International Institute Of Home Staging

business

10 Tips for Running a Successful Business

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Running two businesses, as well as having four children, has made my life one major balancing act!

But what it has proved is starting and running a successful business is truly possible, even if you have a family, multiple jobs and a range of other commitments. So, here are my top 10 tips on how you too can start and run your own successful business!

Running a Successful Business

Truly love your industry

Running a business is hard work but if you’re passionate about it, it’ll never truly seem like work!

Research!

Know your industry thoroughly, know who the leaders are in the field and know who your competitors are.

Flexibility is key

As a working mum, I was only ever going to succeed if I made sure flexibility was a big part of my business plan. Make sure you have a fulfilling career and a personal life.

Surround yourself with good company

Only befriend those who are supportive. Your business journey will be all the more rewarding if you share it with those that believe in you.

Have a network of experts

You cannot know everything; it’s not possible! So have an established network of experts, that way you’ll have time to thrive at what you do best.

Running a Successful Business

Put your customers first

Always go the extra mile and make sure that you deliver big. Word of mouth is so powerful and when customers like what you do they tell their friends, there’s no better marketing tool.

Embrace technology and social media

Social media gives you the opportunity, as a business owner, to interact with your customers in real-time. There are so many different ways you can embrace technology and social media in your business today, it’s a critical step in transforming the overall experience of each of your customers.

Make a record of all the procedures that are involved in the running of your business

That way, when you expand and take on staff, training them will be a whole lot easier.

Believe in yourself! Have a business coach or mentor

While you may have a vision for your business, it can often be forgotten when you’re busy with the day-to-day operations. So make sure you have an objective business coach who can help keep you on track and make sure you have the best possible chance of kicking your goals!

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How to Ensure Brand Loyalty in Home Staging

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When most people think of brand loyalty, their first thought is about brands they use in their own day-to-day life.

What supermarket do you shop at? What brand of cereal do you buy? What fast food do you get?

Unlike food brands, home staging isn’t a service or product that is needed for every household on a weekly basis.

Home staging is a service that most households wouldn’t even use once a year. Some people spend their lifetime living in the same property, some people never plan to sell once they find their dream house. So, how can you create brand loyalty for an industry where repeat customers only happen every few years if that?!

Image Source: adoremagazine.com

Social media and advertising

Being front of mind for your potential customers is a great way to ensure that when they hear the term ‘home staging’, their first thought is you!

No matter if you want to solely advertise online, hand out flyers to mailboxes or run a Facebook ad; advertising is the most effective way to ensure that your company is everywhere.

If someone keeps seeing your brand pop up online or on social media, when it comes time to sell their property or they know someone who is, their first thought is your company.

Offer incentives

Spread the word of your business and encourage repeat customers by offering them an incentive. It could be a free service or bonus inclusion if your client shares something on social media, recommends you to a friend or is a repeat customer. This is all about creating a strong and positive relationship with your customers. You don’t necessarily have to drop your prices to meet your competitors’, but you can make your customers feel valued.

Image Source: ventandcover.com

Listen to customer feedback

Feedback isn’t always good feedback, but it can always be used for the better.

By looking at your feedback, be it online or face-to-face, you are able to understand what your customers want and need from your service and then it is up to you to meet those needs. If you keep getting feedback that the customer felt left out during the process, then make an effort to install a system which means the customer is kept up to date every step of the way.

Maintaining and improving quality

It’s important for businesses to strive for all customers to leave completely satisfied with your quality of service.

Continually improving your business ensures that you blow your customers’ expectations out of the water so they keep talking about how great their experience was. With a great experience, comes a memory so even if someone had a great experience 10 years ago they may still try to hunt down that business and hire them again.

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How to Network Like a Pro

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We’ve all heard of networking – but how exactly do you do it and why is it essential for running a successful business?

While technology has made networking easier, you still need to get outside of your comfort zone and meet people for success in your business.

Networking is a great way to get your name and business out into the world, find new clients and expand your affiliates.

networking for your business

Regardless of the type of business you run, networking is achieved in similar ways – here’s some ideas to get yourself out there!

Attend Events

Going to events is a great way to network. Not only can this lead to new clients but it also has the potential to lead to affiliates and possibly even partner brands. Being around like-minded people is great too as it allows you to meet other inspirational people, expand your knowledge and give you fresh ideas.

Business Cards

Carrying around business cards is still a great way to network, especially at events. You can even drop your business cards off at cafes and restaurants so you have the potential to reach a wide range of demographics! Putting your key social media handles, phone number and email on business cards is absolutely essential nowadays. People want to be able to research your business before directly contacting you.

