Reinventing Your Financial Services Through Digital Transformation

February 27, 2020

With e-retail revenues projected to reach $4.48 trillion in 2021, up from $1.86 trillion in 2016, the growth momentum for the e-commerce sector seems unstoppable. The convenient nature of online retail and the cheaper prices resulting from reduced operational costs for e-tailers make e-commerce an attractive proposition for the shoppers. But this also means that more businesses are handling sensitive information like card numbers and addresses to facilitate the delivery of products and services.

By 2040, NASDAQ predicts that over 95% of purchases will be facilitated by e-commerce. This means that every business needs to start implementing a robust financial toolset that facilitates secure trade with customers and B2B partners. To keep pace with this insatiable demand, you will need to invest in cutting-edge technologies that edge out the competition and scale with business growth.

A proponent of this ideology, Ganeshan Venkateshwaran, President at Trianz, says: “At Trianz, we emphasize on outcome‐focused execution to provide digital transformation results for our clients. Our keen understanding of the kind of products the market is seeking, expertise in developing industry‐compliant solutions and a proven transformation model combine to give us a leading edge.”

Digital Transformation in Financial Services

According to the recent World Retail Banking Report, nearly 2/3rds of customers across the globe are already using FinTech services.

Some of the most significant benefits include:

Leveraging technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning – AI and ML have become buzzwords, but for a good reason. For many financial institutions, it is possible to use AI to predict the possibility of fraudulent activity. This functionality is now available to businesses, providing a safety net against revenues lost through chargeback scams.

On the consumer side, feature-rich interactive e-commerce experiences can greatly improve the user experience. It is now possible for businesses to save the customer’s shopping cart and email them to offer a convenient follow-up on a site visit that did not result in a sale. Machine Learning can analyze site navigation patterns and offer flash discounts to customers it detects are on the cusp of making a purchase. This acute analysis of buying habits brings a certain psychological approach to the transaction process; massive internet service companies like Netflix have their own dedicated Consumer Insight Divisions to analyze viewer trends and retain viewership month-to-month.
Better adherence to compliance regulations – The administration of financial transactions must be watertight to ensure regulatory compliance. Through a carefully planned digital transformation, it is possible to automate most of your financial administration tasks, removing the costly risk of human error. This means you can avoid fines and avoid tarnishing your reputation through solid management of sensitive consumer datasets.
Improved organizational agility – Immense quantities of transactional data are being generated daily, and within this data is information that you can extract to gain powerful business insights. With this knowledge, you can better understand your customers’ purchasing habits and augment your website to remove as many hurdles from the buying process as possible. Just like the adage “Prevention is better than the cure,” for a reliable long-term business finance strategy, foresight is better than hindsight.
More straightforward purchases improve revenue growth – If a customer has difficulty completing the transaction process, it is highly likely you will lose the sale. Luckily, there is a range of payment providers that offer user-friendly payment gateways for customers.

81% of the consumer base believes that FinTech services are faster (compared to 36% of bankers).

The majority of modern payment gateways are offered as a “hosted” service. This means the service provider is responsible for compliance with regulations like PCI-DSS, which can be beneficial for smaller businesses, which lack the manpower and expertise to self-regulate. For some companies, an “API Hosted Gateway” may be more suitable, thanks to its customization capabilities. The downside here is that payment will be processed through your servers, making you responsible for regulatory compliance and purchasing of additional certifications like SSL.

In addition to the above benefits, you can also capitalize on “public perception.” When it comes to consumer perception, the World Retail Banking report further reveals interesting insights:

– 81% of the consumer base believes that FinTech services are faster (compared to 36% of bankers)

– 80% of consumers feel that FinTechs are providing good experience (compared to 40% of bankers)

Modernize Your Financial Services with Trianz

Trianz is a leading IT consulting firm, with decades of expertise in helping businesses drive successful digital transformations. Trianz combines innovative business solutions with advanced technologies to help banking and financial institutions to maximize value from their customer relationships, transform business processes, and rationalize product portfolios. Trianz has proven expertise in core FinTech areas like banking, customer operations, back office management, payments processing, online banking, risk management, compliance, business insights, and technology services. Trianz dedicated development centers, staffed by consultants and architects with financial services experience, deliver a range of technology services spanning cloud, analytics, digital, infrastructure, and security.

