blogging, businessbuildingstrategies, process management

Small Business Start-Up Tips

So, you’re wanting to start a small business? Here are a few tips when it comes to figuring out the type of company you want to start and other important details. 

Figure Out What Interests You 

Identify how you’re spending your free time and what gets you excited to learn more. Maybe it’s a hobby you spend a lot of time doing, books you read, magazines you subscribe to, clubs/groups you’re a part of, or places you travel to. 

Identity a Problem 

Some of the most successful businesses are the result of finding the solution to a problem many people are facing in everyday life. These can make the best kind of products and/or services because everyone loves a solution that makes their quality of life better. 

Research Your Market

A lot of markets are becoming oversaturated as time goes on and people make knock offs/ the same product with another brand name. Doing research in your selected target market is a huge factor in determining your possible success. 

Build A Team

In order to run a business smoothly and deliver the best consumer experience, you may want to look into building a small team. During the start-up process cost is normally very important, so virtual assistants are your best bet. They handle most of the busy work while you can focus on making your product and/or service as great as possible. 

Life by Design has numerous VA’s on standby to truly help you with the crazy journey of running a small business. Schedule your free consultation today! 

Uncategorized

5 Simple Tips for Small Business Owners

In the year of 2020, we all know small businesses took some of the hardest hits due to the pandemic, but it’s 2021 now and time for us to bounce back! 

Our country is full of millions of small businesses- owned by “ordinary” people like us who want to take their passion and turn it into a profit making machine. Below are some tips for my fellow small business owners. 

Stay Focused

Many small business owners make the mistake of trying to appeal to too many target markets, too quickly. Depending on the type of company you run, sticking to your niche can have a huge impact on your growth. 

Brand Imagery

People don’t know who you are, what you do, or even where you came from; so having not only a consistent but solid brand message/image can really let people in on your personal story. This also gives consumers somewhat of a backstory as to where their product or service is coming from and depending on your story can tug on those heart strings- promoting sales. 

You Will Wear Many Hats

When first starting a small business you’ll probably be wearing MANY hats to fulfill all needs of your start-up. From CRM to making and shipping your products and/or services, you have to have basic knowledge of all business concepts in order to deliver that consumer experience people won’t forget. At Life by Design our goal is to help/take over on some of those responsibilities. 

Take Advantage of Social Media

In this day and age social media is one of the biggest and best tools for growing your business. Apps like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube have millions of people waiting on standby in your target demographic to buy your product or service. With a budget as low as $5 you can reach thousands of people a day. 

Pay Attention to Consumer Needs

Sometimes business owners are unsure of how to deal with customers/consumers and deliver that great experience. Having a smooth checkout process, keeping engaged, offering good customer service, and keeping them at a high priority are just a few of the things to overall improve their needs and keep them coming back for more.

Life by Design’s goal is to assist you in/with these daunting tasks and keep you focused on your passion. We offer a free consultation HERE. 

I personally wish each and every small business owner the best of luck. 2021 is our year.

Uncategorized

Time Management Tips for Your Business

Do you have a hard time keeping a schedule for your business and don’t really manage your time well? If so, you are not alone! Last month was a bad time management month for me, and it showed in my business. So today I want to talk for just a minute about what I am doing differently in hopes that it might help someone else.

Time Management and Doing Income Producing Activities

I have been super busy trying to learn new skills, write an eBook and email course, and implement everything as I learn new marketing techniques, and my time management has been terrible because of it. And it shows.

When you do not practice good time management skills, time gets away from you. You end up wasting more time instead of doing income producing activities that grow your business. And you stall your business growth. Because you cannot be laser focused and do a great job when you are trying to do 50 different things. I was trying to do way too much instead of focusing on a couple things, which made me inconsistent and lack diligence in my business.

I was trying to learn and do too many things and it seriously hindered my success last month. If that is you too, I have good news. This is a new day and a new month to start over and do better.

So here 3 main things I am going to focus on for this new month and I think it might be helpful for you as well.

