These days, there are endless opportunities for growing a digital business. Unlike brick-and-mortar businesses that need to restrict their marketing efforts to a specific area, digital businesses can cast their nets wider and attract a larger base of customers. And as these businesses are online, they can make full use of the many different online marketing channels and tactics that are available.

No matter what your digital business does or who it’s trying to reach, here are some of the most effective strategies for boosting your business growth.

Create an SEO Strategy

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of making your website more search engine-friendly. When done right, it will help your web pages rank higher in search results, which will send more traffic to your website.

SEO can help you target valuable keywords, which send relevant traffic to your website. This means boosting your online visibility to more potential customers, which is essential for growing a digital business.

Implement Email Marketing

Email marketing is one of the most reliable, and effective, marketing strategies out there It also offers an excellent ROI for any digital business.

Establish a mailing list where you send regular newsletters and updates, You can also apply automation to save time and effort while ensuring your email marketing strategy delivers optimal results.

Develop a Strong Social Media Presence

When it comes to growing any kind of digital business, social media marketing is always essential. Focus on developing a strong presence on the social media channels that your target audience uses the most. Publish helpful content, engage with your audience, and remain active across your social media profiles.

This will help you drive more traffic to your website, reach more customers, increase brand awareness, and ultimately, grow your digital business.

Work With Affiliates

Affiliate marketing is a great way to grow your digital business because you only pay for results. It’s an affordable, yet highly effective, marketing strategy.

Develop an affiliate program that incentivizes people to share and promote your business. This will help you reach a larger audience and increase your promotional efforts without having to do the work yourself.

Create a Content Marketing Strategy

Content forms the foundation of any effective digital marketing strategy. This is what you share across your digital marketing channels to help you attract and engage customers.

Content marketing can include creating SEO-friendly blog posts, publishing videos, recording podcasts, sharing content on social media, and more. When developing your content marketing strategy, make sure that your content interests and adds value to your audience.

Establish a Referral Program

Referral marketing is another highly effective way to grow your digital business with minimal effort. This involves incentivizing people to share your business with their circles in exchange for a reward (like a discount). People trust word-of-mouth referrals from people they know a lot more than marketing messages from brands. This means referral marketing can be a great way to spread brand awareness and acquire new customers.

Run Paid Ads

Paid advertising is the fastest and most effective way of getting your business in front of potential customers. You can run all kinds of different online ads across a range of platforms – like search and social media. The great thing about online advertising is that it lets you be very specific about who your ads target. This means you only pay for your ads to be seen by the right people, which helps grow your business more efficiently.

Make Sure Your Website is Optimized for Success

There’s no point in generating traffic and growing brand awareness if your website isn’t designed for growing your business.

Make sure your website offers an excellent experience and that it’s optimized for conversions. Ensure your website looks professional, offers helpful content, and is easy to navigate. Try to include reviews, testimonials, trust badges, and any other forms of social proof that could help you build trust and credibility.

These are some of the best tactics that any kind of digital business can use to reach more people and generate more sales. Of course, the specific growth tactics you use should depend on who your target audience is, what their online behaviour looks like, and what kind of products or services you offer.

By establishing a broad digital marketing strategy and developing a strong online presence, you will be able to boost brand awareness and reach more potential customers. Focus on consistently growing each online channel, and it should result in steady business growth.

These days, customers have many different payment options available. This includes Apple Pay – an easy contactless payment solution for people with Apple devices. It’s always a good idea to offer as many relevant payment options as you can for your customers. This will make it easier for more people to pay for your business, which could help you access more customers.

This guide covers exactly how your business can accept Apple Pay.

How Does Apple Pay Work?

Apple Pay is a mobile wallet payment system developed by Apple. The app uses near-field communication (NFC) technology to transmit payments between devices. Basically, this means you can tap your phone that has Apple Pay installed on it to a payment device, and the payment will go through. NFC is a type of wireless payment system that is gaining enormous popularity across the world. So, it only makes sense for your business to utilize it.

How to Set Up Apple Pay for Your Business

Expanding your payment options to include Apple Pay is easy to do. As long as you have the right equipment, you can set this up very quickly.

Here are the basic steps you’ll need to follow.

Get an NFC-Enabled Payment Terminal

The first thing your business needs to accept Apple Pay is an NFC-enabled payment terminal. Without this, you won’t be able to accept any kind of contactless payments.

