Mohit Tater's Blog, page 555

How Cryptocurrency Can Get Entrepreneurs to The Next Level

The meteoric rise in influence of the internet spawned a proliferation of new business concepts, changing the playing field altogether. This, in turn, resulted in changing what it meant to be an entrepreneur altogether. It completely transformed the dimensions in which a business operates and the radical shift in priorities forced business owners to review their goals and benchmarks.

Beyond The Bubble

This is very similar to what the new digital economy is doing to the existing infrastructure of a business. Cryptocurrencies are at a very nascent stage even though the blockchain concept has been in practical application for decades now. Over this time span, the major focus has always been on short-term benefits such as cryptocurrency investment and exchange possibilities. It’s important for an entrepreneur to understand the core concept of blockchain and the seemingly endless opportunities it presents to fully capitalize on the cryptocurrency wave.

Blockchain technology provides a new wave of opportunities for creators in all industrial sectors. You could be an engineer, an artist, a writer, or a designer – you just have the opportunity to take your product directly to your audience and reap the true benefits of your work.

Being an entrepreneur used to operating in “conventional” financial system, it can be a challenge trying to make sense of all the hype surrounding cryptocurrencies and take out the core idea of what benefits you in the long term. It doesn’t help at all when you have a fleet of self-proclaimed “crypto-experts” doing everything they can and hogging every platform to grab your attention and place their product. The seasoned entrepreneur will take his time to delineate fact from fiction and single out the important information that would make a positive impact on how he or she runs a business.

Here’s a rundown on how cryptocurrency and blockchain technology could potentially help you take your business to the next level.

Raising Capital

Raising the initial funds to set up a business is arguably one of the steepest steps. It’s hard to find investors who are convinced in your idea and even if you finally do convince them, in most scenarios, you just end up being a puppet on their strings, and your business fails to reach its potential owing to the fact that it’s not being set up the way you want it. From a broad perspective, this is such a tragic waste of resources. It’s almost normal to accept that some of the greatest business ideas will never be put in motion owing to gaining access to capital.

Now if you take the scenario of an economy run by blockchain technology, initial coin offerings would be the default step towards setting up a business. An ICO is the modern-day “crowdfunding” tool that gets the wheels of a startup or a large enterprise up in the air. Since blockchain is decentralized, there is no pulling of strings, no middlemen out to make a profit off you, complete transparency, and optimal efficiency.

The advantage of an ICO is that the valuation of your company is done almost instantly. With tokens acting as shares, you gain a substantial amount of liquidity for your company.

If you keep your ears to the ground, you will be hearing about more and more companies announcing their token issuing dates and starting up new and innovative ventures. What’s interesting about an ICO is that it doesn’t follow the market rules that we have today. Anybody can access coin offerings regardless of where they are in the world. This practically means you’re reaching out to a much larger audience and consequently an extremely competent investor base. The ICO-powered economy is all about speed, security, and efficiency since it cuts out all the conventional bottlenecks that are seen in conventional venture capital economies.

As an entrepreneur, you also have to understand that with the present scenario where there are absolutely no regulations, investing in a coin offering is not necessarily always a good idea. Wherever there is opportunity for something this lucrative, obviously you will have your share of scammers out there to capitalize on the general lack of awareness. This is why, in the current situation, you need to be extra cautious when investing in an ICO.

Crushing the Boundaries

One of the most negative aspects of today’s conventional systems that are part of an industry such as the healthcare system, the government, the education system, or even the entertainment industry for that matter is the presence of these intermediaries who create this accumulative vortex of power. You see them on the surface as “consultants” or “brokers” or “regulators” who are supposedly there to make things “easier.” The truth is that these entities have outrageous amounts of control in their hands to manipulate the system for their own personal agendas.

When you are running a business on an international stage, you have to deal with a substantial number of these “power brokers.” There’s insider information from various industrial sectors reinforcing the statement that these “middle men” can kill innovation and progress, drive prices up or down, control volume, or even run an industry to the ground if that met their objectives.

Cryptocurrency provides the aptest solution to eradicate these industry bottlenecks through the smart contracts concept introduced by Ethereum.

