It doesn’t matter how good your relationship with your key contact is, it’s the executive that has the final call. This means your relationship with your key contact can be perfect. They can be engaged and love your product, and then turn around and tell you that their company will no longer be funding you.

While this can appear like there were no warning signs, there almost always are. Red flags can be hidden, but they’re still there. This is because your key contact isn’t the one who makes the decisions; it’s the executive. So, while it’s important to keep up a great relationship with your key contact, and keep them involved and loving your product, it’s also important to keep your executive engaged.

So, as well as keeping your key contact happy, you need a different kind of relationship with the executive who is making the decisions for your business to thrive as a company. The two relationships will be different, as your key contact will want to know more about the product itself and how it’s working, whereas the executive will be more interested in the value and future proofing of the product. Either way, good relationships with any colleague is key to success.

How do you build this relationship? Where do you begin? Luckily, we have five ideas for you.

Find the Right Executive

This is usually going to be the first step you do, as it will be easiest to find the right executive at the beginning of a relationship with a client. Over time accounts and a good relationship with an executive can be lost, and this needs to be re-established, rather than finding a new one.

Set Goals with Them

If you can, you need to involve the executive in your goal-oriented thinking. This will add transparency in the direction your product or company is going in. Whether you can or cannot involve the executive, you must involve your key contact. Transparency will help them see the value of your product.

Manage and Talk About Expectations

If you’re not in direct contact with the executive already, organise a call and meet up with them to talk about both yours and their expectations. Communication is key in this case.

Give Them All the Results, All the Time

Any daily communications with your key contact may not be relevant, yet, your results will always be relevant. Executives will want to see that you are moving towards your established goals. If you’re behind, it’s more helpful to talk to them, rather than try and hide it. This is because then you can talk about how your strategy is changing to catch up with your goals.

Ensure All Parties are Resilient to Change

Change is inevitable in any business, so you need to ensure that there is resilience on both your end and that of your executives. Things may change on your end that your executives will need to be able to handle, just as your executives may request changes on your end that you will need to be able to address. Many people agree that a low level of resilience can badly affect work performance, so it’s something that shouldn’t be overlooked.

So, if you build a better relationship with your executives as well as your key contact, you can avoid any shocks. Furthermore, it will be easier to implement improvements in your company if you have a better understanding of your executive and their business requirements. If things start to go wrong, you’ll be able to catch it early enough to change course if needed as well.

Cash flow can help to monitor the health of your business on a daily, monthly or yearly basis. A cash flow monitors how much money is coming in and out of your business which can help with budgeting, determining when sales need to increase and in managing loan repayments.

A positive cash flow is when move revenue is coming into the business than expenses going out, which is an ideal situation for most companies. However, a positive cash flow isn’t often likely, especially for smaller businesses and start-ups.

Increasing your cash flow isn’t all about making profits, although that definitely helps. But there are other ways you can manage your cash flow to help ensure that you are staying in the black.

• Create and update your cash flow forecast

One of the most important ways of increasing your cash flow is to always conduct a cash flow forecast on a regular basis. Most businesses plan a forecast for between one year and five, depending on the size. However, it is always useful to do shorter forecasts as there can be more accuracy in them.

They can be used to predict when you may need a cash injection so that you can plan accordingly on a month by month basis to make sure your costs are covered.

• Communicate with suppliers

Managing when money is coming out from suppliers can be key when managing your cashflow. When new suppliers come along, perhaps try and adjust the payment dates on a different day to others so you’re not paying everyone in one go.

In addition to this, if you’ve built up a relationship with regular suppliers you can try to re-negotiate payment plans or see if you can bulk order to get discounted rates.

• Conduct a risk assessment

It is always worth doing a risk assessment for the cash flow of your business; you never know when unexpected costs may occur. Try to envision every solution for your business when putting together your cash flow forecast to identify and risks that you might face. It also may be worth putting an extra pot of money for the business somewhere to cover these risks.

