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The Value of Business Growth Planning

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Portal CFO Growth Planning Tips

Whether you’re just starting out or already have an established, profitable business in operation, business growth planning should be near the top of your priorities list. Every industry has unique challenges, but some common practices can position your business for future success. We’ve compiled four tips that will give you the most value out of your business planning and set you on a course for success.

Growth Planning Tips for Success:

1. Real Time Accounting

From the basics of Excel or QuickBooks, to more advanced custom accounting software solutions, every business has a way to track their financial position. Implementing a software system that delivers insights on your finances in real time can help you make strategic growth planning decisions and spend your limited capital where it will have the greatest impact.

2. Set Goals For Growth

You may be just getting started in a new market or launching a new product, but all businesses have aspects like revenue or cost savings they want to accelerate and measure. Setting growth planning goals and milestones and using them to track progress over time for your most important business activities makes the mission clear for employees and helps remind everyone what you’re striving towards.

3. Forecast For Tomorrow

Every business should use their existing data to develop strategies for what they can do better in the future. Building forecasts and models for costs of goods, profitability, or logistics expenses can help set expectations for capital requirements, and can often reveal inefficiencies or blind spots that can be addressed to make your business even better.

4. Talk To An Expert

Meeting with consultants is a great way to learn more about your industry, the major players and challenges, and how you can develop a growth planning strategy to win against the competition. If you’re working on a difficult project or seeking to maximize your return on investment, growth and planning consultants can set you on the right course for accelerated success and profits.

Growing your business can be as complicated as running it day to day, but the payoffs can take your operation to the next level. Take charge and use these tips to get a head start on growing your business today.

Remember, running a business successfully does not need to be complicated.  Keep it simple!

For more valuable articles to help you successfully manage the challenges of growing your business profitably, please search our blog at our website www.portalcfo.com.

3 Ways a Strong Brand Reflects a Strong Company

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3 Ways to Build A Strong Brand for your business

A strong brand goes beyond a customer’s perception of a company. A brand reflects your business’s values and principles and emotionally connects the customer to your services and products. Here are three ways that a strong brand expands to all levels of your company:

1) Transcend the Logo

Your brand’s image emotionally ties your customer to what your company’s products. Imagine Coca-Cola’s white curly script on a red backdrop. The logo evokes a sentimental feeling and has become a universal symbol of joy, laughter, and togetherness.

When a customer sees a brand’s image, they live through the memories that come from using the product.  By affecting the way consumers feel, your brand becomes a valuable asset in determining the way people experience your company’s products and services.

2) Motivate Employees

People want to stand united behind strong values. A brand represents your company’s guiding principles and inspires your employees to create a better workplace. The way your employees feel about their work environment reflect the internal attitudes of the company. Your employees serve as ambassadors of the brand and can make or break a customer’s experience.

3) Leave a Lasting Impression

Your brand promises your customers that they will receive the same professional standard every time they make a purchase. For example, some people simply cannot function without their daily coffee, and so the image of the Starbucks’ Siren has become a savior to many exhausted individuals driving to work in the morning. The customer trusts the service associated with the brand leading to a reverberating effect of spreading your company’s values into the daily life of your customers.

A brand isn’t just a marketing tool to help your customers remember your products and services. It is the heart and soul of what your company can contribute to the community. Keeping this in mind will help you create an attractive company for your customers and employees.

Remember, running a business successfully does not need to be complicated.  Keep it simple!

For more interesting topics to help you successfully manage the challenges of growing your business profitably, please search our blog at our website www.portalcfo.com.

 

Small Business Comparison: LLC vs. S Corp

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llc vs. s corp

Small business owners who do not have a legal or accounting background get confused when they have to compare a bunch of different options for incorporating. One of the common decisions is that of an LLC vs. S Corp. There are similarities, differences and advantages between the two, but they can be complex to summarize. Here are a few of the basic similarities and differences.

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Identifying Business Objectives: Finding Your Purpose

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identifying business objectives

Identifying business objectives plays into the simple but important idea that, no matter what you do in life, there needs to be some kind of purpose behind it.  It’s your objective that allows your company to go in the direction that it follows and work toward the goals that you establish. Therefore, it’s especially important to identify those as early as possible.

