Mohit Tater's Blog, page 665

Tips for Getting the Best out of App Marketing

Apps have become a great, even crucial, business and marketing tool in recent years. Smartphone users are rapidly outnumbering desktop users worldwide. When it comes to buying habits, marketing data shows that people are increasingly inclined to make online purchases using handheld devices. If your company is not utilizing mobile marketing and app services, then your business is losing out on a lucrative market. Here are some tips on what you can do to get the best out of your app marketing efforts:

Carefully Pace Your In-App Marketing Messages

Customers absolutely loathe getting bombarded with messages when they are using an app. So, the success of your in-app messages will depend on how frequent and well-paced they are. Even if you don’t want to, do limit the number of app messages you send your customers. Place the messages strategically in a way that interests customers instead of inconveniencing them.

Reach Customers Outside of the App with Notifications

It’s possible to interact with app users on their smartphones, rather than exclusively on the app. You will need to first hire or programmer or get a digital marketing service to create special notifications. Customers will receive these notifications on their smartphone’s notification bar, rather than within the app. This is an excellent way to keep in touch with customers and strategically place advertisements all day when the smartphone is on.

Gather Data to Polish the Marketing Message

By all means, gather data that will be useful in making your marketing message more polished and targeted towards the audience. Examples of data your company should gather with an app include traffic to certain sections, frequency of clicking on in-app  messages, the times of the day users are most active, and the most commonly used features of the app. Such information can be immensely useful. For example, if you want to know the best time to reach a customer during the day, you need to know during which times the customers are most likely to use your app.

App marketing can indeed be challenging at times. However, if you heed the above tips, your company will be able to maximize the returns generated from having an app.

 

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Startups: With or Without a Partner?

Starting a business venture without a partner may sound scary, after all when you are starting with something new, you need someone to support and help you in all the tough situations and in your worst fears. But inexperience can sometimes get the first-time investors into trouble, when they pair up with the wrong person or even for the wrong reasons. You don’t know people until you’ve worked with them.

So is it a must for a first-time entrepreneur to have a partner when starting up?

However great your idea seems to be, you need a team to turn your idea into a real business venture. While starting out alone may give you full control and autonomy over your company (that is if you do succeed initially), but having a partner just opens up the opportunity of a more dynamic approach. When you are partnering with someone, the risk of investment spreads, and even if your business doesn’t work out the way initially planned, it is not you alone who is tolerating the burden of losses. By selecting a partner with expertise in different areas, you are diversifying your options, broadening the scope of your business. Two different minds are more creative than one, increasing both the customer base, improving the product quality and even spreading out the workload. Sometimes the help of others delivers more than trying to do it all on your own. Having a partner definitely gives you courage to take up more challenges.

But, there are always risks partnering up with someone. While it may double up the starting capital and you can bring in the skills set you don’t possess, a startup partnership is like a marriage. You need to look for accountability, compassion and inspiration, so choosing a business partner is similar to choosing a life partner. Especially in the initial stages, when you are figuring out how the market works, you can’t afford to have a partner who is inconsistent, wasting resources. So instead of having a sloppy best friend as your partner, look at resumes and judge people by their logic and credibility. Look out for partner who isn’t good at dealing with the public. Having the right social skills to deal with the customers is important, because in future if your company does hit off, you can’t manage to impress the big players with an arrogant or careless attitude. Along with the clients, your partner should be able to treat the team members well. You don’t want a partner whom your employees hate. Ego and business don’t go along. When big decisions are to be made, one cannot decide without the other.