Smart contract essentially run independent of any human intervention since it’s based on an algorithm. The algorithm automatically verifies a chain of transactions and authenticates.

This way, anybody associated with that chain of transactions can verify its authenticity. They don’t have to rely on one person or a group of people for that matter.

This essentially gives entrepreneurs the freedom to carry out transactions on an international level without having to depend on any middlemen saving time and money. What’s amazing is that a smart entrepreneur can take the smart contract concept and apply it to solve a wide range of logistic, financial, and even environmental issues that they face.

The Investment Opportunity

This is probably the biggest opportunity for anybody with an entrepreneurial spirit to make investments in companies with high growth potential at an early stage. It’s common knowledge that private angel investors and venture capital funds wield exclusive power when it comes to investing in the most technically talented entities globally. Cryptocurrency gives power to the common man to have ownership of companies with tremendous growth potential.

Being Part of the Cool Crowd

When you’re part of the blockchain community, you have access to some of the most talented entrepreneurial geniuses on the planet. What’s amazing is the ease and speed at which multimillion dollar deals are executed.

We have seen investing communities utilizing popular messaging applications like Whatsapp, WeChat, and Facebook to communicate with each other on a daily basis. Substantially large investments in technology start ups have been executed in a matter of minutes through these “meek” Whatsapp groups in a matter of minutes or even seconds. In the conventional setting, with standard venture capital, this could take months to implement.

The concept of cryptocurrency represents and reinforces the perfect symbiosis between thought and action. If you have a bankable idea, you can implement it quickly, efficiently, and at a substantially lower cost with the platform provided by cryptocurrency. By being part of the blockchain community, you get access to the most talented engineers, investment-savvy entrepreneurs, and the best technology resources. As an entrepreneur, these contacts are the building blocks of your long term success.

The long term goal of a true entrepreneur is not about making successful investments or building large corporations that provide a steady stream of revenue. Beyond that, it’s about making a global impact, creating change, and rewriting the rules of the game so that everybody benefits. Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology provide you with the platform to achieve just that.

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Easy Horse Race Betting Tips To Try Today

Every day as you place your bets, you hope the outcome ends in your favor. Some do it from intuition while others pick what pleases their eyes for the day. However, placing money on such deductions reduces your possibility of winning. Newbies in the horse race betting tips as a newbie, trying out horse racing betting might seem tough, but a few tips might come in handy. Below are some of the easy horse racing tips you can implement today for a better outcome.

1)    Follow the Expert’s Advice

Placing a bet on horse racing is not a preserve of experts. Currently, all you need to do is to follow top horse racing tips from experts and use their predictions to place your stake. The experts invest heavily in their research to ensure they offer correct tips. Correct continuous bets earn them loyal customers, and this is revenue for their end. For you, this is a cash cow delivered to you at your convenience as they release the tips occasionally. With time, you will learn some more and even make your predictions in the future.

2)    Start From the Known to the Unknown

The possibility of horses with a record of winning to win again is high, and you should start with that. Gather information about each race and the horse’s track record. Ensure you get the racing track program and the daily racing forms for better predictions. Place stakes on recognized or international matches since they tend to observe all the rules and regulations.

Additionally, you can bet on the races that you know enough information about to avoid making mistakes. However, when the opportunity to try out the unknown presents itself, you can also try it out as everything since everything is a gamble. When you can, watch the races to give you an idea of what goes on when making the decision that you can implement to make your decision.

3)    Know Your Bet

Before placing your bet, know what you are committing to. Some wagers might include one horse, while others incorporate several horses. This also helps you calculate the possible wins or accumulated wins as the race progresses. The levels of winning range from easy to very difficult. Under the easy level, the horse you choose should complete the competition among the top three. The payoffs are not much, but the possibility of winning is high. The hardest level requires your horse to win six races back to back. The payoffs are high and also requires high stakes.

4)    Stake What You Can Afford To Loose

Betting can have unexpected outcomes, and you might end up losing everything you stacked. Ensure the amount you get to place the bet today does not dent your bank in case you do not recoup it. Be cautious and also watch the amounts and time you invest in betting. Too much time can lead to loss of productive hours and even land you in trouble with the bosses. While starting, start small until you can fully understand horse racing betting.

