Bruce Wade, Author at EM Solutions

How Legal is your Business?

If you were asked today to produce all your companies registration papers, latest Tax certificate, staff contracts, health and safety compliance and a BBBEEE certificate, how long would it take to get these copied and ready?

If your answer is, “Just a few minutes”, then you do not have to read any further. If you gave an audible Gulp, then this week is for you. We will walk you through some of the issues of compliance and legislation that a typical business in South Africa needs to adhere to.

We will start with your CIPC registration and the annual return that need to be done. Then there are all the required tax registrations and returns followed by the Labour and HR policies.

But what about your health and safety compliance of your office, factory or workspace. Who is responsible for that? We will introduce you to people who are experts in these fields and who are willing and able to assist you in getting the right things done right.

Remember that ignorance of the law is not an excuse. Get to know what makes a business legal and get on it.

By Bruce Wade|2016-11-28T16:56:33+02:00November 14th, 2016|90 Day Sprint|0 Comments

The 3 P’s of your back office

Getting your business defined is not just about the products and sales pipelines: you also need to define very clear processes, procedures and policies that will govern how your business is run when you are not around.
The supply chain process that follows stock items from initial order, manufacturing, packaging, delivery and returns needs to be setup, defined and different procedures and policies defined to ensure that it remains constant and in line with customers expectations and any service level agreements.
Your customers flow from initial contact to final invoicing and follow up also needs some form of definition. This allows your staff to follow these procedures without having to consult you, the boss, for each and every decision that needs to be made.
Finally your financial flows need to be defined together with all the associated paper work to ensure a correct auditable paper trail and regulations are followed.
Developing an in-house procedures manual is a tedious and often long process, but you will reap the benefits from it once done. This allows you to work on your business and then out of your business giving you time to take leave, relax and rejuvenate form the new year.

By Bruce Wade|2016-11-28T17:05:05+02:00November 7th, 2016|90 Day Sprint|0 Comments

Do you have an effective sales funnel?

This is week 8 in the 90-day business sprint and this week we speak all things sales and marketing. Last week we chatted a bit about the internal marketing and getting the message right inside your business before going outside to customers. So let’s go out and see what you need to create a solid offering to your potential customers.

Your Sales funnel is key: this is the defined and refined process that drives people from initial interest down to that all important first invoice stage. We will define this in more detail later in the week, but it all starts with having Captivating Content on your website, blog and social media platforms. This is what initially attracts your clients.

All marketing processes need to follow the sales cycle of Inform, Educated and then Sell in order to not lose people along the way. But one aspect of selling that a lot of people fall short on is the ability to close the deal and get that all important confirmation from the customer. We opt out and look for discounts and other ways to close because we lack the confidence in our product and self-ability. We will chat about this one too.

We have an awesome web assessment tool that we use and we have 10 vouchers on offer this week for free. If you want your website assessed for how effective it is as a marketing tool, then email us to claim one of the 10 vouchers.

By Bruce Wade|2016-11-01T10:20:04+02:00October 31st, 2016|90 Day Sprint, Marketing|0 Comments

Internal Marketing

What do you do to market your business internally?

Marketing your business always starts from the internal. It always starts with how you view yourself and how you view your business. Your business starts with you and then it flow onto your staff. If you market your business well to your staff they would be the best and most effective people to start building brand awareness for your business. The idea is to treat your staff as though they were your first customers. Internal marketing sells your business to your employees.

Internal marketing will help you find out where you are as a business. Why don’t you do some research. How is your business doing? Is everything you are doing still in line with your vision and goals of your business? Are your office staff members aware of your goals and vision for your business?

How effective is your internal marketing? Why don’t you do some internal marketing research within your business and find out how much your staff knows about what the vision of the business is, the products you have and all the service you offer. If you have a website, what is your website like? How do does your offices look and do they represent you brand well? Do you use social media to market you business? If you do, how are your ratings like? All questions will help your business get ready and geared up for marketing.

Spend some time this week analyzing your internal marketing and use the about questions as a starting point.

By Bruce Wade|2016-11-01T10:20:04+02:00October 25th, 2016|90 Day Sprint, Marketing|0 Comments

Building your Strategic Network

We are not able to run and rule the world alone: not even our own lives. We do need others who offer support, counsel, and services to areas that we are not proficient at.
These areas can be separated into three different networks, we call then our Strategic Networks. Each offer a different type of support or serves and function to both our own lives and that of our business.
Our Foundation network group people who are there to offer services and products to enable your business to grow.
Our Support network includes people who are there to offer support to you without the need to fix or find a solution other than just listen.
Our Expansion network contains people who know the people you need to sell to. They are also equipped with enough information about your business and products to share this with others.

This week we will begin to map each of these out and assist you in developing a strategic network for your future.

