Choosing the best bond provider and good bond is essential for protecting your company. A bond is an agreement that ensures the completion of a certain task or service.
Law frequently requires bonds to get the necessary coverage, whether for projects, contract work, or other commercial activities.
However, selecting the incorrect bond provider or having a wrong bond claim could have detrimental effects on your company, including severe financial losses and legal problems.
This article will explore the risks of having a wrong surety bond claim, and how to make that choice to safeguard your company.
How Do Surety Bonds Work
A surety bond is an agreement to follow a contracts’ terms, and that each party upholds its half of the bargain. Although surety bonds are enforceable for any kind of contract, they are most frequently utilized for government contracts and building projects.
A business owner contacts an insurer to obtain a surety bond if necessary. A corporation that offers insurance, an internet marketplace, or an insurance agent with expertise in surety bonds are all options for purchasing surety bonds.
The surety company undertakes its research before issuing a bond. In contrast to other insurance providers, these insurance companies do not take liability if a claim is made. Thus, business owners must go through an underwriting procedure.
The surety company examines the financial records of the primary, including its track record of paying vendors, subcontractors, and other third parties, as well as the personal credit report of the business owner. Additionally, it compares the magnitude of completed projects to the project the company is bidding on.
Although the SBA’s underwriting guidelines are less strict, business owners will still have to pay more for those surety bonds.
By supplying the business owner with a surety bond, the insurance company is ensuring that there is enough money in the bank to pay for any losses that might arise if the business owner cannot adhere to the surety bond’s conditions.
The bond provider only gains money if they follow the bond conditions; instead, the principal (the firm owner) is responsible for paying the surety company back.
1. Greater Cost
A surety bond is a contract between you, the surety company, and the entity or individual that needs it to guarantee they will get the quality of work you promised.
When that doesn’t occur, a client or the state submits a claim to the bond firm to recover any losses they may have sustained. You must gradually repay the claim amount while it is paid by the surety bond company that issued your bond.
It can be difficult to overcome the financial strain of repaying a bond claim, particularly if the claim amount is significant.
It could be challenging to meet other financial commitments, whether they are personal or professional, if you are working to pay back a bond claim. In this circumstance, it could be difficult to cover overhead, suppliers, subcontractors, insurance payments, and living expenses.
Due to missed payments, you may experience credit problems or bankruptcy due to missed payments, which will only worsen the situation. Your personal and professional lives are stressed as a result of these financial difficulties. These factors make avoiding claims essential to keeping you afloat.
If you get a proper bond provider, they will help you avoid such financial issues by working as a third party which will be reliable and safer.
2. Increased Risk Profile
Another way surety bond claims can cause trouble is by posing potential challenges when you try to obtain a fresh bond in the future.
Whether your project calls for a general bond, a bid bond, or a performance bond, surety companies may only be willing to provide a cost-effective alternative if you have a history of claims.
You can also look into International Sureties to know how surety companies offer cost-effective alternatives.
If you successfully get a new bond after your current one expires, the cost may be far more than you had anticipated. When offering a bond to a construction contractor, surety companies assume some level of risk.
To calculate how much of the total bond amount you pay, they consider your credit, your business’s financial health, and your history of claims.
Even if your credit history and business history are excellent, claims against a bond can eventually increase the cost of your new bond, which is another reason to limit your claims as much as possible.
3. Disreputable Reputation
A claim against a bond might be financially burdensome, but it could also harm your company’s reputation.
Even if a bond claim might not be made public, a client who brings a claim against you was probably unhappy with the service you did, therefore when this happens, they are probably going to write a bad review of you or your company.
Additionally, disgruntled clients can tell others about their interactions with you and the company, which would make it challenging to gain new business in the future.
When a company’s reputation is damaged, it could be difficult for you to attract new clients, which would result in lower sales for your company and make it challenging to continue paying payments on the bond for the claim. You now have both immediate and long-term financial problems.
Conclusion
In conclusion, using the incorrect bond could seriously harm your company.
To get the requisite coverage, a bond is frequently needed by law and is a critical component of many companies. Using a bond provider who cannot satisfy your needs or offers insufficient coverage may result in monetary losses and maybe legal problems.
To secure your company, it’s critical to research and choose a trustworthy bond provider with a successful track record.
New technologies and innovations are emerging every day, and businesses are having to adapt to these changes in order to stay competitive.
One of the most important changes that has occurred in recent years is the rise of Shopify as a popular ecommerce platform.
Shopify offers a wide range of features that make it easy for entrepreneurs to start their own online store without any coding knowledge.
It also makes it possible for developers who have never worked with Shopify before to quickly get up-to-speed by using the extensive documentation and guides on their website.
This means that hiring Shopify developers can be a cost-effective way for companies who don’t have an existing team in place to develop an app or website on this platform.
Outsourcing your app development is a cost-effective way of getting the work done.
Shopify developers are skilled professionals who can create an app for you in a matter of days.
A good Shopify developer will take care of all the aspects of app development, including design, coding and marketing.
They will also be able to provide ongoing maintenance and support to your app.
What is Shopify and What are the Best Reasons to Hire Shopify Pro Developers?
