Effective team meetings create opportunities for staff to exchange ideas, solve problems together, and get results. The productivity boost from effective meetings can mean more efficiency, higher productivity, and a focus contributing to your profitability and business success.

How To Structure An Effective Team Meeting Online Or In-Person

Research by global HR consultants Mercer shows top employees are three times more likely to work for a company with a strong sense of purpose. Structuring an effective team meeting helps provide focus and a sense of purpose.

As a team leader, it’s critical to ask the most vital question – is this meeting necessary? If so, your job is to create the structure for a productive team meeting in-person or online.

Here are four effective meeting strategies to make team meetings more effective:

1. Use agendas: A practical meeting agenda provides focus, sets expectations, and shows your team why a meeting matters. Effective team leaders circulate agendas in advance, ask for feedback, and use it to keep the discussion on track.
2. Start and finish on time: Effective time management shows you’re in charge and recognizes that your team members’ time is essential. Starting and ending on time reinforces that project timelines matter.
3. Clarify: Always identify “next steps” for each meeting agenda item. Identify who’s responsible for the task and timing. That provides a sense of purpose and ownership for results.
4. Establish To Dos’/Action Items: It’s important that each member of the meeting has a clear understanding of what is expected of them and what is needed to be accomplished by a certain date. Make sure someone is an Action Item or To Do list is generated during that meeting and they are assigned with due dates to the certain team member. This will help accomplish your goals and keep your projects on track.

The structure will help the team focus and get better, more measurable results for your business.

Tips for Running a Productive Team Meeting

Did you know 37% of work time is spent in meetings, and nearly half considered their time wasted. Every minute wasted in a meeting means one less minute for efficient, productive project work outside of meetings. Here are a few tips I use to run more effective team meetings.

Circulating materials such as reports, fact sheets, data, or slide presentations in advance with the agenda save time. Rather than go through the information in the meeting, set expectations that info is reviewed in advance. You’ll get higher quality conversations, problem-solving, and ideas as a result. Also, giving your team access to data ahead of time, such as a quick snapshot of your business in a ‘scorecard’ will allow them to bring any necessary issues for discussion. This way you can quickly go through your numbers during the meeting, and then save time to discuss any outlining issues during an ‘issue’ section of the meeting.

Don’t break up your manager and employee workdays. Schedule meetings earlier in the day or experiment with lunchtime or end-of-day to see what works best. That leaves larger blocks of productive time for employees to focus and get results.

When working with online meeting tools like Skype and Zoom or G Chat, smart managers get the technology ready 10 minutes ahead of time to ensure the meeting starts on-time without any technical difficulties.

How to Communicate Effectively in Meetings

Effective communication in meetings is all about listening, collaboration, and focus. As a leader, your job is to be well prepared in advance, communicate effectively, and ensure communication is clear, consistent, and on track before and after the meeting.

Summarizing conversations and clarifying important points gets everyone focused and sets them on the road to responsibility for the tasks and the timelines. With effective meeting management, your business will achieve better results on the road to profitability.

How do you manage your team meeting in your business? Share with me on

The relationships you build can create opportunities for tomorrow.

Why?

The network of people you surround yourself with can provide valuable insight and guidance on projects, products, hiring, new ventures and so much more. You never know who you meet in your travels may become an trusted source in your life or your business tomorrow.

For example, when in college, you need internships to build your resume, and build relationships. When you venture out into business, you need clients to purchase your products or services. Establishing relationships early on can be extremely beneficial for you and your business. Typically we tend to gravitate towards our networks for guidance and feedback. It’s extremely important to create that ‘inner circle’ of people you can depend on and trust

There are four aspects of relationship-building:

• Tracking and focusing on networking relationships
• Collaboration over competition
• Relationship management tips
• Diversifying your relationships

Tracking and Focusing on Networking Relationships

If you look around you, there are plenty of opportunities for tracking networking relationships, and you want to focus on that to build your name and brand. These opportunities include:

• After an event such as a conference
• After a meeting, call or email, or social media interaction.
• Before, during, and after a sale.
• After a referral

Send a quick email to those you connected with during a conference or after a phone call, email, or meeting-those with whom you want to build a relationship. To stand out and grab their attention, send snail mail. It’ll take some effort to find mailing addresses, but it’ll be worth your while.

