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Several startups and new companies are likely to attain an industry plateau fairly early within their lifecycles. They may have gathered sufficient new customers to build a moderate victory, but can still experience difficulties breaking from their comfort zone. To be able to break that bubble and reveal your organisation to prospective buyers or clients, you will have to take drastic actions.Below are five basic techniques to enable you to boost prospective client interactions and thereby making your company's sales grow:

1. Initiate a brand new marketing tool

Perhaps your client base is starting to stagnate? This implies your advertising tool is broken. Therefore, you need to fix it. To do that, you need to first sit down and think seriously regarding your prospective buyers you are aiming to market to and the exact location you are most likely to contact them. This may require a little bit of market study.Assess your industry competitors, and come up with a summary of how they are promoting their products. How do the ways their fundamental message vary from that of your business? After the assessment, then you will need to consider the way you could possibly develop upon the advertising approaches they are utilising along with the approach you happen to be following.To start, listed below are a few ideas that may introduce your business to a potential client:Organise a unique event: In fact, this happens to be a smart way of bringing several people together in an amicable and casual environment. Provide them with some refreshments, chat with them on what you want to offer and the reason why they really have to consider what you offer.Give bonuses: Offer a gift, discount or voucher to individuals who share your social media articles. To this, you can start a small free gift competition to generate some in-store and online buzz.For any new or existing marketing strategy ideas you are implementing, you should bear it in your mind how they might influence your present client base. Once you start an important transition, be sure that your new technique keeps important elements of the ideology that began gaining clients for you.

2. Provide a brand new product or service

Not only will launching a new product widen the attraction of your company, it will also bring about new product sales as well as more cash in your wallet. Nevertheless, how precisely will you create amazing ideas for the new products? The brainstorming procedure amounts to a couple of strategies:

• Study the competition: What plan do specialists in your industry possess for the future? Exactly where is the industry moving? Study the various items that other businesses are launching and consider the way you could also build and enhance upon those concepts.
• Research product critiques: Study the customer's reviews of your present products. Is there any recurring requests or complaints that may be taken on board? If you are able to consider a new product that occupies spaces in the present market, it is advisable to have an internal client foundation from the time of launching.
• Google it: Irrespective of the type of industry you are working in, you must read bloggers who devote considerable time and effort for analysing the market as well as everything regarding it. Read their experience, and put their thoughts into consideration.

Once you have discovered a space in the marketplace, then the time is right to start creating. Provided you are promoting your new offers in the proper place, you need to be able to increase your customer base significantly.

3. Strengthen your online presence

Several distinct social media sites are available that focus on an array of customers, with only some things in common. Regardless of your choice, you will need to develop a solid digital profile to expand your business, in fact the ideal location to accomplish that is with social media.Primarily, the base articles your organisation needs to be publishing on each website should be similar. You need not put up inane things for the purpose of appearing active. Rather, you should publish information and news regarding your products, business and upcoming events. Having said that, the manner you share this kind of information will significantly differ on every platform. For instance, Twitter restricts its customers to merely 140 characters per published piece ; consequently, you must connect your target audience into clicking into your articles by making use of one or two phrases. The ultimate war weapon in improving customer service(s) is social media. Therefore, use it correctly.

4 . Develop an excellent website

While building your website, there are many important elements you should definitely incorporate to make it have a compelling look to prospective and existing customers. A few of these are:Response to questions : Perhaps you would like to convert the casual website user into a devoted customer? You must start by visualising precisely who that individual really is by including things they need . Most of all, exactly what do they really want to know? Your site is the ideal destination to respond to questions, which may be discouraging customers from purchasing for the first time.Good copywriting : With regards to the web, website content is the master. Thus, your site will go totally undetected by the public until you are producing appealing content on your site . Internet users are unpredictable, and simple spelling errors or an absence of voice is sufficient to push them far away from your site. Scrutinise the copy you are putting on the internet, and make sure to create an impact.Use fundamental SEO : Search Engine Optimization ( SEO ) is always a changing industry ; in spite of this, available are hundreds of methods you can utilise to ensure your site is always atop search engine results pages. Consider keyword phrases, metadata and also endeavour to develop natural backlinks between several other like-minded websites .

