The manifold benefits of using checks to transact might be the reason why the mode of payment has not become obsolete in a highly digitized world. To make check payments a smooth process, businesses set up in-house check printing systems. If done right, a check printing setup can be a $500-$600 investment. However, some common setup mistakes can make the process unnecessarily expensive.

Office Check Printing

Relying on Banks for Check Supply

When you return to your bank for a set of checks, you might be refused the service or even worse, be charged an exorbitant price. Banks hire the services of check printing vendors, and quote exorbitant prices for the checks. To create your office check printing setup, you can directly order checks from these vendors. So, buying checks from a bank can be the first costly mistake you can make.

Believe in Claims of the Cheapest Price

When you are looking to buy checks from vendors you need to compare the prices offered by the various vendors. Websites like Amazon claim to offer the lowest prices. However, it would be best if you did not trust these promises with your eyes closed. Always conduct some research to compare the prices offered by different vendors. Your second costly mistake can be blindly trusting vendor claims of offering the lowest prices.

Not Buying Blank Checks

Printed checks can cost you around $80 for a 300-check set. However, blank checks can cost you somewhere around $25 for 500 sheets. Blank checks are the cheaper option. If you do choose to buy blank checks, then you need to buy magnetic ink for your office check printing setup. Blank checks do not come with the MICR code that needs to be printed on with the magnetic ink. The combined cost of purchasing blank checks and magnetic ink will still be less than the cost of printed checks. Your third costly mistake will be not setting up a blank check printing system.

Skipping QuickBooks

Human error and cost of accounting can be reduced with the help of RPA software. QuickBooks is a popular RPA software that businesses use for a variety of functions. It would help if you bought QuickBooks compatible checks for printing using the software. However, there is third party software that can help QuickBooks print blank checks. If you do not invest in QuickBooks, you will need to invest in an accounting team to take care of the payment system. So, not investing in a QuickBooks account could be your fourth costly mistake.

Printing Checks Using a Common Office Printer

For your office check printing setup, you should have a separate printer. If you have a common printer, you can still print checks, but it increases the chances of error. You have to keep constantly inserting check papers before printing. By forgetting to do so, you might waste resources printing on a regular blank paper. Leaving check paper inserted can lead to someone printing something else onto the check paper. Your fifth costly mistake which will lead to time and resource waste will be not investing in a separate printer.

An office check printing setup is a good investment if done right. Avoid these common mistakes to make your investment a smart one. 

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Marketing Fundamentals Ltd is a B2B Content Marketing Agency in London that creates Content and manages Social Media for Professional Services firms. We hope you find this information useful.

If you would like our help creating and executing a Content Marketing Plan for your business or organisation give us a call on +44 (0) 845 2264 247. You can also email us via mail@marketingfundamentals.com

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Business loans are the lifeblood of smaller companies, and if you need to get a cash injection for your tech company, there are a number of considerations you should weigh up before taking action.

The first is whether you need to get a business loan at all, or whether you might be able to raise the cash you need by changing business practices and releasing cash that is currently being wasted. Often companies can find cost savings within their existing processes and creating additional efficiencies can sometimes solve a cash-flow problem.

The second consideration is whether your team works at full capacity. Can headcount be reduced?  Redundancies are not nice but they may unlock additional funds from payroll savings.

The third consideration, is what is your data telling you? Fully detailed performance reporting of the past 1 to 5 years should inform your decisions. In addition, you will need a solid business plan that demonstrates to yourself and your management team what can be achieved and when you are likely to improve your cash-flow.

Following the process described above, you may decide that you want to borrow funds. It could be for a concrete purpose like buying a machine or recruiting a certain person or it could be just to finance  your ongoing operations. Whatever the reason is, deciding you want external funding is just the beginning of the process.

Bank Versus Lender

There are a lot of lenders out there in the Australian market and picking the right company or bank to provide you with the funding is essential for a healthy and useful process. The ins and outs of each lender and bank are too difficult to explain, but showing the differences between the two is very possible.

As per this comparison between banks and online lenders made by Small Business Loans Australia, non-bank lenders are generally more expensive, less difficult to deal with and are much quicker to respond than banks.