After a social media interaction, reach out and let those searching for advice, information, or assistance know you can help, then follow up with an email or call.

Collaboration Over Competition

Although men own more businesses than women, women tend to be more successful entrepreneurs.

Interestingly, studies on what makes global businesses successful revealed how instead of the cutthroat competition prevalent in the business world, women help each other succeed.

For example, they invest in each other’s companies and go into business together. Such collaboration causes a positive and winning ripple effect, pushing them toward success.

Instead of creating or focusing on competition, follow their lead and value collaboration more than getting ahead of other businesses. By nurturing those relationships, you’ll likely see greater business success.

Relationship Management Tips

After all your hard work establishing relationships, you want to nurture them and reap the rewards. The following tips will help you manage those relationships.

• Think of these relationships as friendships. That means be more forgiving, tolerant, and respectful.
• Build authentic connections through shared experiences, genuinely liking people, and developing a good rapport.
• Do some facetime. Yes, don’t rely only on social media to cultivate your relationships. A phone call now and then and spending some time together enables deeper connections.

Diversifying Your Relationships

When you mention diversity, often what comes to mind is gender, race, or age.

However, you can diversify your mindset, accepting that everyone has something they can teach you.

When you’re open to connecting with people different from you, you’ll be surprised at how fruitful those relationships can be.  Furthermore, industries are overlapping, so be open to accepting advice from outside your world.

Relationships Build Opportunity

Never stop building meaningful relationships. They can create opportunities for tomorrow you never imagined. Make sure to keep the above tips in mind as you work towards an incredible future.

Share with me on social how your relationships have generated opportunity for you! Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram.  Use #generatingopportunity

Changes to government regulations can impact various aspects of your business operations, from tax reporting and filing to mandatory cybersecurity measures.

It’s essential to stay on top of regulatory changes that might affect your business, or you might inadvertently end up in noncompliance. This can result in severe consequences, from fines to limitations on future business practices. Facebook’s data privacy scandal is a textbook case.

Find out how you can keep track of government updates below.

How To Monitor Government Updates

There are different techniques you can use to keep track of government updates.

The first step in policy monitoring is to figure out exactly what policies are relevant to you (see the next section for some ideas). Once this is done, you can start collecting information on those policies and tracking them for changes.

Next, find the relevant government websites and check them for news. If there is an email list you can sign up for updates, do it. For example, say you own a dental clinic. You might check out the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention oral health vertical, a government resource.

You can also get news via relevant stakeholder organizations. Take the dental clinic example –  the American Dental Association is the premiere dentistry lobbying association, and their newsroom offers updates on everything from COVID-19 to the Affordable Care Act.

Attending industry events like conferences and workshops is also useful. Finally, scan the news regularly. Focus on niche publications specific to your field. You might also follow relevant social media accounts or subscribe to podcasts.

Which Types of Changes Are Important To Your Business

You are the expert in your field, and it’s your responsibility to know what types of government updates might impact your business.

Here are some possible areas that may affect you:

• Sales tax
• Tariffs and trade policies
• Federal tax overhauls
• Data privacy rules (e.g., the European General Data Protection Regulation)
• The Affordable Care Act
• Sick Leave and minimum wage policies
• COVID-19 regulations

How Often To Check Government Updates

You should check government updates every quarter, at a minimum. Since it usually takes time for governments to push through significant changes, this should give you enough heads-up to prepare for upcoming changes.

If you see that a piece of legislation or regulation is being discussed that will impact your operations, keep an eye on it. You can set a Google News email alert defining critical keywords (like the name of the legislation). You will then be notified whenever relevant headlines appear.

The Final Word: Why You Should Know Changes At Government Level

Tracking policy changes ensures that you can take a proactive approach to prepare for them before they occur. This is preferable to a reactive approach, which can leave you scrambling to maintain business operations, depending on the issue at stake.

Convenience aside, the biggest issue is compliance. You don’t want to get in trouble with the government because of noncompliance. Regularly tracking policy updates that are relevant to your business will help prevent this worst-case scenario. Changes in government regulations can have a serious impact on your business. Staying up to date with these changes will help keep your business ahead of the curve when these changes arise.

