business growth - Shayo Blooms

It's no news that the covid19 pandemic changed us permanently. From traveling restrictions and bans, to communications channels and companies' culture. Almost all of our everyday experiences have evolved since the pandemic breakout. For most businesses, hosting a virtual meeting has become a norm. In fact, the evolution of meetings into the virtual spaces have gained more relevance and become preferable for most in the last 2 years. This can only mean, more executives, business owners and corporate workers will host more virtual meetings years to come. Hence, there is a need to understand the basic pipelines to an effective virtual meeting. First, the success of your virtual meetings does not solely depend on internet connection. Infact, fast connectivity with poor time management and organization will only ruin your meeting.

So before you commence, be sure to follow these steps:

#1 Select the right meeting software

"Where is the venue?" This is often the first question that comes whenever you invite anyone to your event. It is the same for virtual meetings, you need a virtual space where your guest and speakers can meet. There are several options, however factors like, focus of the meeting, time frame or complexity of the meeting will determine your choice. For work sessions, and training, you may likely need to share your screen, hence tools like Google Meet, Zoom, Skype and Microsoft Teams can be used. Moreover, paying for premium services on these tools gives 100% productivity.

#2 Test run before the meeting

It is important that everyone involved in your upcoming virtual meeting tests the software ahead of time. One of the disadvantages of virtual meetings includes technical problems that may frustrate your guests during the meeting. Major problems can include login difficulties, webcam, or screen sharing concerns. These hiccups in technology can reduce productivity.

#3 Create a timeline

Have you ever attended a 30-minutes meeting that lasted for two hours? I bet you were frustrated and wished the meeting could end immediately. Having a timeline helps you stick to the plan. Ensure that you prepare a timeline before the meeting. List specific topics that will be discussed with a time-bound.

#4 Send out invites

Once the timeline is prepared, send an event invite to your guests. I will recommend that you send the invite at least 2 weeks before the event, so you can send a follow-up email. One important thing to consider when sending invites is the kind of event you are hosting. There are certain tools like Eventbrite to help you register your guests with ease. You can also use the Google form to collect the email address and personal details of everyone who registers for your event. Interestingly, these tools also send reminders to your guests, so you don't have to worry about follow-ups.

Finally, virtual meetings can be more difficult than physical meetings. So, you must pay extra attention to your process, team members and tools. Ask questions from your team members to see the best tool for you. If possible, get a team to help you monitor your organizations.

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As the post-Covid era reality hits the business world, business leaders and entrepreneurs are leaning on different strategies to meet the needs and expectations of their employees. Thus, businesses are transitioning into the hybrid work model. While there is a growing number of companies and individuals adopting the new work model, many employees are struggling to embrace this new era.

The last two years have revealed different obstacles, causing many companies to create new strategies and approaches to work. However, many employees are still struggling to overcome the obstacles of transitioning. For some employees, the new model and culture is a sudden shift, and they are not getting the best out of it. .

Conversely, hybrid work provides employees the opportunities to improve their wellbeing and increase mobility and performance. However, these benefits tend to vary based on your organization, type of business or team. Several challenges such as lack of communication, collaboration and team management may spring up and this may negatively impact the workflow.

Based on a survey from business consulting firm Bain & Company, just 22% of employees feel connected to their coworkers and leadership during corporate transitions. Hence, hybrid work is a great way to bridge the gap of communication and isolation in the corporate world. This way, top talents can have a one-on-one, meaningful relationship with new talents.

Moreover, communication and connection are crucial elements in every company. Healthy connections can improve a company's overall results. Hybrid work has benefitted many companies and helped them foster a sense of connection among their employees. Moreover, having physical meetings with your team also bridges different kinds of disparity. Physical meetings ensure that no one misses out on essential updates. This way, everyone's preference is prioritized before developing new policies or methods.

Even as employees resume in their workplace, anxiety and depression is widespread. It’s common knowledge that many people suffered from anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. On this note, there are chances that many employees may be anxious about resuming onsite. For instance, you may be scared of contracting covid when you get back to work. Similarly, individuals who have once contacted the virus may be overly anxious about recontracting the virus. Regardless of your fears or worries, you can salvage the situation and feel a lot more comfortable about resuming. While your

workplace will implement new cleaning protocols to prevent the transmission of the virus, you should engage in personal practices. This may include seeing your physician to discuss your worries before resuming work. You may also need to consider discussing with your HR to discuss your fears and what may be off limits for you. Furthermore, having an extensive conversation with your colleagues on safety measures, mental health and overall wellbeing can be of help.