Social Media

Networking through social media is another great way to network when you are time poor but still want to chat to people. Even if you have no time to post, comment or message in the moment, you can communicate via paid advertisements and using scheduling programs so you always have content going live across your platforms and live chats.

These techniques will allow you to connect with your audience and potential clients or partners – and you can mix it up with what’s going on in your biz calendar! Trial different ideas and techniques to figure out what works best for you, you never know who you’re going to meet and what opportunity could come your way!

 

 

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Must-Have Home Staging Stock

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When you reach a certain point in your home staging business, acquiring stock and inventory is an essential step up.

Purchasing this stock might seem like a bit of a leap, and depending on what stock you purchase, it might be.

However, if you are smart about what and how much stock you purchase, you could improve your overall home staging business.

Create a Sanctuary
Image via Style Curator

When it comes to stock there is typically two types: soft furnishings and hard furnishings.

Soft furnishings include items such as pillows, linen, lamps and small accessories. The way I like to think about soft furnishings is that I could pack them all in a box and put them in my car.

On the other hand, hard furnishings are big items such as lounges, arm chairs, dining tables, coffee tables, and so on. These are the items that can’t be packed and loaded single handedly.

Logically, soft furnishings should be acquired first, then later down the track hard furnishings can be acquired. It’s important to be able to consider what sort of stock you should have now!

SOFT FURNISHINGS

When it comes to soft furnishings, the items below can be purchased relatively cheaply and in bulk.

  1. Pillows: Purchasing pillows that work well in a wide range of environments is a great way to get the most out of your money. Choose pillows in a few colours and designs so they can be used on their own or grouped together.
  2. Faux flowers and plants: Faux flowers and plants are great when the right ones are purchased because they can look amazing and used in a range of spaces and styles. Plus they last a long time!
  3. Books: Theses can be purchased from an op shop and are a great way to add texture and create a ‘lived in’ feeling to any space. These are the most cost-effective soft furnishings and can be used in any environment, from a study, bedroom, lounge room or even an outdoor setting.
  4. Knick-knack accessories: These are small accessories that can be used in a variety of environments – anything from vessels, small bowls, candle holders, or any other small accessories.
  5. Linen packs: This isn’t absolutely necessary, but having coverlets and toppers can transform a room from something dull to something amazing.
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Image via immyandindi.com.au

HARD FURNISHINGS

As for hard furnishings, these items are more expensive so it is beneficial to go for quality over quantity.

  1. Mattresses: Often clients do not have enough beds to show off the best use of the space, or they have moved and have taken their mattresses with them so these are a must!
  2. Dining chairs: Not all dining chairs go with tables, or look good with them, so having some neutral dining chairs that work with a range of colours is a great idea so you can use the clients dining table.
  3. Bedside tables: Bedside tables have the potential to open up the bedroom and transform the space into something amazing. Having bedside tables that are unique, yet work well in a variety of environments is essential.
  4. Lounges: Lounges can easily begin to look old, worn and unpleasant when they’ve been used for years. Having lounges in stock that are a neutral colour are a great idea as they can be used in a range of different styled homes.
  5. Coffee tables: Coffee tables are a great way to show off the space in a lounge room and add an element of homeliness to the space. Not everyone has a coffee table, and if they do it might be old and worn. Having new, coffee tables as part of your stock can transform a space.
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Image via southernliving.com

 

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New Ideas for Your Home Staging Business

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Figuring out how to stay above your competition can be difficult. Do you drop your prices? Do you become more like your competition? Do you change your core business structure?

The great news is that you don’t have to do any of the above!

In the age of technology, you can do a million and one things to switch up your business and create a unique element of interest that sets you above other home stagers in your area.

All that you have to decide is what ideas you are going to pursue! Here’s some to get you started:

Create a YouTube channel

It’s no secret that YouTube is the place to be at the moment. Creating a YouTube channel where you can give home staging advice, film the process of staging a property (you will need to get your clients permission for this), film your day to create a ‘Day in the Life of a Home Stager’ vlog or even just discussing key topics in the industry is a great way to promote your business, earn some extra money and create a whole new business venture.

Start a blog

This is just the written version of a YouTube video. Blogs are a great way to engage your audience and to share advice and your thoughts.home staging tips

Warehouse tours

We know home staging involves a lot of storage and everyone stores things differently. Join up with some other local home stagers and host a warehouse tour on a weekend to allow for maximum creative flow, new ideas for storage and in turn bring the community closer together.

