People buy from people. It’s an obvious observation beloved of salespeople, but it’s also why networking is such a powerful tool for creating business development opportunities.

Networking helps build relationships with other professionals, share ideas and learn from each other. By connecting and partnering with the right people, you can create meaningful business relationships – relationships that may lead to new and innovative business opportunities.

Networking as your blueprint for success

Building a successful business network is essential. But how do you start developing these relationships with customers, suppliers and other business owners? And how does connecting with your peers help you broaden the scope of your opportunities?

Building up your network and connecting with people helps you:

• • • Find potential customers and expand the reach of your brand – attending trade conferences and industry workshops gets you in front of your target audience. It’s a chance to chat, find out customer pain points and understand your audience.
    • Meet new business partners – networking at the right trade events also helps you meet other business owners in your sector, and in other complimentary industries. It’s an opportunity to forge new partnerships and create co-branded opportunities
    • Get referrals from trusted members of your network – when you have trusted relationships in your network, these people are far more likely to recommend your business to their own network. Word-of-mouth promotion is the best kind, after all.
    • Locate the perfect mentor – we all have something to learn from more experienced members of our network. This is a golden opportunity to seek out a mentor who can give you advice, share their experience and improve your management skills.

By taking the time to nurture your network and build relationships with the right people, you can open up a world of possibilities for your business. As a business adviser working across multiple sectors, we can introduce you to new people, connections and opportunities.

If you’re looking for an introduction to a new network, come and talk to us.

The following content was originally published by BOMA. We have updated some of this article for our readers.

For many years, Google My Business (GMB) was one of the most under-used tools for businesses.

Perhaps it’s because a Google business listing used to be like adding your phone number to the Yellow Pages – a set-and-forget scenario.

But over the last couple of years, Google has invested heavily in the platform (now just Google Business), and many trade businesses are discovering that the tool can do so much more. Now a part of Google Maps, creating a Business Profile is essential if you want people to find your business on Google, and crucial for driving new potential customers your way.

Below we explore how you can make the most of Google’s features to help you win more business online.

1. Getting started with Google Business

Follow this step-by-step guide to set up your Business Profile:

Step 1: Create a Google account

• • If you already have a Google account, sign in. 
  • Don’t have one? You’ll need to create one.

Step 2: Create your listing

• • Go to business.google.com/create and follow the set-up prompts.
    • Even if you’ve never created a listing before, your business may already exist in Google Search with your details ready to be checked. If the business already exists you’ll need to Request Ownership.
  • Click ‘Finish’ and choose an option to verify your business.
    • Postcard is the most popular option, but can take weeks to show up. Other options may be available but unfortunately, none are 100% reliable. It may take a few goes for one to stick.

Step 3: Download the Google Business App

Everything’s better when you can do it on the go. Download the app to your Apple or Android device. Keep an eye on the metrics to see how you’re reaching your audience. Respond to questions and learn how to get regular 5-star reviews.

2. TEN tips for optimising your Google Business profile 

Now that you’re all set up and ready to go, here are a few tips for optimising your listing:

1. Your business name should be the same as your website. Don’t add in keywords thinking it’ll help you rank higher. Doing this goes against Google’s guidelines.
2. Business categories are key to reaching the right audience Review this regularly as Google can change its categories.
3. Business location – is important if you service a certain area, and it’s a good idea to specify the areas or suburbs your business operates in.
4. Opening hours must be accurate, so when customers call, they don’t reach you out of hours. Make sure to add public holidays and seasonal holiday hours as well. The app will also prompt you to do this.
5. Adding photos brings your profile to life while showing potential customers the level of workmanship they can expect from you. Load your best photos for each service category, photos of your business vehicle, your team, and completed jobs (with permission).
6. Create a short link that sends visitors to your Google listing on Maps. This makes it easy to share your profile with potential customers. You can add this link to your email signature or send it to customers to ask for a review.
7. Add messaging to help generate more leads. This functionality allows visitors to message you from your Google Business Profile.
8. Use Google Posts to stand out from the competition and extend the size of your listing. This lets you show news, events or offers with a short post and image. This will also appear in your local search and Google Maps listings. Google says 70% of local searchers look at multiple businesses before choosing which one to deal with – and these posts can help tip the balance in your favour.
9. Answer questions before they’ve been asked. Take note of the questions you’re asked most by new leads, and load them, along with the answers, to the Q&A section of your listing. But make sure you monitor them regularly – other people can ask and also answer questions about your business.
10. Publish reviews: Google Business is one of the many ways you can generate customer reviews. Make sure you respond to every review, good or bad – it’ll go a long way to giving your business credibility. Learn how to get regular 5-star reviews.