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Keep Track of Your Finances: How to Do Accounting for Small Businesses

Small business owners don’t always have the money to pay an accountant.

When you’re the person in charge of the day to day operation of your small company, it can be overwhelming to cover all the bases. You’ve got to make big decisions, manage whatever staff you have, and look after the finances.

Obviously, keeping track of your earnings and expenses is important, so how do entrepreneurs juggle all of their other responsibilities and their accounting?

Today we’re going to show you how to do accounting for small businesses. Getting a grasp on accounting basics will allow you to keep your business moving forward until you can afford to pay an accountant.

How to Do Accounting For Small Businesses

It’s important for you, the boss, to have an understanding of your company’s inner financial workings if you’re going without an accountant. Understanding this stuff lets you know how healthy your business is and what your financial trajectory is going to be. 

For instance, are you in a position to expand in the next few years or are you going to be looking for a small business loan from BonsaiFinance? If you’ve got accounting knowledge, you can make informed decisions for the future. Let’s take a look at some common accounting practices for small business owners.

Open a Bank Account

When you start a business, you should always open a separate bank account to keep the company’s finances and your finances apart. Instead of just going to your bank, shop around for different business account perks and figure out what’s best for you.

This is crucial come tax season and any LLC or partnership is required to have a business bank account and credit card to avoid any confusion about funds. Open both a checking and a savings account so you have the option of separating funds for tax purposes.

Have a System

One of the most common systems for keeping track of funds is the cash accounting system. You just record anytime you receive funds and anytime you make payments. It’s a simple system that allows you to keep track of exactly how much money you’ve got.

As your business grows, you can use the accrual method. With this, you count sales and expenses as they come up, regardless of whether they’ve been paid or not. This is better for larger companies that deal with larger sums of money.

Use Software

Use accounting software like QuickBooks to make it easy to look at your accounts and make financial decisions. If you use cloud-based software, you can hire employees down the line to handle accounting for you and they’ll be able to easily access your info.

Keep Track of Deductibles 

Always use your business account and credit card to make business-related purchases, then keep track of your receipts. You can take pictures of receipts directly on the QuickBooks app or do it the old fashioned way and stow them away until you do your taxes.

Understanding what is and isn’t tax-deductible will make it easy to do your taxes. Things like office equipment, business-related travel expenses, and internet/phone service are all deductible. There are a lot more deductibles though, so do a bit of research and find out what you can write off.

Grow With Your Business

As your business grows, your accounting system will get a lot more complicated, so it’s important to learn how to do accounting for small businesses in preparation for doing accounting for a slightly larger business. Eventually, you’ll be able to hire an accountant to free up your time so you can focus on other managerial tasks.

If you found this article helpful, check out our website for more informative posts on life as an entrepreneur.

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Seven Ways to Get Assistance to Purchase your First Home

Buying your new home is very exciting because it is the beginning of a new chapter of your life. You’re not just buying some random object, but you will be buying an important piece of property that will be a repository of all the valuable memories you will be making with your family.

The first step to buying property is to figure out what you can afford. It helps by looking at homes that do not require such a large deposit. Check out No1 Property Guide New South Wales to see a list of homes that can match your dream specs and possible prices.

After you have decided, then you need to find ways to fund that home purchase. Here are some ways to get funding assistance for your home purchase apart from the traditional mortgage:

The First Home Owner Grant

This first time home grant is also referred to as New Homes. This is for specific first-time buyers who are resident of New South Wales, Australia. This scheme offers a ten thousand dollar grant assistance for the purchase or construction of a new home. The property value must not exceed Aus $600,000 if purchased, and it must not exceed $750,000 if it to be constructed.

First Time Home Buyers Assistance Scheme

This FHBAS, as the name implies, is to help the first time home buyers acquire any home by giving them eligibility from transfer duty or providing concessions. Unlike the First Home Owner Grant, this one is applicable also for buying new homes, and it can also be used for buying an existing home and buying vacant lots where your home is to be constructed.

Under this scheme, a first time home buyers may be able to avail of a transfer duty concession or exemption. If the home you are looking at is valued at less than $650,000, then you can easily apply for a full exemption which means you no longer have to pay duty transfer. If the value of the home that you are considering is between $650,000 and $800,000, then you can request for a concession rate to lessen the value of the transfer duty you have to pay. The amount you will have to pay is based on the home value of the loan.

