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Business development strategies are vital contributors to a company's growth and success. By identifying and pursuing new opportunities, a company can increase its market share, generate new sources of revenue, and position itself for long-term growth.

Business development refers to the process of identifying and pursuing new business opportunities for growth and expansion. This can involve a variety of activities, ranging from entering new markets or launching new products or services to building business alliances, or simply improving internal processes and systems.

Crafting a business development strategy is a daunting task that requires considerable effort. It requires careful research, problem solving, and planning. Before diving in, make sure that you have found the right type of financing to take on these additional initiatives; without the necessary financial resources in place, your efforts may prove fruitless.

In this post, we will take a closer look at the business development process to help you figure out how to create a successful business development strategy and help your venture reach its potential.

What are Business Development Strategies?

No matter what kind of product or service you want to sell, developing a strong business development strategy is essential for long-term success. Business development encompasses understanding your company’s current strengths and challenges, setting achievable goals, and then executing your business development plan to reach those goals.

Business development teams may work with a variety of stakeholders, including sales teams, marketing departments, and other business units, to identify and evaluate potential growth opportunities and develop strategies to pursue them.

Every business wants results. And this is how the success or failure of any business development activity is judged– through quantifiable metrics, such as increased sales or improved profitability.

Common Business Development Strategies

Business development is often treated as a one-size-fits-all process, but this couldn't be more misguided. Every business has its own needs, objectives, and market landscape – and each of these must be approached using strategies that are tailored to the business’ individual circumstances.

Although there might be a lot of overlap between key business development strategies that help different businesses flourish, you can be sure that the people behind the scenes didn't rely on a cookie-cutter process, they put their own spin on reliable business development strategy components in order to best suit their business’ context.

Some of the more popular business development tactics include:

Market Expansion

Market expansion is a key strategy for businesses looking to scale up. While market entry can be made in a variety of ways, it all comes back to finding ways to grow business by introducing products or services into new markets. For example, opening additional locations in underserved areas can quickly expand market reach.

In any market expansion scenario, carefully targeting customer segments is essential in ensuring maximal business growth.

Product Development

Product development is a strategic way to gain a competitive advantage, as introducing new products or services to the market can set businesses apart from their competitors. By creating unique product offerings or adding improvements that address specific customer needs, businesses can tap into new customer segments and improve brand loyalty.

Product development, while requiring significant time and resources, could potentially have an impactful payoff in terms of greater market share and even larger profit margins.

Partnerships

Partnerships are becoming an increasingly popular way for businesses to leverage resources and increase their success. By combining complementary areas of expertise from different organizations or individuals, partnerships are not only more efficient but also more effective in terms of results.

It is especially important to prioritize partnerships when it comes to small and medium-sized enterprises, as partnerships can help cover up any areas lacking in terms of resources or experience.

This strategy of forming partnerships is also known as joint ventures, collaborations, or strategic partnerships--all truly invaluable strategies for a budding business.

Process Improvement

Process improvement is an invaluable strategy for maximizing efficiency and profitability within a business, as it digs deep into how the organization operates and reveals opportunities for both immediate and long-term benefits.

This process can involve many tactics that range from analyzing internal processes or systems to identify weak spots and inefficiencies, implementing new technologies or strategies to improve operations and create smoother workflow, to reorganizing the entire organizational structure of the company.

Isn’t Business Development Just the Result of Sales and Marketing Efforts?

Despite often being used interchangeably with sales and marketing, business development should not be confused as a synonym for these activities. While there is certainly overlap between business development, sales, and marketing in terms of the end result they are aiming to achieve–increased business growth–they each involve distinct processes and techniques to move towards that final goal.

Business development is focused on identifying and pursuing new opportunities for growth, while sales is focused on promoting and selling existing products and services to customers, and marketing is focused on understanding and meeting customer needs and preferences.

Marketing is the process of researching and understanding customer needs and preferences, and developing strategies to reach the target audience. Marketing team activities may include advertising, public relations, and branding efforts.

The sales process is centered around developing strategies to persuade potential customers to purchase the company's products or services. Ultimately, a successful sales team is one that effectively understands–and responds to–customer needs.