As the world moves into the future, new challenges and models will arise, but we must keep in mind potential solutions and continue looking for policies that will make our work environment a healthy place for all.

Have you ever set out on a journey with no particular destination in mind? That sounds a little silly, so let me put it another way. Imagine your friend invited you to a birthday lunch and told you to ask for a restaurant where a birthday party was being held once you got off the bus.

Chances are you’re going to end up in the wrong destination because although you know where you’re going, you don’t have the full information to help you get there. In essence, I have just tried to describe to you what happens when you get on the internet in search of whatever you need without a proper understanding of how to find your way around.

You might be thinking, “it’s just the internet, what could be hard about it”, but would you rather waste your precious time opening and closing unhelpful and unrelated tabs or find relevant information for your query straight away? My best guess is that your time is precious and shouldn’t be wasted.

So, how do you explore the internet?

First, there are many search engines across the world, but according to a 2021 result from a web traffic analysis tool, Google is by far the most popular search engine in the UK, followed by Bing, and Yahoo. And most of the tips I’d be sharing apply to all of them.

Now, let’s skip to the good part like the Gen Zs say these days.

To concentrate on a particular keyword and get rid of unhelpful words in your search results, place a hyphen/minus sign/small dash immediately before the word you want to exclude. For example, typing dieting -vegan in your search bar will provide results for dieting excluding information on vegan dieting saving you time on having to scroll through a clutter of information.

Another way to generate specific results about a certain word or phrase is to enclose it in quotation marks. If you are looking for an application to sort bookkeeping for your SME, typing “bookkeeping apps for small businesses” in the search bar will prompt the search engine to search specifically for that and generate results that lead to a quick resolution of your query.

If you’re looking to find a similar website to one you already know, typing related: immediately before the website address will help you generate a list of similar websites. For example, if you want to find websites like Quora, type related:www.quora.com into the search bar and click search. Voila! The results that you’d get will show you other websites similar to the one you have searched for and save you from having to read long boring articles with clickbait titles.

Oftentimes, the top search results you get during a search are from websites that have been optimized for search engines and the fact that they pop up on the first page doesn’t mean that they will have the best information. Also, the first set of results you’d see are mostly going to be advertisements. They’ve been placed there to sell to you and if you’re looking to buy, that could be a good place to start. Otherwise, keep scrolling.

Another thing you need to have at your disposal is the patience to verify every link and advert before clicking, signing up or making payments. We live in a fast-paced world but a moment of wrong decisions can haunt you for life. To avoid regrets, you can check how safe a web link is by copying it into a link checker like Google Transparency Report where you can know the status of a website as at the time you intend to visit it.

Lastly, to explore the internet in 2022, you need to simplify your search words. Unless it’s really necessary, exclude prepositions, conjunctions, and articles from your searches. These words generate more results than you need and the goal is to save time and have a good experience. So, keep it simple.

Goals differ from business to business, but over time, conversations have been about the actual amount of sleep business owners should have if they want to succeed. In some gatherings, especially on the internet, if you mention that you wake up anywhere after 4 am, you’d be roasted, toasted, grilled, whatever, name it! And, eventually, you’d be considered “unserious.”

All over the internet, there are stories of successful business owners who do not stay in bed. A lot of folks can’t wait to see the day break so that they can be up before the cock crows doing yoga, and checking emails.

The first step to figuring out how much sleep you need to smash your goal is to break down your goals. Although depriving yourself of sleep sounds like the ideal thing to do, how much work you get done while you are awake is what matters in the end.

Defining your goals should not be limited to only your entrepreneurship goals; you should also define your personal goals. How much of your life do you want to be in control of? Do you want to work round the clock with no time for yourself or your family? Do you want to suffer health issues related to sleep deprivation later on in life, or do you want to avoid that by ensuring you get enough sleep to reduce the chances?

After answering those questions, another thing to consider is how you will determine that YOU are having enough sleep. It’s all about you, and depending on your obligations within and outside of work, you can measure the worth of your sleep by how much fuel it gives you to go about your day.

Picture a mom who needs to drop off the kids at school in the morning and has clients in a different time zone. Now, imagine there’s another mom whose children are all in college and whose customers operate within the same time zone. Do you think their sleep patterns would be the same?