Knowing the ins and outs of the financials of your business is crucial for stability and long-term growth. Plus, keeping an eye on your finances helps you identify risks and set realistic goals for the near future. It can also help you be more reactive when sales numbers or cash flow change.

The Most Important Financial Reports You Need to Know in Business

Compiling these three types of financial reports regularly will help you plan for the future.

Revenue

Your revenue or income statement shows how much money your business brings in regardless of expenses. It’s not a comprehensive report of your financial situation but tracking your revenues over time helps you measure growth.

Your income statement should reflect the total amount of your sales or the total amount of money that different revenue channels bring in.

Profit and Loss

A profit and loss report is a summary of revenues and expenses that indicate whether your business is profitable.

Add up the total amount of your sales, subtract the cost of the goods sold, and you’ll get your gross profit. You can then deduct taxes and operating expenses to calculate the net profit or net loss of your business.

Balance Sheet

Your business’ balance sheet is a snapshot of your financial situation. This report reflects your assets, liabilities, and the equity that owners or stockholders have in your business.

It tells a more complete story about your business since it reflects things like how you leverage loans and credit lines for growth.

Your balance sheet should include a column with your assets. List current assets like cash on hand and accounts receivables and long-term assets like equipment or real estate.

Include all your liabilities in another column, which should include your overhead costs, utility bills, total debt, taxes, payroll, stock issued, and more.

Your balance sheet is a valuable tool for managing your cash flow and ensuring that money comes in at a rate that allows you to cover expenses as they are due.

How Often to Check Your Financials

Publicly-listed companies need to release these documents quarterly, but there are benefits to compiling these reports monthly or even weekly.

Checking your financials on a weekly basis will help you notice trends in revenues and expenses. You’ll be able to anticipate shifts in demand or higher costs based on historical data after a while.

Compiling these different reports regularly can make you more reactive by noticing things like changes in your cash flow sooner.

Hiring a Professional to Manage Your Financials

A professional accountant can help you save time and avoid mistakes when managing your finances. It’s easier to stay on top of billing, file taxes on time, plan ahead, and even reduce costs with the help of a business account.

Why It’s Important to Stay on Top of Your Financials

Knowledge gives you an advantage. Keeping track of your financials will help you make better decisions for things like investments or financing for your business. It will also help you manage risks and plan for the future.

Where do you see yourself in five years? Many people struggle with answering this question because they don’t have precise goals for their future.

Setting goals can help you accomplish more, grow as a person, and build a life that brings you happiness and fulfillment.

Why Goal Setting Is Important

Progressing in life can be difficult if you don’t have a direction. You might have skills, passion, and energy, but you won’t fulfill your potential if you don’t use goals to structure your progress.

Once you have set a goal, you can break it down into a series of smaller steps. Completing daily or weekly tasks to get closer to your goal will help you be consistent and successful. Without goals, you won’t be able to take these small steps that eventually add up and make a difference.

Achieving a goal is a powerful and positive feeling. It will help you stay motivated while working on your next goals.

Goal setting is crucial because it helps you improve different areas of your life, including self-development, finances, education, or your career.

How to Make a Goal That’s Right for You

Set goals for things you can control and work on. If a goal depends on external factors, you might not be able to achieve it.

Ask yourself if a goal makes sense for your values. When setting goals, ask yourself why these things matter and whether they will improve your life. It’s also important to consider whether a plan makes sense for your current life stage.

A goal should be something you care about and want to accomplish. If you struggle with motivation, you might want to reconsider your plans.

Goal Setting Tips

Here are a few tips to help you set better goals:

• Use short-term and long-term goals to plan for the future
• Your goals should be precise. Ideally, you should aim for a result you can measure so you can monitor your progress
• Feedback is a useful tool when working on your goals. You can ask friends for feedback when working on personal goals, or mentors or peers when working a business goal
• Establish a realistic timeline for accomplishing your goals. It’s OK to adjust this timeline if needed
• Break down your goals into smaller milestones. Ideally, you should identify some tasks you can complete daily or weekly to reach your goals
• Don’t let failure stop you. You might not accomplish all your goals, but you should approach failure as an opportunity to learn and adjust your plans

Tips to Stay Focused and Achieve Your Goals

Motivation is important. It’s something that you need to nurture. You can stay motivated by celebrating when you reach a milestone and seeking sources of inspiration, like stories from successful people.