Create an online op-shop

it is inevitable that home staging businesses have a reasonable amount of stock turnover.. Instead of just throwing these pieces away, you can put them online. This can be connected to your home staging business website and act as a side project. Whenever an item of stock wont be used again just post it on the op-shop for someone else to buy. You can label the stock as pick up only between certain times. This is a great way to regularly clear out old or broken stock to make way for new items.

Host regular home staging meet ups

It is of utmost importance to have positive relationships with other home stagers in your area. Hosting a meet up every few months will allow for a community to form where you are able to discuss local issues in the home staging community and create other events such as educational events and charity events.

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5 Ways to Connect with Real Estate Agents

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Stylists versus real estate agents—it’s not a boxing match but a partnership, so why the adversarial relationship?

Many of the students here at the International Institute of Home Staging are unsure and even a little scared about connecting with real estate agents. This can be for a number of reasons, primarily because they can be intimidating, but also because agents have a lot of power when it comes to engaging a home stager or property stylist. If the agent is hard to catch or simply not interested in pre-sale styling, it can be an uphill battle for stylists to get a foothold in the property industry.

There are a couple of simple reasons why an agent may reject your services: either you’re not approaching the agent in the right way, or you’ve not done the research to find the agents in the right places. Having just one agent on board can change your business in a very small time frame!

How to connect with real estate agents

Here are five ways you can successfully connect with agents.

  1. Be proactive and responsive

Do your homework and select agents that you believe will be open to having their portfolio of properties styled. If you’re particular about who you work with, try to get to know how they interact with colleagues, contractors and clients before you make your approach. Take the initiative when it comes to the stager-agent relationship and always be open to the agent’s needs when they do decide they want styling, including integrating their feedback into your work.

  1. Be the ultimate communicator

Polish your communication skills and you’ll be able to identify and match the communication style of the agent you are dealing with. Some agents are direct and you may need to be clear and straightforward in your dealings with them; for others who communicate in a less direct manner you may need to coax out what they really want from your correspondence or conversations with them. People like it when they are being heard and understood—be that person.

  1. Show them the benefits

Agents may not know the value of a stager, so make sure when you approach them to be clear on what you do, how you do it and what’s in it for them and their clients, the property sellers. If you have a portfolio of past work, a visual example may be the best way to demonstrate the value you bring. Support your pitch with data regarding return on investment (ROI).

How to connect with real estate agents

  1. Stave off concerns

Whether through false assumptions or bad experiences, some agents have misconceptions about the staging process and what it entails. Combine your communication skills with your value proposition to explain the staging process, to demonstrate that it won’t slow down the timelines greatly and to emphasise that it will yield a better result.

  1. Be professional

Professionalism goes a long way to create a good impression. Dazzle them with your confidence, styling skills and property knowledge. Always be polite and gracious, even when handling a rejection or feedback; the real estate industry is a close-knit community and word will get around about how you are to work with, so make sure the right message is sent.

Have you tried other successful ways of working with agents? Leave a comment and let us know your tips!

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10 Top Business Books for Success

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Reading has been noted as one of the primary habits of ultra-successful people and as business owners in the home staging industry, we seek this success in all it’s shapes and forms.

So here’s 10 business books from Entrepreneur’s top 20 that will change your mindset and inspire you to chase that dream that made you start in the first place.

Books for success

1. “Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy,” by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant.

As the No. 1 New York Times bestseller, this book is by the Facebook COO and best-selling author of “Lean In.”

Sandberg has returned with Wharton School psychologist Grant to discuss how she persevered after the loss of her husband. This compelling book offers stories and tips on managing and overcoming hardship, and it’s excellent inspiration for overcoming any type of life hurdle.

2. “Superconnector: Stop Networking and Start Building Business Relationships That Matter,” by Scott Gerber and Ryan Paugh.

“Superconnector” is the next stage in the evolution of networking, thanks to changes shaped by social media. It explores the set of habits where networkers should focus their energies, as superconnecting is about truly understanding the power that comes from building certain relationships.

This book aims to move you beyond bad networking habits and toward a “profit mindset” that involves taking a different approach to connecting with others.

3. “Leading Through the Turn: How a Journey Mindset Can Help Leaders Find Success and Significance,” by Elise Mitchell.

This book provides you with direction on how to become what Mitchell terms a “destination leader with a journey mindset.” To show you how to develop that mindset, she shares stories and interviews with successful leaders.