5 . Seek referrals

New customers will probably try out an item if it is suggested by an associate . Whenever real customers discuss your company, prospective customers are going to be attentive; hence, among the easiest approaches to get new clients is simply by tallying up constructive reviews.In this contemporary age of social media and SEO, word-of-mouth continues to be the strongest advertising tool available .There are some crucial techniques you need to apply so as to begin getting constructive recommendations for your company :Do not stop asking : The fundamental reason why the majority of small enterprises are unable to get customer recommendations is painfully simple : they fail to ask . The perfect time to demand a recommendation is towards the completion of a deal, when outstanding service was delivered and your company remains positively attached to the client.Ensure it is simple : Even the major devoted customers will never dedicate hours of their valuable time in order to advertise your company. Should you need them to give a good positive review, you will need to make it simple. For instance, include direct backlinks to a few of the evaluation setups on which you are available and incorporate a short, proactive approach. Even though you might appear on numerous review websites, never submit above more than a few backlinks. You don`t wish to bombard or pressurise clients.Remind customers: Make sure to maintain clients of both the present and past, and do not be afraid to put a casual recommendation reminder into the discussion. In any case, for the fact that you have asked them for a referral in the past does not mean they will never want to. A number of of your customers are have busy lives, and it may most likely would have escaped their minds.

Inventory management is an operation that Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) should not exclude from its sales strategy if you want to generate profits and avoid economic losses.Inventory management is the efficient handling of raw materials, manufacturing phase items and finished products. This process requires the involvement of the entire corporate structure, in order to perform specific actions and to facilitate proper handling of the goods.Here are the kinds of tasks that each corporate division must run to meet that goal:

1. Procurement

This sector is responsible for relations with suppliers. The duties are:a) Check the availability of delivery agents by type of manufactured item.b) Manage the delivery time of the requested orders.c) Negotiate the price of inputs.d) To process credit with suppliers and define their terms.e) Report the difference between the prices of inputs to cash and credit.2. ProductionThe request for purposes of inventory management is to provide information on the number of items that can be manufactured every day and spending inputs required for that process. This area is also responsible for recommending the use of racks or shelves for storage of merchandise.

3. Storage

This segment must be designed and the necessary space to store supplies and products to be installed, depending on the goals and production requirements.

4. Finance and Accounting

The objectives of this department are:a) Valuing inventory, determining production costs and defining sales prices.b) Determining the prices of finished goods on credit.c) Assess the availability of resources to purchase inputs and store all types of inventories.d) Define the right time to hire financial solutions such as Credit Card Working Capital, designed to meet operational needs as inventory management.e) Calculate inventory turnover and create strategies for managing surplus or missing supplies.f) To establish the balance between revenues and expenditures associated with the handling of goods.

5. Administration

This division is responsible for plotting escape routes to the unexpected, such as the absence of a supplier, the lack of key inputs, production equipment failure, reduction or the occasional increase in productive capacity.

6. Sales

This department is responsible for establishing direct contact with consumers and implementing strategies for placing manufactured products and even agree to acquire items in progress.Read more helpful and insightful articles brought to you by Robert Carter from Your Virtual Office London on our startup and business blog.

Statistics of the latest reports conducted in 2014, indicated that the UK has 22 million households (84%) with Internet access, up from 57% in 2006. Various consumer profiles showed that around 76% (38 million) people in the country used the internet every day and a similar percentage (74%) made purchases through the internet, up 23% from 2008.Given this scenario, the micro, small and medium businesses (MSMEs) must develop online sales strategies, such as e-commerce to capitalise on this massively growing industry in the country.To develop a successful strategy into online commerce, it is necessary to make good market research and create a profile of the current buyers who have entered into sales and made online payments.The recent study by an e-commerce portal produced an analysis of the different profiles of users who make purchases on the Internet and we will share the results.

Detective

This is a person who likes to surf the internet and find out where they can get the best price for the product they want. The detective therefore spends a lot of time visiting all pages of online stores.

Critic

These examine in great detail the whole process of purchase. They also rate customer service and delivery procedures etc. and are inclined to give positive or negative comments about their experience so as to pass the information on to others.

The fan

This is a person with active profiles on social networks and who knows and is convinced of the benefits of electronic commerce. Moreover, unlike the detective, the fan does not inquire much about deals.

Impulsive

These are people who are driven by their instincts and are regulars to making purchases online.

Bargain hunter

This user will only take advantage of purchasing the product if it`s at a lower price. They will not necessarily value the additional services such as delivery, customer service and technical support.

Rational

Their online purchase process is balanced, and will not make any sudden, rash decisions - similar to the detective type, but less analytical in approach.

The cautious

This person has little or no experience in online shopping. They will buy only from highly recognised websites or brands and will not make the payment without being sure of the reliability of the site.

Boost profits

As an entrepreneur, one of your biggest challenges concerns how and when to make your customers pay more for products or services of your company. This is because the way you increase price or reduce it can mean the potential loss of customers and put you in a vulnerable position before your main competitors.However, in most cases your company has no alternative but to continue with rising prices. Therefore, here are some tips and smart alternatives to raise prices.

Do not delete promotions

While most consumers know the exact price they paid for an item, it is common to remember if it was a good purchase decision and from that generate a position on the product or service.According to the business section of the newspaper Wall Street Journal, companies must maintain their prices and reduce the time in which they offer promotions or discounts in order to prevent rising prices and mitigate the decline in earnings caused by offers.