Regardless of the current state of your IT infrastructure, Trianz can provide expert planning and development assistance, so you can maximize your business potential.

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Active vs. Passive Investing: An Overview

February 27, 2020

Whenever there’s a discussion among financial advisers about active or passive investing, it can pretty quickly turn into a heated debate because investors and wealth managers tend to strongly favour one strategy over the other.

At Executive Wealth Services, the central investment proposition leans toward a passive approach to investments, on the basic principle that keeping costs as low as possible is a cornerstone of maximising client outcomes. Passive investing is also in keeping with our clear, fair and transparent approach to investment affairs in that passive fund managers tend to quote returns net of charges whereas most active managers tend to quote their returns gross.

In our experience the difference in annual costs of investing passively as opposed to actively can be as much as 1-2.5% additional cost per annum, in round figures that can be as much as £12,500 on a portfolio value of £500k

Over the lifespan of an investment portfolio which can be as long as two or three generations when the portfolio is subject to intergenerational succession, these costs can be hugely detrimental to the net return achieved by the investor.

It should be remembered that on top of fund management costs, annual platform and advisory costs will also be payable pushing up the costs and the ‘hurdle rate’ of a portfolio even further.

As if the demands on the portfolio after this were not substantial enough, the conscientious investor must always add inflation into his calculation when determining his ‘Real Return’. Thus, in a number of portfolio’s that we at EWS have reviewed and analysed in the recent past we have saved our clients significant sums on their annual charges and provided an environment more conducive to growth.

What is Active Investing?

Active investing, you’ll not be surprised to learn, requires someone to act in the role of portfolio manager. The goal being to beat the stock market’s average returns and be able to immediately take advantage of short-term price fluctuations. The role requires a much deeper analysis and the expertise to know when to buy into or out of a particular stock, bond, or other asset. A portfolio manager usually oversees a team of analysts who look at qualitative and quantitative factors, then make educated choices to try to determine where and when that price will change. So, while the active money manager will argue they’ll perform better in a rising market, they also argue that they will lose less in a falling market.

Active investing requires investor confidence that whoever is investing the portfolio will know exactly the right time to buy or sell. Successful active investment management requires being right more often than wrong.

The SPIVA Scorecard is a robust, widely -referenced research piece conducted and published by S&P DJI that compares actively managed funds against their appropriate benchmarks on a semi-annual basis. They offer analysis on actively managed funds performance in the following countries and regions: Australia, Canada, Europe, India, Japan, Latin America, South Africa, and the U.S.

The SPIVA scorecard highlights that, “…actively managed funds have historically tended to underperform their benchmarks over short- and long-term periods. This has tended to hold true (with exceptions) across countries and regions. Another recurring theme is that even when a majority of actively managed funds in a category have outperformed the benchmark over one time period, they have usually failed to outperform over multiple periods.” https://us.spindices.com/spiva/#/about

The SPIVA card scores 78.52% of Large Cap funds in the US underperformed S&P 500 in the US over the five years to June 30th 2019. In Europe, over the same time period, 77.53% of actively managed funds underperformed the S&P Europe 350 index. These statistics have been confirmed and reconfirmed for many years by the most robust academic research.

What is Passive Investing?

If you’re a passive investor in low cost index tracking fund you limit the amount of buying and selling within portfolios, making it a very cost-effective way to invest – not least to avoid transaction costs of every buy or sell action. A passive strategy requires a buy-and-hold mentality that resists the temptation to react or anticipate the market’s every move.

The prime example of a passive approach is to buy an index fund that follows one of the major indices like the FTSE 100 or 250. Whenever these indices ‘promote’ or ‘relegate’ their constituents, the index funds that follow them automatically revise their holdings by selling the stock that’s leaving and buying the stock that’s joining the index. This is why a ‘promoted’ stock into one of the major indices is no small matter – it guarantees that the stock will become a core holding in thousands of major funds.

When you own tiny pieces of thousands of stocks, you earn your returns simply by participating in the upward trajectory of corporate profits over time via the overall stock market. Successful passive investors keep their eye on the prize and ignore short-term setbacks or even sharp downturns.

It is possible to blend in huge levels of asset class, geographical and investment sector diversification into the index tracking philosophy to create blended off the shelf investments suitable for the average retail investor.

