Tag: UNOVA Coworking

Posted on

Embark on Your Entrepreneurial Journey With Confidence

Venturing into entrepreneurship can be a transformative experience, particularly for those stepping into this arena for the first time.  The allure of bringing a personal vision to life is potent, yet it comes with inherent risks.  From UNOVA Coworking, this comprehensive guide aims to equip first-time entrepreneurs with the tools and insights necessary to cautiously yet effectively embark on their business ventures.  By adhering to these methodically laid-out steps, you can navigate the entrepreneurial landscape with assurance and acumen, ensuring a transition into business ownership that balances ambition with prudence.

Image via Pexels

Validate Your Business Idea

Commencing your entrepreneurial journey begins with the critical step of idea validation.  This involves a thorough assessment of your business concept’s viability.  Engage in extensive research, solicit customer feedback, and evaluate market demand.  This step is about making an informed decision: is there a real need for your product or service?  By answering this question, you set a solid foundation for your business, minimizing risks and aligning your efforts with market realities.

Craft a Streamlined Business Plan

A well-structured business plan is indispensable, even for small ventures.  Your plan should succinctly outline your business goals, target market, revenue model, and anticipated expenses.  This document serves as a roadmap, guiding your business decisions and helping you maintain focus.  A streamlined plan is particularly beneficial for first-time entrepreneurs as it simplifies complex ideas and strategies, making them more manageable.

Register as an LLC

Embarking on your business venture brings several important decisions, one of which is the legal structuring of your company.  Early in your entrepreneurial journey, it’s advisable to consider registering your business as a Limited Liability Company (LLC).  This move is more than a mere formality; it’s a pivotal step in protecting your assets, optimizing for tax benefits, and elevating your business’s credibility.  It effectively separates your personal and business liabilities.  This separation is crucial as it safeguards your personal assets in the face of business-related legal matters.  Choosing to register as an LLC with Zen Business can provide a robust foundation for your business, ensuring legal protections and credibility from the outset.

Begin With a Modest Business Scale

Start with a small-scale version of your business idea.  This approach allows you to test the market, refine your product or service, and make necessary adjustments with minimal risk.  As your business proves its viability, you can then consider scaling up operations in a controlled and sustainable manner.

Set Clear Investment Limits

One of the most critical aspects of cautious entrepreneurship is financial management.  Determine a clear investment threshold that aligns with your financial comfort zone.  This involves setting a budget for how much you’re willing to invest and potentially lose.  Adhering to this limit helps prevent overextension and maintains your financial stability.

Establish a Cost-Effective Online Presence

In today’s digital age, having an online presence is crucial.  Establish a functional website and maintain active social media profiles.  This need not be expensive; numerous affordable options like Wix.com exist to create a professional online image.  An effective online presence enhances your business’s credibility and extends its reach to a broader audience.

Network and Seek Mentorship

Building connections within the entrepreneurial community is invaluable.  Networking with experienced business owners and seeking mentorship can provide you with insights, advice, and support.  These relationships can be pivotal in navigating the challenges of entrepreneurship and can open doors to new opportunities.

Utilize Coworking Spaces

Coworking spaces offer a cost-effective alternative to renting expensive office space, allowing businesses to save money on overhead costs.  These shared workspaces provide a professional environment with all the necessary amenities, such as high-speed internet, meeting rooms, and printing facilities.  Moreover, coworking spaces foster a vibrant community of entrepreneurs, freelancers, and professionals from various industries, creating valuable opportunities for networking and collaboration.  By working alongside like-minded individuals at places like UNOVA Coworking, you can expand your professional network, exchange ideas, and potentially find new clients or partners to help grow your business.

Stepping into the realm of entrepreneurship need not be a plunge into the unknown.  By taking measured, informed steps, you can embark on this journey with a sense of security and clarity.  Begin modestly, plan strategically, and expand cautiously.  This approach not only mitigates risk but also sets a foundation for sustainable growth and success in your entrepreneurial endeavors.