3. Five ways your business benefits from Google Business

Google Business is a free tool that helps small businesses create and manage their Google listings. These listings appear when customers search for businesses using Google platforms like Search and Maps. Not only does it help customers find you, but it’s also a great way to share basic information about your business to attract, engage and convert new customers. 

Even if you get most of your new leads through word of mouth, setting yourself up on Google Business is important – after all, those leads probably looked you up on Google before contacting you.

1. Make it easy for customers to reach you: As a customer, there’s nothing more frustrating than being recommended a great business, and not being able to track them down. Google Business removes that hassle. Add your website and phone number to your listing so it’s super-simple to reach you. If your contact details do change, it’s easy to edit your listing – you can just log in to your Google Business account to make changes at any time.
   Get discovered by local customers: In an emergency, people often find local tradespeople on Google Maps. Say someone is urgently looking for a plumber to fix a burst pipe. If you’re a plumber, and you have your business listed on Google Business, Google will pull your business profile through to Maps when the potential customer searches ‘plumber’ or ‘plumber near me’. If your business location is listed in the customer’s immediate area, there’s a good chance you’ll be one of the first results to appear.
2. Generate new leads: If you’re experiencing a shortage of enquiries, Google Business is another channel to help fill your job pipeline. Add a link to your website enquiries form so you can keep track of new leads.
3. Give prospective customers a reason to hire you: Use the platform to tell new visitors what your business is all about and add a list of your services. This won’t affect your Google ranking, but it will help with customer experience. 
4. Charge what you’re worth: Lastly, having a Google Business listing gives your business a certain level of credibility. You can use its many features to prove you provide a quality service – and are well worth the rate you charge. Not sure what you should be charging? Check out our Free Charge-Out Rate Calculator. 

4. More quick ways to up your marketing game 

Even if your business runs well on word of mouth recommendations, you may still be missing out on new leads. Google Business costs you nothing but your time. Stay active to keep it up to date, add information and photos, and remember to ask for and respond to customer reviews. 

Ready for more digital marketing? Download our free marketing toolkit and checklist, designed specifically for busy people on the go, with step-by-step instructions, tips, tricks and case studies, to help you market your business and drive more enquiries.

The following content was originally published by Tradify. We have updated some of this article for our readers.

Are you undercharging for your services? It can be hard to tell, particularly if you’re in a niche industry or you’re a contractor. Costs have been rising, so it may be time to rethink your own pricing.

Here are five signs that you might be undercharging:

1. Nobody ever questions your quotes – Do all your new clients accept your quotes or charges without asking any questions, requesting a breakdown or wanting a discount? It’s possible they’re delighted to be getting such a great deal.
2. You run off your feet but you can’t afford to get help – When you’re working yourself to the bone, but there’s not enough money left over to employ someone to help you, your prices are too low – or something else needs to change.
3. Your prices have been the same for two years or more – In most industries, prices increase just slightly each year. Leave your prices flat for too long and you’re not keeping up with the market; make sure you review your fees annually.
4. You’re overbooked – When business is booming and there’s no room for new clients, it’s time to raise your prices.
5. Clients don’t treat you as well as they should – When clients think they’re paying peanuts, they’ll often take you for granted. They don’t see your time as valuable, so they feel free to mess you around.

What should you be charging?

Finding your pricing sweet spot could take a little time. You’ll need to do some research, maybe ask around a little, and find out where your competitors are pitching their rates.

We can help too – if we have clients in similar industries we might be able to give you some indication of typical fees, so give us a call or drop us a note. We’d love to hear from you.

