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Tips For A Better Budget

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Although starting a business is easier than ever these days, actually assuring its success is a different story. Around half of all businesses will fail within their first five years, and only a third will make it to ten. There are a lot of factors that cause a business to go under, but one of the most common is poor budgeting. Here are some of our best tips for managing your small business budget…

Know your Options

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One of the most important staples of good business budgeting is researching all the different options you have when it comes to necessary expenses. Software is often a major question mark here. You’re going to have all kinds of options for payroll systems, HR management programs, cloud solutions for companies and other resources. You also need to have a keen understanding of your financial management options. Talk to a financial advisor about the best way to keep your books, which will vary from business to business. Some companies will need to reduce tax liability, whereas others could benefit more by making their financial figures more appealing to lenders.

Pay Attention to Marketing Channels

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That old saying “you gotta spend money to make money” is certainly true to some degree. However, your start-up probably isn’t in a good position to spend a small fortune on advertising services, equipment, and new employees. If you’ve got a tight marketing budget, and want to assure the best ROI, we recommend spending the bulk of your budget on digital channels. By doing your best to leverage online channels, most importantly social media, you’ll be able to compete in the same space as some of your larger competitors, without having to spend as much on your marketing.

Track Retention

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When you’re running a small business, every new client is going to carry a lot of importance. As time goes on, you’ll build a more dependable customer base, meaning you’ll need a clearer view of your brand’s relationship with its customers. If this relationship is absolutely imperative to the continued survival of your business, it may be worth hiring an in-house customer relationship manager. If you can’t think about new hires for a while, there are a lot of CRM platforms on the market which can make it easier to manage all facets of the way your business interacts with customers.

Negotiate!

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After payroll, the cost of products and services is probably going to represent the highest expenditure for your business. Many of these costs can be lowered significantly by negotiating discounts with the firms you buy from. If you’re new to being an entrepreneur, you may be a little hesitant to ask any suppliers for deals. Rest assured that a lot of B2B companies almost expect this. To get the best deal possible, it may be worth hinting at the fact that you’re looking into other, more cost-effective options. This will create a healthy sense of competition amongst the vendors you buy from, and have them offering you all kinds of great discounts!