• Stay on top of budgets

You can use previous years’ expenditure and cash forecasts to compare against the current years’ expected budgets. If there was something that cropped up last year that you haven’t budgeted for then it may be worth taking another look at your cash flow.

Budgeting can play an important role in ensuring you have enough cash every month to cover your expenses so it’s always worth doing, in addition to your cash flow forecast. It can help to identify areas of spending that you could be cutting to increase your cash flow.

• Improve business efficiency

In 2019, there are plenty of opportunities to improve business efficiency through the use of technology. Enhanced telecommunication through networks and the internet can help businesses communicate automatically without even the need for human interaction. This can drastically improve on the efficiency and performance of your operations.

These types of solutions can help to save both time and money, meaning your business can be more profitable with a much healthier cash flow.

• Review your pricing

It’s not always ideal for customers when businesses up their prices, but it may be that you aren’t charging enough for some of your services. In addition to this, you may have increased your business size and feel that you’ve gained skills and knowledge that will benefit your customers.

Don’t underestimate your company and its position within the market. You can stay competitive whilst still giving your prices a rethink.

• Target new markets

Innovation can be vital for companies to stay afloat. Industries and markets are constantly adapting. Targeting new markets could help to bring an extra influx of finance to your business whilst still being able to offer the same products.

Investing in marketing or additional sales could help you boost your profits.

• Keep on top of management accounts

By managing all your accounts efficiently, you can make sure you’re being paid on time as well as paying others. Keeping all your documentation including invoices, balance sheets, purchase orders and contracts can ensure that your accounts are being managed properly and can help to make sure money is coming in and out of the business at the right time.

• Negotiate company voluntary agreements

It may be, if you are really experiencing difficulties that you can re-negotiate some payment terms. You could extend some of your repayment terms and pay over a longer period of time instead. Alternatively, company voluntary arrangements can help to reduce the cost of your repayments and give you a bit more time to source the funding.

• Find additional funding

If you have planned your forecast and budgets and feel that some months you will be low on cash, it may be worth trying to find an additional source of funding to cover yourself. This may be through a bank loan or creditor. Alternatively, you may be able to crowdsource or find new investors that can help give you a quick cash injection when you need it.

If you’ve identified an opportunity in expanding your business overseas particularly to the US, you aren’t alone. America has the world’s largest gross domestic product by more than $7 trillion second largest to China, in 2018.

Whilst America is ranked as one of the top ten easiest countries to do business in, there are several things you should consider first. If you’re looking to relocate yourself, you’ll need to consider visa options, opening a US bank account and in which state to establish your business. Alternatively, if you’re looking to hire US-based employees, you need to consider the three options into employing people in the US.

Setting up a branch office, a subsidiary, or a co-employment are the most common routes; each with their own levels of risk, long term cost, set up costs, and time-frames. Foothold America have created a free guide to US expansion to help you every step of the way as well as an info-graphic full of top tips and considerations.

Congratulations! You are the proud owner of a business. You have thought of an individual brand that will surely impress the public. But first things first, you need to make sure that your employees feel happy and secure in your office building. Does your office décor really symbolise what your brand has to offer the world? Here are some tips and tricks to make sure that your work building fully shows off everything that your brand has to offer its customers.

Consider your atmosphere

The first thing that you have to think about when it comes to designing your office is its atmosphere. Every office will have a specific atmosphere that will complement its business culture. If you are a young and upcoming SEO company, you may find that your atmosphere is relaxed and laid back, meaning that you may opt for a quirkier design (fit with colourful desks and relaxation spaces). However, if you have a high-paced sales environment, you may need an open plan office, where your employees can see each other and keep in communication during the busier hours of the day. Have a think about your office’s atmosphere before reaching out to a workplace design specialist, like Maris Interiors. That way you can ensure that the overall design of your office will suit your brand perfectly.