Financing a Business Development Plan

In many cases, companies do need financing to reach their business development goals. These activities can require significant investment in terms of time, resources, and capital.

In some cases, a company may be able to self-finance its business development efforts through its own balance sheet, but, in most cases, success depends on finding effective ways to get your business funded.

Each of these options comes with its own pros and cons, so proper research and planning is crucial to finding the right time of financing for your small business and growth goals.

Creating Long-Term Value With the Right Business Strategy

A competitive advantage is something all businesses strive to achieve, and having a carefully formulated plan of action can be the difference between success and stagnation.

By executing a carefully formulated plan of action, businesses can stand out among their competitors and have the competitive advantage they seek. With the right financial resources and goals in mind, a tailored business development strategy can help any company reach their desired position within the market. With diligent planning and execution of your business's individualized plan of action, you can set your company apart from its competitors.

Any business, whether it’s a startup or an established company, will eventually need to grow in order to remain competitive. But what does “growth” actually mean? And how do you finance it? Whether you should try to grow or scale depends on your specific circumstances, but whichever path you choose, it’s important to find the right lending partner.

There are two basic types of growth: business growth and scaling. Business growth refers to increasing the revenue of your existing business, while scaling is about increasing efficiency and replicating your business model in new markets.

Understanding the difference between sustainable growth and scaling can make it easier for business owners to seek out the appropriate type of financing–and use it effectively–as they pinpoint which areas of their business they need more resources.

A lack of suitable financing can be a major obstacle for businesses looking to expand their operations. Equity financing, for example, can dilute ownership stakes and reduce control over the company, not to mention the potential regulatory hurdles involved. Venture capital financing poses many of the same challenges–it can be difficult to obtain and may come with strings attached. The key to success is finding a lending partner who shares your vision for the business and who is willing to provide financing on convenient terms.

Growth vs. Scaling, Explained

Let's start by defining growth and scaling.

A growth strategy involves using a variety of means to increase revenue. It's the immediate stage after the business launch, as companies take on more clients or produce more products.

Scaling, while related to growth, is a sustainable business model that properly manages resources allocated to the business. It involves bringing the principal costs of the business down and increasing revenue through greater efficiency.

Exploring the Differences Between Scaling and Growth Strategies

The key difference between growth and scalability is the total revenue or resources generated by the step taken. Growth strategies mean businesses are adding resources to achieve a fixed revenue, which usually involves incurring significant costs. However, scalability means that once you've scaled the resource allocation, your profits can grow exponentially.

Scalability allows you to allocate resources in such a way that as your revenue increases, the expenses increase at a slower rate, whereas with a growth model, the revenue and expenses increase at the same rate. Scalability allows a business to experience rapid growth without the need to sacrifice resources.

Scaling companies use fewer resources to achieve a greater ROI. This can include automating certain tasks to reduce labor or redundancy or certain equipment that ensures a set cost of production no matter the demand from customers.

Risk management is easier when companies scale, as an owner can focus on the business's critical tasks without compromising the revenue or resources necessary. And, because the assets and resources of the business are more closely managed, the growth companies can achieve is less limited.

Scaling Initiatives For a Successful Company

If you are starting a business, you may wish to frame it with scalability in mind before launching. A scalable business can generate revenue and profit faster than a business focused simply on straightforward growth.
Your business's scaling strategy can include the following:

Final Thoughts – The Right Financing can Help Overcome Key Challenges

Any business owner knows, financing is often needed for growth, but it is almost always essential to scale a business. Without financing, it can be difficult to buy new inventory, hire additional staff, or expand into new markets.

Favorable financing can also be tricky to obtain, especially for small businesses. Traditional loans can be difficult to qualify for, and the application process can be time-consuming. Other methods, including equity financing or venture capital, each bring a variety of risks and challenges.

Fortunately, there are fixed financing solutions available from Merchant Growth that can help companies scale their businesses. Fast, convenient and flexible, financing from Merchant Growth does not require collateral and can be delivered in as little as 24 hours! Apply today!