This is an excellent guide on how you can achieve personal and professional goals and also gain strategies for approaching the coming year.

4. “Surviving the Tech Storm: Strategy in Times of Technological Uncertainty,” by Nicklas Bergman.

Bergman offers a framework to help you understand why technology is causing uncertainty, how to look past the ambiguity and see the opportunities, and how to track the megatrends that will continue to change business.

The book provides a step-by-step approach to analyzing emerging technologies, assessing business implications, and adapting to a new and uncertain environment, potentially putting you ahead of others in your industry.

5. “They Ask, You Answer,” by Marcus Sheridan.

The book relates the story of how Sheridan’s company used content marketing to rise from the brink of bankruptcy during the 2008 economic crisis. Sheridan’s success has turned him into a highly sought-after speaker and a trusted voice in digital marketing and sales. The book will help you get a complete picture on how to integrate marketing and sales for an effective content strategy.

6. “Radical Candor: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity,” by Kim Scott.

Do you manage a team? “Radical Candor” is an important book that helps put the role of a boss into perspective, especially for those who run virtual teams and don’t often see the talent.

The book includes practical suggestions and tips that will yield positive change for you and your team.

7. “You Are a Badass at Making Money: Master the Mindset of Wealth,” by Jen Sincero.

Sincero’s fun-to-navigate finance manifesto will challenge you to think differently about how to make money and to develop a mindset of wealth.

So many people want to do better with their personal finances or reach better financial decisions for their businesses, and most fail. But this book will make you address the mental obstacles standing between you and your desired income.

8. “The Captain Class: The Hidden Force That Creates the World’s Greatest Teams,” by Sam Walker.

This book enhances how you develop, manage, or work on a team. Walker devised and applied a formula about teams that has been tested and has worked on teams all over the world, from Olympic teams and the NBA to the English Premier League.

In looking at team captains, Walker realized how successful teams worked and used that to devise a winning formula. You can leverage the insights here to become a captain or identify those who fit that description so they can lead your company to greater success.

9. “Real Artists Don’t Starve: Timeless Strategies for Thriving in the New Creative Age,” by Jeff Goins.

This book is made for the freelancer or those considering moving into business for themselves. Originally, people thought you couldn’t make money from creative careers. However, creativity is now embraced and rewarded financially.

Goins provides a number of strategies that those in the freelance economy can embrace, including to steal from your influencers, collaborate with others, and apprentice under a master.

10. “Learn Better: Mastering the Skills for Success in Life, Business, and School, or, How to Become an Expert in Just About Anything,” by Ulrich Boser.

Our approach to learning usually involves memorizing facts, dates, and details — but this approach doesn’t always work. Instead, better learning comes from simple techniques described in this book that will help you become an expert in your field.

The experience and advice from these books will give you the push you need to be successful in business over the next year. Start with one and make your way down the list – with the right mindset, the possibilities for you and your business are endless!

How To Develop Business Policies

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By Tracey Archer

In part one of the HR compliance series I discussed employment contracts, the importance of having a written contract and clauses outside of the Fair Work Act that may be relevant for your business. Equally important is ensuring all staff understand their responsibilities and company processes by way of policies.

Think your business is too small to have documented policies? Ask yourself – how many times do your employees ask you if they can take time off? Even if you have only two employees, it could be in excess of six times a year! Or maybe they are late to work, who do they notify and how? Further what are the consequences?

Similar to employment contracts policies should be tailored for the industry in which they are applicable. For the Home Staging industry, you’d need details around company cars and what staff are liable for should they have an accident, also mandatory policies such as Bullying and Harassment, Grievance Procedures and Rehabilitation and Return to Work, just to name a few.

Your time is important, spend it on developing your business and exceeding client expectations, rather than making a fresh decision every time an employee asks a question or you are faced with a challenge. Key is setting the ground work early, getting compliance right and ensuing consistency across your team.

Making the Most of Xero Accounting Software

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By Greg Logue

We all know the importance of cash in any business! It’s the lifeblood of what you do and without it, the doors close. Simple concept.

As business owners, you need to be thinking differently. In addition to the daily grind, you need to understand what’s happening behind the scenes. How is the business performing? Am I compliant with government and industry requirements? What do I need to do to push my business in the right direction? Why am I so exhausted and there’s no money in the bank?

A fundamental aspect of running any business is knowing the numbers. And I don’t mean knowing just what’s in the bank account! It goes beyond that. It’s understanding concepts like income, expenses, profit, assets, liabilities, equity, tax….the list goes on! To help you with this, it’s important that one of the first things on your business ‘to-do list’ is get some accounting software, and one of the best business accounting packages on the market is Xero.

