Month: April 2018

6 Ways to Spring Clean Your Business

A field of yellow flowers at sunset

Want to listen instead? Click here

Spring has officially sprung! It’s the time of year to review and refresh, so we’ve pulled together some ways you can Spring Clean Your Business.

Update your website

Your website is the heart of your business. Is it giving the impression you want? Take time to review your website as a visitor and make any relevant changes. Could your copy do with being vamped up? Have you updated your website to include new services or products that you’re now offering? Do you need to remove any out of date information? These small changes will make all the difference – it’s just about taking some time out to actually do it!

Organise your emails

This is something we often put off time and time again, but what a difference it makes when we do it. Purge old emails (just think – do you really need to keep this?), Organise emails that you need to keep with the use of folders and subfolders and unsubscribe from any e-newsletters that you receive that you’re not interested in receiving anymore. This should make your inbox look a little less daunting!

Check your links

How often do you check the links included on your website, email signatures and social media profiles? Probably not at often as you should. If you manage to come across a rare spare 10 minutes in your working day, use this time to make sure that your links are still working and that they are pointing visitors to the correct place. This may not be the most entertaining of tasks, but very much worth doing every now and then.

Refresh your Social Media

Take a look at all of your social media account analytics and review them. Is the content that you’re sharing working? Are you over-selling? Do you need to interact with your followers more to give that ‘human touch’? Look back at your original social media strategy, this will help you to refocus.
Freshen up your social media visuals – it may be time to create a new profile icon or header to replace your current outdated one. We understand that as a small business owner you may not have these actions at the top of your priority list, but paying attention to this information and making small changes will really help your online presence moving forwards.

Revisit your business plan and goals

So, you had a business idea, created your business plan, officially started your business and it has gone from strength so strength. So you don’t need your business plan anymore, right? Wrong. You will always need your business plan – it’s the structure of how you built up your small business. You should look back at your business plan yearly and update it to keep up with your business growth and to help track if you are achieving your set ambitions and goals.

Get Cleaning!

Finally, how often do you actually get to clean your office space? Whether you work from home or in a shared office, tidy up your workspace. Eliminate any old paperwork from your desk by filing it away or shredding it. Sharpen your pencils, buy new pens that actually work and clean your computer. It doesn’t bear thinking about how many germs collect on keyboards!

If your business could do with a few extra hours in the day, we can help with our services. The best bit? You’ll only pay for the support that you need. Get in touch and make it happen today by dropping us an email makeithappen@mbsmih.com or giving us a call on 01903 688789.

Stand Out from The Crowd

A silhouette of a person on the background of a colourful sandy beach

Want to listen instead? Click here

In a world of technology, up and coming businesses and new products it can be tough to capture the attention of your target audience. If you want your company to stand out, you need to make some noise and get noticed.

We’ve put together 6 of our top tips to help your business stand out from the crowd.

Be transparent when it comes to your products and services

Being honest with your customers/clients should be a main priority. If you’re unable to deliver on a dead line or a member of the team has misquoted a price… Contact your customer straight away and tell them. Lying to a client will only cause them to lose faith in you and your business. Sharing bad news may not be easy but they will respect you more for it. Always remember to be prepared with solutions when making a tough call. It will soften the blow and help build the trust.

Start a blog

Blogging is a great way to freshen things up and share your ideas. Whilst you can write the content yourself you can also involve employees or hire outside help. It can be good to have others take care of certain tasks. Be sure to deliver a high quality of content. Too much promotional content may turn readers away.

Keep up to date

Make use of social media and mobile apps as many people prefer to work through their mobile phones. Adopt emerging technologies for introducing new processes, products and solutions. Keeping up to date and making sure you’re in the know will help you to make your business stand out from the crowd.

Keep focused

It’s easy to get carried away with ideas and try to launch too much at the same time but this will most likely make you lose sight of what you set out to achieve. Focus on perfecting one part of your business at a time to give a clear message to your customers about exactly what it is you’re offering. If you’re not sure on your services, you can’t expect your clients to be.

Be choosy

Think carefully about who you want to work with. This includes customers, partners and employees. To be the best in your field and stand out from the crowd, it pays to keep standards high. Show employees they’re appreciated and they will be more likely to provide a better service level to your clients.

Provide amazing customer service

Be prepared to go the extra mile for your clients and show you’re a cut above the rest. Word of mouth plays a big part when it comes to awareness of a company and its reputation. Aim to surprise your customers and provide them with the best experience and they will want to tell everyone.

Making sure your business stands out takes a lot of hard work, commitment and dedication. Whilst we’re sure our tips will help, we’re also aware owning a business takes up a lot of time. Should you need any assistance, get in touch and we would be happy to help with as much or as little time as you need.

makeithappen@mbsmih.com | 01903 688789