Luckily, there are many different payment terminal options that exist. This includes plenty of affordable payment terminals that are easy to set up. Before purchasing a payment terminal, ask the provider if it can accept contactless NFC payments.

You also need to make sure the hardware you choose works with your business’s POS and payment software. Some POS systems have dedicated hardware solutions, while other payment terminals can work with multiple POS systems.

Set Up the NFC Card Reader

Set up the NFC card reader so that it works with your POS software. The card reader provider should have clear instructions available on how to set this up. Make sure that Apple Pay and contactless payments are enabled. Test to see if it works, then place the card reader somewhere that’s easily accessible.

Train Your Staff

Make sure that your staff is properly trained to accept and manage Apple Pay payments. In many cases, POS systems and card readers are set up for Apple Pay, but the staff isn’t aware that this is an option. Most POS systems are very intuitive, but it’s still a good idea to run everyone through how Apple Pay works to make sure everyone knows how to use the system.

Advertise Apple Pay

Once your business is all set up with Apple Pay, it’s a good idea to promote that you accept this payment method. You could do this with a small sticker or sign placed near your card terminal.

Using Apple Pay On Different Systems

The steps above are all it takes to accept Apple Pay in your business. However, different payment terminals and payment processing software options work in their own unique ways.

It’s always a good idea to contact your payment terminal and POS vendors to ask about any specifics in setting up Apple Pay for your business.

Using Apple Pay for E-commerce

You can also set up Apple Pay on your online store. To do this, make sure that your eCommerce and payment processing providers accept Apple Pay. They should provide clear instructions on how to enable it.

Should Your Business Accept Apple Pay?

Accepting Apple Pay is an excellent idea for any business. As you can see, it takes very little time and effort to set up accepting these payments. Chances are, your payment terminal is also already able to accept Apple Pay too.

Accepting Apple Pay can make payments more convenient for your customers, which improves the customer experience. A frictionless payment process can also result in more repeat business. Apple Pay is also a secure payment method, which makes it preferred by many consumers.

So, if your business wants to keep customers happy and stay ahead of consumer trends, then accepting Apple Pay is definitely something you should do.

Accepting Apple Pay can be a great way to improve your customers’ experiences. It’s simple to set up, and once you have it implemented, you can offer a wider range of payment options to help you generate more sales. Whether you’re an in-person or online business, this is always a good idea.

There’s a lot that can go wrong when running a business. From natural disasters to cyberattacks and poor business management, business crises are only too common. This is why it’s so important for business owners to develop a clear plan to avert a possible business crisis. Whatever kind of crisis your business could face, here are some of the best steps and tactics to implement.

Focus on Regular Training Sessions

One of the best ways to avert a business crisis is to conduct regular training sessions across your business. This helps keep team members up to date with the latest crisis management techniques. It also ensures everyone has fresh knowledge of best practices for their performance.

It’s also a good idea to implement regular drills and simulations to practice crisis management under realistic conditions. This makes it easier for your team to understand their roles and responsibilities in the event of a business crisis, which makes implementing a crisis management plan more effective.

Develop a Crisis Management Plan

In order to efficiently avert a business crisis, you should have a solid crisis management plan in place. This lays out the exact steps and procedures you can take to prevent and recover from possible issues.

The first step in developing a crisis management plan is establishing what possible risks could affect your business. Start by making a list of all the potential threats that could harm your business.

Once you have established what potential crises exist, you can consider the risk factor of each one. Think about how likely it would be for the crisis to occur and what kind of damage it could generate.

Now you can rank each crisis in order of risk, and establish a plan of action to mitigate the risk of each one. The plan should include clear steps to take to mitigate the risk of the crisis, prevent the crisis, and recover from a possible crisis.

Establish Crisis Management Roles and Responsibilities

When you have a crisis management plan in place, you’ll want to establish a crisis management team. This involves handing out certain crisis management roles and responsibilities to different individuals.

This will generally involve a crisis management leader in charge of the team, as well as various other team members with clear responsibilities. Ensure there is a solid communication plan between the crisis management team, and that everyone is clear on what they need to do in the event of a business crisis.

