Client Conversation Tips For Small Business Owners

It is no secret that working to retain your existing customer base delivers far greater rates of success than attempting to attract new clients. As a small business owner, statistically around 80% of sales will come from just 20% of the existing customer base. Despite this, the majority of business promotions are aimed at attracting new customers and exclude the people who have purchased from them before.

There are a number of ways in which you can encourage your customers to make repeat purchases. If you are having little success at attracting new customers, consider switching your marketing focus towards previous clients. Let them know that you still exist by sending them a regular newsletter – but make sure you provide interesting content or share useful resources instead of just delivering a weekly sales pitch. Try to keep your brand at the front of their mind.

Consider a loyalty scheme to reward your best customers. Even if it is just a small discount, it will give them less incentive to try a competitor. Sending Christmas cards to your customers is always a nice gesture too, especially if you include a price reduction!

Try to have greater interaction with your existing customers. Social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook have made it easier than ever for small businesses to reach out to clients and connect with them on a personal level. Encourage feedback from customers as this will make them feel valued and hopefully provide you with an opportunity to learn from their input.

WinWeb BusinessServices provide a number of marketing services for small businesses – find out more by visiting our website.

Can Your Small Business Wait 17 Years For A Software Update?

WinWeb didn’t fail to notice that this week saw the slightly surprising announcement from Microsoft that they would be patching a 17-year old bug. The vulnerability, present in all versions of Windows since NT 3.1, was only recently discovered and Microsoft have worked quickly to fix it. However, this does highlight an important issue regarding software updates that we at WinWeb take very seriously.

The traditional method that software vendors have always used when it comes to addressing problems often results in customers waiting a long time for a resolution. This is usually a necessary delay because the fix has to be tested many times over on different types of hardware and operating systems.

Big companies like Microsoft and Apple are now quite fast when it comes to patching urgent issues, but smaller software vendors often leave their customers waiting for months or years between patches. During this time the customer could be left with software that doesn’t work properly or leaves their computer vulnerable to an attack.

The software company also has to deal with the difficult issue of distributing their update to customers. Some software automatically checks for patches when connected to the Internet, but users have the option of ignoring this or declining to update.

Software-as-a-Service providers (like us here at WinWeb) are able to react very quickly to any problems that may arise. Although we release a totally new version approximately every 18 months, we are constantly updating on a weekly or daily basis without any disruption to our customers. There are no patches to download and being browser-based dramatically reduces the amount of compatibility issues that traditional vendors face.

Try OnlineOffice for yourself and see if you miss having to patch!

Managing Your Small Business Assets

Anything that your small business owns is considered to be an asset and should be listed as such on the Balance Sheet. Some assets are intangible and are not physically owned by the business (e.g. stocks or patents). The cash and inventory that the business owns at the moment is referred to as its current assets.

In business terms, a fixed asset is a purchase that has an ongoing use over a number of years. The most common items that a small business might list as a fixed asset are computers (including high-cost extras like printers and software), office furniture and equipment such as the telephone.

Fixed assets are subject to a process known as depreciation. This involves calculating the wear and tear on the object over the years that your business uses it. Depreciation is important in order to avoid the value of assets being overstated on the Balance Sheet – a piece of equipment is worth far less in its fifth year of use than when it was first purchased.

To calculate depreciation you need to know the date on which you started using the object and how much it initially cost. You must also have an estimated lifespan for the object and whether it will still have any value when you come to dispose of it.

Remember that not all fixed assets are subject to depreciation. Land or real estate will often increase in value year-on-year.

Try the Balance Sheet in the Accounting module of OnlineOffice free for 30 days by visiting www.winweb.com

Could You Leave Behind The 9-5?

Quitting a steady job to start a small business is often a very daunting prospect. The days of receiving a guaranteed salary and having fixed working hours will be behind you, often replaced by financial uncertainty and very long workdays. Despite this risk, the promise of greater rewards and increased job satisfaction drives hundreds of people every day to step outside their comfort zone and try to make their business idea a success.