Keep or raise the quality and quantity

Never try to make more profits by lowering the quality of your main products or services, because that attitude will irritate consumers of your brand.In this case, experts recommend that you keep the quality of your product and serve to market a cheaper, lower-quality product online, so you can meet the needs of other sectors of society.Another initiative that rarely succeeds is to reduce the amount of product that the customer receives but in a similar package at the same price. A soft drink can lose a few millilitres or there may be a few less biscuits in a packet. The price does not go up, but what you pay per unit.The reason this does not work is that most of the cost of a product is usually with the packaging, transportation and other aspects of production outside the product itself. As a result, reducing the amount is unlikely to influence the results of the company.

Price Up

When you decide it is time to increase the cost of your product or service, you will need to take into account the expenses that you incur at the time and how they may affect you in the future.Companies should also make it as clear as possible the reason for the increase. They should tell customers if it is due to higher costs of ingredients or transport, for example.Research shows that consumers respond not only to the price, but what they believe is right. If they feel that a price increase is linked to your desire to increase their profits, they will consider it unfair.

Increase Your Appeal

Improve the image customers will have of your business, develop stronger brand assetts, show off a prestigious office location and show the value you can offer to your clients.

Keep an eye on the competition

When you take a new product to market, ask yourself if it is a good time to raise your prices, because consumers will know that your business is doing its best to meet their needs.At this point you need to keep an eye on the decisions of your main competitors, as the rise can be converted into a price battle where no one wants to take the first step, even if the whole market is facing the same cost pressures.

One of the most currently used strategies used by companies around the globe to attract the attention of new customers or consumers is sending emails with information about their products or services, or other relevant data. This trend is called email marketing, and has seen such acceptance that a recent study by ExactTarget reported that 77% of consumers surveyed by the company like to receive this information via email.With this in mind, there are plenty of options available to supplement this kind of marketing. Here we offer three such applications that will help you be more efficient with this type of content in order to attract more customers and help your products and services reach more people.

My Emma

This service has very flashy designs and templates, in addition to being able to mingle with your social networks and other analysis tools; it is compatible with mobile devices and has affordable packages to suit your needs. View My Emma here.

Sendloop

The emails you send by this means will be sent in HTML format, which lets you have reports from sent mails, knowing if they were already read, who are clicking, and whether subscriptions have been cancelled, among other things. We should mention that if you have less than 2000 subscribers this service is completely free of charge, besides enjoying segmentation contacts. View Sendloop here.

Mailchimp

With this system you will know how many people open your mails, the target audience, know how many users click your ads and all for very reasonable prices, even free, depending on your level of use. View mail chimp here.

Digital marketing strategies have evolved over time; companies now are not only looking to sell a product but also fill it with valuable information to its users. This is what we call digital content marketing. However, this term does not refer only to notes written, but may also enter infographics, interviews and video tutorials and more.It also offers an important growth opportunity to develop videos of your web content strategies to promote your brand or company.The first advantage of integrating video and animation is that today people who are surfing the Internet have somewhat neglected the reading portion and have quickly become a highly visual public.Added to this, the videos tend to generate human value, allowing the link between brand and user to become more solid and durable.There is no better tool to tell a story than a video; we have stories, books and magazines, but nothing can be better to capture or document an event than video. This is because the visual things attract more viewers and ultimately make it easier for you to capture the audience.In addition, there are numerous free tools that let you create and publish videos for free - such as YouTube or VimeoVine, so you can spread them through these options and automatically redirect a link to your official site.What's more, it is expected that by 2016 videos on the web will be responsible for generating 55% of total Internet traffic, hence the importance of creating and innovating in this area.

Technology has become one of the guiding principles of the current corporate scenario. This is demonstrated by the exponential growth of e-commerce and electronic payment. In this context, the way we do business has changed and so too the mechanisms of interaction between companies, customers and financial institutions.All business owners are obliged to adapt their processes to new technological trends if they want to capitalise on contextual opportunities and transcend in a highly competitive world.As for electronic payment, there is data that predicts a more intense use of credit and debit cards as a transactional instrument. The proliferation of tools like Point of Sale (POS) and Mobile Points of Sales (mPOS, POS Phones) being examples, especially in the segment of small and medium enterprises (SMEs).Analysts have shown particular interest in mPOS, as they are an evolved form of TPV and allow businesses to run their operations through a smartphone or tablet.This gives them an important cost reduction, dissociation of physical space and openness to a growing market for cardholders, whose activity has increased over the past eight years. Basically transactions will be made at any time and place.But these are not all expectations for electronic payment methods. Technology and finance specialists point out that in the short term, contactless payment systems without physical-card-reading contact and Near Field Communication (NFC, Near Field Communication) will be consolidated, with which they interact directly with a terminal NFC and a smartphone.Electronic means of payment and electronic commerce have maintained a positive trend in recent years. In the immediate future of e-commerce, the growth was in double digits, but this continued development will depend essentially on three factors: first, that businesses and users give greater certainty about their online transactions; two, that the acceptance of debit cards in digital operations is maintained and three; that companies develop and promote friendly and efficient applications for mobile use.