Posted on

Scaling Your Market Research and Staying Ahead of the Curve

Keeping up with the ever-changing needs of your business can be a daunting task, especially in a rapidly evolving market. That’s why it’s important to have a strong market research strategy in place that allows you to stay ahead of the competition and anticipate customer needs before they arise. Here, UNOVA Coworking presents some tips for scaling your market research to ensure that you remain at the top of your game.

Image via Pexels

Know Your Audience

The first step in scaling your market research is to identify your target audience and market segments. This will help you better understand who your customer is and what their needs may be. Once you have identified these segments, you can then begin to create strategies for reaching them more effectively. Segmenting your customers will also allow you to customize marketing messages based on their characteristics and preferences.

Build a Research Framework

A robust framework for conducting market research is crucial to ensure that no essential steps are missed when making crucial decisions or launching new products or services. It must cater to various scenarios, including emerging trends, customer feedback surveys, and new product launches, ensuring that data can quickly be gathered on demand.

Implementing such a structure will not only save time and resources but will also furnish top-quality, reliable information that can serve as a solid foundation for making informed decisions.

Monitor Trends and the Competition

It’s important to research competitors within the same industry as well as relevant trends that could influence customer behavior or decisions. Studying competitors helps you gain insight into how others approach similar challenges or opportunities, which could inform or inspire ideas of your own. Understanding current trends also allows companies to anticipate changes before they occur, which gives them an edge over other competitors who may still be playing catch-up.

Focus on Qualitative and Quantitative Research

Making crucial decisions about product or service development, pricing models, marketing strategies, and customer service tactics demands having access to both qualitative and quantitative data. Relying on these two types of data ensures that decisions are not based on assumptions but on hard facts. It ultimately leads to a smarter, better-informed decision-making process, reducing the risks involved in making uncalculated decisions based on insufficient data.

For example, launching a product without adequate customer feedback can be a risky gamble that may result in adverse outcomes, but having well-structured qualitative and quantitative data at hand can mitigate such risks.

Tap Into Digital Tools

Digital tools such as online surveys provide an efficient way for gathering feedback from customers without having them fill out long paper surveys or come into a physical location, which can often lead people to drop out from answering survey questions halfway through.

Surveys can be sent directly via email or SMS message, which makes it easy for customers to respond quickly without having too much effort involved from their end. They also offer insights into consumer behavior based on responses given, which is helpful when trying to uncover potential consumer trends before they become mainstream.

You can even incentivize your surveys to get a wider sample. A gift card API is a quick solution that automatically distributes a small e-card once the survey has been completed.

Invest in a Customer Data Platform

Maximizing profitability while fulfilling customer needs requires the use of a customer data platform (CDP). By consolidating data from numerous sources, such as websites, applications, and social media channels, companies can gain extensive insights into consumer behavior, preferences, and trends. With access to detailed customer information, businesses can make informed decisions when developing new products or services.

Moreover, they can refine pricing models to ensure maximum profitability. These tools enable companies to deliver exceptional customer value while sustainably growing their businesses.

Invest in a Customer Data Platform

To remain competitive and proactively meet customer demands, businesses must implement an effective market research strategy. Utilizing digital tools and both qualitative and quantitative research methods empowers businesses with high-quality decision-making information while ensuring uninterrupted operations even during turbulent times of rapid change. Organizations that fail to prioritize this strategic investment risk chaos resulting from poor decisions that could impede success during times of transition. With a robust market research strategy, businesses can minimize disruption and smoothly navigate any obstacles that come their way, moving efficiently towards growth and greater market share.

UNOVA Coworking offers flexible workspaces that can give you the room you need to be productive. Check out our options and consider joining today!

Questions or comments? Have any additional tips or resources to share? Reply below or reach out to Courtney Rosenfeld.

Posted on

Simple Strategies to Make a Safety Net for Your Business

Part of running a small business is preparing for unexpected issues that might arise today or years down the road. No one can predict the future and accidents are inevitable, but having a safety net in place will help you stay afloat while protecting your financial interests.

