The Startup Magazine

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• The 11 Best Ways To Reduce Freight Costs For Your Business
• 6 Realistic Self Care Ideas for Busy People
• 6 Ways to Efficiently Manage Your Trucking Business
• Tips On Implementing The Best Customer Experience Strategy
• Nancy Etz Shares Seven Financial Aid Tips for Startup Owners

The 11 Best Ways To Reduce Freight Costs For Your Business Posted: 30 Nov 2021 11:10 AM PST Freight costs are a significant expense for most businesses. It is also an essential service. The more successful your business becomes, the more you will end up paying in freight. As a result, it is crucial to find ways to reduce freight costs, so that your business can remain as profitable as possible. cargo container ship sailing in sea full of ice in winter Fortunately, there are many ways to help reduce the cost of freight shipping for your business. You should consider all aspects to find the right ways to change your practices and reduce costs. Here we will explore some ways to reduce freight costs and boost your bottom line. Package Your Freight Efficiently Packaging can have a big impact on the cost of freight shipping. The aim is to reduce the overall amount of space that each product takes, allowing you to ship more without increasing costs. You should always consider the safety of your products, particularly if you ship fragile or hazardous items. You should put in the work to find suitable packaging that will reduce the dead space in a load while ensuring that your products are safe. To reduce freight costs, it can also help to use lightweight packaging where possible to reduce the overall weight of your freight. Ship In Bulk Where Possible Shipping in bulk can be a great way to reduce the costs of shipping. Try to find ways to ship larger shipments infrequently. For instance, shipping ten pallets at once will work out cheaper than shipping two pallets every couple of days. You could offer incentives to your customers to buy in bulk. The more you send at once, the less time it will take for loading and offloading, meaning that you will get more competitive rates from carriers. Enter Negotiations With Your Carrier To reduce freight costs, negotiating with your carrier could help you get better rates for shipments. You should look into multiple carriers and avoid choosing the first carrier you come across. Enter negotiations with your top carrier choices to find out if there is any way for you to reduce the cost of shipping. It may help to visit their premises in person or talk on the phone. It is also beneficial to research and find out what kind of rates you can expect to pay. Some businesses have had success by collectively negotiating with their competitors. Choose Off-Peak Times To Ship It may help to choose off-peak times to ship your goods, as these will be cheaper than peak time shipments. Whether you can do this will depend on the type of goods you provide and if shipping off-peak will suit your customers. For instance, if you ship perishable goods, this may not be feasible. Many carriers offer discounted rates for businesses that ship during off-peak times. These include picking up freight later in the day, on weekends or early in the week. It is best to contain several carriers to find out when their off-peak times apply. Get The Right Insurance Sometimes things go wrong during shipping. Naturally, you and your carrier will do all you can to avoid any issues, breakage or spoilage with your shipment, but it is still important to have a backup plan in place to cover an unexpected cost. Finding the right insurance can be an excellent way to be confident that you won't suffer financially from issues with shipping. It is also beneficial to choose a carrier that offers comprehensive insurance on their services. Improve Cross-Docking Practices Cross-docking allows you to ship goods without needing to store them between inbound and outbound shipments. This can reduce costs by eliminating the need for storage in between, as well as improving the speed of delivery. It is a good idea to look for a carrier that offers good cross-docking services and robust safety measures. You can find more tips on improving cross-docking from this excellent article by TransVirtual. Consider How You Want To Ship The way that you ship your goods will have an impact on the cost of shipment. Air transport is the costliest, so it may be beneficial to transport by ship if you ship internationally. If shipping by land, then sending shipments by train is often more cost-effective than by road. Maintain A Good Relationship With Your Carrier Having a good working relationship with your carrier is crucial for a smooth and efficient shipment process. You will need to ensure you can get in touch with your carrier if something goes wrong and that they will be responsive and helpful when you need them. A good relationship can also help if you want to renegotiate your shipment terms. It is a good idea to find out who your point of contact is with your carrier and stay in regular contact with them. The loyalty you show to your carrier will likely be returned, and as a result, they will be keen to keep your business. This can put you in an excellent position to negotiate better terms for your shipping. Verify Delivery Addresses One significant factor in shipping costs is incorrect or incomplete delivery addresses. Fortunately, this is a simple issue to fix. To reduce freight costs, when you take contact details from a customer for delivery, you should verify their address. So that this process doesn't take up undue time for your team, you can integrate address verification software into your website so that each address is automatically verified before customers can place an order. Digitise The Shipping Process Digitising your shipping process can reduce inefficiencies and remove the potential for human error. You could use automationto fill out forms and carry out the inbound and outbound logistics. This can help reduce the time staff need to carry out the work, saving your business money. Consider Product Redesign To reduce freight costs may help to consider a product redesign for items that are the costliest to transport. You should weigh the cost of a redesign against the savings you could make in shipping over time. You could consider ensuring all products are economical in size and weight, making them cheaper to ship and more convenient for your customers. The post The 11 Best Ways To Reduce Freight Costs For Your Business appeared first on The Startup Magazine.

