying off the smallest loan first, then the second smallest, then the third smallest, and so on.

It is imperative to still be paying off your minimums on everything else, however, it allows for an easier time mentally budgeting out your finances. Additionally, the Debt Snowball methodology allows for the idea of mental freedom and alleviation as you begin to see all those debts slip away and disappear.

Refinance Your Student Loans

Firstly, this move isn’t always the right choice. Whether the tax is federal or private, whittling it down can be extremely difficult. When looking to refinance you are effectively allowing another interest group to buy your debt. Refinancing is in essence having someone pay off your debt thus giving you new terms of debt to pay off at the new discretion.

It basically comes down to your raw numbers. Are you getting better terms, is your new payment plan agreeable, does it work better with your current lifestyle? Refinancing is an intricate process with lots of odds and ends. Working through it can be worth it, however, in cases where you are making the payments more accessible and realistic.

After this, the predominant ways to work through student debt revolves around ways to allocate and aggregate more money.

Apply Spare Income Toward Payment

Side hustles, raises, and tax returns. These are great ways to get an edge on each and every payment. While they are not blunt in ways of re-working the existing debt and serving to function as a business all their own, they do provide an influx of cash. This additional income can assuage the cost of living. By adding these new sources of revenue to your finances you will increase pay and decrease the time required to pay it off. Furthermore, this method requires two parts:

• Generate Spare Income

• Allocate Spare Income

Routinely doing these two things will reduce debt for the individual and get you back on track to paying off any remaining debt. This method requires extra effort. At the same time, it also allows for the individual to have recurring revenue methods and other outlets and skills that will remain once the debt has been paid off.

Among all of these listed methods of paying off student loans, it can be useful to employ different methods. Staggering them can help. Sometimes even combining methods of debt reduction can get you to the promised land. Either way, consistent payment over an achievable period is always the most sound advice.

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Bitcoin, created anonymously in 2009 uses the same basic model as most other cryptocurrencies. However, this extra time in the sun has grandfathered in Bitcoin to a slight edge over its younger brethren. This gives Bitcoin a distinct purchasing power crossing mediums into the tangible market. All sorts of third-party wallets such as BitPay, Kraken, and Coinbase make converting that code into cash easier than ever before.

Imagine going to Burger King and trying to buy a Whopper with Yen. Probably not the easiest endeavor. However, soon not the case with Bitcoin. While perhaps shocking that legal exchanges happen for variably tangible goods with digital currency, it gives other companies a push to use it as well.

Companies are making the way toward crypto-accessibility. With everything from car rides purchased with cryptocurrency, to lodging going all in on the sentiment with a similar maneuver, crypto is here. And not uncommon, Bitcoin is serving as the frontrunner once again. Here are a welcome few unique purchases available with those spare Bitcoins.

Lamborghini

A man bought a Lamborghini for $115. Yes, you read that right. A fully functional Lambo. Nothing broke, nothing defective. Peter Saddington invested in Bitcoin in 2011, and while that is a great story for another article, that should paint the value of a keen eye and thorough planning on the market. The rising value of Bitcoin took it from an easily accessible currency to a leviathan with a purchasing power capable of making a Lamborghini equivalent to 115 USD.

Starbucks

Going as far back as early 2020 Seattle-based coffee behemoth Starbucks began dipping its toes into cryptocurrency. Somehow we all missed it. Starbucks originally brought Bitcoin into a third-party wallet that allowed for crypto conversion into their app. Think along the lines of renewing a gift card.

Recently, however, Starbucks has partnered with Bakkt and allows for direct payment into their systems. Essentially you can now get that Iced Chai with that spare Bitcoin you’ve been looking to find a use for. While 2020 was the start of the effort now, over two years later, Starbucks has come full circle and is offering purchases of their products and an NFT-based Web3 effort proving the five-decade-old company is not lost in modern times.

Microsoft

Albeit only on their online store, Microsoft has started blazing the trail for crypto transactions. The company began accepting Bitcoin payments in 2014. This occurred via exclusively digital content, in the way of Windows and numerous Xbox games and features. It should be noted the rollout was subtle compared to the extravagant campaigning and reveals of today.

Since 2014 Microsoft has become more adept with Web3 technology. The company even started Azure Blockchain Services a year later in 2015. All of this is building off their ‘cloud-centric’ platform ideology. Microsoft’s advancements and nearly decade-long tenure have made waves in the digital space. This has even prompted the likes of Uber to begin planning toward accepting Bitcoin payments.