You can stay focused on your goals by adopting journaling or a similar method to track your progress. Planning your weekly tasks in advance will also help you prioritize the important goals and ensure you have enough time to work on them.

Setting goals is crucial for progressing in different areas of your life. Remember to set realistic goals, measure your progress, and celebrate your achievements.

Networking is a very important part of any individual’s professional life. A strong network will not only give your career a competitive edge, but also provide you with the opportunity to learn from people you admire and respect. Not to mention meet some new and interesting people along the way.

When it comes to networking, most of the advice focuses on connecting with people who are senior and further along in their careers than you are. While there is a lot of value in establishing relationships with people who have walked the path before you, it is equally beneficial to build relationships with your peers.

What Exactly is a Network of Peers?

A peer network consists of people who are at a similar career stage as you. They may be your colleagues or people who work at other organizations within the same sector, fellow business owners, or people looking to establish new businesses.

How Your Network Can Help You Be Successful?

There are several benefits of having a peer network. Here are a few ways by which your peer network can help you succeed:

Access to Information & Best Practices

Your network can be a great resource to discuss ideas, opportunities or challenges you face in the day to day of your business. More than likely your peers are or have experienced the same type of situation and can provide insight into the situation as a whole. Your peers may also have other people in their network that they may be able to connect you with to help with your situation. Sometimes it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.

Support System

Your peer network can be an incredible support system for you. They can provide honest feedback on your ideas, create a safe space for you to share your fears and concerns, motivate you when you feel down and out, and also be your biggest cheerleaders.

Investing in the Future

You and peers will be far more established in their careers a few years down the line. They may be leaders, subject matter experts, and successful entrepreneurs in the future.

Investing in these relationships at the outset will ensure you will have access to them at a later stage when it might be more difficult to reach them.

Tips to Find and Communicate with People in your Position

You can begin with your workplace and connect with your colleagues. Industry-specific events, conferences, seminars, and forums are also a great way of finding people with similar interests and professional backgrounds.

Social media can also be leveraged to find people in similar professions, organizations, and career stages.

When you communicate with these people, make sure you underline why you’re looking to connect with them. What are some of the common interests or attributes between you and them, what are you looking to gain from this association, and what value can you add to their life?

Networking in Virtual Events

While networking in a virtual setting can be tricky, you can look at the attendee list to identify people you’d be interested in connecting with.

Share thoughtful comments and insights on the event platform. Participate actively in Q&As as well as break-out sessions organized as part of the event. Do also make time to follow up with people you interacted with through the events to continue the engagement.

Using Social Media for Networking

Social media is a really powerful tool. You can reach out to almost anyone across the globe. LinkedIn is an excellent platform to connect with professionals and industry leaders. You can also use Twitter and Instagram to follow thoughtful leaders and influencers and learn from what they have to share.

Peer networks can make a world of difference in your professional and personal life. Make sure you invest time in connecting with your peers.

Share with me on social media your networking tips – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram. Use #NetworkingTips

For a business to keep growing, they need to pay close attention to what their customers are saying. That said, it can be extremely challenging to know what your clients are thinking. So, how do you listen to your customers and take their insights to improve your business?

We’ll cover everything you need to know below. 

Request Customer Reviews & Monitor Your Feedback

Customer feedback is information you gather from your clients to determine whether or not they’re satisfied with products or services. It can also be general details about how they feel about your company. Asking for customer feedback is an excellent way to improve your products, measure customer satisfaction, better your customer experience, and more. 

Gathering feedback is great, but it’s not going to help unless you do something with the information. Whenever you collect insights from your clients, make sure you monitor each piece of data to use it as a reference in the future. 

Email Past Customers or Create a Customer Feedback Survey

The easiest and most popular way to gather customer feedback is with a survey, typically sent out via email. You can easily create surveys online and add whichever questions you deem relevant. However, you shouldn’t go overboard with the questions. Keep it simple and to the point. 