Shopify is a leading eCommerce platform that has been used by over 500,000 merchants in 150 countries.
It offers a range of features that can help you build and grow your business.
Some of the most popular features offered by Shopify are:
A customizable store that can be hosted on their website or on your own domain
A mobile app for customers to browse and buy products from their phone
The ability to create an online store without any technical skills
The ability to integrate with other apps such as MailChimp or Google Analytics
Unlimited bandwidth and storage, 24/7 support, etc.
Shopify is a cloud-based, commerce platform that allows entrepreneurs to create an online store to sell their products or services.
Shopify Pro Developers are experts in Shopify who help entrepreneurs build their store, set up the marketing strategy and develop the app.
Why You Should Outsource Your App Development to Freelance Freelancers
It is even harder to find a good freelance developer for hire.
That’s because it is hard to find someone who can fulfill your demands and expectations.
A freelance developer for hire may not have the skills that you are looking for, or they may be too expensive or too cheap.
This is why you should outsource your app development to freelancers who are available on the internet and can provide what you need at a price you can afford.
Finding a freelance developer for your project can be difficult. There are so many developers out there, and not all of them are good.
Some of the best ways to find a great developer for your project is to use referrals, read reviews, and ask for recommendations.
When you ask for recommendations, it’s important to ask the right people.
You want to ask people who have worked with that developer before and know what they’re capable of.
How To Find a Great Developer for Your Project
In this article, I will be discussing the various ways in which you can find a great developer for your project.
You need to have a clear idea of what kind of developer you are looking for.
You also need to have a clear idea of what kind of project you want developed.
This will help narrow down the search and make it easier to find the perfect developer for your project.
Finding a great developer for your project can be a daunting task.
But with the right approach, you can find the perfect person for your project.
There are many ways to find developers.
You can use job boards, social media or even post on forums and see if anyone is interested in the position.
You should also be prepared to have an interview with each candidate and ask tough questions about their skills.
Finding a good developer for your project is not as easy as it may seem.
There are many factors to consider before hiring one, such as:
The developer’s experience
The developer’s level of expertise in the field you need help with
What is DevOps? Here’s everything you need to know.
With the use of a collection of techniques, instruments, and organizational concepts referred to as “DevOps,” software development and IT teams may automate and integrate their activities.
Technology automation, inter-team collaboration, and team empowerment are given top priority.
Around 2007, the software development and IT operations groups voiced concerns about the conventional software development approach, in which developers created code separately from operations, which distributed and supported the code.
Described: DevOps
DevOps may best be summed up as a collaborative effort to design, build, and swiftly deliver secure software.
Software development (dev) and operations (ops) teams may speed up delivery by utilizing automation, cooperation, fast feedback, and iterative improvement.
An Agile approach to software development is the foundation for the cross-functional strategy that a DevOps delivery technique relies upon the creation and deployment of applications in a speedier, more iterative manner.
By opting to use a DevOps development approach, you are deciding to improve the functionality and value delivery of your application by promoting a more collaborative environment across the whole development cycle: https://relevant.software/devops-outsourcing-services/.Â
Advantages of DevOps
Speed. With the help of DevOps methods, you may move at the speed necessary to innovate more quickly, better adjust to shifting markets, and increase your effectiveness in generating commercial outcomes.
Rapid delivery. By speeding up releases, you may develop your product more quickly and gain a competitive edge.
Reliability. Continuous integration and continuous delivery are two DevOps techniques that may help you deploy application updates and infrastructure changes with reliability and speed while still giving end users the best possible experience.
Increased cooperation. A DevOps paradigm involves close collaboration, responsibility sharing, and workflow integration between development and operations teams. Time is saved and inefficiencies are decreased.
There Must Be a Cultural Shift in DevOps
DevOps is not a method or a tool.
The change is more of a cultural one.
Adopting new approaches can be tricky since change is generally dreaded in companies of all kinds.
It is crucial to determine the business requirement that sparked the conversation about the prospective shift and its associated difficulties.Â
Businesses are now expected to deliver flawless applications with a user-centric focus quickly.
Still, without the proper tools, applications, and behavior, this seemingly straightforward task can devolve into a confusing jumble.
In the end, poor delivery results in lost business opportunities.
Only environments where everyone shares the mindset of DevOps can support it.
To successfully design and distribute software, the appropriate technology, scenario analysis, and mindset are required.
The sky is the limit for an IT company if everyone is on the same page, and recognizes the value of constant, clear communication.
DevOps Adoption in Your Organization
DevOps has a lot of advantages as well as difficulties.
DevOps and its associated extensions, however, are an essential part of the twin, speeding-up activities of digital transformation and agile transformation.
This is especially true if you are delivering software to the cloud.
The open-source infrastructure as code software tool Azure resource manager templates is currently being used, according to 52% of respondents as of late 2022.
It is applied to infrastructure development and version control. Other popular cloud computing configuration tools.
Although it is the ONLY way to ultimately transform your company into a collaborative culture and a “continuous delivery” mode, it is not without its share of difficulties, including those related to people skills, technology infrastructure, and the effort required to make it all work.
These difficulties, however, MUST be overcome.