This is to say that the activities you need to carry out will determine how much sleep you need to get. If you have to drive a far distance in the morning to meet up with a client, you may need to get up earlier to make the meeting in time while also getting enough sleep to drive safely on the road.

It’s up to you to balance it all out, and this could mean going to bed an hour or two earlier than usual so you can rise early to do some chores around the house, make breakfast for your kids, walk your dog, or do some exercises before getting on the road.

How much sleep you need to smash your entrepreneurial goals depends on you. While you are awake, are you putting in quality work to achieve better business results? If your answer is yes, you don’t have to focus on getting up as early as others. But, if you think you can make do with less sleep than you’re currently having, by all means, go for it.

Over the last few years, human civilization has been transformed by the internet, which has brought about innovation, reinvention and redefining the business world. Today, it is almost difficult to find an aspect of our lives and businesses that is not impacted by the internet. Entrepreneurs around the globe are exploring opportunities on the internet daily. This article is focused on helping you see how the internet and social media are revolutionizing the business industry, and influencing changes.

One major change that has happened post the Covid-19 pandemic is that employees have had more flexibility with their schedules helping them to achieve a work-life balance. The 9-5 or 8-4 rule no longer really applies as the pandemic has shown us that most work can be done from anywhere. And, with work being remote, employees are in control of the hours that they put in to work as long as they are being productive.

Also, regardless of the positon you hold in the organization, you have to be able to think digitally. Whether you do it or not, your competitors are most likely thinking digitally already – getting digital tools that can be leveraged upon for maximum productivity and efficiency as they take advantage of the internet, etc. So, why shouldn’t you? Finding out what tools your business will benefit from the most and leveraging on them is a great way to join the revolution.

Social media also helps you to reach a larger audience across different platforms in less time. You can manage your business by yourself or hire a professional and track your activities and results to determine the wellbeing of your business on the go. With various automation options, you can focus on the things that matter the most to your business. Also, with just a single mention or repost your website can experience a massive surge of orders and sales, and, why not?

Another main change that the internet and social media have brought to the workplace is the riddance of physical locations for businesses. Depending on the service you offer, you can now grow your business without a physical office space. Also, employees don’t have to deal with the stress of commuting like traffic etc. as long as there is a strong and stable internet connection, jobs can be carried out and delivered without the need for a physical office space.

The opportunity to hire and work from anywhere in the world without having to bother about geographic location is another cool way that the internet has revolutionized remote work. In this case, the major challenges that could pose a threat are time zone and cultural differences. However, when properly managed, these diversities could make the organization an exciting place to work with and provide a much more exciting brand story that positions the business as a global brand.

Lastly, communication is the soul of any relationship and in business, whether it’s employee to management or customer to business, the internet and social media have provided a host of channels for communicating and dealing with issues faster than before.

If a client leaves a bad review, you can attend to it as fast as it drops and redeem your image with the help of the internet and social media.It’s been a long time coming and things are changing fast but the most important thing you should note is that the change is here to stay.

Every business owner desires to build a successful business; however, what most entrepreneurs do out of a high level of entrepreneurial enthusiasm, is hop on every potential opportunity for sales and visibility that comes their way instead of finding their focus.

A few years ago, I met up with a guy just starting a consulting business. He just wanted to ensure that he had something to offer every time there was a chance to make money. When I asked him about his offerings, he took his time to read me a long list of the services he intended to provide. Still, by the time he was done, I was as clueless about the focus of his business as I had been before he began his explanation.

After all these years, I still see that guy in many entrepreneurs today.

Although it is not a bad idea to seize opportunities, most business owners mix it up to make sales and keep the business running. They wander all over the place with different offerings and strategies that end up confusing customers as to what the company offers.

To truly succeed in business, you have to set clearly defined goals and achieve – if not all – a significant amount of them. These goals are the key metrics that indicate when you’re on the path to excellent performance and top-notch execution of your business or otherwise. And, one sure way to achieve your goals is by being consistent. But, consistency can be an extreme sport, so the focus is essential. Inconsistency thrives in the absence of focus, but focus helps you keep track of your successes and failures, another important aspect of building your business. One major benefit of being focused is that it ensures that you efficiently exert your entrepreneurial energy. It allows you to invest all your energy and concentration into getting things right before moving to the next phase instead of focusing on multiple things and delivering average results.