If you are still trying to decide whether to leave your office job you should consider some of the following points. Firstly, you will probably gain far more experience about the world of business in your first year of trading than you have done so far in your entire career. Even if the business is not a great success, potential employers in the future will be impressed with your CV and you may be able to find a better job. You will also have the experience necessary to try running your own business again at some point in the future.

If you are unhappy with your current job or feel that your career has stagnated, the challenge of running your own business can be just what you need to get you out of a rut. In the current economic climate no-one’s job is secure, so if you are offered voluntary redundancy it can be a great impetus to change your life completely.

Another reason many people leave their job is to avoid the unpleasant expensive daily commute. Try to work out how much time and money you could save by running your own business closer to home. Using our OnlineOffice software suite will even allow you to run a business from the comfort of your kitchen table.

It has never been easier to start your own business – find out more at www.winweb.com

Does Your Small Business Need An iPad?

Apple have launched their latest offering, the iPad, and in the way that only Apple can they have most certainly got people talking; although not all of the comments about the iPad have been singing its praises. So, what functionality aspects of the iPad make it a must-have for small businesses? Or is it a case of style over substance when it comes to the iPad?

The main function of the iPad that will make it beneficial for small businesses is the ability to access the internet from wherever you are, using 3G technology. This will allow iPad users to visit any website they can from their PC or Mac from the iPad; for WinWeb users in particular this opens a whole host of possibilities. When the iPad and WinWeb are used simultaneously a small business will be able to send e-invoices and e-quotes to customers wherever they are. Those cumbersome train journeys will never again be wasted hours as you will be able to be in contact with customers and potential clients on the go!

The ability to access your email anywhere that there is 3G capability or a WIFI hotspot is also a major positive; never again will you miss an email whilst you are out of the office. The application that Apple has developed to allow users to use iWork on the iPad means that users will also be able to create and edit documents on the go. These reasons alone, added to the fantastic screen, portable size, 3G capability which sets it apart from most Notebooks, and quite frankly, gorgeous styling means that the iPad has our thumbs up!

Try WinWeb’s OnlineOffice free for 30 days to see how useful it would be to be able to access all your small businesses information from anywhere, at any time!

Spread The Word About Your Small Business With A Press Release

Sometimes small businesses have important information to announce, such as a partnership or new product launch. They can easily inform their existing customer base about the news but will often have difficulty spreading their message to a wider audience. This is an ideal situation for a small business to use a press release.

Press releases are often overlooked by small businesses as an effective form of advertising. They are considered by many to be a promotional tool used only by large corporations communicating with the media. The truth is that today’s mass media (especially on a local level) is constantly looking for interesting content that can be reported as news. It is highly likely that a well written press release will lead to some form of press coverage, either on the web or in the local papers.

There are some important things to remember when writing a press release. The first paragraph should grab the attention of the reader and impress them enough to keep reading. If you are launching a new product then the press release should aim to convince consumers that it would be useful and improve their life in some way. Remember to be subtle – press releases are not sales pitches and coming on too strong could result in less interest for the reader.

Be careful about the language you use in the press release and avoid words that exaggerate or mislead. Try not to make the press release too short or too long – 450 to 500 words is ideal. Include the date and time of the event or product launch, as well as full contact details for your business.

If you want to generate a buzz online for your small business without the hassle of writing your own press release, you might want to consider an Online PR campaign from WinWeb BusinessServices.

Find out more about WinWeb BusinessServices by visiting the WinWeb website.

Every Small Business Needs A Website!

Having a distinctive image is often what sets your company apart from the competition. Unique branding coupled with excellent service establishes a level of trust between your business and your customer base that can last for a long time. A good company image is also attractive to potential investors and opens up numerous possibilities for business growth and expansion.

Many small business owners now understand the powerful benefits of having a good corporate image. However, they often overlook this completely when it comes to their online presence. A poor website can reflect extremely badly on the professionalism of your company, yet many small businesses have websites that are visually unappealing and often do not even function correctly. This is probably worse for the business than having no website at all.

A website should not be something that you are embarrassed to direct your customers towards. It should be a showcase of the best aspects of your business and the address should be proudly displayed on all your business cards and stationery. A great website allows you to compete with much larger businesses.