6 Realistic Self Care Ideas for Busy People Posted: 30 Nov 2021 10:51 AM PST While juggling with your busy lives, it's but natural to feel overwhelmed by day-to-day activities. In fact, at such times, you must withdraw and take care of yourselves. Know well that self-care is a right. It's about taking care of yourself regularly to manage daily life pressures and developing means of thriving despite the stress. Hence, self-care habits necessary for regulating and improving your overall well-being. Self-care should begin as soon as you rise, providing you with the energy required to kick-start your day. Furthermore, it should keep you adequately productive all through the day. You might find it challenging to incorporate self-care into your daily routine. Here are 6 realistic self-care ideas for busy people: Begin a morning self-care routine A well-planned morning regime is crucial for managing a hectic lifestyle. So, make and take time for yourself each morning. This way, you can remain balanced and stable, irrespective of the external happenings as you get to work daily. Many of us feel short on time in the day to set new routines for ourselves. However, we fail to realize the amount of time we have for putting simple habits in place. For instance, how about starting your day with refreshing water instead of a cup of coffee? By hydrating as soon as you wake up, you can rejuvenate after long hours of sleep. Try to infuse your morning water with lemons or strawberries and drink this enticing beverage from your favorite glass. Next, how about having a nutritious breakfast to maintain your focus on your job and to provide enough energy until lunchtime? Besides hydration and diet, you must exercise regularly in the mornings. If nothing else, simply take a brisk walk outdoors or try yoga. Morning exercises provide all day-lasting endorphins. Then there are also other simple morning self-care habits you'd like to develop, like jotting down three to-dos for the day and reading the daily newspaper. Image Source Consume kratom How about going herbal for your self-care? Kratom, a tropical evergreen herb, when consumed in moderation, acts as a stimulant. It especially combats fatigue in your day-long work schedule. You can consume fresh or dried leaves of kratom or eat them in powdered form. You can take most popular gold bali kratom powder during your self-care habits process as it helps in mental clarity, focus, motivation, and improved cognitive functions. Add days off to your calendar. This self-care idea will undoubtedly make a significant difference for you. Once you add a day or more off to your calendar, you won't let yourself plan any work. It's worthwhile giving yourself space to unwind. Moreover, you'll effortlessly see the difference between your work's quality post a consecutive 5-day work week versus immediately after day/s off. Spend time with your loved ones. It's important to bond with friends and family as they'd provide unconditional support to boost your mood. Plan a nice family dinner out or hang out with friends at a rocking nightclub. How about taking a vacation, as simple as a one-day getaway or as grand as a luxurious cruise? Else, take an afternoon off and restrain yourself from answering phone calls or checking any emails. While disconnecting this way, you could launder your piled-up clothes or finish reading that gripping novel you've just not found time to complete. Image Source Get enough sleep Getting sufficient sleep is vital to self-care. Also, enough sleep doesn't mean only the total number of hours of sleep but also good-quality sleep. Moreover, following a consistent bedtime daily is necessary. With a consistent sleeping and rising schedule, you'd feel well-rested and look and feel good. Otherwise, you're bound to struggle with maintaining your concentration, brain fog, and exhaustion, given your busy lifestyle. Insufficient sleep not only leaves you unproductive but also keeps you from exercising regularly or pursuing a hobby. So, aim towards getting 7-8 hours of sleep every night for optimal self-care. Image Source Saying 'No' is important We all tend to please people. However, at times, you could find it physically and emotionally exhausting to do something you don't want to. This way, you could also be letting those people affect you, whom you'd be better without. So, refrain from being a people-pleaser and learn to say No. By saying 'No' when you feel appropriate, you're portraying your authentic self in every interaction. Being honest saves a lot of time and lets people know your true feelings. Connect inwards Connecting inwards is another powerful self-care idea. It helps regulate emotions and manage day-to-day stress. When connecting to your inner self, you concentrate on your innate intelligence and pay attention to what it is telling you. This way, you can notice your passing body sensations and emotions. As you delve deep inside yourself, you must observe your inner world out of curiosity and not judge it. This uncovered treasure can certainly teach you to live more authentically. Your hectic schedule can interfere with such a type of self-connection, with busy schedules, family responsibilities, the internet, etc. So, it's imperative to practice connecting inwards regularly. Image Source Conclusion Now you know some realistic self-care ideas to manage your busy lives. These tips are vital to addressing your overall well-being. It might seem overwhelming to start with all of them at once. So, begin by implementing one idea and then gradually work your way. References: https://longevitylive.com/anti-aging/6-ways-busy-people-practice-self-care/ https://www.success.com/12-self-care-tips-for-busy-people/ https://www.lifehack.org/845052/self-care-tips The post 6 Realistic Self Care Ideas for Busy People appeared first on The Startup Magazine.

