As an agency that’s been around since 2003 we have helped many new business start-ups over the years, and we’re delighted to contribute to the QuickBooks #RecipeForSuccess project in the hope that we can assist more businesses find success.
Your Brand
A common misconception is that branding is simply a logo or slogan. While these elements are the primary result, branding goes far beyond this. Branding involves every aspect of a customer’s experience, from your logo to your website, your social media posts to your advertising. In short, branding is the way in which your customer will perceive your business. Yet sadly, this is the main area we see new business look to cut costs and avoid.
Effective branding will help your business make it’s mark and set you apart from your competition. Remember, all businesses in today’s world are competing in a global market and you need to be able to set yourself apart from the competition. Read more about of branding services here.
Your Website
We won’t waste time convincing you that you need a website, we all know that in this day an age it is a must for any business . However, one thing important for any new business is having a future proof online profile that can scale with your business.
This can be achieved in various ways. From a technical standpoint, using WordPress as your websites content management software will make your site easily accessible to most developers. This will allow you to change the company that you use with ease. It also makes it easier to develop and add new functionality to the website without large, unforeseen costs. Read more about our WordPress website development here.
Another way to future proof your online presence is to find and work with a full service agency such as ourselves who can offer a wide variety of services to support your business online and offline. Having a singular company covering the work will allow for quick and easy changes and consistency across channels.
The CRM
It’s a must that you get yourself Customer Relationship Management software, often shortened to CRM.
What does this do? While every CRM isn’t the same, they all have similar functionality and are designed to help businesses manage many of the following business processes: customer data, customer interaction, access business information, automate sales etc…
Why bother? The type of business you are will see you use a CRM in different ways. Any CRM will allow you to track all your customers & enquiries, allow you to rate leads and track engagement with customers. This will make you more efficient as a business and allow leads to not get lost/forgotten.
We have been using Zoho CRM for some time and believe this to be a very strong solution.
Accounting / Invoicing Software
In addition to the CRM. The other mandatory piece of software you will require is a good accounting software. There are many great cloud based accounting & bookkeeping options on the market. They are now capable of streamlining your businesses finances. We are currently using Sage One as our finance solution but another highly recommended option for small businesses is QuickBooks accounting.
Marketing Strategy
This is one of the most important ingredients to determine if your business will be successful. For any business to succeed, the product or service it offers must be known to potential customers. You have to use a marketing strategy to create product or service awareness. Without marketing, your potential customers will never be aware of your business offering. Thus your business may not be given the opportunity to progress and succeed.
Too often over the years we have seen clients pour investment into a great website but then dismiss the idea that they need any marketing support. In the digital world we are now in marketing has changed significantly. This has meant that there are now many way to get your business in front of prospective buyers. The cost of marketing has also decreased substantially. Online advertising and marketing can also be tracked and monitored allowing you to find what works quickly and never be wasting money. Read more about our marketing options here.
If your setting up a new business and want to know how we can help then please don’t hesitate to get in touch here or call us on 01202 298392.
