 Photo via Pexels If you’re looking for a place to open a small business, North Carolina is an excellent bet. The city of Charlotte, in particular, boasts healthy population growth, affordable housing, high quality of life, and a low cost of living. You’ll find no shortage of community-minded consumers who are eager to support the local companies who keep our city alive and thriving. And because this commercial hub is only growing in popularity among entrepreneurs, Charlotte is a great place to put down roots! Here’s a quick guide packed with everything you need to know about launching a business in the Queen City. A Thriving Tech Sector Cities like Austin, San Francisco, and Seattle often come to mind when we think about major tech hubs. But Charlotte’s budding tech sector is often overlooked! According to Charlotte Stories, the city was ranked as America’s top tech town by a leading IT association in 2018. Described as the “Silicon Valley of the East”, Charlotte attracts tech-savvy millennials from all over the country to work for major brands including Wells Fargo and the Bank of America. If you’re thinking about launching an IT startup, consider joining the ranks of Charlotte’s top tech companies! The city is overflowing with professionals who can help you get off the ground. For example, OmniMarketing2020 can help you formulate your digital strategy, build your online presence, and leverage digital marketing to get your brand in front of customers. No Shortage of Affordable Homes Affordability is another reason why Charlotte is such a great place to open a business. Charlotte residents enjoy housing expenses that are 14% lower than the national average! And there’s no shortage of great places to rent, whether you’re looking for an apartment in the heart of the city or a townhouse in the suburbs. According to Rentals.com, there are currently 1260 homes for rent in Charlotte. By saving money on housing, you’ll be able to invest more into growing your startup! Financial Feasibility Thanks to the low cost of living in Charlotte, starting a business is a realistic venture for people on any budget. Keeping your startup costs low will help you maintain the financial health of your business, so you can avoid cash flow problems and other financial setbacks. Try to establish good financial habits early. Learn how to read financial statements, prepay taxes, and manage employee payroll properly. There are plenty of resources out there that can help you out, from online financial classes to automation software. A Surging Entrepreneurship Community Community spirit plays an important role in the success or failure of any local business. Fortunately for Charlotte’s entrepreneurs, there’s plenty of small business support to go around. You just have to make sure those community-minded shoppers can find you! Content marketing is a great way to get the attention of local customers who want to support small businesses like yours. Neil Patel suggests targeting local keywords based on what locals are searching for and writing articles on these topics to drive traffic to your website. Guest posting on local websites is another great way to boost your brand visibility locally. As a plus, local small businesses are typically happy to publish free content! Reach out to local businesses in related industries—ideally not your competitors, but brands that complement yours—and offer to write a guest post that would be valuable for their audience as well as your own. If you’re looking for the perfect place to bring your business idea to life, Charlotte might be your answer. Charlotte residents are eager to support every new business that opens up in town. And thanks to the city’s ever-growing tech sector, you’ll have no problem finding the infrastructure, resources, and professional services you need to build a thriving online presence for your brand. Are you looking for marketing help? OmniMarketing2020 can help establish a strong online presence for your new business. Contact us today! 910-557-6275.
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Practical Ways to Improve Your Small Business Finances  Image via Pexels
Starting and operating a new business is a wild and exciting ride. Entrepreneurship will push you to grow, learn, and take your creativity to new heights. Most business owners go into business because they have an idea, service, or goods they can offer to the public and people will pay money for it. Most entrepreneurs don’t have a master’s in business and—while specialized in their trade—are not specialized in accounting, tax, liability protection, or time management. No business owner can be an expert overnight in all the areas it takes to run a successful business. However, all business owners can invest time to learn and outsource to professionals when needed. The primary goal of OmniMarketing2020 is to help entrepreneurs realize their dreams of success, which is why we’ve provided ideas to take your business to the next level. We Can All Use a Little Help from Our Friends Knowing when to ask the right people the right questions will save you a lot of time and headache. Develop your circle now to help you grow your business. Here are some pros you may want to reach out to and develop a relationship with as you launch your business:
The Key to Business Is Delegating There are only a finite number of hours in the day. Wouldn’t it be nice to have guaranteed quality sleep, time to exercise, time to eat three healthy meals you prepared yourself, time alone doing a hobby, and time with your loved ones while getting all of your work tasks done? We can dream that the day will come where it all is easy, but for now, it’s a juggling act. Throw the balls up in the air and make sure that none hit the floor. We all have our limits, and sometimes the “one more thing” on your to-do list is simply not realistic. As an entrepreneur, your time is best spent doing what you’re good at and what brings in the money. For instance, data entry, while necessary to run some successful businesses, is typically not the main breadwinner. Consider hiring a freelance data entry professional and free up your time to concentrate on growing your business. Finances 101 Whether you are just launching a new business or have been at it for a while, it’s never too early or late to establish good financial habits. It’s important to know what money is coming in, what money is going out, how to develop financial statements, how to establish credit or loans for the business, how to prepay taxes, and how to manage payroll. Pick up books, take classes, and invest in software. Even if you hire a bookkeeper to oversee the day-to-day activities, you should still be hands-on and know what you’re looking at when you review the books, bank statements, and tax returns. Time Is Money Your time is money. It’s cliche but true. When your schedule is in disarray, you will miss opportunities for development and earning. Not all time management methods work for all people and all businesses, but you won’t find the method that works best for you until you start trying them out. Here are some things you can implement in your schedule to see if they make you more efficient:
Are you looking for top-notch digital strategy services for your small business? Visit omnimarketing2020.com to see how we can help! 4 Ways a Marketing Plan Can Boost Your Business Reopening