How Much do You Need to Borrow?

Your first consideration should be how much money you need to borrow from the bank. It can be tempting to keep the amounts to a minimum, so you are not paying out more than you need to. But borrowing too little can be as problematic for a business as borrowing too much, because it could mean being forced to return to borrow more sooner than you might otherwise be comfortable with.

A good rule of thumb will dictate that you will need to borrow funds to keep your business alive for at least 6 more months at current revenue pace, or will help facilitate such a line of cash-flow earlier. That rule of thumb will also say that you should never borrow money for periods shorter than this, because this means you will need to borrow additional capital within the next months.

So, be realistic not only about the amount you need to borrow, but the amount you are likely to be able to borrow and choose an amount that allows you to achieve your aims without creating additional cash-flow stress for you or your business.

What Will Your Bank Need to Know?

Once you know how much you need to borrow, prepare your documentation to take to your bank to convince them that your business is a good ‘risk’ for it to loan to. Your bank will need to know what you want the business loan for – and if you are a start-up or a relatively new business, you may find it difficult to give these details exactly.

Remember to take your business plan and financial statements, with these it should be easier to demonstrate what the money you are borrowing will be used for. Your financial statements will give  your bank a clear indication of your profit and loss, cash-flow, assets and liabilities.

Creating your bank-oriented business plan

Spending time researching your business and the market you are targeting is essential to create a viable business plan. It can take more time researching a good plan than it does writing one, so be prepared to put in the leg work.

That loose business plan you’ve devised before even applying for a loan? It’s mostly irrelevant because banks can be overzealous when it comes to business plans.

You also need to provide a strategy for marketing, your product development, and your financial forecasts to show any potential investors, including a bank or other institution lending you money, where your business is likely to be in three to five years.

Your credit score

One of the key measures which determines whether your bank will lend you money will be your credit history, whether that is just for your business or your own personal credit history too. If your business has not been established for long, your personal credit score will be taken into consideration. So ensure you have spent time cleaning up your own credit score if you are trying to borrow at an early stage.

Most companies do not know what their credit score is, or how to improve it. Almost three out of five small business owners have never checked their credit score according to research from Experian and that is not good business practice.

Make your credit score more healthy

Any lender will check your company’s credit score, and you should be checking this yourself on a regular basis. As the Experian website states: “A healthy credit score is made up of three key elements: robust information, sound financial management and regular monitoring.” If you have applied for a number of loans in quick succession, these credit searches for each institution will be listed on your credit score and could be detrimental. Lenders will be concerned about that kind of action, as it suggests a desperate pattern of behaviour that flags your business as having a higher level of risk.

It may be that you need to spend some time working on improving your credit score to make your business more appealing. You can do a number of things to achieve this, such as paying any invoices due promptly, collaborating with your suppliers so they provide feedback on your payment records, and providing as much additional data to credit reference agencies as you can. It has become harder for businesses to get a loan, so the more you can do to improve your business’s chances, the more chance you have of getting the money your business needs to grow.

What will an Online Lender Need to Know?

Generally speaking, online lenders are more technology oriented so a lot of the legwork should be done automatically. Upon signing up you will need to provide either certain documents from your bank, and/or connect the lender to your credit card processor or PayPal account to verify the levels of revenue. The decision whether your web design or web development business be approved will be done automatically with little to no human involvement and the reply will be sent to you in between 1 and 72 hours.

Final words – How to Treat Business Loans

A business loan is not an easy decision to make and is not an easy process to initiate in. Unless you need funds urgently, you will need to develop patience and endurance. Financing your business is a marathon and not a 100 metres sprint.

B2B Content Marketing Agency London

Marketing Fundamentals Ltd is a B2B Content Marketing Agency in London that creates Content and manages Social Media for Professional Services firms. We hope you find this information useful.

If you would like our help creating and executing a Content Marketing Plan for your business or organisation email us via mail@marketingfundamentals.com

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This is one of those awkward questions, really, like Coke or Pepsi, only more complicated because there’s a lot more companies making printers than just two rivals.