Suppose a situation, you and your friend decide to set up a business together. To be fair, both of you decide to own 50 percent of the company. That means, each of you would have 50 percent authority over the company assets, each of you equally share all the profits and losses. But do both the parties benefit equally, always? There are always inequities. 50-50 scenario doesn’t necessarily mean that each of them contribute equally to the company capital. Partner A may have supplied most of the capital, whereas Partner B may have provided the company with his/her business expertise instead of personal financial investment. It is not possible for both the partners to agree on all management related decisions. One partner may be too stubborn or greedy to accept the situation, causing conflicts. So is it really wise to get into a 50-50 partnership? Do unto others, but protect yourself. Think long and hard before making decisions. Make a list of the pros and cons that each contract brings. A 50-50 split may work, but you should have proper documents ready just in case it doesn’t. You can’t fulfill your desires without having to forsake anything. You can’t lose weight without having to give up on your junk food. You can’t get rich without working hard. A 50-50 business cannot work without understanding and agreeing on certain things even when you have contrasting views. You can’t make a marriage work without comprising on certain things.

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5 Tips for Choosing the Right Call Center Consultant

The right people, tools, and strategies are the foundations of a flourishing call center business.  By maintaining strong operations, marketing, technology, training, and quality assurance teams, your business can thrive. However,ensuring that your call center runs like clockwork can be more complicated than it seems, and because of this, you may encounter numerous difficulties along the way. To help you meet these challenges head on, you can try seeking the expertise of a professional call center consultant.

Call center consultants can help your business grow in many ways. From providing guidance and training,to selecting technologies and consolidating business operations, these experts can assist you in numerous undertakings. As such, it is important to choose the best consultant for your business.

Here are a few tips on choosing the right call center consultant:

Know your goals first

Are you aiming to enhance customer experience by utilizing social media as a communication channel? Do you want to expand your center to other countries or states but you don’t know where to start? Before selecting an advisor, make sure to set your objectives straight. Knowing what you want to achieve can help you find the right consultant who can assist you in achieving your goals.

Identify the problems of your business

Identifying the weak points of your organization or business is the first step in solving them. Are your agents and managers in need of more training in certain aspects? Do you think your policies and operating procedures need improvement?Is the software you’re using lacking in useful features? Listing issues such as those mentioned above will make it easier for you to select an advisor that can offer the solutions you need.

Research the consulting firm

Before diving into a pool, it’s best to check the waters out first, right? The same goes with choosing consulting firms. Are the individual consultants in their teams well-trained and experienced? What is their track record like? Have they won awards? Reputation and recognition are usual indicators that a consulting firm is proficient and professional. If the firm consistently receives positive reviews and has a well-regarded reputation, you can be better assured that their consultants are reliable.

Check the variety and quality of the services they offer

Do they offer detailed assessment of your internal processes? Do they help in designing new training curricula? Are their services focused more on inbound or outbound work? What other types of programs can they provide? Knowing the variety and quality of a firm’s services is the most important factor you have to consider. Depending on your budget and needs, you can aim for consultants that focus on one specific area like training and quality strategies, or you can enlist the help of a consultant that can address a wide range of challenges.

Search for consultants online

Using the internet, you can find numerous resources that can help you search for the best consultants. For instance,you can read reviews and participate in forums to help you find the most suitable one for your business. You can also visit the websites of trade organizations or referral and advisory firms to get help from experts or gain access to useful resources.Since the search can be conducted through the internet, everything is fast and convenient.

As the call center world is getting more and more competitive, it’s crucial to step up your game by using the best strategies and technologies. You can stay up to speed with the latest market trends, reduce costs, and gain good results by enlisting experienced, professional, and dedicated call center consultants to help your business.

The post 5 Tips for Choosing the Right Call Center Consultant appeared first on Entrepreneurship Life.

Tips for Choosing the Right Call Center Consultant

The right people, tools, and strategies are the foundations of a flourishing call center business.  By maintaining strong operations, marketing, technology, and training, and quality assurance teams, your business can thrive. However,ensuring that your call center runs like clockwork can be more complicated than it seems, and because of this, you may encounter numerous difficulties along the way. To help you meet these challenges head on, you can try seeking the expertise of a professional call center consultant.

Call center consultants can help your business grow in many ways. From providing guidance and training,to selecting technologies and consolidating business operations, these consultants can assist you in  numerous undertakings. As such, it is important to choose the best consultant for your business.