It’s also essential that you use open-ended questions whenever possible. If you create multiple-choice questions, you’re filling in the answers, not your clients. Open-ended questions allow your customers to talk freely and give you genuine answers you can use to make your business better. 

Get Immediate Feedback When Closing the Sale

Getting feedback right after a purchase is key because it will help streamline your sales process. Right after someone buys something from your company, you could ask them if everything was clear during sign-up or checkout. 

That said, never ask for feedback in the middle of a process. It’s better to wait for the right moment, such as when a live chat session ends, after a demo, or after resolving a support ticket. 

Why It’s Important To Monitor Customer Feedback

Your customer feedback is vital if you want to make effective changes to your company. However, gathering responses isn’t enough. Once you conduct a survey to see how your clients feel about your products or services, monitor your feedback and make adjustments accordingly. 

How To Deal With Negative Feedback

While it may feel natural to feel like your company is flawless and anyone who thinks otherwise is wrong, please understand that negative feedback can be more powerful than positive. However, the way you deal with negative feedback is important.

Here are a few things to try:

• Be sympathetic and understand why your customers feel that way.
• Issue an apology if you feel like your company has made a mistake
• Always address your customer by their first name.
• Stay calm and resolve the issue.

It is always important to respond to your client in a timely manner with a proposal that will make them feel heard and acknowledged. This can make or break your relationship with your customers.

Final Thoughts

Without a doubt, gathering customer feedback can be exciting and intimidating. Make sure you do everything in your power to utilize their input and take action to improve your company’s performance and the relationship you hold with your clients. 

We’ll cover everything you need to know below. 

Request Customer Reviews & Monitor Your Feedback

Customer feedback is information you gather from your clients to determine whether or not they’re satisfied with products or services. It can also be general details about how they feel about your company. Asking for customer feedback is an excellent way to improve your products, measure customer satisfaction, better your customer experience, and more. 

Gathering feedback is great, but it’s not going to help unless you do something with the information. Whenever you collect insights from your clients, make sure you monitor each piece of data to use it as a reference in the future. 

Email Past Customers or Create a Customer Feedback Survey

The easiest and most popular way to gather customer feedback is with a survey, typically sent out via email. You can easily create surveys online and add whichever questions you deem relevant. However, you shouldn’t go overboard with the questions. Keep it simple and to the point. 

It’s also essential that you use open-ended questions whenever possible. If you create multiple-choice questions, you’re filling in the answers, not your clients. Open-ended questions allow your customers to talk freely and give you genuine answers you can use to make your business better. 

Get Immediate Feedback When Closing the Sale

Getting feedback right after a purchase is key because it will help streamline your sales process. Right after someone buys something from your company, you could ask them if everything was clear during sign-up or checkout. 

That said, never ask for feedback in the middle of a process. It’s better to wait for the right moment, such as when a live chat session ends, after a demo, or after resolving a support ticket. 

Why It’s Important To Monitor Customer Feedback

Your customer feedback is vital if you want to make effective changes to your company. However, gathering responses isn’t enough. Once you conduct a survey to see how your clients feel about your products or services, monitor your feedback and make adjustments accordingly. 

How To Deal With Negative Feedback

While it may feel natural to feel like your company is flawless and anyone who thinks otherwise is wrong, please understand that negative feedback can be more powerful than positive. However, the way you deal with negative feedback is important.

Here are a few things to try:

• Be sympathetic and understand why your customers feel that way.
• Issue an apology if you feel like your company has made a mistake
• Always address your customer by their first name.
• Stay calm and resolve the issue.

It is always important to respond to your client in a timely manner with a proposal that will make them feel heard and acknowledged. This can make or break your relationship with your customers.

Value Your Customers’ Opinions

Without a doubt, gathering customer feedback can be exciting and intimidating. Make sure you do everything in your power to utilize their input and take action to improve your company’s performance and the relationship you hold with your clients. 

Are you looking to take your business to the next level but aren’t sure where to start? This is something most business owners face at some point in their careers. Success is measured differently for everyone, but it almost always includes your ability to visualize an ideal outcome and outline a game plan to get there. It all starts with setting short and long-term business goals and objectives.