Financing your e-commerce business can seem complicated, but there are many options available to help you get your business the working capital it needs. From business credit cards to business lines of credit, we'll explore some of the financing options available to web-based merchants to help you find the ideal funding solution.

Over the last decade, e-commerce has become an increasingly popular way for businesses to sell their products. The convenience of being able to shop from your home or office, 24/7 has made e-commerce a must-have for many businesses. But how do you actually get started?From finding the right software and payment platform, to finding the funding you need to make it happen, e-commerce business owners have a lot to consider. In this article, we'll explore four of the most common types of financing for e-commerce businesses.

What is E-Commerce Funding?

E-commerce funding is a way for businesses that sell online to get the funding they need for business growth and operations. It's a form of small business financing that helps e-commerce business owners grow and succeed by providing access to capital when they need it most, and it's accessible to companies of all sizes.

E-Commerce Financing Options

There are several ecommerce financing options available to boost company cash flow in order to manage the cost of doing business.

Merchant Cash Advances

A merchant cash advance is a popular financing for e-commerce businesses, and they can be a great way to get the cash you need to grow your business.

These are an alternative to traditional bank financing. They're usually offered by a third party in the form of an advance on credit card sales. You don't have to pay any interest on the advance, but you do have to pay back the full amount within six months.

Pros:

Cons:

Business Line of Credit

A business line of credit is a type of financing that allows you to borrow the money you need, when you need it. It's a revolving line of credit, which means that you can borrow more money when you need it, and then pay off what you borrow later when cash flow allows.

Pros:

Cons:

Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding is a financing option for an e-commerce business that allows entrepreneurs to raise money from a large group of people. This can be done by offering rewards, such as products or discounts.

Pros:

Cons:

Venture Capital

Venture Capital involves outside investors purchasing a percentage of the company for a sum of money and/or requesting a royalty on sales made.

Pros:

Cons:

Financing to Drive Your Business Growth

If you're a small business owner that needs more working capital to reach your business goals, Merchant Growth provides fast and accessible financing that can help e-commerce businesses. Whether you need to purchase inventory, invest in digital marketing or refresh your website, there are financing solutions that will meet your business needs.

Merchant Growth offers fast approval and funding times with flexible repayment options. We have helped thousands of small businesses across Canada to grow their business and we are here to help your business too! Apply now!

In a situation where a debt has been deemed uncollectible, your business has what is known as a “bad debt expense” on its hands. This is an unfortunate reality for many businesses, as there are many reasons why seemingly reliable customers can turn into doubtful accounts.

Regardless of the reason why a customer does not pay their invoice, your business must be prepared to handle the cash flow consequences. This kind of situation can quickly make a mess of your balance sheet, especially if it becomes an issue with multiple accounts. Without a fixed financing solution to handle this issue, the knock-on effects can reverberate throughout a company’s operations.

In this post, we will provide an overview of some of the most common ways to calculate bad debt expenses, so that you can be sure that your accounts receivable balance is trending in the right direction.

What Are Bad Debt Expenses?

Bad debt expense is a term that refers to the cost of writing off unpaid debts as losses. When companies extend credit to their customers, there is always the risk that some of these accounts will never be paid. This can result in significant losses for the business, so it's important to calculate and track bad debt expenses accurately.

Bad debt expenses can have a major impact on businesses of all sizes. It's important for companies to track their bad debt expenses carefully and take steps to minimize them.

One consequence of bad debt is the amount of time and resources that must be devoted to collections. When a business extends credit to its customers, it is taking on a certain amount of risk. To mitigate this risk, businesses must have robust collections processes in place. This can be costly and time-consuming, diverting resources away from more profitable activities.

The most important consequence of bad debt expenses is the impact it can have on a company's cash flow. Depleted cash reserves make it difficult for companies to meet their financial obligations and may even lead to bankruptcy.

Accounting Methods for Calculating Bad Debt Expense

Bad debt expenses can have a major impact on businesses, but there are ways to minimize them. By tracking bad debt carefully and using the right accounting method, companies can protect their bottom line by making the correct allowance for bad debts and avoid some of the negative consequences associated with invoices that are no longer collectible.

