Month: July 2016

5 Reasons You Need to Host An Event

MOMENTUM Business Support Event Management
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Exposure

Events enable your business to gain brand awareness and exposure by getting your name out there. People will hear about the event which means they will hear about your business. The more interesting the event, the more your company will be recognised.

It can also be an opportunity to get the media involved by getting a mention in the local newspaper, magazine or radio. Promoting your event in the media will ensure you have been seen, heard and noticed in the community – Don’t forget, you can splash it out all over your own Social Media too!

Promotion

What’s a better way of promoting your products/services than at an event! Make it fun, eye-catching and engaging. Everyone always loves a freebie or great offers. Or change it up and do some demonstrations of your products or services; and if you can’t do this with your particular products/services, find different, fun ways to promote what you do and draw people in.

Building Relationships

When holding an event, it’s more fun and engaging (rather than a usual day in the office); which allows your existing and potential customers to interact and engage with your business on a more personal level.

It can also be a chance to make a good impression on potential customers and ensure your business is memorable – make sure they don’t forget you!

Contacts

Events give you the opportunity to increase your network of people; and what’s better than increasing this network than at your own event! Everyone there will be relevant to your business and the industry which will build a stronger and more useful network of people.

Knowing lots of people will come in handy at some point. This is also an opportunity to grow your list of contacts if you have a newsletter or use Social Media – get more followers!

Giving Back

Events can be a nice way to thank your existing customers and supporters for their help and business. Giving away freebies, offers, holding competitions and making it a great event is an easy way to show your gratitude and make your customers and supporters feel appreciated.

Another great idea would be to raise money and awareness for a local charity. You could do something simple like a raffle and ask people to donate items for it. This brings people together and creates a positive image for your company.

Looking for ideas or need support with your event? Send us an email makeithappen@mbsmih.com, we’d love to help.

7 ‘Hidden’ Costs Of Running A Small Business

MOMENTUM Business Support Business Support
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It’s a subject we often talk and think about as there are so many costs involved with running a business, and when you’re in the early stages it can be hard to know where to start. So we’ve done a bit of research and pulled together some of the biggest ones to think about – that are often overlooked when starting out.

1.Repairs and Replacements

It’s important to include a number of considerations in your start up and ongoing budgets. Including a regular annual budget for repairs and maintenance may feel costly, but ultimately it could save you much more! Larger assets and tools are pretty obvious here, but also consider factoring in office equipment such as computers/laptops, copiers and furniture.

2.Shrinkage

This is the loss of goods that can be attributed to things such as employee theft, shoplifting, administrative errors, vendor fraud, damage in transit or in store, and cashier errors that benefit the customer.

According to Retail Research UK retail shrinkage costs UK retailers approx. 1.32% of their total sales each year.

3.Employees

The closest people that help your business run can also significantly impact it’s potential. Salaries, benefits, training and overhead costs all factor here. It’s important to ensure you have a robust workforce or outsourcing solution in place, as replacing one member of staff with another can be surprisingly costly. Reports suggest that the average cost of an employee is c183% of their wage – Plus: 28 days’ holiday per year; An average of 5 training days; 7.2 sick days; and 38 days of wasted / unproductive time

4.Payment Delays

This may seem like an obvious one too, but so many fall into the trap of thinking ‘it won’t happen to me’ – it happens to all of us! Customers or clients may forget to pay on time or have cashflow issues of their own. Banks hold certain transactions above certain amounts, and bank holidays cause payments to come in later than expected. Your payments however, always seem to go out on time! And so, the pressure can mount; Your payroll, insurances, rent and utilities must be paid. It’s wise to have reserves in place to cover this inevitability.

Research by the ABFA shows that SMEs are owed £67bn in unpaid invoices.

5.Subscriptions

There are so many different organisations, licenses, memberships and much more to consider when setting up and running your small business, and they’re rarely one time only expenses. Make sure you consider which ones you will want to be part of and which ones are required and be sure to factor them into your ongoing costs.

6.Productivity

Being disorganised can hinder your ability to get where you want to be. From email overload to avoidable meetings, anything that interferes with yours or your teams productive working time is a cost to your business (and can even be bad for your health).

“Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort.” – Paul J. Meyer

7.Time

And finally, there’s you! Your time is extremely valuable and spending it on things that don’t earn you income represents lost profits. Not only could you be wasting time and money doing other people’s jobs (instead of delegating), you might even be neglecting yourself, your friends and even your family. When you’re the boss it’s easy to insist on getting involved in every aspect of your business, but for your business to really work efficiently you really need to focus on the tasks that will help grow the business.

Good luck if you have a new venture, keep motivated if you’re in a current one, and don’t forget to get in touch if we can do anything to support you!