To think that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have the infrastructure and financial characteristics necessary to export their products is overkill for some people, if not a pipe dream. However, despite the difficulties and scope, it is possible to achieve.In the first instance, it is prudent to note that within the SME segment, midsize companies (a workforce of between 51 and 250 employees) are more likely to export. This is because its corporate structure is better defined and allows them to envision a brighter future compared to small businesses.Here we present some concepts and practices to be considered by small and medium scale businesses to make their products penetrate foreign markets:Creating quality export products. The basic principle of an exporting firm is a product for its quality and freshness. To ensure these qualities, businesses must implement quality systems, whose functions in simple terms are eliminating unnecessary activities and the tuning of key production processes.Production capacity. Companies can capitalise in the SME segment by being more flexible and to more smoothly modify their production lines. This is important because when exporting products, companies must ensure double coverage: the domestic market and external.Leverage corporations. SMEs can place their products abroad with the support of exporting firms. This will provide access to distribution channels and marketing independently.Knowledge and expertise. Companies with export potential should have updated information on the behaviour of foreign market information. Also, to acquire the corporate, financial and legal expertise to deliver your offers in completely different national contexts.A great way to help SMEs comply with these requirements in foreign trade is outsourcing. Entrepreneurs in the small and medium sector have several options available. To choose the best option, you should explore and analyse each alternative according to the demands of their initiative.

Between 2009 and 2013, e-commerce has more than doubled. It has long since ceased to be a marginal sales channel, and has been integrated into our lives naturally. Even television ads now include many spots for all types of digital services. But how do you manage profit from this growth?

A market that continues to grow strongly

According to data, E-commerce has grown 22% more than the previous year. In all the years during the recession, the sector's growth has been in double digits. The lowest growth year (2009) still grew by 11%. This is proof that if you haven`t already, you should be getting in on some of the e-commerce slice.

There is scope for more

E-commerce still has the potential to quadruple in size given the current growth rates seen. The scope for e-commerce remains vast and as smartphone technology only increases, so too does the expectation of e-commerce as a mobile friendly facility. The trick is for you to take advantage of this and go one better than your competitors – don`t settle for second best, spend the extra money on getting a truly unique and fluid e-commerce platform up and running for your website.

Being present on the Internet is very simple

Today, there are no excuses. Anyone can start a website, the only thing stopping them are excuses. You don`t need a programmer to sort out your online business presence anymore. There are companies that provide you a hosting service with tools that allow anyone to create a site without technical knowledge. Even having a “turnkey” site and not having an online store with specific services will make life easier.

E-commerce has changed the way we buy

When I see that my parents' generation have become accustomed to looking for a product on Amazon and buy it online, I realise how far we have come in recent years. I still remember the sceptical comments when I bought my first airline tickets online many years ago. The forms of consumption have changed a lot, so it's important to have this in mind for the business you're thinking about promoting.

For an entrepreneur, networking (i.e. creating a network of personal contacts) is very important for long term success. Even if your project is 100% online, you should not reject the idea of personally meeting other professionals - it has many advantages for the new business owner. Its important you network the right way, Forbes produced some tips on networking.

We trust who we know

One of the main benefits of networking is to enter a circle of trust of like-minded people. It's very simple: between a stranger and a person you know, the chances are you're going to trust the one you`ve made a connection with. Therefore, in the medium term, having a wide network of contacts will improve your chances of getting customers, partners, strategic suppliers, and various collaborations.

It is very easy to build a network

Anyone can network; it boils down to motivation and perseverance. Look to directories for similar companies to your own. Commit to visiting relevant industry exhibitions or conferences and lectures about your own business line. Opening the doors to communication often opens the doors to success, so share stories and gain valuable knowledge from others who have experience too. Make sure you take their contact details down to create a bond of trust. You never know when you might need their advice!

It is timeless

A network of contacts is always useful. This is because even if you change your occupation, many of the people you've known previously will remain of interest. And eventually others also are changing in their respective careers, so you'll have access to other sectors very naturally.You don`t have to go looking for a short-term outcome with networking. Just know what you're doing and let collaboration opportunities arise between people.

A source of motivation

Starting, consolidating and maintaining a business is a difficult task, especially if you undertake it alone. It is normal to pass through phases of discouragement. Having a network of contacts allows you to exchange these times with others, see that you are not the only one with concerns. It offers a change of scenery, advice, and to help recover lost motivation.