Rolex

While not partaking in the cryptocurrency transaction directly, many third-party buyers of Bitcoin are more than willing to part with a luxury watch such as a Rolex, Hubolt, or Patek in exchange for that Bitcoin you’re looking to drop. Illustrating the fundamental idea behind this plan, BitDials purports itself as the third-party vendor bringing the two worlds to a nexus.

Burger King

Kind of an outlier compared to the rest of the list. Burger King – a business dealing with direct transactions of Bitcoin for a set physical product has been rolling out Bitcoin transactions in select stores in Venezuela. This created an effort to help the Venezuelan communities suffering from hyperinflation.

Interestingly this offers an interesting discussion of the actual purpose of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency as a whole. Decentralization. Watching governmental control of purchasing power being mitigated via cryptocurrency offers a unique twist to look at the national and economic systems of today as the inseparable tithe between the two can be seen beginning to fray.

Imagine going out for a date to Barnes & Noble to purchase a book, getting an Uber back to your Airbnb, and ordering Dominos to be delivered via Doordash exclusively through Bitcoin purchases. All companies are set to start moving towards this decentralization, so unique purchases might not be so unique after awhile.

As with all diversified mediums on the market crypto – specifically, Bitcoin is subject to change. However, being able to have an applicable method of exchange removed from the hold of any global power is a huge step for the world’s open market.

The post Unique Purchases You Can Now Make with Bitcoin appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

When selecting a small business loan for your startup you should be aware of all the ins and outs, to better outline your dos and don’ts. Here are five types of small business loans to take your business to the next level.

Startup Loan

Diverse, Fair Funding, Long Term

If your business is a ship just starting its voyage then the humble ‘startup loan’ is that perfect wind guiding your sails in just the right direction. These loans are all fairly specific to the individual and the nature of their business. There are numerous types one should seek out to better specify your business’s particular setup. This gives the borrower the power to fit the loan into whatever box they need.

The loan is built for novice businesses, offering loans from the low hundreds to a modest hundred-thousands. Think $500 – $500,000. The money is often available within one to two weeks, with interest rates running anywhere from 0-17%. These are often spread long term – think 20-25 years.

Business Line of Credit

Flexible, Short Term, Revolving

You’ve been in business for a couple of years, you need a slightly deeper baseline to either expand or weather the current climate and your funds are humble. You are a prime candidate for a business line of credit.

A ‘business line of credit’ covers anywhere from $1,000 – $500,000 on a revolving credit. This means that as opposed to a lump sum given to you, you have permission to dip into the loan’s allotted amount as much as you may need.

Typically this line has a 1-2 year maturity. Given that these loans are granted after two years in business, you need a certain amount of stability. Most lenders require a credit score of around 680, although a score of 580 can earn you this loan with the right lender.

Business Acquisition Loan

Targeted, High Ticket, Long Term

This loan has one purpose: buy into an existing business or franchise. Let’s say you love Chick-Fil-A, eh, Burger King – this is a fantasy, and you have no building, no license, and essentially no funding. This loan is for you.

The ‘business acquisition loan’ will let you seize that opportunity. This loan drops anywhere from $5,000 to $5,000,000 on your doorstep in around a month. And with a common 5% interest rate on the 10-25 year payment, you won’t be struggling while paying back the lender. This type of loan usually comes in several forms.

These are set-targeted loans intended to calmly let you buy a business’s assets, buy your way into a franchise or even acquire a whole company entirely. Having only a typical 15% down this loan can bring an entirely new scope to your business horizons.

Small Business Administration Loan

Slow, Modest Funding, Respectable Terms

An SBA or ‘small business administration’ loan is served to a small business, generally with the outlier of some special condition or requirement. They serve a fair range of funding and maturity rates. Funds go from that $5,000 – $ 5,000,000; with an average of $417,316 for the SBA 7(a) loan type. The benefit of this type of loan is that the SBA serves predominantly as an agency, and will add a layer of security between the borrower and lender.

The most common form of the SBA is the SBA 7(a). It can be used in many ways and has a deep range of funding, some going as low as $25,000 with minimum requirements. 7(a)s are often the most common. Additionally, an SBA 504 can be used for higher dollar loan amounts ($125,000 – 10,000,000). A 504 is often used for a particular business’s major projects or similar ventures.