For those buying a vacant lot for residential purposes that have a less than $350,000, not a duty is payable. For those vacant lots valued at $350,000 and $450,000, concessions and discounts will be made for the purchase.

Variable Rate Loans

This is another popular option to seek funding assistance for many home buyers. This relies on the Reserve Bank of Australia’s constantly changing cash rate. On top of that, this is subject to the subsequent interest rate fluctuations. You cannot expect a fixed payment but a variety of payments. The implication of this loan is that buyers may have lower payments in certain months and higher payments in the other months, too.

Variable loans can be a bit scary because if the interest rate skyrockets, you are going to have to fork out a lot of money. You’ll never know what to expect from a variable loan because it is dependent on the market conditions. It is only beneficial when the rates are low.

Interest Only Loans

If you feel like escaping the traditional home loan payment, you can take this interest-only option. As the name suggests, you only pay for interest minus the principal for the time being. This is the preferred option of real estate investors who are looking to quickly sell the property again, as long as there is no depreciation in the property value. This is also a great choice for younger prospective homebuyers who have limited income.

Even if they have little money in the bank, they can still own their own home, and just top up the account later when they are already generating more income later on. Noteworthy: this interest only agreement can only last for seven years, after which, the home buyers now have to start paying for the principal in a typical interest payment plant.  

Guarantor Loans

If you have a fairly big deposit ready and are looking to pay fifty or 80 percent of the home price tag, then consider asking a trusted family member like your parents to be your guarantor. With this method, you will not be stuck with high interest and the premium lender mortgage insurance. What happens here is a portion of their home equity is used as a security cushion for your own mortgage.

The bank will be more likely to approve your loan because there is less risk with a guarantor. Just make sure that you never default on the loan because the bank will go after their property if you fail to make your monthly payments.

Low Doc Loans

This is the fond nickname for these low documentation loans. Typically, an income declaration and other financial statements are needed by banks to assess a person’s financial capability to pay back their loan. However, not everyone has access to these standard papers like freelancers and self-employed individuals.

Going for a low doc loan means they can forgo presenting some of the usual paperwork. However, these come with higher interest fees compared to other loans in the market.

Non-Conforming Loans

This is targeted towards people with bad credit ratings and who have been unemployed for some time. Those who want to borrow eighty percent of their home value can consider these non-conforming loans that do not require documentation. Don’t confuse this with low doc loans because the borrowers of that one have a good credit line. Take note that these loans come at very high-interest rates so be sure you can afford the monthly payment before taking the plunge.

Also Read- 6 Essential Tips to Financing Your New Home

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Is Your Business Ready for the Future?

If you’re never implementing new online trends, you’ll soon see your competitors well ahead of you. Find out what you need to know to get your business ready for the future.

The future of eCommerce – in the imagination of eCommerce owners – sounds like a utopian place where people buy their goods online, their sales and revenue keep increasing, and in turn their small businesses grow consistently. Whilst people will probably always buy some of their products in brick-and-mortar stores, a part of this dream might actually become true for some.

Online shopping is still on the rise and is expected to reach 15 percent of all retail sales by 2020. But to be one of the businesses that get a fair share of the growing cake, you’ll have to start working on the future now. New online shops are popping up around the world – and you need to catch up with them.

Know Your Future Customer

First of all, do some research about your customer’s future shopping behavior as this is essential to know before updating your online store accordingly. Also, keep in mind that you will have to sell your products to a new generation: Generation Z, who is about to become the biggest group of customers, and they care more about sustainability and conscious consuming than previous generations. Furthermore, mobile internet usage is on the rise and more people will use their smartphone to order goods online in the future. Therefore, your website must be optimized for mobile usage and easy to navigate.