Colour Schemes

There is an important balance to be struck when you consider the actual colour scheme of your office. You may want it to reflect the colours of your brand, but not cause your office to look any smaller or unprofessional. Colour psychology is important when it comes to boosting the morale of your employees and opinion of others when they visit the office. If you want to incorporate brand colours into your office design, try thinking about how you can use it in small doses. That way it can stand out. Combine it with neutral colours, such as white and grey, to make sure that it brings a little life into your interior office. You may even want to consider whether or not you want to paint murals on the walls that show off your brand. This will certainly give your office a young and quirky.

Sociability

The last thing you want to do is keep your employees trapped in tiny cubicles that keep them isolated from their peers. If you want your business to feel sociable, friendly and inclusive, make sure that your décor has a modern feel to it. Using the layout of the original space and modernising it with the help of a building preservation specialist also creates a more inclusive special space to work. Office chairs, bright lighting, and open doors can encourage people to sit and comfortably do business together. It can also make people feel more at ease in their work stations.

Organisation

Remember, a tidy space is an organised space. When you have visitors come to visit your business’ headquarters, you want them to get a good impression of you and your employees. Soft toned décor, cabinets, desks and shelves can make anyone feel like with you and your brand – they are in good company (or even with a good company!). If your brand looks professional then this means that an inherent sense of trust is built up between you and your clients upon every visit.

You can also do the design yourself, especially if you know the various elements that could showcase the brand’s vibe. Learn all about them through interior design courses offered by the National Design Academy.

Working remotely was something of a pipeline dream before the internet. Now, with a host of options of remote workers, increasing numbers of businesses are saving on office space to employ remote workers. Marketing is a sector that is particularly thriving with this change. The likes of online marketing campaigns make it incredibly easy to perform your role at home.

• Take out insurance

If you are working as a remote worker in the marketing sector, you will need to consider taking out a tailored indemnity insurance policy against your work. Common claims which can occur,as shared by Hiscox, include errors or misunderstanding during advertising campaigns, resulting in claims of slander or copyright infringement. Taking out the appropriate insurance can ensure that you do not lose profits during these events.

Some marketing insurance policies, such as those offered by Hiscox, are tailored to your individual situation by their specialist team of underwriters. They can protect you if claims are made against the advice or services that you provide.

Connect with your colleagues

Working remotely can sometimes be isolating. Many remote workers find it difficult to connect with colleagues when working from home. However, establishing efficient communication methods is vital for creating a fully connected and streamlined marketing campaign. It can stop mistakes and misunderstandings from happening.

Not connecting with other is harmful to our health; it is, therefore, wise to get out the house (or office) and work in an environment that’s built with freelancers in mind. You can find many collaborative office spaces designed with the freelancer in mind. This allows for remote workers to work on their own but also talk to others just like them.

Many digital marketing experts conduct daily meetings through communication and social messaging applications such as Skype’s video-calling services. It will ensure that everyone can meet their targets and understand the message that your company is trying to broadcast to its audience. You can also raise any issues or improvements that need to be made.

• Establish a Routine

Although working from home can be fantastic, it is also easy to procrastinate or feel unable to finish all of your work within the deadline. To work efficiently, you should establish a daily routine which will help you to focus on the work you need to complete. Although this can be altered to fit your routines and preferences, ensuring that you have a daily plan will allow you to follow your marketing schedule. It could be publishing content on time, responding to messages efficiently, or posting to social media regularly.

• Invest in the Right Tools

To work from home as efficiently as in the office, you should also ensure that you invest in the right tools that will allow you to work to the best of your ability. For instance, for digital marketing, you should download mobile applications such as calendar and scheduling applications that can help you plan your scheduled posts and appointments. Additionally, social media applications can be downloaded onto your mobile. It means that you can respond to messages and create an online presence from wherever you want to work from. In remote marketing communications, PowerPoint presentations have taken unprecedented importance. Try these visually impactful PowerPoint templates that can be a great addition to your remote marketing communication arsenal.