The standard SBA involves lots of intense paperwork and can take up to several months to hit your pocket. This can be avoided with an SBA Express Loan that can have the paperwork filed in as little as 36 hours, however, even then the money may still take a month to hit. While often convoluted in their process an SBA does add security and extra reach for the disadvantaged business.

Short Term Loan

Fast, Small, Short Term

Need money quickly? Just how quickly? In the time it took you to put a timeframe to that question you could already be filling out the application for your ‘short term’ loan. And if that aforementioned hypothetical timeline was extremely detailed you might have already been able to submit that application.

Short-term loans happen fast. As soon as that submitted application is approved you can have up to $500,000 dollars in your hand in less than a day. That’s right, 24 hours. Typically you pay off short-term loans in 1-3 years. They have interest rates that can start as low as 8% but can climb very high depending on the lender.

Use short-term loans responsibly, to help shoulder pressing financial issues in a crunch. Examples could be your equipment breaking or needing to hire another employee to reach a looming deadline.

Business Term Loan

Reliable, Modest Funding, Modest Terms

If we were doing a vision exercise and asked ‘what is a loan?’ It’s likely that the ‘business term’ loan is the one that would come to mind. A lump sum (5,000-3,000,000), that you pay back over approximately 10 years, through set periods with interest. Not flashy, and has very little accounting magic. Most lenders tend to offer a flat rate of interest at a set pay period that does not change.

Use these loans for everything from setting up a second location, to a remodel, to purchasing equipment. The basic idea is, this is all you have. This is how much you need to give and how often you have to give it back. Think of this as a clear-cut option for the entrepreneur with a clear plan. Plus, the resources to make it happen.

Overall these loans can vary greatly in amount and terms from lender to lender. So it’s important to know your business and fetter out the circumstances and options that best suit your particular business and funding. While they are all tailored to specific needs, there is overlap in which you use and what you use them for. Think about what you’re trying to accomplish, how quickly you need the money, how much you need, and how much you can realistically pay back at the set period.

The post Selecting a Small Business Loan for Your Startup: Best Tips to Consider appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Further, with this small interest off such payments extrapolated over hundreds of thousands. These numbers would aggregate into a much larger sum and thus fund the credit card company and its administrative operations. 

Hidden Aspects of Chargebacks

However, while this may seem simple in concept, there are many clear yet hidden aspects that fly under the radar of the casual credit card users (often) unwatchful eye. For example payment disputes from criminal activity cost merchants approximately 20 billion in 2021. A nearly 20% increase from 2020. 

The increase likely exists from the rapid growth of eCommerce. eCommerce is a market that sees itself growing to a total of 22% of the total retail market as of 2022. Similar projections paint the space covering nearly a third of the market by 2026.

In keeping with these trends is the industry’s growth with the 2020 brand-to-consumer (B2C) eCommerce market currently sitting at 4.01 trillion. This is a .34 increase since the space’s 3.67 trillion estimations in 2020.

When Can Customers Request Credit Card Chargebacks?

In many cases, the customer is well within their rights as a buyer to request a chargeback if given proper credence here are several options when a chargeback is an appropriate course of action.

• Unauthorized charges or fraud
• Additional, unwarranted charges
• Damaged or defective orders
• Order never delivers

But Think Before Ordering a Chargeback

However, on the other hand, customers should be wary of ordering a chargeback. On the business end, a chargeback can cause a business anywhere from $20-$100 in administrative fees. Even if the chargeback is later canceled the fees remain to cover the administrative cost – solely at the businesses’ expense.

If chargebacks occur to the point they exceed a predetermined threshold the business will be fined anywhere around $10,000. Wherein, if the business spends a significant amount of time over this threshold the bank will likely revoke their account. Additionally, merchants stand to lose over a 200% profit minimum on a non-returned item. 

On the customer end many stand to gain headaches and hassle while losing additional funds and most of all time. Especially cases in which they either have to return or attempt to track down a package. In some cases, the cardholder’s account closes with ramifications on their credit score. And lastly, the additional funds on the business may raise prices, which in the particular niche eCommerce space provides a loss for everybody.

Final Thoughts

It is important that integrity “lies” with both parties in the matter. Both stand to lose significant investments of time, money, and opportunity. There needs to be a trust integral to the commercial bastion. If neither side tries to game the system much of this mess can be avoided and if an occurrence does happen to poke its head, both parties can then know it was all an earnest mistake.

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