Hollywood and fiction writers tell big stories filled with buying and selling stocks and bonds and all of the associated excesses – but they distance the average investor from the data that informs. Investing can be a very simple and cost-effective process. The barriers to understanding often result in investors feeling out of their depth and so place their trust in sales orientated advisory solutions which are actually detrimental to the life objectives that they are trying to satisfy.

In summary, you may think a professional investment manager’s skill, vast financial resources and all that technology would trump a basic index fund? Generally, they don’t. If we look at performance and cost, in our opinion passive investing works best for most retail investors. Study after study (over decades) shows disappointing results for active management. Only a small percentage of actively managed funds ever do better than passive index funds.

Accepting that passive investment is the most appropriate avenue for the vast majority of our clients allows us to spend more time honing the critical factors of their investments, i.e. their motivations and objectives. By minimising costs and maximising performance we find that more and more of our clients are able to enjoy the fruits of their decisions; for family, health and wellbeing.

It is as true now as ever it was; investment philosophies should be all about alignment to each client’s specific goals and risk profile.

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How Can I Check If An SEO Strategy Is Working On My Site

February 27, 2020

When a business is looking to promote their product, providing their audience with an online platform should be obvious. However, your website in its raw state can only go so far on its own, and so hiring the services of an SEO agency should also be obvious. A few years ago, SEO was enough to get you ahead of your competition. Today, it is only enough to get you on the same playing field. You will need to measure the effectiveness of the SEO to make sure you are not missing out on opportunities, though you may not be sure how to.

SEO Agencies

Naturally, upon developing your website and employing all of your marketing efforts, SEO should be among the things you consider. Having an SEO agency provides you with expert SEO efforts will be crucial to make your website make it to the first page. Their main task is to optimize your keyword rankings.

A popular misconception includes throwing in as many keywords as possible. However, you should have no more than one primary keyword attached to one, and sometimes two pages. This allows the SEO strength to become concentrated. Secondary keywords, however, can be many, and they will match popular phrases and the information on your website.

An SEO agency will perform many other tasks that will work to strengthen your website. They can include checking navigation and UX factors, removing duplicated content, creating quality content and working in the aesthetic of your page. Make sure they offer these essential services, alongside other things.

The planning stage will initially take 0-2 months. This period will include considering your specific goals, internal resources and the strategist that will best help you achieve those aims. In the blog post “How Long Does SEO Take? A Complete Overview of Your SEO Timeline” it says that the planning will include setting a budget, assigning team roles and responsibilities, researching your targeted long-tail keywords and auditing your existing site content for value, user-friendliness and technical efficiency. Timelines may differ between one company and another, and it will depend on your business and its size.

An SEO agency will typically send you an accurate monthly report. It can be delivered by email, or reported through a phone call. It is important that there is a perfect understanding of the progress being made, and transparency in communicating the results.

Track SEO Performance

The way an SEO’s performance is tracked is by using measuring metrics. These metrics will analyze the success of your efforts, and tell you if the strategy is working. The metrics that will help you measure performance are:

Traffic

An SEO’s entire purpose is to deliver your website more visitors. As such, measuring your traffic will give you a cohesive understanding of the strategy’s performance. However, it is not as easy as counting the overall number of visitors. Although, that is still important. There are several search engines that are being used, and part of your analysis will include breaking down the traffic by the search engine. This will provide you with the insight to adapt to the different search engines. However, many of the visitors will come across your page by typing the address, or through a link from another website. You will need to separate both types of traffic. You should also be able to distinguish the organic search traffic. This is when someone searches for something, and picks your page from the search results. All of this information combined will be able to inform you of your SEO’s performance.

Time on Page

You will need to track the time each visitor spends on your page. Some can be passing through, while others will stay. Analyzing the time-on-page will indicate the quality of user experience being offered. However, it will depend on the page, since some pages will have a short ‘time on page’, such as the homepage. But if your product is clothing, you should expect the visitor to be spending more than a few minutes shopping. Using time on page will help you understand if the strategy is working, as it will show you the page content results. If it is not working the way it should, you can begin reconsidering your strategy. Though, you will need to check if you are getting the visitors you want.