In other words, taking steps now to prepare for the unexpected can help ensure your business thrives amid adversity. UNOVA Coworking looks at some practical ways to create the perfect safety net for your small business:

Getting a Home Warranty

If you run your business from home, purchasing a home warranty is an easy way to protect yourself against unexpected repairs and replacements. A home warranty covers all major systems and appliances in the home, so if anything breaks down or needs replacing, you won’t have to worry about paying out-of-pocket.

Plus, since most warranties come with 24/7 customer service, you can rest assured that any issue will be taken care of quickly and easily. Give this a view if you need a good place to start comparing providers!

Establishing an LLC

Another way to protect yourself as a small business owner is to form an LLC (limited liability company). This type of business entity can protect your personal assets from being used to pay debts incurred by your business. If something happens and your business has to declare bankruptcy or face other legal issues, you won’t be held personally liable.

An LLC also protects you from potential lawsuits that can arise due to products sold or services provided by your company. Research the LLC rules in your state, and consider going through a formation service to save time and stress.

Keeping Digital Records

It’s also crucial to keep digital records of all transactions related to your business as well as any contracts or agreements you have with clients or vendors. Using PDF splitter tools can make your life easier when dealing with multiple documents at once.

Such a tool can help you keep all your documents organized and accessible if you need them for any legal disputes down the line. Splitting large files into smaller chunks makes them simpler to manage and store without taking up too much space on your computers or other devices.

Saving an Emergency Fund

No business owner likes thinking about worst-case scenarios, but you must plan ahead and create a plan for unexpected problems. Set aside money in savings each month to cover various costs associated with emergencies, such as sudden machinery or equipment replacements, major house repairs, medical incidents, etc. Aim to put aside enough money each month so it adds up quickly over time; don’t rely on credit cards!

Managing Your Cash Flow

One of the most important steps for creating a safety net for your small business is to manage your cash flow correctly and efficiently. Keeping track of income from sales and expenses associated with running operations allows you to minimize surprises context time — or worse yet if there’s an emergency situation where you need to access extra funds quickly. Set up automated reminders each month so that nothing falls through the cracks when it’s time to pay your bills!

Using a Coworking Space

Working in a shared office or coworking space can provide many benefits to the modern professional. From access to cost-effective facilities and resources to being around like-minded individuals, you can yield numerous advantages when renting a coworking space (whether occasionally or daily).

Working at home can quickly become isolating and lonely, but working at a coworking office can make it easy to get out and collaborate with new people, discover different work styles, and keep up with industry trends. Connect with UNOVA Coworking today to learn about our available spaces!

Wrapping Up

The last thing you want is for your small business to get caught off guard when unexpected situations arise. Establishing an LLC, maintaining digital records, building your savings, honing in your cash flow, and following the other tips above will get you off to a strong start. Remember that taking simple steps today can pay dividends down the line!

Would you like to read more helpful content or learn about our coworking spaces? Visit UNOVAcoworking.com today!

Posted on

Interdepartmental Communication:  Challenges and Strategies to Overcome Them

Interdepartmental Communication: Challenges and Strategies to Overcome Them
Image via Pexels

There are many different reasons why departments within an organization don’t hold a back-and-forth dialogue:  logistics, a competitive environment, and apathy toward the company’s overall health are all issues. Thankfully, there are strategies you can implement today, including business process management and document sharing, which will help your staff maintain an open-door policy.

UNOVA Coworking shares a quick post on ways to combat interdepartmental communication challenges.

Why departments aren’t collaborating

Businesses are often made up of many different departments. These might include customer service, IT, HR, and product development. All of these must work together like cogs in a machine to ensure that your business runs smoothly. A few reasons that departments don’t play together well include a lack of strong leadership and a competitive environment.