Prepare Your Business for Fast Responses

If you’re going to avert a business crisis, then you need to be ready to respond to the crisis as soon as possible. Ideally, this involves identifying signs of the crisis before it takes place so that you can prevent it from happening.

One of the best ways to implement rapid responses is to keep an eye on your business data and analytics. Constantly monitor business performance, and identify any trends or occurrences that are out of the ordinary. This could signal a potential crisis about to happen.

Of course, having your crisis management plan and team, in place also means you can respond to the crisis as swiftly as possible.

Consider Crisis Management Software

Crisis management software systems exist that could help you deal with potential risks your business faces. This could include software tools for communication and incident management in the event of a crisis.

Compare various software options and understand exactly what you ended from the system. The right crisis management software could help you respond to incidents a lot more swiftly.

Constantly Review Your Business Plan

One of the best ways to avert a business crisis is to constantly review your business plan. At the start of each year and each quarter, go over your business plan and look for possible problem areas and trigger points. Understand what you will do when you reach these trigger points and try to factor in a plan B.

This will help you be prepared for any surprises or incidents of underperformance in your business. Always be as critical as possible when reviewing your business plan to help you identify possible issues that could arise.

Knowing how to avert a business crisis is essential. It could save your business operations, and help you get through any kind of difficulties your business faces that are beyond your control.

While you can’t always prevent crises from happening, you can have a clear plan to mitigate their risks and recover from them. Following the steps above should help you achieve this

Finding success in farming relies a lot on finding the perfect agricultural equipment suppliers in South Africa. The right equipment is not only a necessity, but can also result in increased productivity and profitability for a farm.

Agricultural equipment is a long-term and costly investment, so it’s important to do your research ahead of time. Some considerations when working with a supplier are the quality of their equipment, affordability, after-sales support, and local availability. Your supplier should also be able to help you navigate challenges, such as any budget constraints and a lack of technical knowledge; ensuring that you ultimately get a good return on investment. Other factors to consider, according to SA Wine Farms, are additional costs such as “services, part replacements, additional attachments, insurance and any other hidden costs”.

Read: ​​Here’s What You Should Know to Start a Business in the Agriculture Sector 

Must-have agricultural equipment

There are various pieces of essential agricultural equipment that small farm owners in South Africa should consider. These include tractors,which is considered to be one of the most important and most used tools, planting and harvesting equipment and irrigation machinery such as sprinklers.

Renting vs. buying

Farmers have the option to rent or buy the agricultural equipment they need. Some factors influencing decision-making are cost-effectiveness, equipment maintenance and flexibility, and investment considerations.

Renting can be a good option for farmers who only need certain machinery for a specific time, or those with limited funds or restrained cash flow, as it often comes with lower payments and upfront cost. However, there are advantages to purchasing equipment outright, such as asset building, and having greater control, as you do not have any limitations on the use of equipment.

Financing options for agricultural equipment purchases in South Africa

There are a number of different financing options available to small business owners in South Africa who wish to invest in agricultural equipment, including business loans, leasing, grants, and government assistance programmes.

Read: Agriculture Funding Opportunities in South Africa 

Some of the most well-known government organisations businesses can look to include, the Black Industrialists Scheme that supports black entrepreneurs, the IDC Agro-processing and Agriculture Strategic Business Unit programme, that supports new or existing companies within the agro-processing and greater agricultural sector. For women-owned enterprises, the Isivande Women’s Fund (IWF) specialises in providing debt financing to women-owned businesses, including those in the agricultural sector.

Another popular option is a traditional bank loan if you meet all their requirements. Some of the considerations they will look at are the farmer’s and farm’s financial history, the farmer’s capabilities, cash repayment ability and whether they can provide collateral.

Download: 20+ Business Funding Opportunities for Entrepreneurs in the Agricultural Sector

Get a full list of agricultural funds for the following categories/businesses:

• Field crop farming
• Animal production
• Dairy farming
• Food & agricultural value chain
• Agro-processing
• PLUS – Niche funds for Black and Women-owned agriculture businesses

Dairy farming continues to be a lucrative opportunity for entrepreneurs in South Africa. According to South Africa Online, dairy farming is one of the largest agricultural industries in the country.

There’s a lot to consider before starting a dairy farm in South Africa, including having an understanding of the basic principles of farming and the business skills needed to run a sustainable enterprise.