Take a look at your competitors’ websites and see what they are doing. Until recently, it has always been very expensive for small business owners to get a professional quality website that they can be proud of. OnlineOffice customers are now able to choose from hundreds of great looking templates and build a fully functional website in just a few minutes, all included as part of their subscription.

Visit WinWeb’s website and sample this, and the other fantastic features of OnlineOffice, free for 30 days.

 

 

An Online Address Book For Your Small Business

In our home lives misplaced address books are inconvenient, but very rarely would they cause significant disruption to our daily lives, let alone cause a quantifiable financial loss. When it comes to our businesses, however, losing contact details for our all important client base can be devastating.

By storing all our important contacts details in an address book, or even on a hard drive, our small businesses are at risk of losing the details of potentially thousands of clients should the address book become lost or the hard drive crashes. How is it possible to avoid this, though? The answer lies in storing all your contacts remotely, by using what is known as “cloud storage”. This facility enables you to store your contacts, and all their details, remotely; not only protecting them from potential loss or damage but also meaning you can retrieve the appropriate data from anywhere, at any time.

By using the “Contacts” element of WinWeb’s OnlineOffice you are able to quickly and easily transfer all of your Outlook contacts in to your WinWeb address book, where they are securely and safely stored for you to access with ease and convenience wherever you are. Details of clients’ transactions can also be stored in conjunction with the details you would expect, adding an extra element of versatility and ease therefore giving your business the edge over your competitors.

The nature of OnlineOffice also means that the contacts stored in your remote address book can easily be shared with colleagues. So, why not give it a try today; it’s free for 30 days! Just go to www.winweb.com.

Back-Up Myths Debunked

Keeping current backups is vital for your business. Without it, you could easily lose critical data and cause serious problems that may result in a loss of revenue. Many people take unnecessary risks with the safety of their information.

The most common false assumption people often make is that they don’t need to back-up because they have a relatively new computer or laptop. Although new hardware is statistically less likely to fail, hard drives are notoriously unpredictable and could potentially fail at any time. A slight electrical spike or dropping a laptop can also be enough to lose all of your data.

Some people rely on USB flash memory sticks to save their work. These are good because they are far more robust than traditional hard drives as they don’t have any moving parts inside to dislodge. However, these also have drawbacks. Flash memory has a limited lifespan and the data it contains can only be overwritten a certain number of times before it will eventually fail just like a solid state drive. The other problem with USB sticks is that because of their small size they are extremely easy to lose. A common fate for many drives is a trip to the washing machine via the pockets of your laundry!

Another frequent excuse for not keeping back-ups is the mistaken belief that it is too difficult. It requires very little effort on your part, especially if you choose to back-up to the ‘cloud’ like WinWeb customers do. All it involves is uploading the latest version of your files to your OnlineOffice console as soon as you finish working on it. You then have a permanent copy of that file that you can instantly access from anywhere in the world.

Try backing up your data, and OnlineOffice’s other fantastic features free for 30 days at www.winweb.com

Improve Your Cashflow Management

Cashflow is often described as being the lifeblood of small businesses. Without careful management of cashflow a business can quickly get into financial trouble. A lack of cash can be hard to remedy, especially if the business needs to purchase supplies before it can make further sales. Without additional investment or a bank overdraft to help out the business, it will often lead to disaster.

However, there are number of small things you can do to avoid this situation occurring. The most important of these is receiving payment from customers as soon as possible, because until you have the money in the company account it is useless to your business. It is advisable to offer small incentives for swift payment to encourage customers to pay their invoices as soon as possible.

You should also be trying to do the exact opposite when it comes to paying company bills. Take advantage of a 30 or 60 day due date and use that time to set aside enough money to pay for it. With careful cashflow management you can make far more efficient use of your money.

Another important thing to remember is that your inventory is not cash until is sold. You may think that you will save a few pennies by ordering in large quantities, but if it cannot be sold then it is essentially just dead weight for your business that you may end up selling at a discount.

It is also advisable to make use of a Cashflow management tool like the one within OnlineOffice in order to make the process far simpler; it is fully integrated into the Accounting module and will give you much greater control over your business finances.

Try WinWeb’s cashflow management tool free for 30 days, just by visiting www.winweb.com !

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