Printer Brands

Of course a lot of this answer depends on what you’re looking for in a printer – if you’re after great photos, then Canon is your go-to machine. If you want a good all-rounder that doesn’t break the bank, then Hewlett Packard is a good solution. If you are confused about which brand or model to go for, have a chat with a friendly printer ink retailer like cartridgepeople.com, as they’ll set you on the right track for your needs.

However, everyone loves lists, so here are the top seven printer brands, collated from an infinite number of consumer and industry surveys.

 1. Canon Inc.

This Japanese multinational has been specialising in the making of cameras, as well as other imaging products, for more than 80 years now. It also makes medical equipment, photocopiers and printers (or it wouldn’t be here…) and is renowned for its accurate, sharp photo printers. Click here for one example to consider.

2. Hewlett Packard

Another multinational, this IT company is American and supplies households, small, medium and huge businesses, the government, education and health sectors with machines of all kinds. Including printers, obviously. An HP printer is seen as a printer for all seasons, and its wireless models are especially well-regarded. Click here for one example to consider.

3. Brother Industries

Another Japanese multinational, Brother makes everything from typewriters (yes, they still exist.) to sewing machines, as well as multifunction printers. Brother printers are particularly known for their toughness and reliability. Click here for one example to consider.

4. Xerox

Everyone’s heard of Xerox and its photocopiers. The American multinational also makes pretty decent printers that are known for their sharpness and accuracy; the company also scores highly for its excellent after-sales care and customer service. Can’t be bad. Click here for one example to consider.

5. Ricoh

One of the lesser-known printer brands in the list, but this Japanese company’s wares are well-liked for their longevity and great reliability. The print quality won’t blow you away – it’s very good, but then so are lots of others – but what does impress customers is the smooth running of the machines and the good care when snags do occur. Click here for one example to consider.

6. Konica Minolta

Another Japanese company specialising in optical instruments and the like. The company is less well-known for its printers, but it makes quite a good range, including some larger specialist models. They’re not as cheap as many other brands can be, and there have been a few gripes about poor customer service. However, a KM printer usually serves its master well for quite a long time, so if you’re after something special, have a look. Click here for one example to consider.

7. Kyocera

Here come the Japanese again – they really know their stuff when it comes to optical instruments and printing, so you can’t go too far wrong with any of their brands, really. Kyocera laser printers are especially well-regarded for business and industrial use, with many customers describing them as a workhorse! Kyocera might not be the best choice for a domestic setting, unless you have an above average budget, but you won’t regret buying one. Click here for one example to consider.

If you have enjoyed this post you will also like, The Rise of the Social Spaces in Offices.

B2B Content Marketing Agency London

Marketing Fundamentals Ltd is a B2B Content Marketing Agency in London that creates Content and manages Social Media for Professional Services firms. We hope you find this information useful.

If you would like our help creating and executing a Content Marketing Plan for your business or organisation give us a call on +44 (0) 845 2264 247. You can also email us via mail@marketingfundamentals.com

On our YouTube channel you will find marketing advice, business advice & inspiration. Subscribe if you work in Marketing for Professional Services or are a business owner or solo-preneur trying to grow your business. New uploads on Wednesdays.

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Social Space in Offices

Offices are no longer tiny, boxy little cubicles where workers toil in isolation – in the last decade, the so-called social space has risen in importance to become possibly the most important part of the workplace.

Social spaces include features like breakout spaces, informal meeting rooms and even big kitchens where people can get up during meetings and grab a coffee for everyone. These rooms or areas have soft lighting, even softer furniture and people bring in their mobile devices to them rather than sitting stiffly at a desktop or round a table.

These spaces aren’t all about the meetings, either, staff members can relax, snack, play a game or even take a quick nap. The relaxing nature of these social – or third – spaces makes the workers in that office space in Surbiton feel comfortable enough to brainstorm and bring in new ideas.

What is the Third Space?

The third space has, up until recently, been the space between work and home, like a coffee shop, where someone could hold a meeting with a colleague or get a bit of work done. Generally the third space has been outside both home and office, but just as work has entered home, home comforts are coming to the office, in the shape of breakout spaces and play areas.