  1. Focus on talking to people about your business. That’s where the money is. Focus on people. Everything else can be extra after you’ve talked to people each day. Set a goal. My goal is to call, message, or in some way talk to 20 people a day about my business. Yours does not have to be that many or it may be more. But just set a goal of how many you are going to talk to and stay consistent.
  2. Set a schedule for the hours you will work. This is so important. All businesses need to have scheduled work hours. If not, you will either not do anything, or you will be like I was last month, feeling like I was working constantly. Set a schedule. You may not be able to stick to it completely, but set it and get as close to that schedule as possible each day. My red personality type tends to be a workaholic and I really have to reign it in sometimes and cut back or it gets out of control.
  3. An important thing to remember is that God gave you the desire to succeed. Maybe you are in a home business and you have tried multiple businesses, been in for years with no real success, or maybe you are brand new but have a strong desire to do this. Either way, God gave you that desire. You have a desire to succeed. All humans have a desire to succeed in something, but we get so bogged down with “reality” that we lose hope in those dreams, whatever they may be. I am here to tell you today that if you are in a business and have a burning desire to make it work, God placed that desire there and has a plan and purpose for that desire in you. He can use it to reach so many people. He wants to see you succeed, but you have to do the work, follow directions and walk in that calling. It took me many years to see that, but I now know God has a plan and purpose for me and for my business. He does for you too. Rise up and walk in it starting today! He will not let you fall if you keep your eyes on Him.

To your success,

Genean Roberts

buildyourmlm

Personal Branding: Why It’s Vital For Growing Your Business

Do you know what personal branding really means? And if you do, do you know why it is so vital to growing your business?

When it comes to growing a successful business, many people struggle with building their personal brand. Most never end up building a personal brand, they simply promote the company or service all over social media. 

When all you are promoting is the company or the product or service, you aren’t providing real value to the marketplace. You come off as salesy and it’s spamming. However, if you start to build a brand around yourself and give value to others, then things will start to change.

Many believe that branding is only for bigger companies, like Walmart, and not necessary for a small business owner that is just getting started. But that’s far from the truth.

It is just as critical for small business owners to build a personal brand around themselves as it is for big companies building their brands.

So what’s involved in ‘building a personal brand?

Whether you’re brand new or already having success in your business there are 3 laws for building a personal brand around you…

Building a brand around you will attract the attention of prospects, gives you credibility… and earns people’s trust.

Brand yourself has nothing to do with how successful you are right now!

Most small business owners think they have to get to the top first and then they will create their brand for their business. The truth is you’re not going to get to the top at all with that kind of thinking. Honestly your prospects don’t care what your bank account looks like as long as you’re giving them solutions for their problems through your blog posts, YouTube videos, Facebook lives, or other types of social media posts, and the services you offer.

So focus on giving value and don’t focus on where you are currently in your business or how much or how little you are making as a new business owner. Focus on the value you can give them.

People lose interest fast so make sure they’re seeing value.

When someone visits your blog or Facebook page, it must be totally clear what’s in it for them. And they must know within 3 seconds what you, your products, or your services can do for them! Attention spans are short, and you have about 3 seconds to really get them…

When someone visits your site, it’s because they are looking for something. They need something. It might be information or a solution to their problems.

This should be something you always focus on when you are putting out content.

Always remember it’s all about your target market’s wants and needs. It’s not about YOU!

Your Brand Must Be Bigger Than Just You!

The idea of branding is to build a following. To be set apart and stand out above the chaos on the internet. But, why should someone follow you, buy from you, choose your business instead of choosing someone else?

You must inspire others to join you in your business and make them feel like they’re part of something that has a greater purpose.

If you make your audience leave feeling inspired… they will come back over and over. They will want to share your brand with everyone they know. And then your brand will grow.

So number 1, branding has nothing to do with your current success, 2, people lose interest fast so make your content engaging, and 3 it has to be about something bigger.

Build trust with people through valuable content that will serve them well.

To your success,

Genean Roberts