Here are a few tips on choosing the right call center consultant:

Know your goals first

Are you aiming to enhance customer experience by integrating social media as a communication channel? Do you want to expand your center to other countries or states but you don’t know where to start? Before selecting an advisor, make sure to set your objectives straight. Knowing what you want to achieve can help you find the right consultant that can help you meet your goals.

Identify the problems of your business

Identifying the weak points of your organization or business is the first step in solving them. Are your agents and managers in need of more training in certain aspects? Do you think your policies and operating procedures need improvement?Is the software you’re using lacking in useful features?   Listing issues such as those mentioned above will make it easier for you to select an advisor that can offer the solutions you need.

Do a bit of research about the consulting firm

Before diving into a pool, it’s best to check the waters out first, right? The same goes with choosing consulting firms. Are the individual consultants in their teams well-trained and experienced? What is their track record like? Have they won awards? Reputation and recognition are the usual indicators of a good quality and professional consulting firm. If the firm has positive reviews and a well-regarded reputation, you can be better assured that their consultants are reliable.

Check the variety and quality of the services they offer

Do they offer detailed assessment of your internal processes? Do they help in designing new training curricula? Are their services focused more on inbound or outbound work? What other types of programs can they provide? Knowing the variety and quality of a firm’s services is the most important factor you have to consider. Depending on your budget and needs, you can aim for consultants that focus on one specific area like training and quality strategies, or you can enlist the help of a consultant that can address a wide range of challenges.

Search for consultants online

Using the internet, you can find numerous resources that can help you search for the best consultants. For instance,you can read reviews and participate in forums to help you find the most suitable one for your business. You can also go to an online call center referral and advisory firm to get help from professional outsourcing consultants or gain access to useful resources. Plus, since it is conducted through the internet, everything is fast and convenient.

As the call center world is getting more and more competitive, it’s crucial to step up your game by using the best strategies and technologies. You can stay up to speed with the latest market trends, reduce costs, and gain good results by enlisting experienced, professional, and dedicated call center consultants to help your business.

 

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How to Know when to Call It Quits

Quitting is for wimps, or so they say. We all know that quitting is not good, but there are times when quitting is the right thing to do, be that in business or in your personal life. The important thing to remember is that as long as you quit for the right reasons, quitting can be a positive move. In this article, we will discuss reasons why you should consider quitting, and when it is better to push through the obstacle in your path.

There are many reasons why you might want to quit a relationship, a job, or even an MBA in healthcare management from The George Washington University. However, before you do anything rash, think about why you are feeling as if you can’t carry on. Often, these feelings are temporary and you are merely experiencing a temporary setback in your career, business or relationship. Tomorrow, next week, or maybe in a month or two, things will get better and you can continue on your chosen course, stronger and wiser.

You Have Lost the Will to Carry On

When the passion dies and you no longer have any motivation for your career, college course or business, this is a red flag moment. Consider why you feel this way. Are you stressed or suffering from undiagnosed depression? If you feel your work is done and your career, job or course doesn’t challenge you anymore, it’s time to move on.

You Have a Dream

Sometimes, quitting is a smart move because it opens up new doors. For example, say you enrolled on a master’s in business administration, but you feel as if you made a mistake. If you are passionate about healthcare, it could be a smart move to quit your course and make the switch to an MBA in healthcare management. That way, you will be able to pursue a career you love and are passionate about.

You are Losing Money

Money is a good reason to call it quits. Many entrepreneurs are conditioned to carry on banging away at their business, even though they are losing money hand over fist. This isn’t sensible. In fact, it is downright idiotic. Throwing good money after bad doesn’t achieve anything, so listen to your trusted advisors and if they are telling you to quit, call it a day and learn from the experience.

Whatever your reasons for quitting, make sure you learn from the experience. As long as you take the lesson with you to your next challenge, it will be a positive experience rather than a negative one.

