With Amazon’s successes being proven on a daily basis, many business owners are looking to expand their target market with involvement on the platform. Luckily, Amazon has decided to make things easy for those listing their products on the platform- with Fulfillment By Amazon (FBA) services. 

What is Amazon FBA? Essentially, the service (or rather, collection of services) allows business owners to focus on selling products while Amazon does most of the heavy lifting. This includes picking up, packaging, and shipping products, as well as scaling businesses and dealing with all matters of returns.

Using Amazon’s Revenue Calculator

While using FBA services is useful, it can also be costly. However, Amazon makes it easy to see how cost-effective the service is for some products by providing a revenue calculator for business owners. 

Using this tool, it’s simple to see how efficiently your FBA business is operating- and which products are worth listing with the service. It’s worth noting that the typical gross margin for an FBA business is somewhere between 15-20%, adjusting for expenses and fees associated with FBA. Of course, considering the fact that Amazon FBA can also help to grow and scale your business simply by expanding the number of people who see your product listings, the fees might just be worth it.

Appealing to a Wider Range of Customers

Aside from the practical benefits of Amazon FBA, products listed with the service are automatically given the coveted ‘Prime’ badge. This means that members of Amazon prime who thrive on the promise of next-day shipping and quality customer service will be more likely to choose your products over their non-Prime equivalent.

Amazon FBA Lets Business Owners Focus On What’s Important

By virtue of not having to think about shipping, packaging, returns, or other minutiae of providing physical products to customers, business owners can focus on what’s important: selling products and honing their marketing strategy to target the maximum number of people in their niche. 

This is especially vital when considering perhaps the most often-cited pain point of selling with Amazon FBA: business owners do not receive data about their customers. However, using the time that is no longer spent on fulfilling orders, entrepreneurs can concentrate on growing their platform outside of Amazon- this can be a website, mailing list, or alternate platform of eCommerce. By growing these independent platforms, businesses and brands can better connect with their customers and learn more about them. This, in turn, can help to inform marketing strategies outside of Amazon.

Working With An Amazon Marketing Agency

If handling dealings with Amazon’s FBA services on top of the everyday tasks your business demands sounds beneficial yet daunting, you may wish to invest in a partnership with an Amazon agency. Many services are currently available through which an external team can optimise your Amazon strategy to improve your product descriptions, search rankings, Amazon SEO, advertising effectiveness, and more. 

By leaving your Amazon strategy to expert teams using proven techniques, your business is likely to find greater success on the world’s largest online marketplace.

Workers know that if they are to get ahead, they must command the influence and respect of the people around them. After all, companies are committees of peers. It is colleagues, not outside examiners, who determine whether a person rises through the ranks or not.

But becoming influential is a challenge. While some workers cultivate charisma and prestige, others fail to do so, and the reasons aren’t always clear.

This post explores how individuals should behave in the workplace to influence others. The higher their level of influence, the more they can get their ideas heard and the greater their chances of promotion.

Cultivate a sense of trust

Close and connected human relationships depend on trust. Colleagues need to have confidence that their teammates are going to deliver on the promises that they make. If that doesn’t happen, individual team members can lose respect rapidly.

Distrust of an individual is particularly damaging. If somebody becomes known as a person who others cannot trust, it ruins their reputation, and they may fail to progress at all.

Be consistent

The most consistent people are also celebrated and influential in business. These are the individuals who show up to work day after day, always meeting other people’s expectations for conduct and quality of work.

Once a person establishes consistency, the entire team comes to rely on them. Other colleagues get used to having them around and, eventually, they become an integral part of the firm, increasing their bargaining power.

Practice being more assertive

Individuals who want to increase their workplace influence also need to hone their assertiveness skills (not their aggression).

The most assertive people display a high degree of confidence, showing others that they stand by their convictions. They are also unafraid to discuss what they believe is the right strategy.

Critically, though, they are not arrogant. They don’t put forward ideas purely to make themselves look good: they commit themselves to the needs of the firm.

Be personal

Aloof workers don’t tend to have the same level of influence over their colleagues as those who are more grounded and personal. That’s because the business world depends on familiar relationships. When employees love and trust a specific person in their team, it makes it much more likely that they will respect and support them, regardless of their abilities.