There are a few different accounting methods that can be used to track a company’s bad debts expense. There are pros and cons to each of these methods. The allowance method is simple to use and provides a quick overview of how much bad debt a company is facing. However, it doesn't take into account how likely it is that debts will be paid. The net realizable value method is more accurate, but it can be more complex and time-consuming to implement.

Allowance Method

This is a popular choice for companies that do most of their transactions through credit, as there is always a certain percentage of total credit sales that don't get paid.

With the allowance method, companies anticipate bad debts before they occur and create an allowance for the amount of business they anticipate losing (or being unable to collect on) each year. In other words, companies create a contra asset account that they “draw” from whenever bad debt expenses occur to balance out the general ledger for a particular accounting period. With this method, it boils down to creating a bad debt expense account, or a bad debt reserve fund, that companies can draw from to protect the balance sheet and cash flow.

Direct Write Off Method

When companies have customers who don't pay their debts, the company can "write off" those losses as an expense. The direct write-off method is when a company records the bad debt as a loss on its income statement. This is a simple way to track how much bad debt your company has. However, it doesn't take into account how likely it is that the debt will be paid.

Aging Method

This approach groups customers by the age of their outstanding debts. This information can be used to estimate the amount of bad debt that can be collected from customers. The accounts receivable aging method is more complex than the direct write-off method, but it provides a more accurate picture of bad debt expenses.

Bad debt expenses can have a major impact on businesses, but there are ways to minimize them. By tracking bad debt carefully and using the right accounting method, companies can protect their bottom line and avoid some of the negative consequences associated with bad debt.

Ways to Reduce Bad Debt Expenses

There are a few different ways that businesses can reduce bad debt expenses. One way is to offer discounts for early payment. This can incentivize customers to pay their debts sooner, which can save the company money in the long run. Another option is to extend payment terms. This gives customers more time to pay their debts, which can reduce the amount of bad debt the company has to write off.

Bad debt expenses can have a major impact on businesses, but there are ways to minimize them. By tracking bad debt carefully and using the right accounting method, companies can protect their bottom line and avoid some of the negative consequences associated with bad debt.

With pandemic restrictions generally a thing of the past, higher interest rates, supply chain issues, and general uncertainty about the economy, it’s a challenge for small businesses and consumers alike to navigate this holiday season.

Given a backlog of inventory from multiple seasons all hitting the marketplace at the same time, some merchants may find themselves with too much product that they don’t know what to do with. Similarly some businesses even find themselves raising prices in response to a general increase in cost of goods and living, so the idea of a holiday sale may be counterintuitive for your small businesses.

Consumer sentiment appears to be a mixed bag. Everyone is eager to resume their past holiday traditions, with holiday shopping already underway for some, a month earlier than when most make the shift to holiday mode following Halloween.

However, many are also feeling their pursestrings tightening as essential costs have simultaneously risen. The question is whether consumers will be splurging on holiday shopping using the money that they have saved the past few years, or if that money will be redirected to cover unexpected rising costs. 

Understanding your customer is another important factor in deciding whether to offer a promotion or not, and if so, how much it should be. Luxury brands, for example, are less likely to offer sales because their customers are simply used to paying higher prices. It could also be a matter of testing what type of sale strategy works best for your customers: a percentage discount or an amount discount, factoring in what also makes economic sense for your bottom line.

Pros of Offering a Holiday Sale:

Keep up with consumer expectations. Some consumers expect all brands to offer a sale at this time of year, and may not be willing to make purchases without any added value. Accordingly, offering a seasonal sale is about “keeping up” with the big box stores.

Provide a sudden spike to your sales. Although it may be in the short-term, for some this additional boost could help balance your books for the end of the year.

Clear out inventory. Whether it’s excess inventory or previous season’s merchandise, selling things off can make space for other items for the following seasons. This may be particularly attractive to merchants who have found themselves with a surplus of goods after having purchased them in larger quantities as a result of supply chain delays.

