September 2020

I love watching squirrels frolic around the greenery outside my home, especially when they climb up palm trees across the…

The post No Audience? <br>The First Step for New Writers appeared first on Copyblogger.

This is a guestpost from our friends at TextMagic Introduction Mobile marketing is one of the most effective ways for restaurants to reach potential customers. 81% of customers regularly use their […]

The post 5 Ways SMS Marketing Can Upgrade Your Restaurant [with 5 SMS Templates!] appeared first on CandyBar.co Blog.

Face masks have become commonplace very quickly during 2020. Some existing businesses have simply added them to their product lines. Others have popped up since the pandemic started.

Puhff Mask and Accessories started because of the founder’s personal experience with COVID-19. And the company aims to provide practical help for communities.

Puhff Mask and Accessories

Read more about the mission below in this week’s Small Business Spotlight.

What the Business Does

Sells face masks.

Business Niche

Providing common sense solutions.

CEO Jaheyla Jones told Small Business Trends, “Most masks aren’t packaged in antibacterial pouches, but Puhff Masks are. Moreover, this company was founded in an attempt to stop the exploitation of lack of masks and end price gouging in this market.”

How the Business Got Started

After a bout with COVID-19.

Jones recovered from COVID-19 and wanted a way to protect her community. So she stared exploring the possibility of selling face masks.

Biggest Win

Connecting with distributors.

Jones says, “The biggest win so far is partnering with Mr. Checkout, a pretty big distributor. As a wholesale company we want to do everything we get our products into the hands of the people.”

Biggest Risk

Investing in a new business during an uncertain time.

Jones explains, “Just starting the business was a risk. With all the uncertainty of the pandemic, it was a risk to invest in masks, in packaging, in marketing.”

How They’d Spend an Extra $100,000

Growing their operations and helping others.

Jones says, “I would invest it back into the company in order to later invest it back into the community.”

Fun Fact

The team has always been remote.

Jones explains, “Since this company started during the pandemic, none of the team members have actually met each other in person!”

* * * * *

Find out more about the Small Biz Spotlight program

Image: Puhff Mask and Accessories

This article, “Spotlight: Puhff Mask and Accessories Launched Due to a Personal Bout with COVID-19” was first published on Small Business Trends

Kedma Ough and Rashedia Mayhane spoke at the Survive and Thrive Summit about money tips and tools for your small business. Hosted and produced by Ramon Ray of Smart Hustle Media, the first two Summits were held in April and August 2020. The next one will be in this spring of 2021. It’s free, so sign up for updates and registration information.

Kedma is a small business superhero, an advocate to those navigating entrepreneurship and trying to be successful. During this challenging time, you need as many superheroes as possible who have your back since there are many new challenges we’ve never faced before. Read on to learn about money tips and tools that will help your business now and in the future. 

“Every difficult circumstance has a silver lining.” – Kedma Ough

Kedma has researched publications about how businesses thrive during and after a recession. Basically, the economy rewards the aggressive advertiser, not the business that pulls away and overthinks their next move. People are still spending money, but they are spending differently.

For instance, COVID-19 has forced people to spend money online in ways they never have before, which is making off-line businesses move more into the digital space. You need to serve your current customer base and see what you can do to support them during this time.

During and after a recession, the economy rewards the aggressive advertiser, not the business that pulls away and overthinks their next move.

Rashedia explains how much we learn when we hit rock bottom, which has happened to a lot of people over the last several months. This is the time for small business owners to really see what skills they have in-house and utilize those skills and resources. Whether you have one team member or ten, see what additional tools you can pull from your current staff that could save money from having to use vendors or outside resources.

Money Tips to Make Each Dollar Go Farther

1. Look over personal finances

Rasheida tells us how it’s hard to focus on business matters if personal matters aren’t in place or are in a stressful period.

Many business owners who have been in business for less than five years use personal money for funding, which isn’t a bad thing. But this is the time it’s ok to take a pause and reset if you need it. It’s important to just breathe and take a break from self-funding so you can make decisions with a clear mind, especially if personal finances are stressful. 

2. Consider talking to your credit card companies

It’s possible they will be able to reduce your interest rates or work out a deal if you just call and talk to them.

3. Collaborate with competitors

This might sound counterintuitive, but this is the time to pivot and think of new ways to get people to spend money. Sometimes a collaboration actually reaches more people, and there are ways to market together by still showing each business’s unique features.

The campaign for “Got Milk?” was actually put together by a bunch of dairy farmers who were technically in competition. But the campaign created a big spotlight on milk, which in turn got people talking and spending money. It was less about each specific brand and more about the product. 

4. Find funding

Head to Google and search for COVID-19 Small Business Funding (Your City). Kedma told us how there are many ways to get funding, but they aren’t highly marketed because they are more niche and specific.

So set some time aside and start doing a little research, go below the surface and see how your gender, demographic, and type of business might be able to receive other types of funding. A lot of help for small businesses is out there, so don’t throw in the towel too easily.

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The post 4 Financial Tips During COVID: Make Your Money Work for You appeared first on SmartHustle.com.

Young entrepreneurs generally seem to be reluctant to consider using debt to help finance their businesses. The reasons they cite are many.  Often, they are concerned that they already have a heavy debt burden due to student loans from college.  Others tell me they watched their parents get deep into debt and don’t want to […]

The post Good Debt. Bad Debt. appeared first on Dr Jeff Cornwall.

COVID-19 has impacted our way of life and more so the way we work. Working from home has become the new normal, and we’ve literally turned our homes into an office and digitized our work. In a little over six months, we have learned how to remote work, learn to video conference as well as collaborate in the cloud. 