The Future of Delivering

Have you ever heard of omnichannel marketing? In case you haven’t, we’ll break it down for you: simply put, it means connecting and integrating all the channels that your clients can use to reach you with each other. A good example of that is when customers order goods online but instead of shipping them to their home, they can pick them up in a physical store. Not only does this save you shipping costs, but it also drives sales, as people like to make their final shopping decisions offline. As the shopping process becomes more complex, it’s important to have smart software in place that can help you keep track of orders, finished goods or raw materials inventory, so you’ll never run out of stock in your warehouse. Especially small makers and manufacturers who use Excel spreadsheets for their business will experience a big change after automating their operations with smart manufacturing software.

The Future of Customer Communication

Customer communication should already play a big role in your business and it will become even bigger in the future. As customers expect an immediate answer to their inquiries nowadays, you should think about the option of adding a chatbot to your website. Not only are they available all-day round, but they can also help to personalize the customer’s shopping experience. Since they collect a lot of data from your visitors, they can use it to refer more products to them or offer them a personalized discount code. It has also shown that chatbots can reduce shopping cart abandonment as they can help the customer through the check-out-process.

It’s your choice whether you start preparing for a bright future for your business – or ignore all trends and let your competitors get ahead of you!

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Starting a New Business: Common Challenges and How to Overcome Them

Overview

Starting a new business should be exciting, after all, many people dream of becoming their own bosses and not answering to anyone. As thrilling as it seems, it is also one of the scariest things to do. So much so that a majority of those who consider entrepreneurship either as a side hustle or a career end up not taking the plunge. 

From the onset, there are two challenges that people are bound to face – finding a profitable business idea and funding the business.

Challenge #1: Finding a Profitable Business Idea

It is simply not enough to have a business idea. Anyone can come up with those. But finding a profitable idea can be very challenging. Many businesses that fail within the first three years are products of a nice idea and not a profitable idea.

In order to avoid this pitfall, an entrepreneur needs to ensure their business idea has three components:

1. It addresses a pressing need or want – a solution that will either take away a customer’s pain or give them pleasure. 

2. Customers who are able to pay – customers that have the first component and the means of paying at your offering price.

3. Customers who are willing to pay – customers who have the first two components and are willing to pay for the product or services.

Challenge #2: Funding the Business

Finding funds for a new business can put a tremendous amount of strain on even the most experienced entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs need funds to start a business and also expand the business. Fund raising is an essential part of entrepreneurship. 

There are three common ways to fund a business.

1. Personal Funds – the easiest way to fund a business is with personal funds such as savings, inheritance, and returns from other investments. Unless you have a fortune, while this might be sufficient to get you started, it might not be enough to keep the business running. That is why it is advisable to consider other sources.

2. Investors – finding investor is also a challenge on its own. However, once found, the right investor would not only support you financially but also help you grow your business through exposure to other resources such as access to their network who could be potential investors, industry professionals, or help you with sales and marketing at no cost.

3. Loan – loans from traditional financial institutions such as banks is another option. Banks fund businesses at different interest rates. However, loan interest is lower if you look outside your bank because start-ups are riskier than existing businesses due to the high probability of failure. Other forms of loans may come from family and friends, online loan services, and government aided schemes.

Summary

Before taking any loans and investors, be sure to shop around for better rates. Asides from lower rates, ensure there are no hidden fees and binding terms to avoid any surprises. Funding your new business could be easier than you think if you search in the right places. 

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Places Where You Can Catch Your Favorite Music Acts

Music acts, music festivals, concerts – should be experienced by everyone. Big events like Coachella have people flying in from all over to attend the music festival. But, you don’t have to always spend a ton and travel to another country to have a great experience. Hunt out local places with live acts, become a tourist in your own home town, and you will have the time of your lives in most places.

Let’s talk about
some of the places in Atlantic City that give you a chance to attend great
concerts and live music acts.

Boardwalk Hall

Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall, called Boardwalk Hall, and formerly known as the Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall, is an arena with a capacity of 10,500. There are a lot of shows to catch there because of the large capacity of the arena many shows take place there.

Address: 2301 Boardwalk,
Atlantic City, NJ

Hard Rock Etess Arena

Hard Rock Etess
Arena / Mark G Etess Arena is a multi-purpose arena that is located at the Hard
Rock Hotel and Casino Atlantic City. It’s capacity used to be 7,000 but it
seats over 5,000 for music and sporting events. It is managed by the Hard Rock
Cafe so the demand of the place is high as part of the franchise.