Keyword Ranking

An important part of tracking progress includes comparing your site to other site’s rankings when a specific keyword is searched for. If your ranking remains unchanged, then it will be obvious that your strategy needs changing. You will need to know the relevant keywords in order to utilize this metric effectively. Look at your primary and secondary keywords. Then, just know where you started, and where you are standing now. Look to act in correspondence with the results.

Mobile Compatibility

More people are doing their searches off their mobile devices. Making sure your website is compatible with these other devices will mean that you do not have to miss out on the opportunities you could be getting from mobile phone users. Make sure your page is user-friendly across all platforms. Also, Google has updates that are specific to mobile devices, which involves supporting the user experience.

Conversions

Conversion rates are perfect indicators for the success of your SEO. They will tell you how many of your visitors turned into customers. Check this information against different phrases and search terms. By doing so, you will learn which keyword has the highest returns.

Bounce Rate

When a visitor enters your site, but then leaves before taking any further action, they will be included in the bounce rate. A high bounce rate will negatively impact your ranking. To avoid that, provide your visitors with an eye-catching web page. What you show on your page will depend on your business.

Checking if your SEO strategy is working will be crucial to the progress of your operations. The information you gather will allow you to understand if anything needs changing. If it does, you can simply reshape your plan to better suit your needs. So focus on your keyword implementation, and do not forget about the other things. And remember to plan before you apply SEO.

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How Much Should You Have in Your 401k?

February 26, 2020

This term was derived from a tax code section or simply from subsection 401(k). This refers to an investment and saving plan sponsored by employers to their employees. It allows workers to save and invest a portion of their paycheck before their taxes are deducted.

This retirement plan is an easy way to save up for your retirement.

With a 401k plan, you can control how you plan to invest your money. Some of the plans include mutual funds, stocks, and money markets. The most common for this is a combination of stocks and bonds which slowly becomes conservative as you retire.

In general, the amount of money you can put in your 401(k) account should depend on your financial status. Several factors can dictate how much you can save which may include:

1. The amount of money you are willing to set aside from your salary.

Experts recommend 10-15% of your income. But if you are self employed you can contribute 25% of your net earnings.

2. Your age.

If you are younger you can start with small amounts, however, financial experts recommend saving as much as possible since there is an advantage to this when returns are compounded over time.

3. How close you are to your retirement.

Play with this calculator to check how you can make your savings grow for your retirement at your current age.

4. Contribution Limits.

In 2020, an individual can contribute $19,500 from $19,000 in 2019. This limit increases up to $26,000 if you are more than 50 years old. Such limitations are set by the Internal Revenue Service and are subject to changes every year.

You can always change the amount of contribution to your 401(k) depending on the limits and based on your income. It is highly recommended that you should not stop contributing and as much as possible avoid getting withdrawals for loans or luxury needs. Remember, this money will save you in your future.

If you think that you are able to meet your short-term financial goals and you want to plan for the amount of money for your retirement, you can:

Assume that you started working at the age of 22, by the age of 30, you should be expecting a 401(k) fund equal to your annual salary.
For example, if you receive $45,000 for a year you can target a retirement savings of $45,000. If you successfully achieve this, then by the age of 60 you can have a total savings of $600K from an annual return of 8%.

Or simply put, as you grow older and your salary gets higher, save 15% of it and here’s how much you should have in your 401k: 30’s=1x your salary, 40’s=4x your salary, 50’s=7x your salary and 60’s=10x your salary. This is being optimistic that your career growth will make your salary higher thus, you will be on track of your retirement goals.

How about changing careers? Yes, most young workers aged 20 to 30 years change jobs from one to another and it is sometimes difficult to decide on how much you should set aside especially so that your salary may have changed. The best way is to set an absolute 401(k) savings amount. You can always follow the 10-15% contribution plan whether you have a fixed annual salary or not. A good financial plan will surely answer your income needs when you retire.

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How to Make Money from the Tech Industries

February 26, 2020

The tech industry has become a very huge one for obvious reasons. They produce a lot of devices, machines, and applications that help to make our lives easier. Several things that could take weeks to achieve just a few years ago can now be achieved in seconds. If you are looking for opportunities in the tech industry, there are several of them. Here are some of the ways you can make money from the tech industry.