According to a survey by FlexJobs 51% of workers claim they have been more productive since starting to work remotely. With only 5% saying they have become less productive. 

Top Things Employees Miss About Working in an Office

Despite these perks working from home isn’t all it is cracked to be for some. In fact, employees still miss the office- particularly human contact. Among the things they miss working in the office include:

• 49%, miss seeing their colleagues 
• 44% miss personal interactions with colleagues
• 26% miss in-person meetings 
• 20% of workers say they find it difficult to “unplug” when they work from home.
• 14% miss the water cooler chats, 
• 14% the stimulation of the office environment 
• 11% feel lonely working at home 

Relationships in the Office

Relationships between colleagues are important as they help forge teamwork. With these connections lost or circumvented by technology, employees risks focusing more on their individual roles rather than the output of the entire team. This might also cause stress and negatively impact collaboration as well. 

Of the more than 4,000 surveyed, an overwhelming majority (81%) would like to see flexible work options moving forward. In fact 30% have already made requests that have been approved by their employers to continue working remotely in the post-pandemic era.

Companies also seem to be on board with 13% having been told by their employers to continue working from home. An equal number (13%) have had their request to continue remote working denied.

In fact, 65% now prefer to work remotely full time even after the pandemic. While almost a third (31%) would like to see a combination of remote working and working at the office in the future. 

Among the factors that made remote working enticing include a quieter work environment (68%), less distractions from colleagues (68%), control over the workplace (66%) and of course the comforts of homes (65%).

Image: Depositphotos.com

This article, “Top Seven Things People Miss About Being in an Office During COVID-19” was first published on Small Business Trends

With every startup or business idea, there comes a dream to scale it to the moon. I am a journalist with two small startups under my belt. Being in the startup world for years, I have been on both sides of the spectrum. On one hand, I have mentored many startups due to my association with incubators and accelerators, and on the other hand, I have done extensive research into possible resources, mentors, guides, investors, and backers that I, personally can utilize for my own startups.

When you are a programmer, the reality of your idea is just behind some lines of code; but, if you are a non-technical founder like me, things become difficult. What do you do?

You collaborate with entities like a startup studio.

The recent trend of startup studios is giving non-technical founders access to resources that help them “build” their idea. These resources can be in the form of mentorship, specialized teams, and technical leadership as well.

If you have never heard of a startup studio then here is what you need to know. It is a setup that is built to enable and support other startups. It can also be called a startup factory. The three aspects that define a startup studio are:

– internally generated ideas,

– the singular goal of supporting other startups,

– and a proper infrastructure of idea enabling resources.

The question is, does it help?

Companies such as Dollar Shave Club came out of the Science startup studio in Santa Monica, California, and prove to be a good case study for what’s possible.

As a non-technical founder, collaborating with a startup studio can provide you with the following benefits:

1. It can act as your CTO/Co-Founder

Startup studios are more invested in your business than a web design agency. This is because startup studios build you from the ground up, they help you launch the idea and watch it grow. Hence, they are motivated to provide guidance, support, and resources for a longer period of time.

Startup studios also act as your co-founder and CTO to “build” your product and later also work on the growth of your startup and devise strategies for the future. The key interest of any startup studio is the success and growth of their startups, its valuations, and its future.

2. It helps to create blueprints or prototypes

In the startup world, if you are stepping in with just a passionate idea without proper resources, guidance, or backup. There is little chance that your startup will succeed.

However, with a startup studio, you can raise your success rate significantly. It is because they provide an almost foolproof blueprint on how to launch and develop your idea. With the help of a startup studio, you can build a prototype you can use to move forward with your idea, validate it, do risk analysis, or calculate possible lacks and failures.

3. It can help you validate product/market fit

When you come up with an idea, initially that is all it is. No matter how great, how innovative, or problem solving an idea is, it is just… an idea. Until you roll up your sleeves and work on it. Once you get started on bringing your idea to a reality that’s when the first pool of obstacles, failures, and problems arrive. This is the first test of your endurance and the validity of your idea.

With a startup studio, you can do just that. You can take your idea, create a prototype, launch it, and validate if it can withhold in the real world.

4. It gives you access to idea pools

Startup studios go through several businesses, ideas, potential startups on an everyday basis. Their exposure, to new ideas, technologies, and possibilities, is immense. The individuals in the studio are also tech-savvy and innovative which leads to even more solutions and ideas.

It is a high possibility that when growing your startup you will reach a dead-end, a failure, a u-turn, or crossroads. When faced with such situations, you can bounce ideas, discuss, evaluate, and analyze each opportunity or solution with the startup studio. The diverse set of mindsets will allow you to make a suitable pivot for the future of your company.

5. It lets you tap into a pool of resources

With a startup studio, you have easy access to tech-savvy, diverse minded, experienced, professionals. A startup studio has a team of designers, developers, marketers, and administrative staff for the early-stage startups they are associated with.

Having access to a pool of resources, startups can get all the help they need in launching their idea without hiring and thus, saving the expense of salaries during its prototype phase.

Conclusion

While a studio startup can be highly impactful for non-technical founders, it can be highly beneficial and enabling for technical founders as well. To run a business you need a whole team of experts and enablers, a startup can not be a one-man show. To thrive, every startup requires collaboration, loyalty, sharing of ideas, resources, and a team to lean on. So whether you are a non-techincal or a technical founder joining a venture-capital-backed studio will absolutely enable growth opportunities.

“No more romanticizing about how cool it is to be an entrepreneur. It’s a struggle to save your company’s life – and your own skin – every day of the week.”

— Spencer Fry, co-founder of CarbonMade

The post How Collaborating With a Startup Studio Can Save Non-Technical Founders appeared first on Startup Digest Blog.