An ineffective department leader may not be transparent with their staff and will likely mismanage employees and resources. Similarly, employees and managers working in a toxic competitive work environment may be less inclined to work together. The Applicant One Source blog explains that, while workplace competition is inevitable, competition should never be your employees’ sole driver.

Tips to get the conversation going

All businesses are unique, and, therefore, not all collaboration strategies will work for you. But a few things that can help universally include ensuring that your employees share a space together, at least occasionally, and automating processes that free up time for your human workforce.

Sharing a space is especially important when you have a remote team. Consider renting a coworking space once or twice each week for those that live within an hour of the UNOVA Coworking location. Sometimes, being able to make a human connection to an avatar is all it takes to encourage more back-and-forth dialogue. You can also utilize DPA + BPM for maximum efficiency when it’s time to streamline time-consuming operational tasks. Digital process automation (DPA) is essentially a digitized form of business process management (BPM) that helps you collaborate faster and monitor and act quicker and easier.

Strategies for better reporting

In addition to offering a shared workspace, you should also give your employees tools, such as Google Docs, Trello, and Redbooth, that allow them to work on projects together and that use visual cues to communicate where each piece of the process is. This, combined with a document management system, allows your staff to share documents anywhere in the world in real time. Even if you must use Word, Excel, or PowerPoint to create documents, you should have no trouble finding a program that allows you to convert these into more reliable PDFs.

An important point to remember here is that being able to create and share reports and other information is crucial if you plan to take on investors later down the road. Accion Opportunity Fund notes that the people with the money want to see the numbers; having everyone on the same page will ensure these are correct.

The value of communication

Ultimately, when you encourage communication throughout your organization, you’ll be more efficient and productive. Encourage your management team to be an example by showcasing their collaborative efforts and encouraging their own subordinates to do the same. It can also help to remind everyone that nobody wins by refusing or failing to communicate across departments. Your employees’ ability to communicate with everyone at all levels is essential to your business’s success. Whether you utilize business process management to automate tasks so that your people have the time resources they need to communicate or simply open a co-working space for real-life face time, the steps you take now to improve communication are just part of building a healthy and long-lasting business.

Questions or comments? Have any additional tips or resources to share? Reply below or reach out to Courtney Rosenfeld.

Posted on

Manage Your Business’s Cash Flow in 4 Simple Steps

Keeping the cash flow steady at your business can be a long and frustrating process, even when sales are good. This is because there are several factors that go into your finances, and some get overlooked in the course of daily operations, such as the state of your inventory management. By making some small changes to the way your business handles certain tasks, you could make meaningful progress when it comes to your cash flow. Here are a few tips from UNOVA Coworking to help you get started.

Photo via Pexels

Incorporate

If you haven’t already incorporated your business, consider doing so for the many advantages your business will see. There are several different corporation types and they all have various advantages. For instance, forming an S corporation allows you to take taxes out of your paycheck rather than paying them in one lump sum at the end of the year, and it also allows for a deduction for your payroll, which means your tax responsibilities will be lowered. There is also a C corporation option, which allows for a much stronger form of protection for your company and its shareholders. Read up on the benefits of incorporating to figure out which option is best for your business, and get some help with filing the corporation paperwork.

Invest in Helpful Software

Whether you choose to incorporate or not, you’ll need the best and most updated software in order to make sure your payroll and accounting records are on track. These days there are several options available according to your business’s specific needs, and while it’s still a good idea to utilize the services of a professional accountant at tax time, there are programs that can help you keep track of your expenses and income throughout the year so you won’t face any nasty surprises. You can choose between software that incorporates both accounting and invoicing tools or look for specific programs that focus on one or the other.

Create a Loyalty Program

While keeping track of your cash flow is essential, it’s also crucial to look for ways to bring more money in. You might partner with a local business so both of you can benefit from the exposure, or create a loyalty program to encourage repeat customers. Businesses make much more profit from loyal customers than they do from new ones, so this is a great way to boost your income without spending a lot of money in the process.

