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Building the Best Business Branding on a Budget

April 19, 2022 By Erin H Leave a Comment

Starting a small business is no easy feat, especially when you are pinching your pennies and are on a very tight budget. Between making a marketing strategy, developing a selling platform, and advertising to the public, you may find yourself cutting down on valuable elements in your business. While a stellar branding job takes time and skill, it doesn’t have to cost you boatloads of money. In this blog post, we are going to explore some free software and helpful tips to get your business a high-quality and budget-friendly branding job.

Create With Canva

When it comes to free software online, Canva reigns supreme. With its lengthy list of free available templates, you will be sure to find one that you can customize to your business vision. In fact, you can even develop your brand’s logo right in Canva! Canva also hosts a plethora of free photographs and graphic elements that you can drag and drop into your designs, making content creation a breeze.

If Canva doesn’t have the photos you want, Pexels and Unsplash are excellent platforms to get free, high-quality images. You can upload photos into Canva, and even create custom color palettes based on photos that you enjoy. Canva also includes templates for social media, business cards, printed handouts, and much more. Before you spend money on print design software, give Canva an hour or two to show you what it can do.

Influence With Instagram

Instagram is one of the most popular free social media platforms of all time, making it the perfect place for you to grow your business. Having a company Instagram not only gives your business more attention but also helps build trust in your brand. Building your online presence doesn’t need to cost money, especially with handy social media templates from Canva at your disposal. A branded Instagram, paired with a stand-out logo and website, is sure to boost your business’s popularity.

Promote With Partnerships

Clearly, great branding comes with great connections. Once you have an aesthetic associated with your business, look for other local businesses to partner with. Small businesses have a way of building each other up, whether it be through a mutual endorsement or bringing your branded products into their store. One of the biggest goals of branding is to draw people in, so put your product to the test in your community or online.

With over 1.8 billion websites operating at any given time, it is crucial for you to bring your small business into the online sphere. Before you spend a huge portion of your budget on website work alone, explore what you can do yourself. With Canva, social media platforms, and local partners, you are sure to boast a beautifully branded business on a budget!

Filed Under: Small business

Understanding The Financial Needs Of Your Business

October 29, 2019 By Susan Paige Leave a Comment

understanding the financial needs of your business

Going into business for yourself can be one of the most rewarding and freeing endeavors a person can embark on. At the same time, owning a business isn’t for the faint of heart or someone who doesn’t like doing their due diligence. One aspect of entrepreneurship this is most apparent is in setting up your financial arrangement in such a way that fees are minimized, but you still have access to all of the services you need for things to run smoothly. If you don’t take the time to understand the resources available to you, you risk leaving lots of money on the table by not streamlining your business, not to mention the risk of extra money owed in taxes due to poor bookkeeping.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when organizing the cash flow of your business:

Have the right accounts.

It’s hard to accept payments when there isn’t anywhere for the money to go, which means you’ll need an account at a bank or similar financial institution where you can send all of your payments. Depending on your industry of choice and what types of payments you allow, you’ll have to pick a particular type of account. Those dealing exclusively with in person point of sale type of transactions will do just fine with a traditional merchant account, while those who deal with credit card payments in certain industries may require one or more high risk merchant accounts. It’s imperative that you be truthful with the nature of your business to your bank, so they can accept the risks associated with dealing with you and also offer fees or services that best reflect your needs.

Understand your safety net.

Maintaining a business isn’t always a walk in the park, let alone ensuring its continued growth. The financial safety net of your business should be set up well ahead of time, so you aren’t stuck running around like a chicken with its head cut off should any unforeseen expenses arrive. Secure a line of credit that will help you weather any potential storm, or look at loans available to you that have flexible repayment plans. Having an adequate safety net in place is the difference between having a bad month and your business folding entirely.

Establish a system for record-keeping.

Your ability to handle your financials is only as strong as your ability to keep track of them. Previously, a dedicated accountant was just about the only way to keep all of your expenses and revenue neatly organized. But then, with the advent of highly sophisticated software and equipment, this is becoming less and less of a necessity. Anything that has a dollar amount associated with it, real or imagined, should be noted somewhere, and there should also be a system for keeping track of cash flow in real time. This way, you can accurately predict trends and know what you can and can’t pull off at any given moment in time.

Conclusion

Far too often, a small business will kneecap themselves right off the bat by not thinking ahead when it comes to managing their finances. Everything, from where the money is expected to go to how income reporting will be handled, should be thought of well in advance. These are things that can easily be dismissed as simple and best reserved for a later date. However, just a little bit of initiative can lead to the discovery of novel ways to handle cash flow that ensures the continued operation of any business. As simple as they might seem, many financial questions absolutely need to be answered.

For more on small businesses, read these excellent articles

Starting A Business: Read This Guide

Starting A Business: Get Insurance

Starting A Business: When Should You Hire Help

 

Image source: Pexels.com.

Filed Under: Helpful Websites, Small business Tagged With: small business, small business guide

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