Sales of tech products

One of the ways you can make money from the tech industries is by selling tech products. This is easily one of the easiest ways as there are several tech stores across the world. These people don’t have to bother about all the technicalities of making the tech products. All they have to do is buy from manufacturers and resell to billions of people across the world that regularly buy tech products either as their first, or to replace an older or spoilt one they owned before. You can buy products from best buy and resell or use. You can read more about Best Buy to know more about the company.

Hardware and Software development

If you want to be at the forefront of the tech industry, then you might want to be directly involved in the production process. For this, you might have to go into hardware development, software development or both. However, this would require a lot of training. You would also pick a niche, probably mobile phone, computers or other types of machines that you have learned to develop or that catch your interest. It might be a variation of an existing tech product or perhaps you want to invest in a new tech product. Once you can successfully produce the tech products, you can be sure of buyers from the billions of tech users across the world.

Repairs

Another way you can make money is by repairing tech products. There are many computer engineers and mobile phone repairs who are always very busy helping others repair their computers and phone. Considering that virtually everybody in cities now has mobile phones and computers, once you are good at fixing, there is no way you would not have many people visiting you daily for one fault or the other on their devices.

Youtube reviews

You can also make money from tech products by posting reviews on Youtube. Apart from the fact that you can earn directly from Youtube, you could get affiliated with some tech companies like Best Buy. New devices are released regularly by tech products. People love to keep abreast of the development and subsequently buy those that interest you. They could watch your reviews and then subsequently visit your affiliate link to buy the product and you would earn some money in the process.

Blogging

There are tens of thousands of tech blogs across the world. You could also join the bloggers by blogging about tech products in your way. Similar to Youtube reviews, you can post reviews on your blog. The only difference would be that instead of videos, you post text and pictures to your blog. You could also add your Youtube videos to your blog if you are into vlogging and blogging at the same time. You can subsequently monetize your blog and/or affiliate to tech companies.

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Planning Forex Trades and Executing Strategies

February 25, 2020

There are a lot of players in the world of forex trading where currency is always changing. The greatest advantage of online currency trading in Kenya is you can double up your money instantly. So you need to be prepared so that you can get the most out of the foreign exchange markets.

Starting with a plan and executing your strategies properly can help you reach those goals of making a profit while selling, trading, or exchanging currencies. For those of you ready to get started with forex trading, but are not sure how to organize a plan, then you are in the right place for help.

In this article, we’ve gathered a few helpful tips on how to plan and strategize forex trades.

Knowing the risk level

On trading day, you want to know how much you realistically plan on risking from your portfolio for trade. An average of 1% to 5% is not unusual, and it is a good idea to keep yourself from risking too much. This amount of your portfolio at risk on a trading day gives you the option to get out if you take too many hits and are not experiencing the success you would want. This is a small price to pay, but can save you from making an overzealous error and risking too much capital or cash. Get out when you feel like you are not going to make any gains, so you are ready for the next trading day.

Make detailed records of your trades

The best way to improve is to make a note of what went right, and what went wrong. Having a detailed record helps you understand what risk ratios you have, the gains you made, what amount of your portfolio was at risk, trade efficiency, the systems you used, and other important details of a positive or negative trade. Any information you have gathered will be useful going forward, and can help you develop a plan or strategy that is fluid as you grow in your trading capabilities, or make you a much more efficient trader with your portfolio.

What kind of account do you have?

Making a plan, or adapting your plan, can sometimes depend on the type of account you have. Knowing if you are using managed accounts versus DIY trading is important, because this will affect your profit potential and risks you take on. Managed accounts are a lot less risky because they are being handled by a professional brokerage firm or individual, but they could be doing smaller trades and not risking much, which can hinder any potential big gains. DIY trading is much more risky because you are managing your own portfolio, but with the right amount of research or homework, you can make the most out of your situation and exercise risk/reward ratios that benefit only you.

Gauge the market, and do some research

Before the trading day begins, you want to know what kind of variables are going to play a part in how the market is going to react. Changes in political situations, overseas market changes, vulnerability in futures, and potential market reports. Waiting until a report is released that can alter the outcome of the market is a safe bet, but not just a safe bet, it is a bet made on logic probability outcomes. Probability is a gamble, but it is an educated one that can take into account how this change will impact the market. Good plans are based around what can be determined, and knowing what unexpected changes can throw a wrench in that plan will help you adjust your strategy so that you are ready for anything.