Work, don’t argue

There are influential people in practically every industry. And these individuals tend to have one thing in common: they get on with their work. They don’t argue. For instance, Sara Nelson, International President of the Association of Flight Attendants, attained her position because of her passion for achieving healthy and secure environments for her fellow colleagues.

This approach is successful because it lets colleagues speak through their actions. Nobody can accuse them of empty promises or lacklustre results. They just get on with the job and allow their output to stand as evidence of their abilities and talent.

Practice listening

Finally, the most influential people make a habit of listening carefully to others and finding out what they really want, whether psychological, emotional or economic. When an employee empathizes with their coworkers, they gain tremendous sway in meetings and social interactions. Those who are able to take into account everyone’s opinion and acknowledge and respect each individual, dramatically increase their value to others.

The B2B industry represents a remarkable opportunity for the right entrepreneur. With the potential to make major headway and profits offering services or products to other businesses – and to turn the seed of an idea into an unstoppable force – it’s no wonder that the landscape of business to business enterprises sounds such a tempting call to so many of us. It is, however, also widely regarded as a tricky landscape to master – one filled with hazards that may well be unfamiliar to someone seasoned in the world of B2C.

Let’s start by saying it’s not necessarily harder to grow a B2B business – it’s the initial steps that intimidate budding entrepreneurs, causing them to flee for the B2C market. But why should they?

One eye-watering figure by Statista shows the B2B eCommerce market worth was $19.4 trillion in 2020, almost five times more than the B2C eCommerce market. There’s a goldmine waiting for you to tap into. Below, we will explore how hard it actually is to burst into the B2B market and grow a business.

First Things First – It’s Not As Hard As You Think

Yes, there is more professional pressure because you’re dealing with a business rather than an individual consumer, but the principles that lead to success are the same as they are in B2C. And, yes, there’s more pressure because the transactions are typically higher, but that doesn’t mean it’s unachievable. 

But the buyer is just as vulnerable to feeling stressed, powerless, and stuck in a constant loop of divulging information. According to The Harvard Business Review, 40% of buyers agonize over second-guessing their purchasing decision. As a business, it’s you that can simplify all the worries a buyer has – ultimately, you have the control.

Don’t Let The Complexity Weigh You Down

The Harvard Business Review also stated that the number of people involved in a B2B buying cycle is now 6.8. That includes stakeholders, buying specialists, and corporate officials. And, they also found that 65% of buyers spent as much time working out what they wanted to say to a sales rep as they expected to spend on the whole buying cycle. That’s because everything has to be given the okay by the never-ending list of people. 

So long as you have a robust sales pitch at the ready, knowing every answer to every possible question about your product or service, the complexity lies with the consumer rather than you.

Rely On Agencies For Support

You’re not in this alone, and if you want to make it easier to grow a successful B2B business, you should consider relying on the various agencies to support you. Naturally, your mind will jump to marketing or content creation agencies, but instead, think about a customer loyalty agency. There are multiple ways you can harness the power of marketing, but harnessing customer loyalty to boost business is not always as easy.

An incentives agency might just be your saving grace. By looking at websites like www.incentivesmart.com, you can explore the numerous benefits of establishing a customer loyalty program – simply advertising that you have a customer loyalty program can generate great business. One figure to remember, it’s up to 25 times more costly to acquire new customers than it is to retain them. 

Don’t Wait For Buyers To Come To You

Actively seeking out new business rather than waiting for it to come to you through marketing efforts isn’t the way to grow a business. You have to be proactive and find the buyers, especially in the beginning when funds might not be there to buy into expensive marketing campaigns. LinkedIn is the most commonly used social media platform for B2B businesses, making it the perfect starting point. 

Research and network with brands you know you’d like to work with and draft a message to send. The message doesn’t need to read like a sales pitch, simply stating your business and that you’re interested in talking further.

Another free outreaching method, ask current customers for a referral. One study found that buyers that have a positive customer service experience are 68% more likely to refer people in – so you can achieve this without even having to ask. Plus, most customer loyalty programs reward referrals, so there’s another avenue for new business.

Consider B2B to be like B2C, and the pressure of being a B2B startup melts away. There’s a stereotype that B2B businesses are harder to grow and start, but that’s only linked to the pressure associated with selling to a brand rather than consumer and the higher transactions. 