Working with other small businesses can get your brand more exposure, so make sure that you have a simple, but high quality, logo that captures your company’s product and spirit. If you don’t yet have a logo, look for programs online. There are even some free options that allow you to customize templates or create your own from scratch. It’s logo design made easy, and your business will reap the benefits.

Make It Easier for Customers to Pay

Once you can keep your customers coming back, it’s a good idea to make paying invoices as easy as possible for them so you don’t have to waste valuable time and money tracking down payments. Consider digitizing invoices, offering a small discount for early payments, creating multiple pay options, discounting subscriptions, and/or offering email or text reminders to ensure they know when billing dates are. The easier it is for your customers to keep track of their bills and due dates, the faster you’ll get your money, allowing your business to keep cash flowing freely.

Maintaining a healthy cash flow for your company will ensure that you aren’t scrambling to find resources during slower times of the year, and it will help to reduce the stress that comes with running a business. By getting organized and utilizing a few different tools, you can keep communication open with vendors and customers to make sure your finances are in great shape.

Having a dedicated office space is nice, but it can be expensive. A more budget-friendly option is a coworking space, like UNOVA Coworking. Not only do we offer a quality workspace with many office essentials included, but you will also get the benefit of networking from your office. Visit us online to learn more about how you can save money by using our coworking space for your business!


Questions or comments? Have any additional tips or resources to share? Reply below or reach out to Julie Morris.

Posted on

Wellness and Working From Home: Tips for Cultivating a Healthy Remote Work Life

From the 10-second commute to the endless snacks and pet snuggles, remote work certainly has its perks. However, making sure your home is a great place to work takes effort. Courtesy of UNOVA Coworking, here are some things you can do to improve your professional productivity and personal wellness as you work remotely.

Image via Pexels

Set a Schedule

Remote work often translates to more flexibility in your day, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t still value in keeping a schedule. Take breaks throughout the day, and have a hard stop at the end of your workday, so you don’t risk burnout or overworking. If feasible, get in the habit of temporarily removing any work-related apps from your cellphone during your off times to help foster a healthy balance between your work and personal life.

Additionally, look for ways to structure your day to optimize your time and effort. For example, it’s proven that taking on larger, more difficult tasks earlier in the day is best for productivity. You can even do a mock commute, which may involve a short walk, bike ride, or drive around the block or to your local coffee shop to help you enter “work mode” and get ready for the day.

Keep It Clean

When your home doubles as your workplace, keep your space as comfortable as possible, so you can focus on your job. If you feel negative energy creeping up in your space, try to declutter or reorganize your surroundings to create a more positive atmosphere. Spend a few minutes at the end of each day cleaning up your desk and work area. Invest in storage organizational furniture to keep nonessential items out of sight while you work to prevent distractions. If you need some extra help keeping your home clean, consider bringing in a professional housekeeper on a regular basis.

Eat Healthily and Stay Active

Working from home likely means you’ve got more time to cook healthy dishes instead of relying on quick microwave meals at the office. Develop a meal plan for each week, and always have healthy snacks on hand. Stay hydrated, and consider getting a water bottle with time markers to encourage you to maintain proper liquid intake throughout the day.

Be intentional about dedicating time each day to moving your body, as sitting for extended periods of time can be harmful to your health. Consider upgrading your regular desk to a standing desk to help improve your blood circulation and physical posture. An under-desk treadmill can also ensure you stay active while you work.

Staying Well While Staying Home

The rise of remote work has led to many opportunities to spend more time at home. As you optimize your remote work arrangement, keep your health and wellness top of mind. For more information on remote work, including how you can benefit from a coworking space in Springville, New York, visit UNOVA Coworking.

Questions or comments? Have any additional tips or resources to share? Reply below or reach out to Julie Morris.