Companies and office space providers are investing in these new areas – time was when purchase orders for panelled cubicles and individual workstations were huge and frequent. Now the money’s going to these social spaces, with kitchens growing in size; third spaces are no longer a perk or a luxury, they’re seen as essential, especially as they facilitate interaction between departments as well as junior and senior management.

How Office Design is Changing

As the needs of different industries change, so do the spaces they occupy.

The rise of IT, especially mobile devices, has led to a downsizing of many offices – in previous decades a lawyer would need his or her own secretary, but now three or four lawyers may share the same assistant. Similarly, libraries and archives are being digitised or stored on the cloud, freeing up space that could serve as a comfortable kitchen.

Home From Home

Increasingly, office fit-outs look more like household interior design, with plush carpets, huge sofas and cosy coffee nooks with adjustable lighting. These spaces are perfect for quiet, concentrated work or for a quick meeting, or, indeed, for a coffee and a chat.

The best thing about these spaces is their flexibility – they are all things to all people. They have to be multi-purpose and many different people use them for many different functions, with no one group or person having ownership of them. Snacking, training, thinking, resting, creating, even a game of table football – it all happens there.

The Techy Stuff

Of course these third spaces need all the latest technology and facilities, with many refurbs and new builds focusing on data points, charging stations, wi-fi and ubiquitous audio-visual equipment. Why spoil the flow of a meeting by moving into a stuffy meeting room because the projector is there? There’s loads of wireless presentation systems that can work anywhere and everywhere.

A Degree of Separation

Third spaces also solve many of the problems associated with open plan offices – a lot of space has been wasted in the past in efforts to separate the geeky IT crew from the chatty sales teams. If an office’s social space involves comfortable, well-upholstered booths, then it’s a natural barrier that actually earns its keep.

B2B Content Marketing Agency London

Marketing Fundamentals Ltd is a B2B Content Marketing Agency in London that creates Content and manages Social Media for Professional Services firms. We hope you find this information useful.

If you would like our help creating and executing a Content Marketing Plan for your business or organisation give us a call on +44 (0) 845 2264 247. You can also email us via mail@marketingfundamentals.com

On our YouTube channel you will find marketing advice, business advice & inspiration. Subscribe if you work in Marketing for Professional Services or are a business owner or solo-preneur trying to grow your business. New uploads on Wednesdays.

Best wishes,

Marketing Fundamentals Team

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This is blog post post number 364.

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Running a business can be a tough gig and anyone who thinks otherwise is either naïve or not too far away from posting an ‘out of business’ sign on their door. The difference between success and failure in business can hinge on effective advertising and the main consideration for most small businesses often boils down to cost. Naturally, every advertiser wants to get more leverage or ‘bang for their buck’.

Until relatively recently, most small businesses would simply purchase space in the yellow pages and perhaps mail out a few hundred fliers and that would be the extent of their advertising campaign. Thankfully, those days have long since passed. The buzzword on the lips of today’s modern marketers is ‘content marketing’. Every serious business owner needs to understand what marketing content means and how harnessing it can literally elevate you above the competition that stubbornly refuses to change with the times.

Traditional Marketing Explained

Traditional marketing is less effective than ever because people have become much more savvy at tuning out of certain types of advertising and are now more sceptical and cynical when it comes to being pitched to. Old forms of marketing seek to create powerful disruptions that grab the consumer’s attention and forcefully insert a chosen message into their awareness; marketers call this phenomenon ‘mindshare’. It’s the space in a customer’s mind that has been imprinted with slogans and associations intended to influence buying behaviour.

Why Content Marketing Wins Every Time

Content marketing doesn’t seek to interrupt in the same way that a television commercial or billboard does. Content marketing is less concerned with overtly telling consumers what to do. Rather, it is a more integrated approach that communicates information that the customer perceives as valuable and then reciprocates by rewarding business with loyalty and purchases.