We live in an age where technology is constantly changing. What we use today is out of date tomorrow. Gone are the days where a cashbook and receipts were used to track the finances of a business. We need real-time data to make real-time decisions. Without that you may miss an exciting opportunity. Xero is an amazing cloud based bookkeeping tool which gives you everything you need to know about managing your finances and understanding how your business is truly performing. As business owners, the key to making the most of your software is understanding it’s capabilities and working with your accountant to better educate yourselves on financial reports. I look forward to presenting on this topic at the 2018 National Home Staging Symposium – see you there!

Greg Logue is a Senior Accountant at DFK Crosbie and an advisor to business owners across a range of unique industries. Focusing on business growth and peace of mind for his client’s, Greg has over 10 years’ experience in providing solutions to everyday business problems. Whether it be getting a business off the ground, taking it to the next level or working towards a long-term goal, Greg tailors his approach to suit your needs. Using reliable financial data, Greg and his team can provide strategic advice to drive your business in the right direction.

If you would like to see Greg live, secure you place at the National Home Staging Symposium for 2018!

Clutter and Your Mindset

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I wanted to share something with you today that I was reading on my phone earlier, so you’ll see me looking at it a little bit. It’s about clutter and money.

 

There’s an amazing, good friend of mine, as well as an amazing business woman, called Denise Duffield-Thomas from LuckyBitch.com. Go over and check her out. You’ll find the stuff that she does absolutely amazing.

I was reading the morning about this really great piece she wrote about decluttering. I see a lot of home stagers doing some of the things that she talks about in her blog.

You’ll see in here that she talks about clutter and decluttering is great for money manifesting. She goes on to talk about all the different things that maybe we are doing with our clutter.

For example, in our office spaces, are we holding onto a desk someone gave us when we first started our businesses because we feel that we need to have more money or be a bigger business before we then give ourselves another desk?

A little like – and this is a phrase that Denise talks about, as interesting as it sounds – beggars can’t be choosers. “Someone gave me this when I first started business, so I’m going to keep using it.”

I really want you to head over and read this blog because this is absolutely amazing. It speaks about if we’re holding on to some of the things that we were gifted and we feel we have to be grateful for in our businesses, we aren’t opening up opportunities for new energy, new money and new abundance to come in.

I see this a fair bit in home staging. I see it with people’s stock. When I first started and I was getting stock in and I was like, “Wow! My business is growing!”

Then, as I got more and more stock and I wanted to turn it over, there was this ridiculous attachment to the stock that I had first because, “Oh, gosh. I need that. I need to be grateful. That’s where I can from.”

It wasn’t until I had the most epic garage sale that suddenly my business started to flourish. I got rid of all that old stock that was tying me down and that I wasn’t even really using. I was getting a warehouse full of clutter.

This is something that’s really important in home staging.

Look at your stock, look at your inventory and avoid it becoming clutter. It is the main commodity for many home stagers who have higher for making money.

  • Why do we allow a money making item to become a cluttered item?
  • Why don’t we cut it loose and allow more space in our warehouse, more space in our energy, more space in our business for abundant stock, customers, clients and agents coming in.

This is one way that I find a lot of the home stagers that I mentor and that are on our memberships are a bit attached to clutter. But I want to share with you from my phone here. I love reading Denise’s stuff.

She had some other great top tips and I wanted to read you some of my favorites about decluttering in the business because it’s so important; just as it’s important in life, it’s essential in business.

  1. The first one is a really great one about unsubscribing to emails that you don’t want anymore. Deleting old contacts out of your phone.
  2. Backing up and cleaning off your computer. If your desktop looks like a mad woman’s breakfast, clean that up. You’ll be amazed at how good it feels.
  3. Shred old documents. Old documents that you don’t’ need, get rid of them. There is no need to have that clutter and store them.
  4. This is a really interesting one: clean up your Facebook feed. It doesn’t mean you have to defriend people or unlike people, but if there’s someone that’s on your feed and you just don’t want to see their stuff anymore, make sure you remove that from your feed.
  5. The other one that I love, which is really interesting is deleting websites and getting rid of the histories in your browsers. That can be really interesting.
  6. Then, one of the last ones that I want to read to you – and this is a great one – is say no to networking groups that have become an obligation and not a joy.

I believe massively, guys, in the five people that we surround ourselves in are the people that we’re going to become and the people that we’re going to be the biggest reflection upon us.

