8. Apply for Business Insurance
- Work With an Agent To Get Insured
An insurance agent can help determine and maintain what coverages are suitable for your business and find policies from insurers that offer the best rates. An independent insurance agent represents several different insurers, so they can shop around for the best rates and coverage options.
Basic Types of Business Insurance Coverage
- Business interruption insurance pays for the loss of income if your business is forced to close temporarily due to a covered event such as a natural disaster.
- Product liability insurance protects against claims that your products caused bodily injury or property damage.
- Liability insurance protects your business against third-party claims of bodily injury, property damage and personal injury such as defamation or false advertising.
- Property insurance covers the physical assets of your business, including your office space, equipment and inventory.
- Workers’ compensation insurance covers medical expenses and income replacement for employees who are injured on the job.
- Employee practices liability insurance covers claims from employees alleging discrimination, sexual harassment or other wrongful termination.
9. Get the Right Business Tools
Business tools can help make your operations, life easier and make your business run more smoothly. The right tools can help you save time, automate tasks and make better decisions.
Consider the following tools in your work engine:
- Customer relationship management software : This will help you manage your customer relationships, track sales and marketing data and automate tasks like customer service and follow-ups.
- Project management software: Plan, execute and track projects. It can also be used to manage employee tasks and allocate resources. Examples include Airtable and ClickUp.
- Accounting software: Track your business income and expenses, prepare financial statements and file taxes. Examples include QuickBooks and FreshBooks.
- Email Hosting: This allows you to create a professional email address with your own domain name. Examples include G Suite and Microsoft Office 365.
- Merchant Services: When customers make a purchase, the money is deposited into your business account. You can also use merchant services to set up recurring billing or subscription payments. Examples include Square and Stripe.
- Point Of sale: A system that allows you to process customer payments. Some accounting software and CRM software have POS features built-in. Examples include Clover and Lightspeed.
- Virtual private network: Provides a secure, private connection between your computer and the internet. This is important for businesses that handle sensitive data. Examples include NordVPN and ExpressVPN.
10. Market Your Business
Many business owners spend so much money creating their products that there isn’t a marketing budget by the time they’ve launched. Alternatively, they’ve spent so much time developing the product that marketing is an afterthought.
* Create a Website
Even if you’re a brick-and-mortar business, a web presence is essential. creating a website doesn’t take long, either—you can have one done in as little as a weekend. You can make a standard informational website or an e-commerce site where you sell products online. If you sell products or services offline, include a page on your site where customers can find your locations and hours. Other pages to add include an “About Us” page, product or service pages, frequently asked questions (FAQs), a blog and contact information.
- Create Relevant Content
Provide quality digital content on your site that makes it easy for customers to find the correct answers to their questions. Content marketing ideas include videos, customer testimonials, blog posts and demos. Consider content marketing one of the most critical tasks on your daily to-do list. This is used in conjunction with posting on social media.
- Get Listed in Online Directories
Customers use online directories like Yelp, Google My Business and Facebook to find local businesses. Some city halls and chambers of commerce have business directories too. Include your business in as many relevant directories as possible. You can also create listings for your business on specific directories that focus on your industry.
- Optimize Your Site for SEO
After getting a website or e-commerce store, focus on optimizing it for search engines (SEO). This way, when a potential customer searches for specific keywords for your products, the search engine can point them to your site. SEO is a long-term strategy, so don’t expect a ton of traffic from search engines initially—even if you’re using all the right keywords.
- Develop a Social Media Strategy
Your potential customers are using social media every day—you need to be there too. Post content that’s interesting and relevant to your audience. Use social media to drive traffic back to your website where customers can learn more about what you do and buy your products or services.
..Stay Tuned for final (part 5) part………
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