This cannot be accomplished overnight; it requires dedication, support from leadership, funding, and investments in human capital, education, and technological infrastructure.
Conclusion
For many of these firms to complete their Agile Transformation and Digital Transformation programs, DevOps is a mission-critical organizational role and competency.
The main points of DevOps are outlined in this article, along with an overview of the materials you will need to launch your DevOps project or advance an existing one.Â
Ways to reduce business expenses | How to reduce business costs in 2023.
In today’s business climate, it’s more important than ever for companies to be cost conscious and always look for ways to reduce expenses and save money.
There are many reasons why reducing costs is so important for businesses, including the fact that it can help increase competitiveness, attract investors and improve profitability.
Add to that the fact that all businesses have to reduce expenses if they’re going to survive through the rising cost of living and the following strategies become even more important.
Use the Right Technology
Technology has always been a great way to help businesses reduce costs.
By automating tasks, improving communications, breaking down borders and opening up new worlds of opportunities, the right software and systems can change the course of your business forever.
That said, it’s important to choose the right tech for your specific business.
Maybe your company would benefit from investing in electric vehicles as a more sustainable transportation option?
There are many benefits of electric cars, with the most obvious being efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
Perhaps you’re a small business owner and you spend way too much time fussing over your accounts at the end of each tax year?
Bookkeeping software will give you back hours of your time.
Think about your business and what kinds of technology would make your life easier (and more cost effective).
Hiring a professional marketing team, buying advertising space, and hosting events can all take a toll on your budget.
But what many businesses don’t realize is that there are marketing hacks that increase visibility and reduce the cost of marketing without sacrificing quality or results.
One way of doing just that is to find the most appropriate strategy for your business.
Consider talking to a marketing consultant who can help you find where your potential customers are hanging out and let them figure out how you can book a seat at their table.
It may be expensive up front but working with a professional will save you thousands of dollars in the long-term.
Lower Financial Expenses
Do you review your expenses regularly and look for ways to cut costs?
Is there a way to negotiate better terms with suppliers and vendors?
Have you thought about investing in energy-efficient equipment and technology?
Maybe you can encourage employees to find ways to save money and improve efficiency?
These are all solutions that will put more dollars back into your bank account.
Effective Time Management
Many business owners start out by wearing all hats within an organization.
They do accounts, marketing, product production, customer care and client management, sound familiar?
If so, it’s time to stop and use your time more wisely.
Make time management one of your priorities in 2023 and you will enjoy increased productivity, less stressful days at work and better morale, and you can spend the time you save looking for ways where you can even save even more money. It’s a win-win.
Outsource Specific Tasks
Ways to reduce business expenses | Ways to reduce business costs.
Outsourcing is often thought of as a way to reduce labor costs, but it can also be used to save money on other business expenses.
For example, if your company needs customer service support, you can outsource that task to a call center.
This can save you the cost of hiring and training customer service staff.
When done correctly, outsourcing can also help you save on office space and equipment costs.
If you outsource your data entry or accounting functions, you won’t need to provide office space or purchase expensive equipment for those employees.
Did you know that every day you procrastinate starting your online business it’s affecting you?
Yup, that vision you keep seeing for yourself and your family gets further from you when you don’t start.
But it’s not too late!
I’m going to answer all the questions you might have regarding starting an online business for the first time.
A few of the basics including what type of online business you should start, how to scale it, and what makes an online business successful.
Welcome to Franknez.com – the blog where you can digest content on personal finance, side hustle ideas, entrepreneurship, and trending investing topics.
Lets get started!
A little bit of background before I break this down.
I left my 9-5 working for the family business in order to start my own online businesses.
One of them is a hybrid model.
With this business I sell a service and product remotely.
The second online business is 100% online, earns 5-figures per month, and I don’t sell any products or services!
This is the type of business most of you might want.
And I’m going to break down step by step how you can do this too.
Key Points and Questions
Where and how to start an online business
Online business ideas for beginners
What makes an online business successful
How to scale an online business
What type of online business should you start
Why are online businesses popular nowadays
How does an online business work
Why online businesses fail
Can an online business make you rich
Why are Online Businesses Popular Nowadays?
Online businesses are attractive because they tend to provide people with a freedom like no other.
People like you and I are ditching our 9-5s to provide value online and at scale.
Which leads me to the second reason why online businesses are so popular.
An online business will provide you with the freedom to work from home or anywhere else in the world.
If you value the freedom to travel then know that this is what an online business can provide for you.
Travel While You Work
Also known as the laptop lifestyle, traveling while you work requires discipline.
However, the lifestyle provides a freedom working in a desk will never provide.
Notice I said travel while you work not work while you travel.
That’s because life changes when you get your freedom back.
You’re technically working all the time while enjoying your surrounding freedom.
The first taste I got from the laptop lifestyle is when I went on vacation to Rocky Point while working a sales commission job.
And even though I was on vacation, I still had obligations for my clients.
We were in this beautiful luxury apartment with a stunning view of the resort and ocean.
That day we arrived I had emails to answer and clients to call back.
Keep in mind at that time I was managing my clients from an office.