It can help you extend your reach. When it comes to holiday shopping, some people have a specific cap on the amount they’re willing to spend on a particular gift or purchase which may have otherwise excluded your offering from consideration. While they may not be as keen on the full price after the sale, by that point you may have already secured a loyal customer.

Cons of Offering a Holiday Sale:

Decreased profit margin on each item sold. This is the biggest negative effect of sales for merchants because each item will contribute less revenue.

It undercuts the perceived value of your product. While sales are great in the short term, there can be some unexpected consequences beyond the sale period. Customers may be less inclined to purchase an item at full price having previously seen it on sale, questioning its value. 

It can negatively impact your future sales cycle. If customers are waiting and expecting a future sale, this could create a lull in the period before the holiday season.

It contributes to overconsumption. This is all about brand ethics and what your company stands for. Sales inevitably create a certain amount of frenzy because they aren’t forever. If your product or brand is about conscious purchasing, this could be a deterrent to simply hopping on the holiday sale-bandwagon just because everyone else is doing it.

Alternative Solutions

Look to Provide Additional Value in Other Ways. 

Added value does not exclusively have to mean monetary savings. Some other ideas to consider are flexibility for in-store pickup which allows customers to still complete their shopping online but not have to pay for shipping to their homes and offering an extended return window during and following the holiday season.

Set Specific Terms to Your Discounts or Promotions

Rather than offering a carte blanche sale across everything that you sell, consider a promotion on a single item, a particular category, or a select few items. Another strategy is to apply promotions to larger or multiple purchases. This could be in the form of buy one, get one X% off, spending a certain amount and receiving free shipping, or creating bundles that combine different items for a discount. 

Keep an Eye on Your Competition

The reality is that small businesses will never be able to fully compete with big box stores or mega online marketplaces simply because of scale and resources. But that doesn’t mean you should operate with blinders on. Keep tabs on what your direct and/or local competitors are doing. If you notice that they are running some sort of promotion, this gives you another factor to consider when making that decision for your own small business.

Consider a Loyalty Program

Repeat business is the best business. So why not reward customers for their loyalty by encouraging them to make additional purchases. Whether you offer a product or service, you can offer them a discount or freebie after a certain number of transactions.

Final Thoughts

As a solopreneur or small operation, some merchants feel as though their pricing is already fair without a discount. Take a good hard look at your balance sheet. If you continue to sell as is, how will your year end? In other words, do you really need to offer a holiday sale to be profitable if you simply maintain the status quo? Outside pressure can leave many businesses closely examining the pros and cons of offering a sale in order to make a decision.

The reality is that there is no universal “right choice”. Each business is in a unique position in terms of their offerings, their profits, the seasonality of their business, the amount of inventory they have, and the type of customers they serve, in order to ultimately decide if they should or should not offer a holiday sale.

If you own or manage a growing business, there will come a point where you have to evaluate what long-term success looks like for your business and how you plan to get there. Broadly speaking, growth strategies can head in one of two directions; business extension or market expansion. Every growth strategy has merit in the right context, so it’s important that you have a clear understanding of the broad lines of growth strategies in order to fine-tune your approach and maximize your chances of success.

In this post, we will compare expansion growth with extension growth to help you figure out which direction makes the most sense for your company.

Expansion Growth - Seeking a New Market for Existing Products or Services

Business expansion is the process of growing a business by extending the same business model to new locations in the pursuit of new customers. For companies with good local market penetration, bringing their existing product or service to new areas can lead to exponential growth.

This approach is typically used when there is a target audience and potential customer base that has been previously unreachable. In order for business expansion to be successful, it is important to have a well-defined business model that can be replicated in new markets. However, it is essential to have the necessary infrastructure and growth financing for small business to support this goal. Business expansion requires careful planning, execution, and plenty of capital, in order to avoid common pitfalls, but, when done correctly, business expansion can be a powerful tool for growth.

Without access to the right type of financing, many small businesses would be forced to scale back their expansion plans or abandon their new market acquisition strategy altogether. Successfully pursuing an expansion growth strategy requires convenient access to capital in order to purchase new equipment, hire additional staff, and open new locations. Throughout a business expansion phase, growth financing can also provide a much-needed influx of cash to keep daily operations running smoothly.