The following content was originally published by BOMA. We have updated some of this article for our readers.

Successfully implementing change in your business

Research by Kotter International found that more than 70% of change projects within a business fail. Why is this?

The research findings show that employee engagement is the biggest factor. Whether it is a small change to one or two processes, or a company-wide change, it’s common for staff to feel intimidated by it.

So what can you do for successful implementation of change? Here are the principals from Kotter’s 8-Step Program:

1. Get the team onboard

Build support and create momentum behind the changes you are making by communicating the benefits with the whole company early on.

• • Start honest discussions with your team and give dynamic and convincing reasons to get people talking and thinking about the change.
  • Demonstrate what would happen if you don’t make the change and what else it could affect in the future.
  • Request support from customers in this instance who may love the product, outside stakeholders and others known in the industry to strengthen your argument.

Kotter suggests that 75 percent of a company’s management needs to support a change in order to succeed.

2. Form a powerful coalition from all areas of the business

Share the support you have from all areas in the business (not just the leadership team). Visible support from key people within the organization will bring others on board and create a sense of urgency. Give these people key roles in the change process to help progress it.

Once formed, your ‘change coalition’ needs to work as a team, continuing to build urgency and momentum around the need for change.

What you can do:

• • Identify the influencers in your organization for this change, as well as your key stakeholders.
  • Ensure that you have a good mix of people from different levels within your firm.
  • Ask for a commitment from these key people.
  • Work on team building within your change coalition.

3. Create a vision for change

Create an overall vision that helps everyone understand why you’re asking them to do something.

What you can do:

• • Develop a short summary (one or two sentences) that captures what you ‘see’ as the future of your organization.
  • Create a strategy to execute that vision.
  • Ensure that your team leading the change are all on the same page.

4. Communicate the vision

Embed this in everything you do so it is not lost in the day-to-day operation but a powerful part of this.

What you can do:

• • Talk often about vision and change.
  • Make sure the vision is applied to all aspects of the operations. For example, ensure it’s added to the training and induction program and is encapsulated into the relevant job descriptions and evaluations.
  • Address people’s concerns and anxieties about it openly and honestly.
  • Lead by example.

5. Remove obstacles

Check constantly for processes and structures that need to adjust to allow you to execute the vision and help the change move forward.

What you can do:

• • Look at your organizational structure, job descriptions, and performance and compensation systems to ensure they’re in line with your vision.
  • Recognize and reward people for making change happen.
  • Identify, or hire, change managers whose core role is to deliver the change.
  • Identify areas or team members that stand in the way of change and find solutions.
  • Take action to quickly remove barriers rather than letting them fester.

6. Create short-term wins

Create short-term targets – not just one long-term goal. Each ‘win’ you produce helps further motivate all staff, this is crucial especially if it’s a big change requiring a longer process and helps them stay on track.

What you can do:

• • Reward people who help you meet the targets.
  • Look for sure-fire projects that you can implement without help from strong critics of the change.
  • Don’t choose early targets that are expensive. You want to be able to justify the investment in each project.

7. Build on the change

Keep looking for improvements to the system to ensure the long-term goals are achieved.

What you can do:

• • After every win, analyze what went right, and what needs improving.
  • Set goals to continue building on the momentum you’ve achieved.
  • Develop a culture of continuous improvement.
  • Keep ideas fresh by bringing in new people to lead the change.

8. Anchor the changes in your culture

Finally, to make any change stick, it should become part of the core of your organization. Make continuous efforts to ensure that the change is seen in every aspect, giving it a solid place in your organization. It’s also important that your company’s leaders continue to support the change. This includes existing staff and new leaders who are brought in.

What you can do:

• • Talk about progress every chance you get. Tell success stories about the change process and repeat other stories that you hear.
  • Include the change ideals and values when hiring and training new staff so it is enforced from the start.
    Publicly recognize key members and enablers of the change.
  • Create plans to replace key leaders of change as they move on. This will help ensure that their legacy is not lost or forgotten.

The following content was originally published by BOMA. We have updated some of this article for our readers.

Seasonal dips in income can be highly challenging when you’re a small business. But there are proactive ways to predict, plan for and overcome these dips in revenue.