That’s when I first discovered this freedom.
Here’s a picture of my son Frankie chillin as we unpacked food in the apartment.
I knew that if I wanted a life like this, I would need my online businesses to out-earn my salary.
That’s not how it happened though, I took the leap and eventually went all in.
More on that later!
Scalability Skyrockets Your Income
So not only do you get your time back but you have the advantage of earning a ton of money with an online business.
The reason being is that most online businesses can be scaled MASSIVELY.
Online businesses can all be scaled very differently.
Some are easier and quicker than others while a few businesses do take more time.
Now, just because some online businesses are easier and quicker to scale, it doesn’t mean they don’t require a lot of hard work and attention to detail.
An online business is still a very real business.
Your new business will require you to put your real life skills to work in order to manifest your career goals and that dream life.
Online businesses are the reason why you see and hear about a lot of younger people earning 6-figures per year just from their laptop.
I’ll get more in depth on how you can scale your online business a little later.
Here’s how you start.
How Do You Start an Online Business?
How do you start an online business, right? Where can you start an online business?
These questions usually leave beginners a little mind boggled.
How exactly do you turn nothing into something?
The answer is actually quite simple.
You’ll need a website or online platform to use depending on your niche and type of business you’d like to create.
Your website will be your foundation to your entire online business model.
It doesn’t matter what type of online business you create, but you’ll need either a website or platform to begin.
I would personally avoid a free website like WIX only because it will not provide you with the tools necessary to scale.
The purpose of an online business is to scale it enough to provide you with the financial freedom you deserve.
So, for starters, I recommend building your own site using Bluehost.
It’s very easy to use but if you don’t want to spend the time personalizing your own site you can always pay a few hundred to thousand dollars to a professional who will use the same platform.
What type of online business models require either a website or platform to begin?
If you are interested in the following, you will need a website:
Blogging
Providing online services and consultation
Reviewing products
If you prefer the following, you’ll need a platform:
Selling a product
Entertaining
Visually informing or training
It may not seem like a ton of options but believe me there are many niches within each of these categories.
How does an online business work?
An online business provides value online, and you get compensated online.
Your online business will earn money depending on what type of service you provide.
You will get paid depending on how your online business is monetized.
I’m going to go over this more in detail down below.
What Online Business should I start?
The online business you start is going to depend on these 5 major key points.
Ask yourself:
Would you rather provide a service, provide information, or sell a product?
Are you looking for a more hands-on experience or more virtual experience?
Do you want to earn money per project or passively?
Will your startup require a lot of capital, or very little to no capital?
How important is mass scalability to you?
By answering these 5 questions, you’ll have a grasp on what type of online business you’d like to create.
Below you will find a number of online business ideas that will help you identify which model aligns with your needs.
Online Business ideas for beginners
I’m going to break down all the things you can do with these online business models.
Your personality and intuition will naturally gravitate towards a specific idea.
Blogging
This is a writer lovers paradise.
Blogging allows you to share your experience, knowledge, and stories at massive scale.
What makes blogging an attractive online business model is that just about anyone can provide value to an audience based on a particular niche or subject.
Entrepreneurs are blogging about really just everything!
Here are some blogging topic ideas:
Write about your experience in ‘X Industry’. Maybe you love the industry you work in or are an expert in it. Write about it and answer questions people might have on a variety of subjects pertaining to your industry.
As long as there’s a real interest in it, you can blog about pretty much anything. People are earning money blogging about travel, teacher life, mom or dad life, pet life, college life, automotive, tech, and so much more!
How Do Bloggers Earn Money?
Bloggers earn money through a number of ways.
One is through display advertisements, like the ones you see on my website. T
he second way bloggers earn money is through affiliate programs.
Bloggers can earn a commission for making a sale of certain products or services.
Bloggers may even sell their own products or services online.
How Much Money Do Bloggers Make?
Bloggers can earn 3 to 6-figures per month depending on how you monetize your website.
My website currently earns 5-figures per month.
Scaling your audience is key to scaling your online business.
If starting a blog interests you be sure to read the beginners guide below.
It will walk you step by step on how to start using a self-building website platform called Bluehost.
The process is very easy and only takes minutes to set up.
If you love to travel, you only need to pack up your filming gear and move it with you to produce content no matter where you are.
How Can I Incorporate YouTube With My Niche?
If you’re into tech you can always review products or film unboxing videos.
People love this type of content.
You can then diversify your income by leaving amazon affiliate links to the type of gear you use in the description area of the video.
If your audience loves your channel to the point where they want to support your work they can always become a patron.
My patrons altogether cover most of my website’s monthly expenses.
If you’re a trainer, you could combine the use of YouTube with your website to generate leads.
Not only can you upload content to YouTube, but you can also provide consultation or 1-1 virtual training sessions.
It’s really all about creativity and leveraging these ways of earning money online to benefit and scale your online business.
How to scale an Online Business?
So how exactly do you scale an online business?
Audience is key. You’ll need a lot of eyes on your product, service, or content to scale your online business.
Once you’ve figured out how you’ll be monetizing your online business you’ll need as many people as you can get over to your website.
The more people that see you means the more possibilities you have to earn big money.