Quitting will not define you as a failure, in life or in business. Never hang your self-worth on whether you succeed or not. Instead, look at how you dealt with the problem and whether you tried every which way to make it work. Pursuing a goal to the detriment of everything and everyone around you is likely to cause collateral damage. Is this what you really want? No? Well, it’s time to call it quits and move on. As Scarlet O’Hara once famously said, tomorrow is another day!

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Why Obtaining an Advanced Degree Should be the Goal of Every Entrepreneur

Every day, stories about self-made millionaires and tenacious entrepreneurship emerge, inspiring people from all walks of life to pursue their dreams. There are countless entrepreneurs who will eventually do remarkable things in the business industry, but the fact of the matter is that the majority of them will have an advanced degree. Some entrepreneurs attend online MBA programs, pitching new ideas and forming new professional contacts as they get closer and closer to graduation. Other innovative thinkers may prefer to study business prior to attempting to get into the industry themselves. If you want to fit into the world of entrepreneurship you should know what consumers, peers and leaders in the industry expect of a successful entrepreneur.

Higher Education Credentials are Impressive

When you introduce yourself as an entrepreneur, sometimes knowing what you have done in the past can be a good way to tell what you might be capable of accomplishing at present. Having your AACSB online MBA degree framed and hanging on the wall in your private office eliminates the need for a direct conversation about your educational accomplishments. It also gives people meeting you an opportunity to know about your credentials. When your credentials are based on your educational accomplishments, the people that you meet will be impressed.

Your Expertise Goes Unquestioned

Entrepreneurs can spend a lot of time explaining themselves, their ideas, and even proving that they are qualified to come to certain conclusions. Even if you have the data to help substantiate your ideas and visions, others in your industry may be slow to take an interest in your proposals. Unfortunately, there are still factions in the world of business that look at academic accomplishments as being more important than experience, knowledge or good old-fashioned determination. If you want to spend more of your time showing businesses how they can improve via ideation, talk about your degree as you introduce yourself initially, then speak about the various projects that your education has helped you to complete.

Having an Advanced Degree Makes Finding Common Ground Easier

As the saying goes, water seeks its own level. You absolutely don’t have to obtain an advanced degree to get your start as an entrepreneur, but it can stop others from making false assumptions or assuming that you have broad limitations. Let your peers be impressed from the minute that you say hello, announce your educational accomplishments and then wait to see if they measure up academically. When people find out that you hold an advanced degree in business, colleagues will start to ask more and more about what you have been up to professionally since you graduated.

Now that you can complete a masters in business administration online, you don’t have to seek out the approval of potential business partners before proudly presenting your latest innovation. Being an advanced degree holder allows you to state your experience in a few brief words, and then get onto discussing technologies, business structures and future professional goals in the world of entrepreneurship. Although advanced degrees are optional for professional entrepreneurs, having one can really come in handy if you want to be highly regarded.

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Why can’t You Simply Quit Your Job and Travel the World

How great does it feel when you think about traveling across the world- visiting the mountains, the sea, going to villages no one’s ever even heard of, and exploring corners which still remain untouched. But does that really work out? The 9-5 desk job frustrate you, so you want to escape that boring life to get onto a new adventure, meet new people, travel new places, and experience something fresh and exciting. Although there’s nothing wrong with that, we naively assume that these things are going to make us happier long term. The truth is they won’t. Let us first examine the practicality of this whole endeavor.

First of all, traveling isn’t for free. So until and unless your bank account balance is huge, you have to seriously think about your little trip around the world. Now you may wonder, ‘what if I start saving money today?’ Well, that is great, but you will still run out of it eventually. That is when reality strikes you on your face, and you fall flat on the desk again. The real problem is, instead of wisely figuring out what you want from life, you want to impulsively make decisions, and hope everything turns out well. The truth is, not all of us really want to travel, most of us just need a break. For a short while you may be very satisfied with your decision about quitting the cubicle, and “investing in experiences and not materialistic objects”, but you’ll soon realize you are still missing out on something. This is because you have chosen to cover up the actual problem and you are instead addressing the symptoms, not the core problem.