The second-largest economy in the continent, South Africa boasts one of the most sophisticated financial markets in the world, complemented with a robust regulatory system. The country is home to a number of major multinational players in the fields of industry, energy and financial services. And the best, most secure and quick way to enter this highly profitable industry is to buy an established financial business. If you are looking for the financial business for sale you can check Eli-deal services in category businesses for sale.

Finding an established company with consistent revenue, employees in place and profitability may be the easiest way to go into business for yourself. No need to start from scratch. The prospective advantages are attractive to lenders as they are to become owners, who therefore often secure loans on better terms than competitors starting a business from scratch. However, it depends on buying a well-managed, profitable business for the right price – and the requisite personal qualities are significant drivers of success too.

Getting qualified

The set of skills, experience, and qualifications necessary to succeed in this sector are contingent on the type of business and the expected position of the purchaser – whether a person intends to be a hands-on operator or a passive investor. Almost all industries related to handling or advising on financial transactions or decisions have one thing in common – the regulations are stringent, especially in South Africa. Given the strict rules, you need to obtain certain accreditations, qualifications, and proof of lack of a criminal record.

Being qualified doesn’t mean having a specified education, it is about having extensive experience in your field. This mainly applies to brokers and agents. If you are not qualified or lack experience in the relevant fields then you have to find someone with industry experience and partner with them. Thus, your partner will be responsible for reporting to the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). In fact, business persons, who have taken senior commercial positions in other sectors can often succeed by sharing their outsider’s perspective.

Choosing a niche

Certainly, a niche is not just conceived overnight; it’s set and refined over time. It begins with target clients, which leads to developing a unique expertise for catering to those clients and the problems they want to solve, and that in turn leads to the development of a services portfolio and a business model to follow the clients and their needs. As services are provided, new ways to focus on the client base emerge, new expertise is acquired, the business model is further refined, and the process is iterating until a finely honed niche emerges.

For instance, financial consultancies can command high fees since their clients are usually cash-rich and willing to pay substantially for the prospect of greater returns.

The impact of technology trends is another field of investigation. When the dominance of insurance brokers got eroded by price comparison platforms, many of them have adapted their business models to continue staying on track.

Mortgages are too difficult for most house purchasers to make clear all aspects by themselves, so mortgage brokers are less impacted.

Issuance of credit to low-income people that cannot use conventional sources of borrowing, microfinance, or microcredit also remains a prospective field for innovative, socially conscious entrepreneurs.

Debt collection agencies or developers of accountancy software also represent a promising niche in the financial market.

If you lack experience in dauntingly complex, tightly regulated financial products, you may consider buying a franchise. This is an excellent choice for new players that need comprehensive training and ongoing support from head office, but start-up costs and royalty fees can put a serious damper on a franchisee’s take-home pay.

The Due Diligence and Valuation Process When Buying a Business

The next steps when acquiring a business include examining detailed information from the seller regarding the business operations and finances, also known as due diligence.

A business valuation expert can provide you with advice on whether a seller has valued their financial business with justice. The price is contingent on net profit that in its turn depends on the business’s strengths and the fortunes of the wider sector.

Once a provisional price is negotiated, you need to conduct due diligence, which involves the following information:

• History of profits and losses; future projections;
• Operating costs and any debts if any exist;
• The business model
• Compliance with financial services regulations;
• Qualifications and experience of a team;
• The state of any premises involved;

If the due diligence process defines any undisclosed problems, you can negotiate the price downwards, or at least request warranties and indemnities that lower the risks. However, if the seller is not open to renegotiating, or your findings are not satisfactory, you can always walk away from the deal and consider others.

The process to buy an existing financial business can be costly and exhausting. Thorough research, due diligence, and a reasonable offer are the main points that should be conducted and considered while choosing the right business.

Why choose us?

ELI Deal service provides a cost-effective route to market for business owners and a one-stop shop for aspiring business people and buyers. You can see a large list of businesses for sale in different jurisdictions, which is constantly updated with new offers. Our specialists will help you choose the best option among various businesses for sale. Feel free to contact us anytime.

We have multiple options worldwide!