At different stages of your entrepreneurial journey, you’d have different things to focus on. For instance, before launching your business, you should focus on defining your niche, your audience, the products or services you are offering, your marketing strategy, and so on. After launching, you can focus on monitoring your leads, managing cash flow, controlling prices, building customer loyalty, and so much more, depending on the scale of your business. Focus is important because it helps you move on to other goals after achieving the set ones. It also helps you to optimize the tasks you're working on and get the best results from them before moving on.

Summarily, paying attention to one thing at a time helps you deliver great value through your business and enhance the growth of your business which ultimately enables you to generate a steady income and have a foothold in the marketplace. If you’re not familiar with doing one thing at a time, my advice for you is to try it for a day, a week, one month, etc., and compare the results you have with what you used to have before you read this post.

Need help finding focus in your business? You’re on the right track! Book an appointment with me today to get started

Dealing with employees, customers, sales, and the desire to be a better leader is an exhausting routine but this is the reality of most entrepreneurs and, in the midst of all these, it’s easy to overlook the need for a community, talk less of a global community.

As a small business owner in a large market place with series of competitors contending for the highest share of the market sales, the probability of becoming overwhelmed is high and this could cause you to panic.

However, you shouldn’t.

The world has experienced a lot of changes in recent times and for most businesses, it is no longer business as usual. But despite the uncertainties, a lot of businesses have adapted to the changes and are thriving. And, your business can be a part of them. Building a global community as an entrepreneur is possible as long as you can put in the effort. Start by defining your niche before you consider building a community whether locally or globally.

To define your niche, ask yourself these few questions

What exactly is my business?
What do we stand for?
How are we different from the competition?
What type of people should be part of our community?

Once, you’ve answered these questions, you can proceed to choose the best platforms to target your potential community members. In this day and age, you will be doing your business a great disservice if it does not have an online presence. So, go digital!

Also, to thrive as a small business, you must find and use the right digital tools. Use these social media platforms to create content tailored specifically to the needs of your audience. These contents can be scheduled ahead and automatically published when due to ease your stress.

Another rewarding way you can build your global community is to invest in email marketing. Stay connected with your customers via personalized and targeted email marketing solutions which eventually would lead to a meaningful customer relationship that would form part of the customer’s experience.

Search engine optimization (SEO) creates a strong searchable presence for your business online. So, ensure that the details of your business are always correct at all times. In the absence of major physical events and gatherings, you should also leverage on social media platforms to discover virtual events and networking opportunities around you that you can be a part of. When you attend any, reach out to brands that catch your attention and establish professional relationships. After some time, you can discuss collaborating with them if their goals and yours align.

Other ways you can build a global community for your business include; building awareness around your brand via solid content marketing, and consistently distributing and redistributing your content. Also, never forget to always make your customers happy as it good for PR and increases the chance of spreading the word about your business.

Growth is a prerequisite for the long-term survival of every business. However, growth is determined by several factors such as customer retention, quality services, and marketing strategies. Considering the competition in the marketplace, there is a need for effective customer retention strategies. Increased customer engagement can increase your profits by 25-95%.

Here are my best strategies to keep existing customers

Offer Value: There are two sellers in the marketplace. The individual offers value throughout the year, and the other focuses on quantity instead of quality. The first seller will retent more customers than the latter. In the same vein, offering value to your customers consistently improves your revenue.

Moreover, there is a need to set up a great structure that helps you solve your customers' needs. Making your customers' problems disappear with little or no hassle is the best way to value your customers. As a result, you can retain them. Doing this leaves them with an experience they cannot find elsewhere, even when you are not the only one vying for their attention.

Great Customer Service: One way to achieve this is to know what your current customers think of your business and the products/services you offer. An excellent place to start would be getting feedback from as many existing customers as possible.

First, choose a survey method that works best for your business but ensure that it is not cumbersome or complicated. When you have received sufficient feedback, proceed to review and analyze the information based on common trends and behaviors displayed in customer feedback. With this, you can determine how to and what to improve to offer great customer service that keeps your customers coming back.

Customer Loyalty Program: Customer retention can also be achieved by making customers happy, but how do you make them happy? One way to accomplish this is by offering Customer Loyalty Programs; these programs are usually applied the more customers patronize and interact with your business. Interaction do not only increase the engagement level of your customers, but they also create an experience that extends beyond buying and using your products/services by rewarding customers for being a part of your community, therefore, keeping them committed to your business.

In conclusion, customers retention is a process and a lifelong commitment. So, take your time, build a strategy that allows you solve customer's problems. You will definitely experience a steady increase in customer retention if you practice the above in your business.