You can’t travel for the sake of traveling, or because that is the only option. You need to figure what you want to do in life, where do you want to see yourself in 2 years and 20 years. It is like, in life if your plot doesn’t have a story, your incidents are just disturbances. You can’t just visit Kasol and expect to find purpose of your existence. Even in traveling, not all experiences are fun- you may have to sleep in extreme conditions, you may have to remain hungry for a long while, you may be broke, you may get robbed, you may fall down and hurt yourself. But the actually fun is the learning part. Even the long-term travelers feel lost, even though they have tons of stories to tell, even though their lives aren’t still figured out.

Traveling isn’t about running away from your lives, leaving things as they are and running off to another world. If you want to be happy, you need to sit down, doesn’t matter if it is in your office cubicle or on Mount Kilimanjaro, but you need to start thinking, testing and see what things give life to your existence.

“ Happiness does not come from single events. Happiness does not come from leaving your ordinary life behind. Happiness does not come from avoiding your problems.”

The best option is to balance adventure and work. If you save enough money to go backpacking once or twice a year, and work diligently for the rest of the year, you’ll be content with that one trip. The other thing is to find the work you love, “instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don’t need to escape from.”

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Things to Consider When Expanding Your Business Overseas

Deciding the time is right to expand your business is a big decision, and one you have probably been thinking over for quite some time. So, what if you want to expand your business overseas? This can be a lot more involved and there are some things you’ll want to consider before and during the expansion. These considerations are meant to stop you from expanding, rather to prepare you so that the expansion is done in such a way that it helps increase the odds of your business’s success.

Do You Have an International Business Plan?

When you first started your business here on home soil you likely had an in-depth business plan. Deciding to expand overseas should warrant a whole new global business plan. While it can be similar to your other plan, it needs to recognize that business can be different overseas. Obviously, you will have a different market, different type of client, pricing could be different, etc. This plan needs to discuss your commitment to the expansion as well as the goals you want to put into place.

At the same time, it’s also a good idea to draw up a separate marketing plan, which again takes a global approach.

The Affordability Factor

While it would be great to be able to spend as much as you want on the expansion, that’s not really ideal for the bottom line. Before the expansion takes place it’s important to set a budget and determine how much you are able to invest into the expansion. Now keep in mind this number can change moving forward, but you at least want a starting point.

Do Your Research in Advance

Whether you are selling a product or service it’s important you do all the legwork well in advance of the expansion efforts. This means taking a look at what products or services the market would be interested in that you offer, whether you need to make any changes to your products, pricing models, who your target audience will be, how you plan to get your product to them, and more. By answering all of these important questions in advance the expansion can move that much faster and smoother.

What About Staff?

There is also the question of staff. Do you plan to transfer staff overseas or will you be looking for all new staff? That also brings about the question of how you plan to train the new staff, and how you plan to pay them. You can always use a third-party company which specializes in global employment outsourcing and payroll. This can help to take a lot of the stress off your shoulders where staffing issues are concerned.

Stay on Track

While it can seem like a never-ending journey as you work to expand overseas, the best advice is truly to stay on track and get help and advice from professionals along the way. The more information you can gather about global expansion, the more prepared you will be to handle the challenges that are bound to pop up.

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Could These Business Valuation Tips Be What You Are Missing?

Knowing the worth, or value, of your business is critical for many reasons. Perhaps most obviously, it helps you know exactly what you are dealing with; a business worth $25,000 might require different handling than one worth $100,000. Just as important is the fact that lenders and investors require an accurate valuation to give you money, as this infographic shows. Knowing the worth of your venture is also useful for calculating tax or if you are merging or selling. However, some people approach valuation from the wrong angle, and if you have that nagging feeling, check out the tips below. They could be what you’re missing.