Posted on

3 Tips for Perfecting Your Space When You Work From Home

Image via Pexels

3 Tips for Perfecting Your Space When You Work From Home

According to recent remote worker statistics, 56% of companies around the globe offer telework options to employees, and those numbers are projected to grow as the world adjusts to post-pandemic life.  This means more people can work from home than ever before.  If you’re one of them, you may feel excited for the opportunity, but anxious about the reality of setting up your home office and making it a space where you can be efficient and productive.  Your house is your comfort zone where you let your hair down, relax, and settle in your loungewear.  So, how do you make it double as your office?  Here are some tips from UNOVA Coworking to make that happen!

1. Designate Your Work Space

The key to being productive when working remotely is having a distinct home office.  Just like a corporate workspace, your home office should be equipped for your professional needs and free of distractions.  Ideally, this space should be a room behind a door, like an extra bedroom, finished attic loft, or walk-in closet.  This way, you can close yourself in during work hours to avoid interruptions and shut the door behind you when the day ends.  If you only have a corner of a common space to work with, then consider getting a room divider that screens your view and muffles sound.

The goal is to make a space that allows you the convenience of a remote job, but also promotes a healthy work-life balance and prevents you from checking emails long into the night when you should be relaxing with your family.

2. Personalize Your Home Office

The great thing about a home office is that it doesn’t have to look like a sterile cubicle.  In fact, the more comfortable you make your space, the more productive you’ll be.  Even if you only telework one or two days a week, you’ll want to design and outfit your office for maximum efficiency.  Some creative and professional decor ideas include:

The idea of furnishing your home office can be daunting, especially if you’re on a budget.  Repurposing old, broken, or thrift store items is a great way to get the vibe you need for the room without breaking the bank.  You can find a quality upholstery service near you to repair and reupholster any pieces that need attention, which is often less expensive than buying a new office set.  Depending on your custom needs, style, and fabric choices, you can have a large sofa re-covered for $1,200-$3,500.  Before reaching out for a quote, be sure to conduct thorough research and do a deep dive into online customer reviews.

3. Find a New Space

Your studio apartment may have been perfect when you left home every day to go to work, but now that you’re a remote employee, you may feel cramped, anxious, or overwhelmed in your small space.  Major life changes require modifications, so if your living quarters no longer suit you, it may be time to move on.  If you’re interested in purchasing a new home, make sure to research the housing market in your area before making any big decisions.

If you can create a space in your home where you feel comfortable, motivated, and empowered, you’ll have no problem tackling the challenges of telework and becoming a top performer in your company in no time.

And if you ‘re looking for community (or need to put a little distance between you and your work), try a coworking space, like UNOVA!

Questions or comments?  Have any additional tips or resources to share?  Reply below or reach out to Chelsea Lamb.

UNOVA Coworking believes in fostering community to help spur the growth of small businesses and organizations in and around Western New York and the southern tier.  Feel free to reach out with any questions!

Posted on

Easy Expansion: Hiring and Managing Remote Workers

When it comes to business, there’s always strength in numbers. If you want to take your company to the next level, you’ll need to put together a cohesive team and learn to manage them in the era of remote working – here’s how you can get started.

Hiring Smart

Before you begin the hiring process, it’s important to outline exactly who and what the company requires to succeed. Many new ventures begin with just a CEO and an accountant but, as you begin to expand or take on new investment, you may need to accommodate your growth with a few key additions. At this crucial stage, your new personnel need to represent immediate value – for example, marketing generalists or sales representatives can help increase revenue or spread brand awareness, or a product manager could help to develop your product range and supply chains.

When it comes to actually hiring, the process can be as simple or complex as you need it to be. Generally speaking, however, it’s worth taking time to plan and structure – write out the desired skills, available budget, and experience required. There are hundreds of forums and platforms to help you discover talent. If you find that you’re time-poor, it could be worth hiring a recruiter to help filter out the best candidates and remove the burden of scrolling through resumés. If you’re a microbusiness, try to avoid larger recruitment agencies as you’ll find more affordable fees attached to smaller companies.