What is dairy farming

Dairy farming involves the “breeding, raising, and utilisation of dairy animals, primarily cows, for the production of milk and the various dairy products processed from it”. This includes milk and products such as butter, cheese and yoghurt.

Dairy industry overview

South Africa has a large dairy industry. There are currently about 1200 dairy farms and 1.2 million dairy cows in South Africa, and industry employs 26,000 people. This is according to statistics provided to the Daily Churn by Milk SA, a non-profit promoting South African dairy.

South Africa continues to see an increase in demand for dairy products, similar to other countries across the globe. This means there is great growth potential, profitability and opportunities present for aspiring entrepreneurs.

The industry is, however, not without its challenges. The dairy sector can be challenging for emerging farmers as it does need a large scale production to start being profitable. Other obstacles identified by Milk SA are the “high intensity of milk production and risk factors such as milk quality and safety” and “requirement for specialised knowledge”. Both factors keeps aspiring farmers out of the industry.

The basics of starting a dairy farm in South Africa

To succeed in this industry, it’s important that aspirant farmers know the fundamental steps involved in starting a dairy farm in South Africa. These basics include land selection, breed selection, facilities, regulations, and financial considerations.

Land selection

A successful dairy farm requires adequate farmland, located in an agricultural area.

Some of the important considerations when choosing land for a dairy farm in South Africa, according to Milk SA are: a dependable source of electricity available, distance to market. Additional requirements are good road infrastructure, and availability of electricity and good water supply, as well as good pasture.

Read: How to Start a Farming Business in South Africa

Breed selection

The success of a dairy enterprise is dependent on choosing the right breed of cow. According to Food for Mzansi, the cow you select determines the amount of milk produced by the herd, which in turn has an impact on your profit. There are currently six cattle breeds that are considered ideal for a dairy operation. The most popular breed, however is the Holstein-Freisland. Beyond milk production capabilities, other factors farmers must consider are adaptability to local climates, and disease resistance.

Equipment

You will also need the right equipment to get started. Dairy farming requires substantial equipment and infrastructure to run a dairy farm effectively. Some of the facilities that a new farm will need include milk tanks, milk palours and sheds, feeding systems and cooling equipment

Despite the challenges present, dairy farming remains a lucrative opportunity if you can cover the rather extensive capital and land requirements. With the proper planning and adequate infrastructure, there is plenty of opportunity for small-scale farmers to start and grow a dairy business in South Africa.

Unethical business practices can have an adverse impact on all businesses, regardless of size. On an organisational level this can include employees being encouraged to perform unethical or illegal acts or turning a blind eye to the misconduct of peers.

For a business, unethical business practices can result in a ruined reputation which can have a disastrous impact on their bottom line. On the other hand, businesses that are ethical and transparent stand to benefit in a number of ways as consumers look to support businesses aligned with their values.

Read the full article: Are you running an honest company? 

The guide below outlines the most common unethical business practices in South Africa and ways to reduce ethical risk.

Corruption

Business corruption is defined as “the abuse of entrusted power for private gain”, this can include a number of unethical business practices and illegal activities such as bribery, fraud and money laundering, among others.

Bribery

Bribery involves “offering, giving, soliciting, or receiving of any item of value as a means of influencing the actions of an individual holding a public or legal duty.

Research by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) found that bribery was flagged by many small business owners as a major business growth impediment in South Africa. The research found that SMEs are most likely to encounter bribery when dealing with public sector officials.

Read more: How to Avoid Getting Burned by Bad Clients

Fraud

Small businesses should take the risk of fraud seriously. It usually involves using false information to scam an organisation. To avoid this happening to you, do not share business or personal information until you are sure about the legitimacy of the potential recipient. Other tips businesses owners can use include the following:

1. Update all changes to your business information
2. Report all suspicious incidents
3. Closely monitor your business bank accounts
4. Control access to your business accounts

Read the full article: What are you doing to protect your business against fraud? 

Unethical suppliers

It’s important for small businesses to vet and select ethical suppliers and business partners as bad players can have an impact on the business. Comprehensive background checks can help businesses avoid dishonest suppliers and provide invaluable insights, says Michelle Baron-Williamson, executive of Managed Integrity Evaluation (MIE), in the article ‘Supplier vetting on the rise in South Africa’. In fact, advance vetting services can highlight any conflict of interest between, or fraudulent activity relating to vendors and employees, identify tender collusion and irregularities.