#1. Produce quality content
Quality content is going to be the foundation to your online businesses’ success.
People want to consume and buy quality product, services, and content.
Take as much time as you need to ensure your content is superior to that of your competitors.
Forget what they’re doing, just do what you know how to do but do it exquisitely.
Quality content never fails to be noticed, recognized, and appreciated. In fact, quality content has a higher chance of being shared on social media and referred through word of mouth.
Everything on this list can be perfect but if you’re not producing quality content then your online business will not be taken seriously.
Take your time to learn something if you have to or invest in the tools to make your presentation look and feel better for the engaged user.
#2. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search engine optimization is the key to a successful and high ranking website.
You build your SEO by using the correct keywords and building backlinks to your website.
When you’re building your website you’ll want to make sure you’re using keywords that reflect what your online business is offering.
This will give you a higher chance of being found organically on Google, Yahoo, and Bing.
Don’t be discouraged if you aren’t seeing your online business pop up on Google right away.
SEO takes time to build but trust me, Google will automatically start ranking you after a few months of being active online.
Meta description, titles, subheadings
SEO is also heavily influenced by your website or platforms description, titles, subheadings, images, and even what is being vocalized in a video.
The more you stay on topic means the higher chance you’ll have at ranking higher in the organic search and recommended results.
#3. Social media marketing
Scaling your online business is heavily dependent on the use of social media marketing.
You’ll need to identify which social platform best connects with your target audience the best in order to drive traffic to your website or platform.
Get involved in Facebook Groups, relevant Twitter topics, or even network using LinkedIn.
Every niche and every website/platform will connect with a group differently.
Sometimes it takes time to find which will work best for your online business but you must find it.
Sharing your content, service, or product on social media is the first step towards promoting your online business.
Once you’ve worked on your SEO, you’ll want as many people as possible to click on these ‘backlinks’ leading them to your landing page or video.
Google loves backlinks and actually ranks you higher when you have plenty of them which means you need to consistently be sharing content that drives people to your site.
Search engines begin to ignore you if you stop producing content so be consistent.
This is the part of building any type of business whether it’s online or traditional that requires patience.
You cannot expect to produce content once or ten times and start seeing huge results.
It takes time and effort.
Consistency is going to improve your marketing and pitching skills online.
It’s also going to make you produce better content for a bigger audience.
When search engines see your links have been spread around consistently for quite some time, your domain authority begins to climb meaning your visibility also begins to climb.
#5. Brand your online business
The fifth tip to scaling your online business is to brand it.
Branding your business is more than just a logo.
It’s the character of your business, the personality, and the likeability.
Your brand should attract your customers or audience and make them feel like they belong.
Did you know that you can evoke emotion through colors?
When you create an identity, people will remember you and come back for more.
This is how you can get your customers to use your services again, buy another product, or indulge your content every day.
In the beginning, your brand will change from time to time.
This is 100% okay. Branding is about discovery and this takes time.
Your brand will slowly begin to reveal itself to you as you continue to push forward.
What makes an online business successful?
To me personally, an online business is successful when it is able to provide you with a certain freedom a 9-5 can’t.
Whether it be more family time, personal time, recreational time, or even money, it’s different for every individual.
Perhaps you’re making a little less with your online business than you were from your corporate job but at least now you have more time with your family.
I see this as successful.
Maybe you keep scaling it and now you earn your previous salary every month.
I’d say that’s tremendous success.
My online businesses have provided me with the freedom to work from anywhere I please and to earn money in my sleep.
I could work less hours, but my work ethic doesn’t allow me to.
I have to constantly be providing value because as an entrepreneur, nothing is truly every secured and my family’s financial freedom is that important to me.
I make every minute count and I’ll ease off the gas pedal when I reach certain milestones.
Work hard now rest later!
Can an Online Business Make You Rich?
I think you know the answer to that.
Due to how scalable online businesses are they can certainly provide substantial income to by most standards be considered to be wealthy or rich.
They key to your wealth will heavily resonate with the amount of people you’re able to provide value to.
You will become wealthier if your scalable model can reach 1 million people oppose to 100k people.
There is no shortage of people by whom you cannot provide your services to.
It’s a matter of figuring out how to get in front of them.
Everyone is fighting for attention one way or another.
Your job as an entrepreneur is to figure out how to stand out so that your product, service, or content is seen.
The marketplace will then decide whether or not your product, service, or content is worth buying, using, or indulging in.
So, be sure quality is always the first thing in mind when building your online business to provide value at scale.
Why Do Online Businesses Fail?
Like almost anything else in this world, any endeavor will fail once you stop working on it.
It’s really that straight forward.
If the marketplace didn’t react well to your service or product and you quit then you were the reason for the businesses failure.
Instead of tweaking and perfecting your product or service you rendered in self defeat.
Online businesses fail when their owners are defeated by adversity and barriers along the way.
An online business is not worth failing over.
The upside is too valuable.
Write that down in case it ever gets overwhelmingly difficult for you. “An online business is not worth failing over. The upside is too valuable”.
Online Business Courses
Should you attend them?