Content marketing seeks to build an engaging relationship, whereas traditional marketing is more akin to a one-night stand. With traditional marketing, once the deal is over with it’s time to move on to the next conquest. Conversely, content marketers are all about building strong connections and maintaining them so that customers willingly return again and again to a continuing source of satisfaction and value without the need for gimmicks.

No Flimflam Required

All things considered, it is clear to see which of these approaches will yield the best long-term benefits. Those that market their businesses creatively, with a well-designed campaign strategy focused on building and strengthening consumer relationships stand out in sharp relief from the pack of flimflam hucksters whose basic approach is effectively a simplistic ‘look at me, look at me’ grab for attention.

Marketing That Delivers

A marketing professional skilled in the nuances of content marketing will be able to develop and articulate a step-by-step approach that is firmly based in logic and demonstrable techniques. Campaigns are designed according to the type of business being promoted – whether that be Office space Lloyds or a brand new product –as well as being in harmony with the persona or character of the ideal customer.

Every business has good understanding of their typical client and the kind of person that generally purchases and perhaps purchases repeatedly. Not all businesses or customers are the same and a skilled content marketer will know exactly how to leverage both the story of the business and needs of the customer and translate them into greater profits.

The internet has completely changed the way business is done and small business marketing must keep up with the times and adapt. The alternative is to ignore the shift and push on merrily regardless. The right choice is clear.

B2B Content Marketing Agency in London

Marketing Fundamentals Ltd is a B2B Content Marketing Agency in London that creates Content and manages Social Media for Professional Services firms. We also have online resources here and here that help small businesses get started with Content Marketing. If you would like our help planning and executing Content Marketing and Social Media or want to give us a call you can do so via  +44 (0) 845 2264 247 or email us via mail@marketingfundamentals.com

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This is blog post 324. This is a sponsored post.

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Setting up an office – 4 Considerations

1. What will it cost to establish a new office?

As is often said in the residential property market, there are three main criteria for determining price: location, location and location and the same can be said for office space. For most, if not all, new and fledgling companies, money and cash flow is the most important issue. Consequently, the actual cost of setting up an office will always be the most important factor to consider.

Typically, the more ‘central’ office space is to major metropolitan areas. For example, the office space Monument has to offer can be quite expensive, and you may find it to be more cost effective to find a location further out. However, if the significant majority of a company’s main clients are also centrally located – for example a firm of solicitor’s clients – then a significant chuck of potential business could be lost by not being in ‘the thick of it.’

2. Where are your suppliers located? 

If your company is in a business sector specifically related to the supply of a physical product, it might be more advantageous to find a location for your office that is near to either your warehouse, main supplier or, if possible, both. This obviously becomes vitally important if your product is either perishable – food, flowers, confectionery, etc, or you operate in a particularly time sensitive arena. The very last thing you want is a competitor to steal your business while you’re waiting for product to arrive from a warehouse many miles away.

3. Where are your customers?

As previously mentioned, it may be your company’s best option to place your office or workplace as close to your customer base as possible. Specific business sectors that benefit from enjoying a close proximity to their customer base are:

Retail – Setting up a shop away from other shops is a sure fire recipe for disaster. Very few retailers, unless they are extremely specialised, can survive without a regular passing footfall for a majority of their profitable trade.

Industrial – The majority of businesses typically dependent on factors such as logistics and distribution need to be located close to or within industrial centres.

Service – Companies within the service industry will also naturally need to be located as close as possible to the customers they wish to attract.

4. Which area will your workforce come from?

As companies grow, they naturally need to employ staff. If, for example your company requires a highly skilled workforce, you should consider a location perhaps close to a relevant university or affluent suburb. If, however, your business draws to a larger degree on a relatively unskilled workforce, then it might be more advantageous to find a location within a more urban environment

We hope this information has been useful to you. If you’d like to talk to us about marketing your business or you’d like further advice on setting up an office give us a call on +44 845 2264 247 or email us via mail@marketingfundamentals.com to start the conversation.

Best regards,

Marketing Fundamentals Team

Photography – The image featured is of Monument Place  and is included with permission.

This is blog post number 197. This is a sponsored post.

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