Read the full article: Supplier vetting on the rise in South Africa 

Need help finding the right strategic alliances, partners, collaborators, sub-contractors? Regine le Roux from Reputation Matters offers the following advice for small business owners.

• Stay true to your values and align with people that share and demonstrate the same values.
• Open and honest channels of communication are key.
• Respect and safeguard each other’s intellectual property.
• Have a process in place when selecting who you want to do business with and stick to it! As part of this process, check all the parties’ competencies. Conducting “values and ethics” due diligence is important.
• Have checks and balances in place throughout each project to ensure its on track and on par with your level of service.
• Have clear deliverables and milestones in place against a payment plan so that you don’t get to the end of a project and questions about invoicing and billing only raised then.

Business cards might seem like an outdated marketing tool in today’s digital world. However, many businesses still use them and are achieving great results from them too.

So, are business cards still worth it? The short answer is yes! When done right, there’s a lot of value you can gain from offering business cards. Of course, this is all dependent on what type of business you run, what kind of design you use, and how you hand out the business cards. To help you understand the case of business cards in more detail, here are some of the main advantages of using them.

Business Cards are a Direct Marketing Tool

The beauty of using business cards is that they’re one of the most direct ways of connecting your brand to potential customers. Business cards create a completely tangible connection. In today’s digital world, this kind of physical connection is more impactful than ever. A business card can also be kept and referred to later. This helps make your business more memorable and keeps your business at the front of people’s minds. By carefully considering your business card ensign and executing this well, handing out business cards can make a lasting impression on your target customers.

Creates a Strong First Impression

Handing someone a business card generally initiates the first impression they have of your brand. By creating business cards with an outstanding and interesting design, you’ll be able to create a sense of “wow” and generate a stronger first impression. Offering well-designed business cards reflects your business’s professionalism, personality, and creativity. This is all very important for introducing new people to your brand.

They’re Great for Networking

If you’re networking with potential clients, having a few business cards at the ready can help you create a much stronger connection with these people. Business cards let you exchange information quickly and efficiently, making it a lot easier to connect with more people. With a great business card. Making new connections can also become a lot more memorable. Business cards can help make your business stand out in people’s minds, leaving a lasting impression on your new network.

Building a Stronger Brand

Business cards are just one of many different tools you can use to display your brand identity. By printing business cards, you can instantly get your branding out, and reinforce your brand identity. This means potential customers can understand what your brand is about straight away – before they even research what your business does. Again, this adds to your professionalism and can help you develop a more memorable brand.

Business Cards are Efficient

Even if your business card is not particularly creative or interesting, it’s still one of the fastest ways to exchange all of your important details. You can include all the relevant contact information and business details a client might need to know, and exchange this in a matter of seconds. If you had to ask people to pull out their phones each time you wanted to share your business number, this could waste time and create a negative first impression.

Modern Business Cards Are Exciting

You can now create business cards with scannable QR codes, or even add NFC technology to them. You can print business cards in a wide range of materials, shapes, and designs. From transparent business cards to circular business cards, there are endless ways you can use these cards to make a strong impression. This means business cards can still be an exciting way to engage with your audience.

Digital Business Cards Exist

If you feel that traditional business cards don’t make sense for your brand, there’s still the option of creating digital business cards. This lets you utilize the power of business cards without needing to print anything.

Digital business cards work by sending all of your business information to someone at the tap of a button. You could get people to scan a QR code to access the digital business card, or they could add their contact details and get sent the business card digitally. While they’re not quite the same as the instant transaction you get from a printed business card, they’re an alternative worth looking into.

Conclusion

When done right, printing business cards can be a great idea. Just try to make your business cards memorable and unique for them to make an impact. Of course, you should also be careful that you hand them out to the right people in the right situation. When done properly, business cards can still be a valuable marketing tool for any business.

Are you actively posting on social media but aren’t getting the attention or results you’re after?

This is only too common. Social media is highly competitive, and ever-changing algorithms can make it tough to get your content seen by enough people. This doesn’t necessarily mean you’re creating bad social media content; it might just mean you’re focusing your effort in the wrong places. While there’s a lot that determines your social media success, here are some common reasons why social media might not be working for your business.