Address: 1000 Boardwalk,
Atlantic City, NJ

Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa

Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa, as the name suggests, is a hotel, casino, and spa in Atlantic City. It is managed by MGM Resorts International. The resort has a main music venue called The Borgata Event Center and it has a capacity of 2,400. This is the place to catch up on live music and music acts. They also have the Borgata Music Box with a capacity of 1,000 and it is used for music and comedy acts, so catching up a music act here is also a great option.

Address: 1 Borgata Way, Atlantic
City, NJ

Bars are also a great option when it comes to catching up on musical acts. Most will be free, of course, you pay for the drinks. If different bars are playing the bands you like, then it is a perfect opportunity for bar hopping. Here are some that you can try.

Gypsy Bar

Gypsy Bar is a swanky yet casual hotel bar that has free live music and a list of various bands playing along with a long list of tequilas, margaritas, and beer. It is a great place to let loose and enjoy some music. It opens at 6 PM and closes at 2 AM, so perfect for some catching up and having fun with your gang.

Address: 1 Borgata Way, Atlantic
City, NJ

Margaritaville

Margaritaville is a bar and grill that serves seafood, burgers, and drinks. The decor of the place is tropical and the place itself is inspired by the Jimmy Buffett song so it has a strong connection to music.

Address: 1133 Boardwalk,
Atlantic City, NJ

These are just a
few of the many places you can catch up on Atlantic City for music acts. It’s
all about exploring and trying different places to find new gems and to go back
to your favorite ones.

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Help your Child to be Better at Maths

Mathematics is one of the most important subjects that
your child will learn as they embark on their journey of education. Be it at the
primary school level or onwards to high school or even beyond, the ability to
do basic maths is critical to advancement in life. A person who struggles with
maths is going to find themselves unemployable in certain fields and they may
well even find their self-esteem and confidence undermined – such is the
importance of maths in our everyday lives. So how do you help create an
environment where your child can not only enjoy maths but excel at it as well?
Here are a few tips to help set you on the way.

Take it out of
the classroom

Classroom learning is not always the best place to learn – especially when it comes to a subject like maths where some people are naturally quicker than others at picking up concepts. If the teacher goes too quickly there is the risk that some scholars will be left behind, while if she goes too slowly then some learners will become bored and tuned out. While the classroom is a very important place for learning it is not the only option and you should seriously look at laying good foundations by finding a maths tutor Sydney has plenty of great people or academies available and creating a one-on-one or small group situation where your child can learn at an appropriate pace. Maths is about foundations and about building systematically, the concept upon concept, on the foundations that have been built. If at any point your child misses something or doesn’t fully grasp the material, then it becomes very tricky for them to continue building thereafter – and that is where the trouble starts. 

Make it fun

Maths tends to be viewed as a very serious subject. Lessons can be quite dry. But it doesn’t need to be. Look to find ways to bring maths concepts and learnings into everyday activities and discussions so that your child will learn maths without even realizing that they are learning. It can be in budgeting or in cutting up a pizza or in any number of ways or maybe calculating the estimated time of arrival when you are travelling somewhere at a specific speed. Make it fun and practical and very quickly your child will be grasping and enjoying understanding new educational concepts without even realizing that they are learning.

Don’t project
your experience

A lot of how children perceive the world is based on
the information that they receive from their parents. If you hated maths or
struggled with it the chances are that you will pass that on to your child. Try
at all costs to avoid doing this. Rather let them know that it can be fun and
exciting. Create a positive expectation around maths and you might be surprised
just how much they end up enjoying it.

Create good
habits

It is very easy to be careless or slapdash with
something like maths. It is also easy to help your child too much. Rather
encourage your child to be thorough and meticulous and to do the hard yards
themselves. Reward them for being patient and for employing the right logic or
methodologies – even if the answer is wrong. But don’t let them guess and be
silly about it. Build good lifestyle habits
and encourage these and you will see these transferred into their schoolwork
and their results in later life as well. 

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7 Ways the Internet Has Made it Easier to own a Small Business

The internet is a powerful tool for small
businesses, removing the barrier-to-entry for many entrepreneurs. Where
challenges like limited capital, lack of knowledge and experience, and physical
limitations had a huge
impact on the success of a business in decades past, they are much easier to overcome in the digital
age.