So throughout this post, we will discuss purpose, how you can identify what kind of shape you want your company to take, and what you can do to make sure you reach those goals.  Keep reading to learn more about the importance of identifying business objectives. The information you find will help propel your company toward success.

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Identifying Business Risks: Know What Risks to Look for and How to Deal with Them

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Identifying Business Risks

Identifying business risks as an entrepreneur is one of the most important things that you can do when running a business.  Since risk takes many forms and can range from a minor issue to something that can threaten the life of the business itself, it pays to know how to point out risks of all flavors and address them accordingly.

But what can you, someone who doesn’t have the benefit of years of experience in running a business, do in order to find that risk and make sure that it doesn’t threaten your company?  This post will explore your options in identifying business risks and show you just how to be prepared for action when you do expose risk.  Let’s get started.

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Staying in the Black: What You Can Do to Make Sure Your Business Stays Profitable

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staying in the black

As a business owner, you have a lot of responsibilities to a lot of different people, but all of that responsibility ultimately ties into staying in the black.  In business, the term “in the black” means that a business is profitable and it’s where every business wants to be, regardless of its size or industry.  The opposite of “staying in the black” is called “being in the red” and you want no parts of that.

But just what are some of the things that a company needs to do in order to reach that highly sought after status?  Obviously, there’s no straightforward answer to that problem. However, that doesn’t mean that you’re out of luck when it comes to ensuring that your company stays ahead of the curve by continuing to turn a profit regardless of the economic conditions.

In this post I’ll be offering some advice on staying in the black, so keep reading! You may be surprised at some of the different practices that you can put into place to ensure longevity for your small business.

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How to Find Angel Investors: What You Can do to Secure Funding For Your Business

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you may be thinking about how to find angel investors who can provide you with the kind of capital that will allow you to secure funding and build your company

Funding your business so that it can become more than just a dream is no easy task. With that in mind, you may be thinking about how to find angel investors who can provide you with the kind of capital that will allow you to secure funding and grow your company.

There are a number of methods by which you can find an angel investor; a person who provides you with capital in exchange for partial ownership of the company.

Because funding your business is such an involved and important process, you want to make sure you do it right and find an investor who will be a perfect fit for your business.

So let’s take a look at some of the things that you should consider when trying to answer the question of to how find angel investors. You will be able to use the information to guide you in your own search for that perfect financial backer.

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How to Finance a Small Business: What Options You Have

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how to finance a small business

The question of how to finance a small business is one that every entrepreneur asks when they are starting out.  One thing I have learned over the years is that what works for one type of business may not necessarily work for others. There is no “one size fits all” formula. Let’s take a look at the question of how to finance a small business and we’ll examine various answers that can apply to your business.

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Reducing Operating Costs: How You Can Keep Your Profit Margins Wide

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reducing operating costs

As a business owner, reducing operating costs is one of your many obligations. It’s also one of your most important considerations. While this is something that applies to every stage in business, it’s especially important during the formative years when operating budgets are tight and every cent counts.

It may seem like it goes without saying, but it can’t be stressed enough that your earnings need to outpace your expenditures if you want to keep your doors open. So, you want to look at every area of your company and make sure that money is being used as wisely as possible.  By doing that, you can make sure that you’re able to stay on task and can continue to guide your company towards growth and prosperity.

So let’s look at some of the ways you can go about reducing your operating costs so that your short-term business goals are more easily obtained.

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Considerations for Starting a Business: Things That You Should Keep In Mind

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startup

If you’re entertaining the idea of owning your own company, then it’s important to know about the different considerations for starting a business.  Since getting a company off of the ground requires time, dedication, and resources, you don’t want to overlook anything on your path to becoming a successful entrepreneur.

Starting a business involves much more than knowing what you want to sell and finding people who are willing to buy it. When you visit any business that you regularly patronize, whether it’s a small stand on the street corner or a large, big box chain, there are a lot of unseen parts working together to make sure that business is able to effectively serve its customers.

As an aspiring business owner, those are the things that you need to worry about in your own house.  So what are some of the considerations for starting a business? Keep reading this post to find out just what you need to keep in mind as you set out to run your own company.

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