Starting with Your List of Business Goals

How do you go about creating your goals? First, you must start with a list of business priorities. As a business owner, really think hard about what your business needs, and use this vision as a foundation for your goals.

Every business has a different path, so no two business owners top priorities will be the same. You can start by conducting a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis and deciding what your core business needs are. Then, you can design goals and priorities that address these four areas.

Types of Business Goals

Before creating business goals, you must understand the main types. Distinguishing the difference helps you outline a more effective business plan.

Personal and Professional Business Goals

Why did you first start your business? When you think about your business goals, your first thought may be about making money and gaining more clients. These are essential for business growth, but they are a small component of your personal and professional journey.

As you set your goals, think back to your initial motivations and what keeps you working towards those motivations. Evaluate things like the number of hours you want to work for the week, family and personal life needs, mindfulness, and your mental health.

Short-Term and Long-Term Business Goals

The best strategy is to set both short and long-term goals for your business. Develop a strategic vision that inspires you and provides you something fulfilling to work towards.  Then, break this long-term goal into specific short-term goals with essential deadlines. A big picture goal could include reaching a certain earnings level, creating passive income, retiring early, or moving to a new location.

Qualitative and Quantitative Business Goals

How you measure your business goals helps track your company’s key growth. Qualitative goals are those that you cannot measure with numbers. These include managing your stress better, gaining confidence, becoming more passionate about your work, and improving your communication skills.

Quantitative goals are those that you can numerically measure. Some examples of this are gaining five new clients before the end of the quarter, earning $20,000 next month, or working no more than 25 hours this week toward the business.

Monthly, Quarterly, and 5-Year Business Goal Examples for Your Business

Once you and your team establish your top priorities, it is time to form your business goals. Below are some critical objectives you can apply to your monthly, quarterly, and 5-year business goal plan:

• Implement a new customer service process – The best marketing tool is word of mouth, so you can develop a creative customer service process to establish a proper brand identity.
• Utilize social media marketing – Grow your brand and reach your target market better by providing value through social media in the form of contests, knowledge, and special offers.
• Increase your business productivity – Identify areas of your business where you could save time, money, or deploy resources more effectively.
• Decrease business expenses – Be strategic about reducing daily/monthly costs like eliminating debt, streamlining operations, or utilizing more technology.
• Extend your network – Find the businesses in your community that your customers also enjoy, and create a relationship that both parties can gain value from.

How can you begin achieving objectives like these? You must ensure that you and your team are on the same page. Below are some key strategies to achieve goals in business:

• Set hard deadlines.
• Review your goal progress on a weekly, monthly, and annual frequency.
• Keep the goals visible to you and your team so that they can remind you daily of your motivation and your progress.

SMART Goal Setting

SMART goal setting gives you the foundation for achieving company goals and objectives. SMART represents an acronym that helps set five criteria for your business goals: specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely. The SMART method creates a list of goals that help you and your team fulfill your business’s most important priorities.

Setting goals, is the easy part. Now it’s time to get those goals into action!

Here’s an interesting stat: only about 50% of all small businesses that begin this year will be around in ten years.

Lack of funding is one of the main reasons why businesses don’t survive. Imagine that, not poorly run shops, or owners that give up on their businesses… It’s the fact that businesses do not have enough funding to keep going. Most small businesses are unaware that other options than traditional bank loans are even in existence. For the mom and pop shops of the world, most won’t qualify for traditional business financing leaving them at a dead end. Or so they think…

What Is Alternative Lending?

Alternative lending is any type of lending that happens outside of a traditional bank. Most alternative lending companies generally operate online, and can provide a borrower with multiple options to fit their needs.

Alternative lending has become more mainstream over the past several years due to the number of restrictions and requirements traditional banks have in place. These strict guidelines often discourage many from pursuing a small business loan. Making small business owners look for alternative methods to obtain the financing they need for their businesses.

The economic downturns that have occurred over the last decade and a half have strapped companies of all sizes-forcing some out of business and others to turn to sources of alternative business funding.

Traditional minority groups like African-Americans and women-owned businesses have suffered the most significant loss in traditional lender settings. Many alternative lenders are known for issuing unsecured loans, making business loans for women and African-Americans easier to secure in today’s current market.