By Bruce Wade|2016-11-01T10:20:04+02:00October 17th, 2016|90 Day Sprint|0 Comments

Defining Your Business for Success

Creating a business is not just about products and customers. Like any good thing it needs a name: a name that will represent what your business stands for and can be recognised in the market as a leader in its field.

But what is in a name? The first sentence we ask of our clients is to define the Purpose of the business. This is so much more than just making money and paying the bills. We will expand more on this in tomorrow’s post.

We also need to add to our business with a good name and logo. This is always one of the hardest issues when starting a business. Not only do you have to find a good name, but then to register this in the CIPC but also find a good URL for your website and then to register the same on all the required social media platforms all becomes a huge undertaking.

Having a good name and purpose is still not enough. These all need to be backed up by a well defines Vision, Mission and a set of defined company values.

Once all these have been written and edited to completion your business will begin to develop a live of its own guided by all of the above. Staff, suppliers and customers will begin to develop their own interaction behaviours with your business based on how it is defined and so your business will develop. Without one or more of the above, your business will have to rely on you at all times to define it with each interaction you have with others and as your mood changes, so will the perception of your business.

Spend some time this week defining your business for success. We will expand on each of these during the week on our blog and related social media platforms.

By Bruce Wade|2016-11-01T10:20:04+02:00October 10th, 2016|90 Day Sprint|0 Comments

Product Features and Benefits

Too often we get this wrong. We do not distinguish between the product features and benefits in our marketing materials. Technical focused business owners and product developers seem to be so focused on the design on the product (and rightly so) that we forget to focus on the benefits to the customers.
So what need to be done about this? What can we do to improve our communication to the customer and get the balance right. The simple answer is to hire a marketing consultant or staff member who will help draft product specification sheets and web copy with all the right words and terms.
But actually, all that is required is to listen o your customers. Ask the right questions and begin to understand their needs and wants. Then just be addressing these, you automatically begin to talk product benefits and not features.
Remember that the customers do not care about how much you know, they need to know how much you care first.

#90DayBizSprint

By Bruce Wade|2016-11-01T10:20:04+02:00October 5th, 2016|90 Day Sprint|0 Comments

What’s your Product Offering

Delivering a well-presented product offering to your customer base is key to business sustainability. This seems basic but so many business owners do not understand the importance of this and get it wrong in so many ways.
Your product should be not only well designed but also well described. Described in terms of features, benefits, and related supply chain. All these attributes define your product and should be used in the correct way in the correct place to communicate the correct message.
Getting this right is what this week is all about and should prove informative and business changing for you.

Join us on this 90-day business sprint this week as we speak all thing product. #90DayBizSprint

By Bruce Wade|2016-11-01T10:20:04+02:00October 3rd, 2016|90 Day Sprint, Marketing|0 Comments

Finding new customers for your business made easy

Finding new customers is one of those activities that should occupy 80% of a business’s time and effort. But retaining customers is just as important and should also occupy 80% of resources. This short video in an extract from Geoff Ramm’s keynote speech on Customer Service that he delivers across the globe each year. (Video courtesy of Unique Speakers Bureau)

Keeping customers is key, but finding them is priority. There are three types of customers: existing, new and conversion. Each group needs to be treated differently and each will need a new set of processes and strategies to cope with their needs.
New clients are the hardest to attract. They will require the full sales cycle of processes. This will include a series of Inform sessions where you need to create an awareness of their problems and potential solutions (including your product). This is followed by a series of educational interactions. This converts the initial need into a want for the potential clients and will lead them, to the next step: the purchase.
Following this, they need to be looked after and channelled to the up-sell and re-sell processes. Simple, yet most businesses get this so wrong and make it too complicated that not only do the customers not understand it but the staff are just as confused.
Get this right and your business will grow. #90DayBizSprint

By Bruce Wade|2016-11-01T10:20:05+02:00September 30th, 2016|90 Day Sprint|0 Comments

Who are your Customers?

This week in the 90 Day Business Sprint we look at our Customers. This word should always be spelt with a capital ‘C’ to show how important they are to our business. They are, after all, the ones who pay our salaries.
We have 3 types of customers:
Existing Customers: the people or businesses who are already an existing customer and who purchase from us on a regular basis.
New Customers: the people or businesses who do not yet spend money with us. These are the ones we need to attract and develop new relationships with.
Conversion customers: These people or businesses who shop at other businesses for the same or similar product offers as yours. These are the ones we need to attract and convert.
Each customer base needs a different strategy and set of marketing materials in order to build and deepen that relationship.
This week, we will begin to explore this and look at some tools to build solid, long term and profitable relationships with our customers.

By Bruce Wade|2016-11-01T10:20:05+02:00September 26th, 2016|90 Day Sprint|0 Comments

About Bruce Wade