Make profit goals

If you think you can just start trading and start making uninterrupted profit, you will run into problems. Good strategies will make a profit goal, which many people believe should be 3x as much as the risk from the trade. Knowing what kind of risk you can expect, and what the reward is, means you can determine how much of your portfolio you can regularly portion out during trading.

Forex trading can be profitable, but only if you have a plan and know what you are getting into. There are strategies presented here, which should serve as a good way to execute your plan and find success. Trading is not a get rich quick scheme, and great traders with experience use similar techniques before they start taking on risks. Likewise, knowing your risks and how to manage them through educating yourself will only serve you well as you continue to build experience forex trading for yourself.

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Why Project Management Tools Matter in Finance

February 25, 2020

Project and task management software tools are one of the best investments any company, whether rooted in the finance industry or otherwise, can make.

They offer management the opportunity to work in a more methodical and organised way and when it comes to budgeting, allocation of resources and managing financial risk and potential changes, they are invaluable.

Choosing the right project management tools

Real first person communication and professional training are still the most important elements of working effectively in a non-virtual office setting, but a professional piece of task management software designed for project management can be a powerful weapon in your workplace arsenal.

At their most simplest, they will hone your organisational skills and make scheduling tasks easier. On a deeper level, they can assist companies in gaining solid knowledge and experience in understanding how projects develop and work, and most importantly understanding how they can be improved upon when things go wrong.

Finance management tools matter

Every industry has its own specific requirements when it comes to choosing task managing software for these types of jobs. Within the finance sector, some of the more complex projects undertaken by companies might require major investment in this kind of software, but the advantages it will bring are great, for instance:

Making sure a project stays within budget
Making sure the scope of the project is within the correct parameters
All documents relating to the project are safe and managed
All resources for the project are assigned correctly
Monitoring changes
Tracking and making sure priority targets are met

What type of finance project management software do you need?

Choosing software means thinking laterally about the size of the company, the number of people that will need access to it and also what the main goal of using the software is.

Different packages operate in different ways, so some might look at time management or risk management, while others will focus more directly on the way a project is managed.

Other considerations include whether software is to be installed on company servers, or whether it’s cloud based, or purely web based. Often, this simply comes down to a matter of cost. The latter options are more affordable, and installed software may be better for larger companies. The software used should always be tailored to the specific industry and offer strategic solutions to the teams who are using them.

What should project management software provide?

It should mean that all project activities are in one place and that everyone who needs it has access to the data at all times. In finance, this is important for stakeholders who may also want to be engaged for the life of the project.

It should also offer features, such as scheduling, so that tasks can be assigned, meetings can be organised, and deadlines set. There should be a decent time management feature so that people can work hard and easily see what milestones they are achieving. There should be a strong financial planning element as well, so that managers and stakeholders can make decisions easily and quickly, too.

Task management tools matter in finance, so it might be time to investigate whether it is worth investing in them.

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How to Start a Rubber Stamp Business

February 25, 2020

Thinking about starting your own rubber stamp business? If the answer’s yes then this guide will give you all the know-how to be able to start up your new venture. Done right, a rubber stamps UK business would be very profitable and with its low start-up costs, it’s a win-win situation! It’s a business that’s easily set upright in the comfort of your own home. Sell either offline such as markets and craft fairs or set up your own website and sell online. Once you’ve built your business up and you’ve got your name out there you could even think about setting up your own studio to manufacture even more products to keep up with the demand!

You could sell Custom Stamps for many different occasions, they’d be such a cool addition to any office, school classroom or even just at home. Offering customizable stamps would help drum up more business as people love personalization, check out Stamps4u.co.uk as an example. Business logos, addresses, and signatures are some popular ideas. Stamps that say Sale, Save or even On Offer are also popular with businesses to help them promote products and make more sales. So, you see stamps are useful for everyone!

1. Make sure you have a business plan

Remember the old saying “fail to prepare, prepare to fail”? When it comes to new business ideas that saying couldn’t be truer. No matter how big or small your idea, always make sure you draw up a business plan. A business plan is invaluable in the beginning, it allows you to see the whole picture and helps you decide if your business is doable or not. Your plan can be as simple or as detailed as you want, as long as it makes sense to you and it helps you to keep going in the right direction.