• Track Performance

You should also make sure that you evaluate your performance at all times. Doing so will show you where you need to improve and what aspects you should focus on. Without your manager in direct communication with you, it can be challenging to find the motivation to succeed. However, by tracking your performance, you will be able to increase your productivity and ensure that your work is of high quality.

Not many people would say they lack ambition. The urge to succeed is embedded in all of us. From children to elders, all individuals measure personal success according to their own inner criteria. Unfortunately, most people fail to realize their full potential due to a complex set of reasons, but most often that set consists of only a couple of elements. Lack of ideas and absence of courage are usually the ones responsible for holding you back, but what happens when you take those two out of the equation?

If you are exploring your possibilities and are looking for a way to break free from the closed corporate system and dive into the ocean of self-employment, we are here to provide a list of helpful items you’ll need to consider if you wish to start your own business.

The Right Mindset

The first thing you need to do is actually convince yourself that this going forward solo is a good idea. Studies show that majority of people that actually have a potentially lucrative idea are afraid of stepping out of their comfort zones out of fear. At the heart of it hides not the fear of failure as you might think, but rather the fear of success.

Fear of success is actually very common. When one individual decides to try something, he is met with two opposing outcomes: either he will fail, or he will succeed. Now, we generally spend too much time thinking about failing that the notion of success is far from our minds. However, as we overcome the obstacles and approach the goal, we are faced with the frightening thought: “What if I actually do this?”. So logically, after so much time spent focusing on the negative aspects, failure becomes a constant, even safe option. Winning becomes something that now scares us even more.

To get out of the vicious circle, visualizing situations in which you were successful is one of the best strategies that you can use. Keep reminding yourself why you decided to do this in the first place and find a reliable source of motivation. If you believe in yourself and your goal, you become practically invincible, and that mindset is one of the key components of success.

Profitable Field

The era of capitalism and mass production brings forth countless products and dense marketing spaces. To sell something never seen before, you will have to incorporate an extra layer of creativity not only in terms of advertising but the individual product as well. To put it simply, sliced bread has gone stale.

The matter we would like to address is the choice of field of work coupled with accompanying advertising. Intense marketing strategies focus on selling products and services that directly affect us precisely because they are not selling the product as much as they are selling a lifestyle. The perfect example is Apple and the world-famous motto ‘Think Different’. From the beginning, the company focused on selling items that may be only pieces of electronic equipment, but each device represents something much bigger than just a phone or a laptop. The entire brand promoted the idea that you are unique and if you want to be different – you’ll want something that resides in its own league. Ironically, today Apple is one of the most recognizable companies in the world, with iPhones being the preferred choice for a mobile device for billions of users.

That is why it is important to create a unique outline for your product, calculate where and to whom you desire to sell it, and devise a marketing strategy that completely fits the entire concept.

Of course, you do not need an actual product in order to achieve success. Considering that you now have the internet as a medium, you can explore infinite fields and professions and try your hand at lucrative jobs you never knew existed before.

One such lucrative idea is affiliate marketing. If you are drawn to this branch of business and wish to dive a bit deeper, affiliate marketing is a great place to start. Essentially, affiliate marketing brings a lot of money through promotions of other companies’ products. It is present in all spheres and industries, especially in entertainment and iGaming, where some of the top UK online casino establishments work with elaborate affiliate networks.

Possibilities are endless; you only need to choose what you wish to do.

Business Structure and Plan

Once you make a decision about your line of work, industry, and product, you will need a firm structure that will enable you to put it all into motion.

A solid, bulletproof business plan is vital – this will be the foundation of your business venture. Most start-up businesses fail during their first three years of existence precisely because the structure and planning were not based on reasonable goals. Failing to predict potentially harmful circumstances is one of the first obstacles – an obstacle many individuals fail to notice. Take your time in devising your plan.

It needs to be precise, so do your homework: research your target market, work on your marketing strategy, formulate your product, and most importantly, devise a reasonable funding goal.