Photo by Karolina Grabowska from Pexels No industry made it out of the 2020 pandemic unscathed, but as the new year continues to blossom, opportunities to reopen are beginning to appear. While reopening your business may sound stressful, there are steps you can take to make your grand reappearance on the market a cost-effective success. The professionals at OmniMarketing 2020 have collected these proven digital strategies that can help you successfully reopen your business. Plan for Safety If businesses want to reopen, safety for customers and staff is a must. How will this affect your business and your bottom line? Concepts like social distancing, masks, and hand sanitizer are the new norms, so think about how you could implement these safety measures. Determining how many people you need on shifts, your new building capacity, cleaning regimens, and even new hours will also fit under this umbrella. These are brand new concerns to many businesses, so spend some time thinking about your own shopping habits through this pandemic: what do you expect to see in stores? What makes a business feel safe to you, the customer? The only way to maintain your business is to keep your staff and customers safe, so remember that you’re marketing yourself as a safe business by instituting these protocols. Connect with Your Customers Many of us are feeling distant right now; connecting with your customers, through mailers, social media, or email, can help keep them in the loop about your reopening and other offerings you may have. There are plenty of email marketing services, even free ones, that make it easy to reach out to loyal customers and keep them informed in a stylish, simple way. Keep in mind that most emails are read on smartphones, so choose an email marketing service that will also help make sure the formatting is appropriate for all viewers. Strong emails will help build credibility and relationships with customers, so don’t hesitate to reach out and connect with customers even before you’re ready to open your doors. Think About the Long Game Closures are stressful, but they can give you time to reflect on your business and its structure. Many businesses have pivoted to providing online service, even if they never had before, helping them reach new customers and expand their offerings. Whether it is through a retail site or you build your own website, making your business online-friendly can help defend against any other business disruptions, be they from the pandemic or some other disaster. Another way to make your business more flexible is to consider forming an LLC; LLCs offer you limited personal liability for your business, as well as less paperwork, tax benefits, and greater overall flexibility. You can even file the paperwork to become an LLC by yourself, skipping the expensive legal fees and helping you control the process. Each state has different requirements for starting an LLC, so be sure to check the regulations for your state before you get started. Bring in the Experts Consider working with a marketing firm, like OmniMarketing 2020, who can help you determine who your customers are and how best to reach them. Our expertise is endlessly beneficial even when business is operating as normal; now, moving online and connecting more personally with customers, our skills are in even higher demand. From effective websites to tricks for successful mailing campaigns, marketing experts can help ensure your endeavors grow your business seemingly like magic. Each of these aspects will help you bring customers back to your business and keep them, no matter what happens in 2021. While we have to rethink the details, like social distancing for in-person shopping and user-friendly e-commerce online experiences, the strategies are still tried and true. Connect with your customers to make sure your business resonates with their needs and wants. The team at OmniMarketing 2020 is ready to help you make your business a smashing success, so contact us today to see how we can help grow your industry and make the connections you need. Key Characteristics That Equate to Success in the World of Business Great companies are built with great leadership. It means the powers that be bring out the best in their team members, inspire faithfulness from customers, and earn respect from their peers. It means demonstrating leadership qualities in a manner that others find understandable, relatable, and motivational. Here’s how to nurture those qualities from within and ensure you can be a successful leader.
What Do You See in the Mirror? Leadership is more than a title; it’s how you act, what you say, and your attitude. How you conduct your affairs is exactly what your team members and company culture will reflect. They look to you as their role model and then respond accordingly. For example, if you see employees are generally uninspired and doing as little as possible to get by, it’s time to evaluate whether they can see your passion. When you are energized and excited about the work you are doing, that carries over into their work. On the flip side, if they don’t see your positive energy, or if they only hear about their own failures, they are bound to feel discouraged, lose productivity, and forfeit creativity. You must embody the vision you hope to see mirrored in your team. Demonstrate Your Vision What particular qualities make a great leader, and thereby make a great team? You must have the courage to turn your plans into reality, setting aside your comfort zone to do what must be done. You must be vigilant, staying abreast of your company’s comings, goings, moving and shaking, so you know what’s working and what isn’t. You must also have the integrity to do what you say you’re going to do, and be where you say you’re going to be. Lastly, when all is said and done, you must demonstrate openness. Being able to admit when something doesn’t work, to accept constructive criticism, to show compassion when others fail — openness alone will foster trust, honesty, and healthy debates within your team. Learning and Growing Naturally great leaders know that there is always room for improvement. Whether you come by leadership skills naturally or not isn’t really relevant; the important thing is to always search for ways to improve in your role. There are courses specifically designed to enhance your leadership abilities or to focus on weak areas in your own job performance. From learning about finances to becoming a more confident leader, earning an online business degree can not only advance your skills, but it also shows your team you are actively working to become a better leader and can inspire them toward more excellence as well. Keep in mind that while it’s true you can’t truly motivate your employees — they ultimately motivate from within — look for ways to connect with them and encourage a mutual exchange of ideas. Keep communication flowing in both directions, and if you find some aren’t participating, find ways to include them. By knowing they are valued, you once again demonstrate the leadership you want to be reflected throughout your team. For help formulating a focused digital strategy, building your e-commerce presence, and improving website visibility, call 910-557-6275 to connect with Contact OmniMarketing2020! |