That could also be said for networking groups. Many of us got involved in networking groups, which can become clutter in our calendar and clutter in our life.

Take Denise’s massive inspiration. Head over to LuckyBitch.com. I want you to get on and read this because it’s a really amazing blog.

I want you then to have a look in your warehouses for cluttered stock; I want you to look in your offices for all those things that you feel you should be entitled and that you’re really gifted to have and you need to keep and I want you to look in your computers and in your phones.

Rid yourself of that clutter and that will open up the energy for abundance and more business, more wealth and more opportunity to come your way.

Thanks so much for listening, guys. I’ll be back again soon.

Financing Business Growth

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By Greg Logue

There comes a time when your business will get to capacity and 24hrs in the day is not enough! This is when some decisions must be made. These decisions usually revolve around:

  • Staffing – do I need to hire someone?
  • Financing operations – can I borrow money and how do I use it?
  • Internal systems – what can we do more efficiently?

All three of the above have one thing in common – they come at a cost!

Most small to medium sized businesses will experience some cashflow pressure throughout their business lifecycle. During these times, how do you get ahead? How do you keep the ball rolling? Ultimately, financing the business will come from debt or equity, but is it a good idea to take on this financial risk and is your business:

  1. Able to access finance; and
  2. Capable of handling growth opportunities

All too often business owners look to get finance but are not in a position to do so. Whether restricted by limited trading history, poor financial performance or existing finance being at a maximum, you need to be aware of your eligibility and how you plan for expansion! If you’re unable to access finance, what are the steps you need to take to ready your business for finance. In other words, what is Plan B and how do we implement this strategy effectively?

I look forward to presenting on this topic and other key cashflow considerations for home staging businesses as part of the DFK Crosbie presentation at this year’s National Home Staging Symposium.

Greg Logue is a Senior Accountant at DFK Crosbie and an advisor to business owners across a range of unique industries. Focusing on business growth and peace of mind for his client’s, Greg has over 10 years’ experience in providing solutions to everyday business problems. Whether it be getting a business off the ground, taking it to the next level or working towards a long-term goal, Greg tailors his approach to suit your needs. Using reliable financial data, Greg and his team can provide strategic advice to drive your business in the right direction.

If you would like to see Greg live, secure you place at the National Home Staging Symposium for 2018!

How to Better Yourself by Questioning Yourself

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In life we constantly question ourselves and if the decisions we make are the right decisions. Depending on your family and friend situation, the decisions we may can also influence their lives. We question everything from if we really had the best dinner we could have, if we exercised for as long as we could have, if we were as productive at work as we could have been. All these things are questions we ask ourselves all the time. Depending on our answers, we might try harder the next time, or we could have pushed ourselves to the end limit. Regardless, when we keep questioning ourselves over the same thing, at some stage, we will begin to see change.

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When it comes to running a business, you question yourself and the decisions you make all that much more. Not only does the decisions you make influence yourself, but it also influences your family, your finances, your career and those you employ. Discovering an effective strategy and way of questioning yourself which always results in successful decision making and successful results is of utmost importance. So, what should you be asking yourself to better yourself as a business owner?

  • “What am I doing?” I know, this is a big question, but it needs to be asked. What is your business, what is its motto and what is it achieving? If these questions and answers aren’t what you want to hear then it is time to make some changes.
  • “What are my goals?” This is a great one as we enter the new year! What do you want your business to achieve in the next year, 5 years and 10 years? Where do you see your business going and what changes do you have to make to achieve your goals?
  • “Who are my competitors and what are they doing?” Knowing your competitor’s business inside out is just as important as knowing your own business. What do they do that is highly successful? Is this successful because of who they are or because of their demographic? How can you incorporate this into your business?
  • “Who is working for me?” Finding your A-team doesn’t happen over night! Don’t be afraid to reevaluate jobs and those you employ, if someone isn’t doing their job properly then find someone who can.
  • “What can I outsource?” As the business owner you don’t need to be doing tedious tasks that someone else can do! You can outsource locally or you can look for someone to outsource tasks to from elsewhere, this all depends on what you are comfortable with.

While it is important to constantly be asking yourself these questions, it is also important to sit down every three to six months and have a long think about these questions and what the answers actually are. Doing this regularly to ensure that your business will stay on top of its game and in front of all its competitors.

 

Coworkers photo in modern office.Project manager team work new idea.Young business crew working with startup studio.Laptop computer on table,showing presentation.Blurred,film effect.Horizontal.

 

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