1. Be Totally Honest About “Personal” Expenses

While it is natural (and sometimes legal) to save money on taxes by putting personal charges on a business account, this method can hurt when it comes to accurate valuation. If you have charged a trip to Florida, a gym membership, and artwork to your business, and they really are not business-related expenses, you are skewing the worth of your venture. It could be a minor discrepancy, but sometimes it can be major.

2. Look Past What Is on Paper

The worth of an operation goes past its strict paper value. As an example, suppose you have gotten a respected and experienced entrepreneur to sign on with you. This person has a track record of successful ventures; having this person on board is of some considerable value to your business because of his or her reputation. So, whatever dollar amount that person is investing or working for is not enough to fully calculate his or her contribution.

Similarly, suppose you have a great business idea and a solid plan but lack any college education or an MBA. That could change the accurate valuation of your business if formal education would make the venture more likely to succeed. If you decide it hinders your opportunities, there are online programs you can sign up for. One such school is Maryville; you can learn more about maryville’s choices of online bachelors degree programs by exploring its website.

3. Try Various Calculators

There are many metrics you can use to assess how much your business is worth: market-based, income-based, and asset-based, for example. Different lenders and investors may want to see different things in your valuations, so running the numbers on a range of calculators is useful. To that end, check out this list of 10 calculators. One calculator, BizEx, analyzes factors such as multiple earnings and discretionary earnings. Another calculator, this one from Hadley Capital, prioritizes spending from your highest-ranking customers as well as yearly capital expenditures, and yearly EBITDA.

4. Seek Professional Help

It is possible to perform an accurate valuation yourself, but you may increase your odds of a fair assessment by seeking professional help. If your business is small, as in it would probably sell for no more than $500,000, you should be able to get a valuation for less than $1,500.

If you have been struggling with estimates for how much your business is really worth, the above tips may help. Look past what is on paper to the intangibles, try various calculators, be brutally honest, and enlist outside help if necessary.

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How to Recruit the Best Engineers for Your Startup

So you need to hire an engineer for your startup but you want to be sure that you are hiring the very best professional who can help you develop the highest quality products that will sell? Then continue reading for a list of helpful tips that will ensure you make the most of your hiring process.

Look at Their Education

Whenever it comes to hiring the best talent for your startup, you need to hone in on the educational background of every job applicant. With the right degree in place, you can rest assured that an applicant has gone through a tough program and learned everything that there is to know to start working in the field. This is definitely important when it comes to hiring engineers, in particular. The best applicants will have received an online civil engineering degree or even have their masters degree in civil engineering from a highly regarded school like the New Jersey Institute of Technology, also known as NJIT.

Determine What They Really Want

When interviewing job applicants who are interested in filling your engineering positions, you need to ask them what their motivations really are. Are they only motivated by a high salary, or are they looking for more from this position? For example, some workers will want to have more flexibility than average. They may even want to work from home on certain days of the week, or they may want to have the ability to sign their name onto a top-notch project. Still others might be concerned about the people with whom they will collaborate, or they might have preferences when it comes to the size of the teams that they’ll be working on. Once you understand a job applicant’s motivations and preferences, you can really start to determine if they are the right fit for the job.

Find Someone Who Knows Startups

Finally, because you are running a startup, it is best to stick with engineers that have already worked for other startups and know how to deliver solutions to your desk rather than merely ask questions or present you with problems that they have encountered. It might be best to stay away from those applicants that only have experience working with corporations and other large businesses because they may not understand what it is like to work for a startup that is only just beginning to grow. You also want to learn why a job applicant wants to work for a startup. This is tied in with their motivations, discussed above, and it can shed a lot of light into whether or not someone would be a good fit for your small organization.

These are just a few of the things that you need to keep in mind if you wish to hire the very best job applicants to any engineering positions within your startup. Once you have the right team in place with whom you can work, you can rest assured that your new company can go far.

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