The key to dealing with seasonal dips is to know when they’re most likely to occur, and to have measures in place to spread your income and revenue pipeline over the course of the year.

Understanding seasonality in your sector

If your business is seasonal such as pool supplies, or a ski gear specialist, you’ll be used to the peaks and troughs, but many ‘non-seasonal’ businesses experience times during the financial year where sales and revenue peak – and, on the flipside, where sales and revenue experience a pronounced dip.

When income is low at certain times of the year, it makes for challenging times.

So, what are the key ways to plan for this kind of seasonality?

• • • Forecast your seasonality – it’s vital to know WHEN you’re most likely to experience any seasonal dips. Looking at benchmarking reports for your industry is one way to predict the seasonality in your niche or sector. But you can also use your own accounting data to great effect. Look back through your profit & loss reports and spot where the peaks and troughs have occurred over preceding years.
    • Charge a premium in peak time – one straightforward approach is to apply premium pricing for your products/services during the busy season. By increasing your pricing, you boost your overall revenue, giving you more working capital to see you through the leaner months when sales and income are at their lowest.
    • Offer additional peak-time services – offering added extras and other additional service lines during peak time is another way to maximize the season. In the months where customers are most engaged, look to upsell these premium services and offer more value. Satisfied clients will be more inclined to pay for added extras, giving you an increased revenue stream from the same number of customers.
    • Target other markets – exploring other related markets is another useful tactic. When you’re experiencing downtime, look for other ways to monetize your existing assets, products or services. For example, if you’re a hotel where sales peak in summertime, offer discounted conference space in the winter months to boost revenue.
    • Diversify your products/services – if one product/service has a known seasonal dip, look at adding an additional product or service to offset this downtime. For example, a ski resort could promote bike-riding or hiking breaks during the warmer summer months to keep revenue constant. Likewise, a pool maintenance firm could establish an outdoor fireplace business for the colder months.
    • Have a regional e-commerce strategy – If you’re dependent on a small local market, broadening your marketing and e-commerce strategies can help to attract a wider customer base – and bolster sales. Paid advertising through Facebook, LinkedIn or X/Twitter can easily target new geographical markets, bringing in new customers and giving your revenue a much-needed uplift during seasonal troughs.

Talk to us about planning for seasonality

If your business is struggling with seasonal dips, and the resulting impact on cashflow, come and talk to us. We’ll help you identify the timing of your seasonal downtime and come up with a clear strategy for stabilizing your income across the year.

Get in touch to start beating those seasonal dips.

The following content was originally published by BOMA. We have updated some of this article for our readers.

Trying to get perfect the work/life balance can be a cause of stress in itself.

If you are feeling the strain of building your business and maintaining your life the good news is that stress and a productive existence can go hand in hand. Be mindful and you can find the balance that’s best for you.

How much stress is good for you?

The Yerkes-Dodson law shows that an individual’s performance increases with stress (arousal) until cortisol levels get too high and then decreases again just as sharply – the secret is to stop your stress levels sending you down the other side of the bell curve. How much is too much varies for everyone but by understanding and managing your stress levels you can use them for good.

How to manage your stress

• • • Take Control – Feeling in control can decrease stress from negative levels by presenting the stress causes as surmountable challenges. Get a handle on your project, your tasks or your day by breaking them down into achievable goals and making choices about what to prioritize.
    • Get positive – Your perception of your stress is important, rather than leading to panic and inertia recognize the first quickening of your heart rate calmly as powerful, making you more alert and capable.
    • Connect – Social support reduces stress so good relationships within a team and the wider office environment make everyone more resilient to stress.
    • Exercise – A good workout reduces bad stress and is good for the brain as well as the heart and lungs.
    • Sleep – Poor sleep is bad for stress levels and health so be disciplined about getting a good night’s rest, being exhausted will increase susceptibility to further stress and damage productivity.

If work stress is getting too much, talk to us.

We can help with managing systems, technology, payroll or other financial and administrative management. We can help with your business worries so you can get back on track.

The following content was originally published by BOMA. We have updated some of this article for our readers.