This is a financial literacy blog and financial literacy says don’t sign up for online business courses when in the end, you end up learning from experience instead.
I didn’t take online business courses, but I did attend a private college and earned my associates degree in business administration.
I was left with $50k in debt and didn’t know how to sell, apply social media marketing, or file taxes for a small business.
You have to understand that any school offering you any online business management degree is scamming you.
They’re a business themselves.
They will teach you theory and give you a good grade for your efforts and presentations.
But they will not teach you how to become a successful entrepreneur. That you learn on the streets.
Online Business School
I’d be lying to you if I didn’t personally look into online business schools after I received my associates degree in order to ‘further my education’.
It wasn’t until I began earning money in a sales position where I learned that there was no need for me to attend an online business school.
Online business school wasn’t for me at this point.
In fact, my business professor wasn’t a very successful entrepreneur. He owned a volleyball team but the startup was a partnership.
And he had given up on it and referenced selling his half to his partner quite often.
Online Business Management Degree
If you’re thinking about getting an online business management degree through an online business school, I would take financial literacy a little bit more seriously.
You can invest the money for your tuition into your startup instead!
The money could go towards gear for that YouTube channel or towards your domain name and website configurations.
There’s so much more you can do with that investment.
An online business management degree will not teach you the real world aspect of running a business or managing people.
Start off small and work for a small business to gain exposure and experience.
Learn the ropes and start with data entry.
I began my journey managing a small team due to my leadership skills, not through my degree.
Start there and see how much further that takes you.
Start Your Online Business Today
Stop procrastinating.
You got this!
Get excited about it and start taking your first steps towards that new life.
That vision you keep seeing is the preview to life’s upcoming attractions.
And if you’re lacking strength to get started then I encourage you to borrow mine.
For many organizations, it is mandatory to retrain their employees regularly on organizational codes of conduct, and industry regulations and compliances.
But doing this can be time-consuming and costly by using traditional training methods for training.
It can also be quite tedious for employees.
But the availability of tools like Learning Management Systems (LMS), such as Docebo, and authoring tools, such as Articulate 360, for creating corporate and compliance training courses, has made it easier for organizations to overcome these issues.
There are also several LMS that comes with in-built authoring tools that further make this more convenient.
Compliance training is undertaken by organizations for employee training authorized by legislation, regulation, or company policy.
This training educates employees about the laws and regulations for their jobs or industry.
Ensuring everyone in the organization is up to date on the responsibilities isn’t an easy task.
To help make this task easier, LMS provides organizations with various features –
LMS features
Quick and Easy Course Creation – Most LMSs have instinctive course creation interfaces that make it easy to create and make changes to courses as and when the training requirements change. This is a useful feature in compliance training, which is evolving constantly.
Flexible and Fun Course Presentation – Reading and training about corporate policies are rather dreary for employees. LMSs can help a company deliver training content through a variety of interactive learning activities. If implemented well, the courses can entice and incentivize employees to increase their engagement, making the training experience less tedious for everyone involved. Most LMSs also offer training compatible with mobile devices for participation on the go. The flexibility to train whenever and wherever can positively affect employee information retention and provide long-term outcomes.
Automated Reminders and Notifications – With the assistance of an LMS, organizations can ensure compliance training’s completion by the employees on time with convenient and customizable automated reminders and notifications. This helps employees stay on track and keep making progress through the training courses.
Assessments and Reporting – LMS has assessment and reporting capabilities that can be extensive and includes live tracking of employee engagement and course completion, as well as automatic grading of performance. Depending on the type of LMS used by an organization, some LMSs have advanced analytics to highlight specific trends and statistics from the training courses. These trends and statistics can allow organizations to get useful insights in the future like – learner engagement, course timelines, and completion levels, performance on individual and/or group levels, probable knowledge gaps that require further course strengthening or clarification, gray areas in which the course material can be adapted to serve its training purpose better.
With organizations having access to this level of comprehensive reporting, it can prove to be particularly valuable in compliance training.
Along with these features, LMSs also offer specific features for compliance training which include –
LMS compliance training features
LMS Compliance Training Features
eLearning systems help organizations deliver active learning for employees with poor vision and hearing disabilities. These LMSs offer multimedia courses that consist of graphics, animations, images, and more. As a result, it also encourages the development of robust technologies which can help all employees to meet their organizational goals.
GDPR or General Data Protection Regulation compliance helps secure the personal information of LMS users. It is, more importantly, useful for finance and retail sectors where the privacy of customer data is a substantial concern.
Tin Can compliance LMS is mainly used by automobile and retail sectors to train their extended workforce like dealers and sales reps. This helps organizations create personalized online courses, generate automated reports, and track their performance.
From information technology and finance to retail, healthcare, and various other industries, the need to implement compliance learning management systems is increasing.
Today’s technophile millennials seek information and tech updates at their fingertips, to stay updated with new policies and regulations.
And Learning Management Systems are the way for organizations to provide that for their employees.
In today’s post I’m going to share with you how you can turn your side hustle into a 5-figure business. We’re going to walk through some of the steps I took when building my 5-figure business from what started as just a side hustle.