You’re Pushing Your Products Too Hard

A common mistake that businesses make on social media is being too salesy. Sure, you’re there to generate more customers and sales, but pushing your products too hard will annoy people. People use social media to discover content that interests and engages them. This means successful social media content should add value to your audience and not just promote what you sell. Try to create entertaining, educational, interesting, or inspiring posts. Of course, you’ll want to include your products or service in these posts, but don’t make generating sales your primary focus.

You’re Not Considering the Entire Customer Journey

Customers typically have many different touchpoints with a brand before making a purchase. This means it’s not common for someone to discover your brand on social media and then make a purchase immediately. Instead, they might visit social media, then your website, then sign up for your mailing list and only then make a purchase decision.

When posting on social media, it’s important to understand the entire journey a customer typically takes with your brand. This will help your social media content promote the next best step (like sending traffic to your blog) instead of just trying to promote a direct sale.

You’re Not Social Enough

Never forget the social aspect of social media. No social media channel is designed as a one-way communication system. Instead, social media platforms exist so that you can actively engage with your audience.

As a brand, consumers expect to be able to connect and engage with you on social media. So, use your social media presence to respond to queries, offer insights, and engage with your audience. Another important thing here is to reveal your brand’s personality. Social media is a great place to show the people behind your business and display the human side of your brand. Getting this right will help you create a more meaningful and personal connection with your audience.

You’re On the Wrong Channels

A common social media mistake is focusing on the wrong channels. You might post awesome content, but this doesn’t mean much if it’s not reaching your target audience. Instead of trying to cover all of your social media bases, rather choose one or two channels to focus on and build a meaningful and highly-engaged audience on these channels.

The best social media channels depend on your business and who your customers are. Try to understand the different demographics on each channel and what kind of content people want to see on each channel. Ultimately, you’ll only succeed on social media if it connects you with your target customers.

You Don’t Use All The Available Features

You can do a lot with social media, with each social network constantly updating and releasing new features. It’s important to stay on top of the latest social media trends and developments if you’re going to attract and engage a larger audience.

For example, you can sell directly on some social media channels, access a wide range of different video features, create live videos, post trending content, and more. If you just stick to what you know, you’ll struggle to stay relevant and interesting.

Social media moves quickly, so you should always try new things to engage your audience. By actively experimenting with new features and developments, you’ll have a far greater chance of cracking social media algorithms and boosting your popularity.

A successful social media strategy is about being active on the right channels, posting content your audience wants to see, and ensuring your social media efforts align with your overall marketing strategy. You’ll probably need to do plenty of experimenting and testing before you get this right.

Once you do nail it, social media can be an incredibly powerful tool for attracting new customers, generating sales, and growing your brand. Just be consistent and understand your audience as much as possible. This will help you create content that has the best possible impact.

SEE ALSO: THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA FOR SMALL BUSINESSES.

All types of businesses need to create reports at some stage. Whether it’s a financial report, a marketing report, or an overall business performance report, understanding how to create these documents is important.

There’s a lot that can go into creating a business report. However, you want to make sure that you keep the report clear, concise, and focused on a few key points. This is necessary for helping the report achieve its purpose.

To help you out, here are five guidelines and steps you can follow when creating a business report.

1.  Establish What Type Of Report You Need

Before you start creating your business report, you need to be clear on what type of report you need. The type of report you create should be based on what you want the report to achieve.

Here are a few common types of business reports you can create:

• Compliance reports: A compliance report looks into whether an organisation is following all of the relevant laws and regulations to see how the company is performing and assess areas in the company that could improve compliance.
• Recommendation reports: These reports cover different courses of action a company could take and recommend the best option.
• Progress reports: These are reports that outline an organisation or team’s progress on a certain project or goal.
• Feasibility reports: Feasibility reports look into the costs, risks, and possibilities of a plan or proposal to determine whether it’s worth the organisation pursuing.

These are just a few examples of business reports. So establish what you want the report to achieve, and then you can plan out the report properly.

2.  Structure the Business Report

Before you write the business report, establish a structure the report will follow. The business report structure should be intuitive, easy to follow, and break the report down into key sections.