Planning Ahead

It’s crucial that new hires understand exactly where you intend to take your company and what their role is in its development. Maybe your priority is to generate high-quality leads and establish your brand within a particular demographic, or to dominate an emerging market, spreading the word as quickly and indiscriminately as possible – whatever your aim, it needs to be communicated clearly, as confusion can quickly lead to lapses in productivity. Create a process map to help to alleviate this issue and enable you and your team to analyze your shared processes and outcomes, helping everyone to stay organized.

To make life easier for everyone, it’s also important to do some work independently. This means taking everything you already understand about your business and your industry and writing the information down in the form of a mission statement. Until now, much of your company’s brand values, work practices, and long-term objectives have lived inside your head – if you want to successfully transition into a team-based business, you’ll need to be generous with knowledge and prioritize patience and clarity.

Managing Remotely

Even with all the right preparation, you’ll never know exactly what you’re undertaking until the team is formed and the work is underway. There are believed to be three primary management styles and up to ten sub-styles – it’s up to you to recognize your own strengths and apply these accordingly. It’s also important to remember that the world of work is changing rapidly and, in this day and age, talent often recognizes its own value. Familiarize yourself with the latest trends in company perks, mental health awareness, and paid leave/vacation allowance.

Remote working can make management tricky at times but you’re likely to turn off good workers if you insist too strictly on in-person attendance. A good strategy is to divide the week up with some days given for remote working and others for office work. With the right communication tools, there’s no reason why virtual management can’t work, just be certain to check in regularly and make use of collaborative software.

It’s always a nervy moment for a company when it comes time to expand, but if you can provide clarity of vision, keep an open mind, and collaborate with your new hires, there’s no reason why your business shouldn’t thrive.

UNOVA is a coworking space established in 2018, offering a range of facilities for emerging businesses. Learn more at www.unovacoworking.com

Questions or comments? Have any additional tips or resources to share? Reply below or reach out to Marissa Perez.

Posted on

6 Invoicing Practices for Faster Payments

An efficient invoicing system gets you paid faster and keeps you on customers’ good side (and vice versa).  Bad billing practices, on the other hand, cause revenue leakage, slow cash flow, and hurt customer satisfaction.

Image via Pexels

What sets good billing systems apart from the bad?  Use these tips from UNOVA Coworking to set up an accounts receivable system that’s built for growth.

1. Start with a professional invoice

A standardized invoice template is an essential component of any billing system.  Include your business logo, name, and address, and clearly state payment terms and due dates to eliminate confusion.  Always itemize services and products provided and note the types of payment accepted.

2. Choose an invoicing platform

If you’re still using spreadsheets, upgrade to cloud-based invoicing software.  Cloud-based apps are a boon for all types of business processes but especially finances.  Many of the leading platforms like Xero, Zoho Books, FreshBooks, and Quickbooks Online start at $20 a month or less.

Instead of manually inputting data, cloud-based tools automatically populate invoices to streamline invoicing and reduce errors.  Most include automated reminders so you can remind late-paying customers without any of the awkwardness.  You’ll get paid faster and set a high standard with customers.

3. Establish your payment terms

Clear expectations eliminate payment confusion.  Plainly state payment terms in contracts and invoices and include specific due dates.

How soon should customers pay?  It depends.  Net 30 used to be standard but shorter terms of Net 15 are becoming more common especially for new accounts.  A frequent late-payer might call for cash-on-delivery, while reliable customers might receive more generous terms.  Factor customer history and your cash flow needs when setting terms and consider late payment penalties and incentives to motivate on-time payments.

4. Enable recurring payments

Customers are more likely to pay on time when you make it easy.  Online payments and ACH transfers eliminate the delays and hassle associated with mailing a check payment.

Recurring payments are the gold standard for efficiency because they ensure you get paid.  Overdrafts are the biggest danger when subscription billing — no one appreciates a surprise fee! — but you can avoid overdrafts by verifying account balances using Plaid’s Balance API before initiating a transfer.