Include details of costings and when you’ll make a return on investment. Come up with an accurate estimate as to how many stamps you would need to sell to make a decent profit each week/month. If you want to access outside funding then you almost certainly need a business plan. Lenders want to see that the business they’re investing in is a good, profitable one! A business plan will help them understand and join in with your dreams and ideas. Even if you’re borrowing off friends or family, it’s never a bad idea to get your ideas and plans down on paper.

2. Be patient

Always keep in mind that new businesses take time to get off the ground. Don’t be disheartened if your business doesn’t take off straight away. It’s a good idea to set aside some living expenses until your business makes you a good living. This is where we go back to your business plan, that should tell you how long you’ll have to provide extra income for before your business picks up. One way to make sure your business takes off quickly is to have clear, concise goals and to go after said goals with everything you have. Don’t second guess yourself, grab the bull by the horns!

Take the pressure off yourself by working part-time whilst you set up your business. That way you won’t be stressing about money or how you’re going to put food on the table, you’ll have a regular income but because you’re only working part-time, you’ll still be able to be dedicated to your business. Then when your company takes off, you can say Au Revoir! to that part-time job and enjoy your new business full time!

3. Promote your products

So, you’ve got your business plan, you’ve got your financial situation sorted, how do you go about actually selling? Marketing and promoting your products are not as difficult as you might think. When you’re starting out, flyers and posters are a brilliant idea. Display them in shop windows and notice boards to get people’s interest. Set up stalls at fairs and markets so potential customers can see your products, test them out and see how amazing the quality is! If you have a storefront you could create attractive visual displays to showcase the different designs of your stamps.

When it comes to marketing and advertising your brand, social media is your best friend. Creating a Facebook page will generate lots of interest. Post updates about your products, telling people where they can buy them and maybe special offers to entice new customers. Giveaways are always popular, for example, everyone who “likes” a photo of your product on Facebook or Instagram gets entered into a prize draw to win a rubber stamp. Networking events are always a good idea too. Meeting new business connections will only help your new venture go from strength to strength.

4. Offer excellent customer service

It goes without saying that all businesses should offer exceptional customer service. By offering amazing service, you’ll build up a loyal client base – they’ll keep coming back to your business and may even recommend to friends and family, word of mouth is priceless! Happy customers also help create a positive work environment for everyone. There are numerous ways of going above and beyond for your customers and the most effective ways are usually the simplest. For example, as soon as a customer walks through your door, a smile and a friendly “hello” goes a long way! Knowing your products well and being able to advise your customers accordingly is a sure-fire way of gaining their loyalty.

Whether you have a shopfront business or an ecommerce site, listening to and understanding your customers wants and needs is paramount to making those all-important sales and gaining customers for life. Asking for feedback is an effective but probably unknown technique for keeping your customers happy. If they know that you want feedback, good or bad, it shows you care about your business and how well it’s performing and in turn, it will help you to know what you need to do to make your customers’ shopping experience even better.

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The Lucrative World of Games and Gaming

February 25, 2020

Games have become a very important part of our lives. They help to keep us entertained. And if you happen to be one of the many avid gaming fans, be sure to check out this FPS gaming mouse for an overall enhanced gaming experience. The competition and excitement that comes from playing and watching sports are often very contagious. There are many reasons why people play games, which have made games to become very lucrative. In 2019, the gaming industry generated about $138.7 billion worth of revenue. Here are some of the reasons why games and gaming have become very lucrative.

Based on sports and other events we love

We are all passionate about sports. Many people troop out every week, sometimes twice a week just to watch their favorite team play. Games provide a closer experience than watching games. This is considering that during games, you just watch what goes on without any significant input than cheering your team on. With games, you get directly involved and try to ensure that you guide your favorite team to a victory. There are many other things that we love such as action movies, action movies, and situations that require strategy and logic to escape. Some games exploit each of these things we are passionate about and more. This is why people cannot resist playing a game as they get a lot of fun and excitement from being very close to the things they love and being involved in controlling the events.

Regular new updates

Another reason why people love games and why gaming has become lucrative is because of new updates. Just when you are almost getting tired of regularly playing the old one, a new improved one is announced and subsequently released. You would want to play and experience those improvements. For instance, Sony’s new PS5 is expected to be out around the summer of 2020. The instant it is released, they would probably start to design the PS6. There are also a lot of high-quality video games translation if you want to try something new.