Extension Growth - Offering New Products or Services to Existing Customers

If your market share has been steadily growing, but you're starting to see a plateau in new sales then a shift in tactics should be on the horizon. You can't just sit back and wait for business to pick up on its own.

One growth strategy you may want to consider is business extension. This involves expanding your offerings, either through a new product line or service, to an existing market. This market development approach is popular with companies that want to take a low-risk growth strategy. It allows you to get more from an existing customer base that is already familiar with your brand. And it can help you better understand the needs and wants of your current market.

One benefit of this strategy is that it allows you to tap into an existing customer base. This can be a more efficient use of resources than trying to reach new customers. Additionally, you may already have some brand recognition in the market, which can give you a head start.

For example, if you currently sell pet supplies, you could extend your business by offering pet grooming services. Business extension is a great way to grow your business without having to find new customers. Instead, you can tap into your existing customer base and offer them something new. This growth strategy can be especially effective if you already have a loyal customer following.

However, business extension is not without risks; if poorly executed, you could end up cannibalizing parts of your existing business.

Expansion vs Extension - The Takeaway

To resume, there are two main types of growth strategies that companies can pursue: expansion growth and extension growth. Expansion growth involves increasing the size of the company by opening new locations or expanding existing ones. Extension growth, on the other hand, involves growing the company by introducing new products or services.

Which Type of Growth is Right for Your Business?

Deciding on the right type of growth for your business depends on a number of factors, including your current situation, your long-term goals, and the corporate finance resources available to you.

If you're a small company with limited financing, pursuing expansion growth may not be feasible because it can require a hefty capital investment. On the other hand, if you're a large company with a strong customer base, expansion growth could be the way to go.

Ultimately, the best growth strategy for your business will depend on your unique circumstances. Whichever path you choose, Merchant Growth offers a variety of financing options that can support you along the way. Apply today!

In today's business world, staffing is one of the most important factors in a company's success. The ability to get funds for staffing can mean the difference between a business that simply treads water and one that goes on to reach its full potential.

There are many reasons why companies need payroll funding, ranging from seasonal hiring to business expansion or overcoming cash flow problems, among others. In this post, we will take a closer look at some of the signs that your business could benefit from staffing funding.

Seasonal Hiring

Staffing funding is an essential part of keeping a business running smoothly, no matter what the circumstances may be. When it comes to staffing, company needs tend to have an ebb and flow with the seasons or the business cycle; having funding that you can specifically allocate to hiring ensures you have the capital that your business needs to maintain a healthy workforce. This type of funding can be used to hire new employees, provide training for existing employees or even to cover the cost of temporary staffing during busy periods.

Without payroll funding, many businesses would quickly find themselves struggling to keep up with demand. As a result, staffing funding is an essential tool for ensuring that businesses can always meet their staffing needs.

Growing Your Business

A cash-strapped business that's always waiting to be reimbursed by clients will find it limiting to take advantage of growth opportunities. With more cash, you can invest immediately without waiting for invoices to come in. Explore new markets, invest in developing new services, recruit new job candidates, or grow your business as you see fit with improved cash flow.

Staffing funding can help businesses expand their operations. Business expansion requires capital and enough staff on hand to take the company to new heights. The great benefit of payroll funding is that it provides companies the flexibility to recruit top candidates for new roles.

You Need Consistent Cash Flow

Paying your employees on time can reduce your cash flow. If your business bank account runs too low, however, how will you have ready cash for unexpected emergencies? You will need immediate funds for unexpected problems but also for surprising opportunities like great deals on office equipment or investment opportunities. Without funds on hand, your organization can suffer.

Pay Bills On Time

Small businesses need to make consistent payments over time to build up their credit. In order to accomplish that, they need to pay their bills on time like everyone else. A company that pays its bills and payroll late will quickly develop a reputation as a business in dire financial straits, which can detract from its success. With additional available cash flow, your small business can pay its bills, like utilities and rent on time.

How Does Payroll Funding Work?

A small business with good credit might want to take out a business loan to meet its payroll challenges, but that involves formal debt and a long approval process.