Here’s a list of the most common types of alternative lending programs that are available to businesses:

1. Small Business Loan – traditional bank style financing, with a set amount being borrowed and it being paid back over time.
2. Business Line of Credit – the most flexible program type rather than a fixed amount at one time, funds are accessible as needs may arise
3. Equipment Financing –  tye type of funding businesses use to purchase or lease equipment related to their businesses
4. SBA Loans – yes you read that correctly, alternative lenders have access to government backed business loans such as SBA 7(a) and 504 loans

Alternative Lending Requirements

There are also funding requirements for alternative lenders, just as there are traditional term loans issued by banks. However, alternative lending platforms make it a bit easier for some applicants to reach their lending requirements. Typically, FICO score is not a large factor in determining your eligibility with an alternative lender. Alternative Lenders tend to look at the entire picture of the company, including their time and business and monthly and annual sales.

Benefits of Working with Alternative Lenders

The following are some advantages of working with alternative lenders.

• Flexible qualifiers for funding
• Perfect credit is not a requirement
• Fast approval and funding

If you’re considering obtaining alternative business funding, make sure you do you research and work with a reputable company. Ask questions and work with your advisor to get the best options available for you and your business.

If you have questions surrounding financing for your business, feel free to give the team at ROK Financial a call or complete our simple 15-second application to and speak with one of our knowledgeable advisors today!

Starting a business during Covid is nothing like starting a business during ‘regular times’ (or so I’ve heard). If I’m being honest, I actually have never started a business during ‘regular times’. It’s in times of the most uncertainty I have seen the greatest opportunities. I started my first company back in 2007 during the recession, and ROK Financial in the middle of a global pandemic.

It’s safe to say there have been tons of lessons learned along the way. Some I wish I could forget, and but truthfully all have shaped me into the business owner I am today.

I’ve compiled a few of the tips I have found beneficial for myself and my business –  take a read below and share your tips with me on my social media channels.

Keeping A Digital Experience

Now more than ever it’s crucial to establish an online presence. Almost every person you know (even your grandparents and school-aged children) have direct access to everything at their fingertips. If your business does not have a website GET ONE, and FAST. Even if it is a simple landing page with basic information about what you do and how to get in contact with you, it’s critical to determining your legitimacy.

Get reviews, it’s free to do. Ask your most loyal customers to drop you a quick review on Google or quote them to be featured on your website. Over 90% of consumers rely on reviews prior to purchase so make sure you are asking Justin who comes in every morning for his cup of coffee, or Katie who’s hair your color every month to leave you a review. Providing a positive experience is more important now than ever before. If people like your company, or even better, have fun with your company, they’re far more likely to become repeat customers and recommend your goods or services to others.

Keeping a Healthy & Focused Daily Routine

Having a daily routine is also essential to your success. Whether that be going for a quick run in the morning, meditating prior to your morning emails or meets doing something for you consistently helps with your mental ability to take on the day.

For me, I like to wake up get a quick work out in and enjoy a little peace before the chaos ensues. It’s time I carve out for me (even if it’s only a few minutes) it makes a difference in my day.

Focus on the positive. So many times as business owners we wrapped up in the day to day and feel overwhelmed by tasks and employee situations. In times like this, it’s best to take a step back and list all the positives you have going on in your business and switch your mindset to that. Keeping a positive mindset helps you tackle those issues objectively and allows you to make the best decisions for your business. I

Tips To Be Productive & Not Reactive

Let’s take a look at a few tips for being productive:

• Organize your resources – identify what resources you have available to you and your business and what you may need to do in order to obtain the resources you may need
• Have a plan. Don’t try to run your business by inspiration alone, regardless of your experience. Create a plan, then follow it, and only adjust it as necessary. Business plans are also useful for getting more loans (and on better terms), so they’re always a good idea
• Outsource as needed. The internet has a functionally-unlimited number of workers who can perform just about any task imaginable, and for a better rate than full-time employees. Learning to make use of on-demand options is a key part of reducing costs and improving overall profits
• Find a way to stay sane. Stress management is vital for success during these unique times, and pushing yourself too hard will ultimately harm your business instead of helping it. Learn how to disconnect, take time for yourself, and manage your overall well-being. Make sure to manage the well-being of your team, too