Bonding

Games provide us an activity to do when bonding with our friends. It is not always that we want to talk and it can sometimes get boring. Playing games provide a variety of what we can do when we want to bond with friends or our loved ones. You can play games with your kids and in the process become friends. That could make it easier to parent as friendship will make it easier for them to confide in you.

Bragging rights

Many friends play games because they want to show their friends and others that they are better gamers. Thus, people play games every day just to show others they could beat them and when they do, their opponent schedule rematches to try to come back from the defeat. In other cases, they suggest a different game that they believe they are better at.

Making money

A lot of people have also made money from gaming. Apart from the designers and developers who make millions and billions of dollars from making and selling games, some make money from playing. Some play and post games on Youtube or review games on their blog that has made them good money. Some gamble while playing and have also made a small fortune because they have mastered a game.

Educational tool

There are many games that are also very educational. Thus, they serve as educational tools that can help people learn in a fun way. For the best gaming experience, you can visit here: https://www.fiercepc.co.uk/gaming-pcs. They are able to achieve two things at the same time. They learn and they catch fun. This is as opposed to reading that could easily become boring for many people.

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Steps for Building an Authority Site

February 25, 2020

In an age where everything is done online, a business cannot afford not to have a powerful online presence. People look for everything on the internet now. If a person wants a divorce attorney, chances are they will ask Google, rather than check the Yellow Pages. The same goes for a person who wants to buy just about any product, since everything is sold online now. All products and services are searched for and even bought online, so you need to establish your platform as an authority site. Unfortunately, that is often easier said than done. But if you follow these steps, you can build a website that people would consider an authority in your line of work.

Invest in a High-quality Design

When it comes to websites and how people perceive them, the design is everything, and you have to invest in it accordingly. It has to be as flawless as possible. First impressions can be impossible to change, and you need to make sure your site visitors will get the right one. People often judge a website based on the quality of the design they’re met with. It makes sense, too, if you think about it. If a service provider didn’t put enough care and effort into designing a page that represents them, why should any consumers put their faith in such a brand? So, yes, appearances do matter. From the quality of the images on the website to the themes and colors used, pay attention to every detail.

Optimize for Search Engine

You can have the most beautifully designed website in the world, but if people can’t find it, then what is the point? Search engine optimization is the number one marketing strategy for any business that wants to have a massive reach. One thing you can do is dig through expired domain names to find one that you can purchase and use –– it should have a decent search engine ranking. Starting from scratch can be a bit challenging because building your ranking isn’t really easy. So, finding a domain that is already SEO friendly might save you a lot of time and effort.

The importance of SEO is not just in people finding you. Studies show that most users never go beyond the first page on a search engine. So, they only view the very few results on that page, and you have to be in those. People automatically trust the first few links, and these are the websites they consider to be an authority. If you want to become one of those, you have to invest in SEO.

Pay Attention to User Experience

A website that grants users a poor experience is rarely trusted, and it is anything but an authority. You have to ensure the quality of your user experience is the best it can be. You should also know that this makes a difference in search engine ranking because Google takes into consideration just how satisfied visitors are with your site. So, the loading speed has to be minimal –– users don’t stick around for more than 3 seconds as several studies have shown. The navigation needs to be seamless; no one wants to spend 10 minutes trying to figure out how to reach you. Avoid having spam on your website at all costs, whether that is from you or the advertisers. Nothing annoys people more than spam. Those details might seem minor, but they make all the difference in the world in the user experience on your website, and in turn your search ranking and stature.

Be Transparent

The easiest way for a website to lose all credibility is to lie about anything. Transparency and honesty are the easiest ways to win your audience over. If you lose people’s trust, it becomes impossible to earn it back. So, never promise anything you can’t deliver. Always describe your service or products clearly and in a way that ensures that people won’t have to ask further questions. Make sure your contact information, as well as any credentials related to the industry, are present and easy to find. Perhaps the best way to ensure complete transparency is by adding a review/testimonials section. We all love to check reviews on the services/products we are about to buy before we do it. This will also show prospects that you have nothing to hide, and you do provide an excellent service.

Establishing your platform as an authority website is key to growing your business. You need people to associate your brand name with a certain need, and to check your website first when they want to fulfill that need. If you do that, you can make a lot of money.

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