There are many advantages to payroll financing. Small businesses that struggle and have cash flow issues will be able to pay employees on their regularly scheduled payday. They don't have to worry about payroll processing or about depleting their ready cash stores. With financing from Merchant Growth there are a variety of flexible financing options available depending on your business’s specific needs, whether that’s a small business line of credit or fixed financing.

Can Your Small Business Benefit from Payroll Funding?

Whatever the reason, staffing funding can be a vital lifeline for companies. Your business may not always need to rely on financing for payroll, but as you're pursuing growth opportunities or even recovering from recent difficulties, leveraging financing to cover costs associated with payroll is a great option to help you achieve your business goals. Apply for fast and flexible financing today!

A small business blog is often an under-appreciated tool that allows you to directly communicate with your customers as well as potential customers. It acts as a compliment to the content you already share (or should be sharing) on your social media platforms. In this case, your small business blog about sharing additional written information and not simply images which are the priority on other platforms.

Don’t feel like because you’ve shared something on your social media that you can’t write a blog about it. On the contrary: when you write a new blog, that is absolutely something that you can also promote on your social media as well! Consider all these different content sources like a spider web that are connected to each other, but that ultimately all direct people towards your website and what you’re selling.

If you can appreciate the benefits of blogging for small businesses but aren’t sure where to start, then this one's for you. So when it comes to getting inspired about what to blog about next, consider the following blog post ideas for small business!

1- About Your Business

While you should include some information about your business on your “About Us” page, a blog is a great opportunity to get into more detail.

You could blog about:

2- About You and Your Team

Similarly to writing about your business, give people a behind-the-scenes look at the people that keep your business running. 

This could be:

The goal here is to provide a human touch, providing a name (and potentially a face in you also include photos) to the people who help make your business what it is. 

3- About News or Special Announcements

When something particularly noteworthy happens, this is the perfect time to share it on multiple platforms. In addition to sharing your big news on social media, you can get into additional detail in a blog. 

So whether it’s:

…be sure to celebrate it and let people know!

4- About Topics that Highlight Your Knowledge in Your Particular Area

Small business blogs are best when you write about a variety of things rather than exclusively promoting your business. You are an expert in your area of business, and you shouldn’t be afraid to share that with people. This can add a tremendous amount of credibility to your business, showcasing your experience and knowledge and ultimately building trust.

Some examples could be:

5- Case Studies

If you don’t have a page specifically dedicated to your case studies, you can certainly include them on your blog. Case studies are a more in-depth review, that discuss the experience that a customer had working with your business. Case studies show that you value your customers’ experience, and provide additional insight for future customers and what they can expect. They can include what led someone to seek out your service, the process of working with you, and their feelings about the experience after the fact.

Take a look at our case studies to see what other small business owners have said about their experience working with Merchant Growth.

6- Based on Keywords as a Starting Point

Another aspect to selecting blog subjects is based on keywords or common search terms. First and foremost the topic has to be relevant for your business. There’s no point for you to write about or try to rank in search results for something that has nothing to do with your business. Whether you use one of the many free or paid tools out there (like Semrush, ahrefs, or KWFinder), the goal should be to find words or short phrases that people who would use your product or service would actually search, and that don’t have too much competition from other businesses. As people search for those words or terms, your blog could then rank as a result and act as an entry point towards your website.

 

Remember, there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to blog topics for small businesses. It’s simply about providing value to your readers: whether that’s through interesting information or engaging storytelling.

Happy blogging!

As a small business owner it is important to organize your finances and stay on top of them, especially when you want to apply for financing. Getting familiar with bank transactions that trigger fees is crucial. These transactions are known as: non-sufficient funds and overdraft fees. Both of them relate to insufficient funds and can trigger unwanted fees for your business. 

Overdraft fees take place when you don’t have enough money in an account to cover various types of transactions, meanwhile, non-sufficient funds fees when your checking account lacks sufficient funds to cover for a purchase, transfer or withdrawal. 

Regardless of the type of business transaction you are dealing with, it is important to understand how this can affect your business, what are the potential negative consequences, and ways to stay away from these. 