So, why is this so significant? Well for one, many of us lost a job or saw a drop in sales revenue during the Coronavirus Pandemic. We had no other option other than to sink or swim. Developing skills outside of a current job will allow us to create multiple streams of income and reach financial freedom.
This post is going to provide you with so much value. You too will be able to start manifesting your career and money goals in as little as less than a year. Let’s get started.
How much money is 5-figures?
5-figures refers to a five digit numerical value. In money terms this ranges between $10,000 – $99,999.
6-figures would then go from $100,000 – $999,999.
Turning my side hustle into a 5-figure businesses should have been something I should’ve celebrated, but I didn’t. I was shooting for six.
It’s important that you celebrate your small wins guys. It’s also important that you set the bar high. Why? Because if you fail, and you will, at least you’d have created something valuable from which you can continue to scale.
I’m proud though, this happened during the pandemic so there’s that. Lets start with the importance of niching down.
The importance of niching down
Now that we understand the definition of 5-figures, let’s discuss the importance of niching down.
Before you begin to build your five figure business you’ll need to niche down on your side hustle first.
What is a niche?
A niche in short is a specialized or particular area in the market for a specific type of product or service.
Some examples of a niche include:
Restaurants —> Restaurants in Southern California —> Best Restaurants in Los Angeles, CA —> Best Pizza Restaurants in LA —> Best Vegan Pizza Restaurants in LA
Gaming —> Horror Games —> Indie Horror Games for PC
As you can tell, niching down means getting down to specifics about a general topic.
The reason you should niche down is because you’ll be able to provide people with content, product, or services that are exclusive to that particular demand in the market.
By doing so, you are creating a small pool in the market that can help consumers find exactly what they’re looking for.
If you’ve already found your niche you’re more than likely already generating some income from it.
Side hustle to 5-figure business
When does this transition happen? Taking your side hustle to a 5-figure business is a process.
You need to make sure your side hustle is scalable. Meaning you know you can turn it into a business. And if you can’t, you’ll need to try something else.
Set the bar high. Write down your goals. The things that happen on your journey to meet your goal is the transition process. This is progress is the success you won’t see until at the end of your first year.
When you reach $10K in sales, you can choose whether you want to establish yourself as a small business. Of course, you can do this before $10K. However, reaching this number allows you to establish yourself as a small business owner which should be a goal to pursue if you want to make money.
These are some key points that helped me see the potential in my side hustle and grow it to a 5-figure business.
Now, I want to touch base on 3 very important elements that made this happen for me and can make this happen for you too.
These 3 vital steps are what’s going to separate you from everyone else. These foundational elements are what transformed my side hustle into a 5-figure business. I guarantee you they will do the same for you.
The foundation for a 5-figure business
#1. Get professional, start a business
I initially set up my legal business first, although it was just a side hustle in the beginning. I knew that I could make money from it but I wanted to carry myself professionally about it.
It wasn’t good enough to simply sling my product or services here and there without it being a legit business. By moving professionally about it I was able to provide more value in the marketplace. Setting up my business from the get go established credibility. And guys let me tell you, it’s not that difficult. I’m going to teach you guys how to do this step by step so make sure you subscribe to the newsletter. For now, lets keep moving forward.
#2. Brand your business
Once I established my business legally, I started pitching to the marketplace. But it didn’t go very well. I was using a Gmail account for my business emails and my website was in blog format (free).
So, I put out a little bit of money from my earned income (job) into creating a professional website and obtaining a professional email to use. I then created my own logo using Canva Pro.
This changed the game to say the least. Businesses now knew who was reaching out to them. It was an actual business.
Why branding played a huge role in my 5-figure business
Branding created credibility. I feel like people didn’t take me seriously prior to branding my business. This is what branding did for my hustle:
Created an image of trust
Boosted my credibility in the marketplace
Increased my sales (during the pandemic)
Allowed me to create something from nothing
Established my side hustle as a legit business
Branding is the most important thing you can do to take your side hustle to the next level. It’s what’s going to set you apart from everyone else doing what you’re doing.
I strongly urge you to make this small investment and commitment towards your growth. Spend the extra money on a professional email, spend the extra money on Canva Pro. Believe me when I say it’s 100% worth it. When you look back, you won’t recognize what you created. Yes, that was you. Yes, you created that.
Which leads me to the third element that allowed me to turn my side hustle into a 5-figure business. Creating a unique website.
#3. Set up your website early on
One mistake I made was not setting up my website early on. Think about it my fellow readers. You make a pitch and the prospect is very interested. They’d like to take a look at your website but it’s either under construction or you don’t have one yet.
Yeah, that isn’t very professional now is it?
When I was shopping around to see how to set up a website for my small business I knew two things:
Pricing had to be affordable and within budget.
My website had to be unique and professional – huge deal breaker for me.
Now, I purchased Bluehost when it was originally at $8.99 per month. However, you new small business owners can now create your website for only $3.95/mo.
What attracted me the most to Bluehost is just how easy it was to use. And, if I had any questions, their amazing 24/7 chat was available for my convenience.
Let me tell you guys something. Turning my side hustle into a 5-figure business had challenges. Building and growing my professional website was not one of those challenges.