So how exactly has the internet made it easier
to own a small business? Here are seven ways widespread access to the web has
changed how businesses are created, run, and grown. 

1. Increased Efficiency 

One of the most important ways to save money is to increase efficiency. Luckily, the internet had made running your business more efficient than ever with software for almost any aspect of your operations. For instance, handling your finances can be one of the most time-consuming aspects of business ownership. Fortunately, online bookkeeping services are now available. These applications help you track and manage your finances for streamlined bookkeeping that has less room for error. 

2. Affordable & Accessible Marketing

In the dark ages before the internet, many small
businesses did not have the resources to compete with bigger businesses because
they did not have the capital to pay for traditional marketing.
Roadside billboards, radio and TV advertising spots, and even direct mail were
costly initiatives that acted as a barrier for many. With the boom of search
engines and social media, digital marketing has become accessible to nearly
everyone, no matter how tight their budget. Social media marketing, Google Ads,
and other marketing opportunities make it easier for your customers to find you,
allowing your business to grow with less effort on your end.  

Using advertising to build your business is one
of the best ways to find clients for your small business so use these online avenues to your advantage.

3. Timely Communication with Customers  

The customer experience is one of the most important aspects of your business. With platforms like Yelp, email, and your business’s social media pages, you can stay in touch with customers consistently and respond to their questions or concerns in real-time. 

Applications like Skype also make it easier to
communicate with clients and business associates. 

4. No Need for Brick and Mortar

Rent can be a killer for small businesses,
especially in big cities and up-and-coming areas. The internet has made owning
a digital shop an easy, more affordable alternative. In fact, you can
completely cut rent out of your budget if you run your business completely
online. Depending on the type of business you have, you may still need to use a
warehouse or storage space for inventory.  

5. Serve Customers All over the World 

The introduction of e-commerce has changed the landscape of business sales. By having all of your products available online, customers from all over the world can shop with you. More customers means you can sell more of your services or merchandise. In addition to the development of online stores, online marketplaces facilitate sales between merchants and customers. So even if your business is just starting out, you have a place to sell your offerings at a much lower cost to you. 

6. Easily Expand Your Skill Set

From YouTube videos and blogs to online academies, learning new skills to better manage your small business is as simple as sitting down and pressing play. You’d be surprised how many programs, laws, and concepts you need to understand to be a successful small business owner.

Luckily there are classes and tutorials for
virtually any question you might have or skill you need to learn. From software
to leadership and marketing, you can easily access the material you
need. Often, they’re even free of charge. 

7. Connect with Experts

Need help revamping your website or running your social media accounts? Find reliable experts online who can help you with whatever you need. There are sites specifically designed to connect professionals across different industries so you can enlist their services. Talented designers, writers, and web developers often work freelance and are the perfect resource for small businesses. In addition to creative services, you can also get help with business planning, product research, and other key aspects of your business’ success. 

Starting or trying to grow your business might seem like the biggest challenge you will ever face, but
there are unlimited tools, resources, and talent at your fingertips with the
help of the internet. In fact, reaching the next level of success is just a
search away.

The post 7 Ways the Internet Has Made it Easier to own a Small Business appeared first on Entrepreneurship Life.

Top 6 Ways AI Chatbots can Boost Customer Engagement

Artificial intelligence is redefining the business landscape with automation of customer support to generate responses with accuracy and speed that humans can’t deliver. Chatbots are AI-based support agents that are being used in many different customer-engagement scenarios.

Forrester report says, we have already stepped into the era of automated and strategic customer service. Customers prefer prompt actions delivered by chatbots fueled with artificial intelligence for better engagement.   

These bots are designed to simulate human interactions and provide immediate, personalized responses 24×7. With these bots, the annoying wait times in customer service is eliminated, especially handling customer queries.

Top 6 ways chatbots can boost customer engagement

Implementing the best AI chatbot to business is one time investment for timeless benefits. Let us discuss the six different ways how chatbots helps to increase customer engagement.