5. Monitor accounts receivable

Software takes a lot of the hassle out of invoicing, but it’s not totally hands-off.  Keep an eye on accounts receivable and don’t be afraid to pick up the phone when a client isn’t responding to friendly reminders.  Late payments can cause you to miss your own payment deadlines so it’s important to follow up.

Monitoring accounts receivable also draws attention to strengths and weaknesses in your billing system.  Do you have a lot of risky customers or a high turnover ratio?  You may need to tighten up collection policies to improve cash flow.  Are your best customers regularly maxing out their credit limits?  Raising the limit could encourage reliable customers to spend more.

6. Make sure it’s secure

Putting a customer’s financial data at risk can ruin a business relationship fast.  Security remains a top priority any time you’re handling customer payment data.  Verify that your payment service provider uses the latest security standards to prevent data breaches and protect customer data in the event it’s compromised.  Use strong passwords throughout all business systems and follow cybersecurity best practices to secure devices and networks.

Getting paid on time is easier said than done.  If you’re still relying on slow, manual processes to bill customers and accept payments, you’ll spend more time chasing payments than making money.  Optimize your accounts receivable with tools and tactics designed for the 21stcentury and start getting paid faster.

Questions or comments? Have any additional tips or resources to share? Reply below or reach out to Marcus Lansky.

Posted on

From Great Idea to Detailed Plan:  Your Business Destiny Awaits

When an awesome idea hits, entrepreneurs are often ready to pounce, particularly when it is a unique business idea with a lot of potential.  Sometimes the small details of management planning are lost along the way, but those tasks are important parts of the daily management of business.  Fortunately, there are many tools and tricks to help business owners manage the minutiae of administrative tasks.  Read on for UNOVA Coworking‘s tips to make your business destiny come true.

Courtesy of Pixabay

Getting Goods and Supplies

Placing orders for supplies and managing your inventory is a crucial aspect of running your business.  If you are making drastic changes to the business and its goods or services, it may be necessary to identify alternative vendors specific to what you have in mind.  Often specialty vendors can be found through trade magazines.  Shop around to make sure you are accessing good prices and watch out for shipping costs, which can drastically impact your profit margins.

Inventory Assists

Maintaining inventory once your business is established can be a less-than-exciting task.  Fortunately, business owners can use inventory programs to stay ahead of their supply needs.  The best part of an inventory system is the automation that saves a ton of time and misery.  There are many programs available at a range of prices, depending on the size of your business and how much automation you require.

Business owners may be able to delegate some tasks to trusted employees if there is a question about whether there are adequate funds for an inventory program.  Inventory may be a good task to delegate initially.  As business increases and you get your sea legs under you, it may feel like a better time to invest in a program for inventory.  Sometimes there are tasks that business owners take on independently to save capital, and others are more vital to the functioning of the business, such as payroll.  When it comes to payroll, using an established, automated system can spare you hours at a computer and a lot of frustration.

Payroll Simplicity

Most business owners do not relish endless hours crunching numbers for payroll.  To avoid errors in manual calculations, automated platforms can be an ideal solution.  When you use a timesheet calculator, it creates a more accurate account of your worker’s time, including breaks and overtime usage.  Automated systems are also great for keeping track of the varying classifications of workers, which reduces the likelihood of human error.

Another factor to keep in mind regarding payroll is that if you have employees in other countries, you’ll need to find reliable methods for paying them.  One option is to use a money transfer service like Remitly, which allows you to streamline safe and secure payments to people at guaranteed delivery dates in many countries, including Mexico and India.

Technology has offered business owners a wide range of time-saving tools that can change operations for the better.  You can decide which ones meet your needs and whether they are worth the investment.  As your business continues to grow, you may find that automated systems are a time and energy saving way to operate.  Regardless of the systems you choose, consider ways to make your business sustainable and reduce your stress as an entrepreneur.

Questions or comments? Have any additional tips or resources to share? Reply below or reach out to Courtney Rosenfeld.

Terms and Conditions - Privacy Policy