The importance of this foundation
These 3 foundational elements are what transformed my side hustle into a 5-figure business.
I am now working on what it takes to scale my 5-figure business into a 6-figure business. It is important to note that you cannot reach 6-figures without setting up your foundation first.
I had to shift my mindset and look at my side hustle as a business rather than just a side hustle.
Branding my business was an essential process to standing out.
Not only was building and creating a professional website easier than I thought, but it was a vital process for the growth of my business.
Now that you understand what it takes to turn your side hustle into a 5-figure income earning business I’m going to share with you some of my personal experience on this journey. I want to provide you with even more value by putting my perspective out on the table for you to learn from.
If you’re enjoying this post so far be sure to bookmark it so you can come back to it in the future.
5 Tips to scaling your side hustle to 5-figures
Here’s a quick rundown of some useful tips that allowed me to scale my side hustle to 5-figues in only one year. In fact, I was able to accomplish this in only 11 months; so just a little under one year.
#1. Become an expert in your niche
It is essential that you become an expert in your niche. Otherwise, scaling your business will take you much longer. This is primarily because you will still need to learn the ropes in your niche in order to conduct business and close sales.
Being an expert in your field give you a huge advantage over competitors. This is how I was able to conduct myself as an authority in the marketplace. Your knowledge is like extra credit. The three foundational steps for a 5-figure business is the A+.
#2. Offer exceptional quality work and customer service
You and the service or product you intend to offer are the primary reasons people want to do business with you.
Your power over everyone else is no one else is you. Show this to your customers and your sales will grow.
#3. Your network can push you ahead by one year
Your network should consist of people who are business and success oriented just like you are.
Make yourself and your business known to them. You must make yourself top of mind awareness to them. This means when they think of a specific product or service, you’re the go-to-person. This is what you’re known for.
#4. Be persistent and find out what works
When it comes to selling your service or product you will find out certain pitches don’t work. Don’t let this discourage you for one second.
That same pitch you’re thinking of discarding can actually work on someone else. So, be persistent but don’t be afraid to find out what else works.
#5. Reinvest your first profits
Once you implement the 3 foundational steps to scaling your side hustle to a 5-figure business, you’re going to start seeing cash flow.
Do not pay yourself just yet. Reinvest the profits towards further scaling your business. See where you can put some money to optimize growth.
I personally used profits for advertising and marketing. This allowed my business to be seen and brought in new customers.
When I was slinging products and services on the side through my niche, I too started from $0. It was easy for me to seek money-making opportunities within the industry when I became an expert in my field. This is what eventually led me to turn my side hustle into a 5-figure business. It goes back to becoming an expert in your niche. I already had loads of knowledge and information in my industry.
Networking
Aside from this, I was already known as the go-to person in my area of expertise from high school and college peers. This of course gave me an advantage with awareness. In fact, some of my first clients were due to networking. They were the first brands and businesses
My entire career has basically been sales in one particular segment of my industry. Sales is what allowed me to further network with people effortlessly over the phone, in person, and via email.
Quality of service
The quality of service I provided made me become favorited by my first customers. Quality builds trust and trust builds likeability.
Because I delivered quality services and products, my customers would place reorders every month to every other month. By delivering exceptional quality products and services I was able to further grow my sales revenue passively.
In some instances I didn’t even have to follow up.
My first reinvestments
Some of my first reinvestments in my small business were on social media advertising and on samples to pitch.
The mindset behind my reinvestment strategy was quite simple. If I could put $100 in advertising to potentially bring in a new customer on board, it would yield an amazing ROI (return of investment). Even if I didn’t break even.
See the thing is one new customer could either cover the cost of the ad by buying from me, or I could profit doing business with them. What if their project was lower than the initial cost of the advertisement? Well, then I would have gained a new client from which I could follow up with every month or so.
In this case, I see an opportunity to do business with them in the future. Even if it is a long-term process.
So, what pattern are we seeing here?
The pattern here is that the tips presented on this article have proven to turn a side hustle into a 5-figure business. I’ve implemented these strategies myself and can now pass down the knowledge that worked for me to help you access that next level of success.
My expertise in my industry was only the icing on the cake. It wasn’t until I applied the 3 foundational steps mentioned in the beginning of this article that I found my side hustle transition to a 5-figure business.
If I didn’t 1) treat my side hustle as a business, 2) brand my business, 3) or create a professional and unique website, I wouldn’t have been able to succeed.
Because ultimately what businesses want is to work with an attractive company that can solve their problems.
This journey has been a lot of fun, it’s been a lot of work, and let me tell you it’s been absolutely worth it.
Final words of advise
My advise to you is to put your skills to use and to never stop learning. This will help you turn your side hustle into more than just a 5-figure business. These are the building blocks to creating a successful and prosperous business. However, you have the power to take this even further.
There will be times where you possibly doubt yourself and perhaps even lose some form of motivation. Understand that this is normal and even the most successful of people go through this. It’s part of the process. Learn to grow through what you go through.
Be sure to subscribe to the mailing list where you can personally email me with any questions. I reach out to our readers when a new post has been published or when I have something to share that I’m confident you can truly benefit and learn from.