The year 2021 has ended, and you are most likely considering investing your profits. What if I told you to reinvest in your business? Running a business is a lifelong learning process. The best way to remain productive is to ensure that every business element is functional. This includes your team, marketing strategies, and structures. I strongly agree that there are many ways to invest your profit; however, this article will help you discover four ways to reinvest your profits in your business.

Let's Dig In!

#1 Infrastructure and Tools

Purchasing new tools or equipment for your business promotes your growth. It may be expensive or unnecessary, but it will enhance your growth. In many cases, small business owners find it challenging to buy equipment for their business. As a network marketing coach, I invest a lot in tools to enhance my growth. These tools could be as insignificant as subscribing to a website for certain resources or joining a community. I often advise business owners to have the latest tools for their business. Doing so saves time and helps you deliver quality services.

#2 Employee's Training

I know you are ready to buy some tools to make more money, but have you considered if you have the right hands on deck. It's fine if you have no employees or team members, but if you do, invest in your team.

I am a big fan of team management. So many business owners fail to understand that employees are also an integral part of marketing elements. For example, after evaluating your business performance in the previous year, you might consider hiring a consultant to train your employees. Moreover, employee training is a means of marketing. A happy employee will most likely talk about their employer and company.

#3 Marketing Campaigns

As an entrepreneur, I have discovered that investing in your marketing strategies is never wrong. The better your reputation in the marketplace, the higher your chance of profitability. The biggest companies in the world still spend millions of dollars on their marketing campaigns. They wouldn't spend that much if the marketing wasn’t important.

Your marketing campaigns could include running an ad on social media, paying an influencer to talk about your product, or hiring a copywriter.

#4 Company's SEO

Over the years, SEO has become an important tool in digital marketing. In simple terms, search engine optimization is a way to optimize your website to achieve better visibility on Google. Think of your favorite band; the closer you are to the stage, the better your chance of having physical contact with the band. In this case, investing in SEO makes you attract more customers and builds your visibility.

The world has changed, likewise businesses. This is why you must leverage the internet, get a website, build a digital presence. This way, you are headed for more productivity.

Contrary to popular opinions, investing in massive ideas is not the only way to improve profits. Small-scale entrepreneurs often need to invest in these options to increase revenue.

As a business owner, I have discovered that running a business is unpredictable, and everything is bound to change. We have experienced many changes this year, and to measure your business performance, there are certain factors to consider. Being an entrepreneur is a journey; you will experience successes like increased customer base and profit margin. You might also experience failure such as loss, business crisis or national crisis. It is that time of the year to evaluate your business performance.

Here are four major factors that determine your business success or failure.

#1 Market and industry

Rememeber that you have several competitors. If you are a network marketer, there are over 500 MLM in the world today. Trends and updates from the network marketing industry can be an indicator to your growth. For example, when the global pandemic began in 2020, many businesses experienced loss. Fortunately, many businesses created a better business model to work despite the global pandemic. If you are still facing loss as a result of the global pandemic that started last year, it could mean that you are yet to evolve.

#2 Financial statements.

Another way to evaluate your business is how much money you have. How many money did you make this year? How many percent difference between year 2021 and 2020 income? How much debts did you accumulate this year? Is your income corresponding with your marketing efforts? The three main financial statements you can use for your business evaluation include cash flow, balance sheet and income statement.

The cash flow statement shows how liquid cash is at your business. The balance sheet shows how much you own and owe. While the income statement measures the profitability of your business during a specific period. It shows your business losses and profits.

#3 Customer satisfaction

It is not enough that you have created great products or services to solve your customer’s needs. The real deal is their satisfaction. Are they satisfied with your products? How satisfied are they? Are you their favorite or last option? How often your customer patronizes your product reflects how satisfied they are. Customers review helps us improve our products if you want to improve your business in 2022, leverage customer satisfaction and ensure that your customers are happy.

#4 Brand Visibility

How does your customer feel toward your brand and services? One way to rate your success in your industry is your brand visibility. Brand visibility is how much your customers and target audience recognize a brand. For example, I base my brand visibility on my engagement and how many referrals I get. Take a survey, ask your customers questions, check your statistics, and determine how much influence you have in your industry. After then, you should find out how to increase your brand visibility.

So before you commence, be sure to follow these steps:

So, how do you explore the internet?

Here are my best strategies to keep existing customers

Let's Dig In!

Here are four major factors that determine your business success or failure.

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