Non-Sufficient Funds

Non-sufficient funds, also referred to as insufficient funds, is a banking term used whenever the checking account does not have a sufficient balance (or any balance at all) to cover a transaction or payment. They can also be referred to as bounced cheques. This could happen because you forgot to transfer money into that particular account or simply because you just do not have the funds available.

Whenever this happens, the bank might decide to pay or return the item unpaid and then charge an non-sufficient funds fee. You may also experience an additional charge from the payee, or at times, the payee could get a charge from their bank for depositing a bad check. 

How Can You Fix This?

The simple solution is that you will need to deposit more money into your checking account and/or write a new check. 

Now that you know what a non-sufficient fund is and how to fix it, you may be wondering about the larger impact this could potentially have on your small business’s finances. Here are a couple of examples:

Consequences 

Whenever you deal with non-sufficient funds on your bank statement, there are several consequences you might have to deal with:

Penalties

If you face a situation where your check bounces, first and foremost you might get penalized by your bank institution. Moreover, if the bounced cheque is for the payment of a loan, you could face additional late payment charges. Penalty charges vary based on bank and account types.

Negative impact on credit score

A bounced cheque can also negatively impact your creditworthiness. For instance, if you plan to apply for a loan, financial institutions may feel insecure about lending to someone who has a couple of non-sufficient funds showing on their recent bank statements. This is because dealing with multiple of them indicates that you have failed to pay previous debt. While a bounced cheque does not get reported to a credit bureau, nonetheless, there are two scenarios you should avoid:

These two can have an impact on your business or personal credit score.

So, how can you avoid this? It’s always advisable that you have enough funds in order to avoid NSFs whenever you apply for a loan. By doing so, financial institutions will be secure with your financial credibility, making it easier for them to lend you money. Although NSFs are a factor that is considered when applying for financing, it does not mean an automatic exclusion for alternative lenders such as Merchant Growth.

Other consequences 

After experiencing multiple NSF’s a bank may decide to close your account or even deduct money from your account.  

How to Avoid NSFs

The easiest way for you to avoid dealing with non-sufficient funds is to budget accordingly and forecast any upcoming expenses. But here are some other things you can start doing as a small business owner. 

Keep track of your balances 

Being organized is key to avoiding dealing with non-sufficient funds. These are some things to keep in mind: 

If you keep these things in mind you will know how much you can spend, and how to account for any unexpected changes or costs. 

Set up alarms with your bank 

Setting alarms can help you keep track of which payments are going through. This will allow you to prepare accordingly, for instance if a scheduled payment is coming up, you have the opportunity to cancel or reschedule the payment if possible. There is also the option of setting up alarms that let you know when your bank account balance is low, so you can act accordingly before facing a non-sufficient fund fee.

Monitor your checking account regularly 

It’s a good habit to keep an eye on your checking account balance and posted transactions. Take a look at the transactions that have cleared and the ones that are still pending. 

Keep extra funds in your account 

Add extra money to your account, in addition to the funds already there to cover your regular expenses. This money can then serve as a protection against NSFs if there is a sudden unplanned charge.

Link your account to a savings account 

Some banks allow you to link a savings account to your checking account, if you overdraw on your checking account, the bank moves funds from the linked account to cover any pending transactions. 

Outsource help when needed

If you find yourself overwhelmed with tracking your expenses and managing your finances, there is always the option to hire an accountant that could keep your financial needs organized. 

Sign up for overdraft protection services 

An overdraft protection service can allow you to avoid dealing with non-sufficient funds. There is a fee for such services. This can range from $2.50 to $5,  but this will authorize the bank to make a purchase for a flat fee whenever you face a failed transaction. 

How to Move on From Non-Sufficient Funds

In the end, it all comes down to getting your finances organized and understanding the different types of transactions you might face along the way. Luckily, there are a couple of things you can add and keep track of to strengthen your money management strategy. Fortunately, Merchant Growth is here to offer small  business owners the most convenient and accessible financing experience, and we take into account a multitude of factors, examining the overall health of a business, not just a single factor.

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