Some of the main sections a business report Should cover includes:

• The title page of the report outlines what the report is about and the key details it covers
• Table of contents to make the report easier to navigate
• An introduction to establishing what the report is about and what it aims to achieve
• Methods and findings that outline how data was researched and used. Graphs and charts are great ways to display key data findings.
• A conclusion that wraps up the report’s key findings and summarises what the report covered.

While each report will look different, these are the basic elements the report should include.

3.  Make the Report Easy to Read

Even though your report might contain a lot of detailed information, you want to make sure it’s easy to skim and quickly digest. To do this, try to focus on making the facts clear, and visualizing data in the form of charts and graphs. Include brief summaries of key sections and findings, and make the headings of each section in the reported crystal clear. People should be able to open the report and quickly find the information and takeaways they’re looking for.

4.  Proofread the Report

This may sound obvious, but make sure you take the time to carefully proofread your report. Double-check all facts and figures, and ensure there are no spelling or grammatical mistakes.

You should also ensure all citations are properly used for your data, and that the report is easy to read with data that’s easy to understand. Simplify anything your reader might struggle to grasp. Remember, business reports should always be very clear and straightforward.

5.  Keep it Professional

When writing a business report, you’ll want to keep your tone professional. Use formal English, back up any claims you make with statistics, and try to maintain an objective position. Business reports should not be emotional in any way. Instead, they should focus on facts and data findings to establish a clear position on what the report aims to achieve.

Avoid using words like “seems” or “feels” and always try to back up anything you say with data. This gives the business report more credibility. No matter what type of business report you need to make, these are the general guidelines you should always follow. Most importantly, establish what you want to achieve from the report and make it easy to read and understand. Back everything up with data, and ensure your report maintains an objective, professional tone.

Once you master writing business reports, you can use this skill in many different areas of running your business. This is a valuable skill that any entrepreneur or professional should know.

Small business owners must find innovative ways to overcome competition in the market and come out ahead.

Businesses compete with each other for customers in a variety of ways, whether by price, quality or the customer service they offer. According to Hubspot, there are three types of competitors – direct competitors that offer the same or similar product or services to the same market. Indirect competitors sell different products, but target the same market and help solve the same problem. Lastly, replacement competitors offer an alternative to the product you offer, but in a different way.

This guide will cover the best ways to overcome your competition and get customers to choose your business every time.

1. Study your competition

No matter what business you’re in, there is a lot to gain from studying your competition. Areas to focus on are their marketing and branding tactics, customer service processes, and how they run their business on a day to day basis. This data can inform how business owners run their product/service innovation, how they advertise and position themselves in the market.

A good way to collect high-quality and relevant insights about your competition is by conducting online research. You can start by checking the first page of Google results page for the product/service you offer and see which businesses rank high. Similarly, you can check the keywords you are currently targeting to identify other businesses targeting the same ones. Social media is also a good place to find out which businesses are the most popular in your category.

Small businesses can also perform market research using resources such as industry surveys and reports and by running an email campaign to get feedback from potential customers

2. Make friends with your competitors

The presence of competition in your market is not necessarily a bad thing. This is because competition validates that the market is growing and has potential. Additionally, your competitors can help you gauge how well your business is performing and where you may need to make changes .

Dr Thommie Burger, founder of JTB Consulting says you competition can help point out your strengths and weaknesses.

“They may also help you focus and set your concentration on what you’re really good at. Your weaknesses help you become better, while your strength drives you to achieve more.”

Finally, competition is not only good for your business, it’s good for consumers, he adds.

“When there is competition among brands, consumers get the opportunity to choose on which business they can spend their time, money and attention.”

Read: 11 Reasons to Love Your Competitors

3. Find your competitive edge

Your differentiation factor or “Unique Selling Proposition” demonstrates to customers what you have to offer that your competitors cannot.

Jannie Rossouw, head, Sanlam Business Market says business owners must give your customers and potential customers a reason to buy from them.

Rossouw offers the following practical ideas that can convince more clients to buy from you instead of your competition.

• Offer free delivery
• Offer online shopping
• Provide longer warranties
• Schedule appointments with customers at a time convenient for them and arrive on time
• Customise your product/service offer
• Have a location at a convenient place from a customer perspective

Read: How to Use Differentiation Factor to Stand Out 

In the end it all boils down to convincing the customer to choose your business. Make it clear what makes your business unique and how you can solve your customer’s pain points to stay ahead.