1. Provide 24×7 real time support

“Chatbots are key tools of good integrated customer experiences.” – Olivier Ezratty

AI powered chatbots provides more functions in less time and is 24×7 service provider with minimum cost. Chatbot generate answers in seconds once request is received from customers. No matter, you are a startup or an enterprise, offering automated support with chatbots has a positive impact on your customer satisfaction.

If you are looking for fastest response for your business, chatbot is the better option to engage your customers by answering their information based queries. Ubisend Report says 21% of consumers see chatbots as the easiest way to contact a business.

Key takeaways:

Start your customer conversations with chatbot to collect visitor information and answer basic queries. And if the queries get more complex, route them to your support team which can help them better.



If your customer expects an instant response, typically less than 30 seconds, then chatbot can be an ideal fit.



2. Automates customer support

Chatbots have a big impact in the customer communication landscape. You can automate your live chat software with bots to provide quick answers, proactive customer interactions and increased customer

Reports say 64% of internet users say 24-hour service is the best chatbot

Chatbot automation improves live chat customer satisfaction by answering all general questions related to shipment or delivery. Chatbots also collects customer information that can be transferred to the right agent for future

Chatbots automation boost customer experience by engaging customers by the following ways:

Chatbots are active 24×7 to engage customers to handle information based questions.AI chatbots all the basic queries and reduces the number of help desk tickets raised by customers.When chatbots do not understand the question asked by the customer, the chat is transferred to the customer support agent.

Hipmunk’s “Hello Chatbot” for example was created to engage customers at a closer level. Hipmunk is a popular platform for searching for travel deals such as  flight bookings, rental cars, hotels, and tour packages. 

3. Scale your support team

Chatbots enhance the business productivity by delivering providing quick answers and solutions to customers. Juniper Research estimates that chatbots will help businesses save more than $8 billion per year by 2022.

Lets say your business receives more than 1000 chat requests per day. It is not possible for the human agent can’t handle those many chats. You will need more number of customer service agents and need to train them as well, which involves extra time and monry.

The advantage that chatbots offer to any business are as follows

Scalability: Chatbots can handle endless requests with great ease.There is no extra cost involved when the scalability increases.Thus you engage more customers and deliver better customer experience24×7 support: Chatbots can promptly engage customers round the clock support in real time and offer basic information to the customers. 



4. Human handover for complex queries

The main focus of every business is to deliver superior customer service by instantly responding to the queries by the customers. Chatbots are the best way to engage customers with faster response and boosting their experience.

At times customers ask complex questions that bots do not understand. For example, What kind of fabric is the dress made of? Such questions are handover to the human agents as they can provide the right answers to

Live support agents use live customer engagement tools like co-browsing and video chat to deliver interactive visual support. By instant response with AI chatbots and human support for the tricky questions, you deliver hybrid support and great experience of both the world to your customers. 

5. Reduces support tickets

When businesses are unable to meet customer queries in the right time, they raise support tickets. The more number of support tickets indicates poor quality customer service. By implementing AI chatbots you can automate your customer support.

Chabots engage your customers 24×7 by answering all common queries related to shipment of the product, rescheduling the delivery date etc. Thus, the number of support tickets to be raised is

Customers are happy & satisfied when they receive the answers at the right moment and enhances customer experience. 

6. Improves customer satisfaction

AI chatbots helps to improve customer satisfaction by handling queries round the clock. It allows collecting customer details before transferring the conversation to the right agent. It also enhances the customer engagement process and operational efficiency.

Chabots enhance customer satisfaction by following ways

Deliver prompt support round the clockProvide basic information related to purchases or productsTransfer the difficult queries to deliver humanized support

When the customers are satisfied they retain with your business for a long time. They are ready to pay more for your products and services and turn into your brand advocates with a good word of mouth. 

Final thoughts

To boost customer engagement with AI chatbots you have to implement the above mentioned ways to interact with customers. In the current time when the world running behind automation you should not neglect engaging customer base, who are the strength of your brand.

Author Bio: Snigdha Patel works as a content writer at REVE Systems, shares a blog on how AI powered chatbots are transforming the business landscape and the different ways chatbot can be used to enhance customer engagement to make a world of difference to their customer experience.

The post Top 6 Ways AI Chatbots can Boost Customer Engagement appeared first on Entrepreneurship Life.