6 Ways to Efficiently Manage Your Trucking Business Posted: 30 Nov 2021 08:59 AM PST Overseeing every activity of your truck is difficult for some new and independent ventures. If you do it effectively, your activities and overall business will flourish, come up short, and a wide range of obstacles emerge. With the right strategies and tools, overseeing your fleets and truck drivers isn’t quite so troublesome as it might appear. There are numerous ways that your business can improve its fleet management and truck drivers to unlock other various advantages.    Use the Right Management Software A good trucking dispatch software keeps drivers on the best roads consistently. Different elements are considered, like how much does the vehicle or freight weigh? Or any limitations or blockages in the route? This implies lower maintenance expenses and fuel expenses. While the logistic experts can physically plan and put together all the best transport routes, employing management software can guarantee total precision of all procedures without wasting your precious time. Use Tracking System for your Truck and Fleets A tracking system should be installed in all your vehicles to keep track of them in real-time and precisely watch all drivers continuously. GPS  technology has also been beneficial to make maps that follow the route of your transportation. So, fleet managers can be updated about precisely where drivers are without having to risk inaccurate communications. This can likewise assist drivers in keeping focused on their routes and not getting lost. With legitimate tracking of your fleets, you ensure that your trucks stay on the right track while you watch their progress. This is fundamental for productive trucking management.  Use Analytics and Reporting Fleet directors should use fleet management software that can produce precise analytics and reporting from each transportation route. This enables you to make reports for managing your management system and estimating your performance metrics. This lets you follow your drivers’ conduct. The most suitable management software will consider many little things and put them into practice like vehicle idleness, breaking speeds, average speed and regular fuel consumption and expenses. If you don’t have the right analytics, you will battle to know precisely where to put your concentration, and you won’t know whether your efforts to manage and improve your trucking business are achieving results. Correctly estimating the analytics for your performance through precise reporting is vital for effectively managing your trucking operations.  Improved Communication  Proper communication is the key to effective fleet management. Without precise and reliable communication, fleet managers can not put up with their drivers and make progress. The adequate management software ought to provide a simple and transparent type of communication for both sides. Drivers ought to have the option to contact HQ, assuming any issues emerge en route effortlessly. HQ ought to have the option to get hold of drivers consistently to investigate transportation status.    Driver Incentives Managing all transportation routes and transporters doesn’t have to be a one-sided system. In other words, drivers should be encouraged and motivated to perform at an expected level; fleet managers also have to facilitate them to make progress. Presenting incentives or benefit programs can assist drivers in remaining in top shape and spark an interest in them to meet targets more proficiently.  These benefit programs will help optimise your performance and boost the productivity of your business while keeping drivers more drawn in and eager to perform at the highest possible level. Compensating drivers suitably will assist them with keeping fuel costs down, guarantee good communication and increase performance efficiency. But drivers should also have to be mentally ready to perform well just like their manager would want them, and this is significant for good fleet management and long haul achievement. The post 6 Ways to Efficiently Manage Your Trucking Business appeared first on The Startup Magazine.

Tips On Implementing The Best Customer Experience Strategy Posted: 30 Nov 2021 08:49 AM PST "Customer experience" is now considered a marketing tool, if you will, by businesses attempting to oust their competition. Companies follow specific standards to ensure the customers' perception of the brand, through their interactions with every staff member, is exceptional from the time the consumer makes contact until there is an establishment of repeat business or loyalty. After the client becomes a repeat customer, retention tactics enhancing the customer experience are implemented. Retaining a customer is much simpler than attracting leads and establishing a loyal base. For businesses hoping to develop a company-to-target-audience relationship where the demographic will share their contentment with the brand via word-of-mouth, investment in the customer experience strategy is vital. A happy consumer will not only repeat their business but they will tell friends and family of their experience. The investment is no small commitment. An approach for doing business that is customer-oriented requires a whole-company effort, each staff member, with results that statistics indicate can boast revenue substantially. Plus, give the company an edge over the massive competition facing each industry. Tips On Implementing The Best Customer Experience Strategy With the level of competition for each industry being what it is, companies need to make a point to stand out with their target audience with the most customer-oriented marketing strategy. While a customer's experience with your organization might not seem like a "strategy," it has come to be known as an approach to drawing the demographic to your business and creating an atmosphere that makes them want to stay. When done correctly a customer experience strategy produces loyal consumers. Not only that but these loyalists will spend more plus spread the word to family and friends expanding the reach of the business resulting in growth and greater success. A poor customer experience will result in negative feedback and a company that is most likely consumed by competition. Find out how to deal with customers at https://smallbusinessbc.ca/article/ten-tips-dealing-customers/. Let's look at some tips on how to develop a positive customer experience. –       Introduce your customer to your staff. As a business leader, it's up to you to determine the demographic, where they live and what they're needs and wants are and then introduce that target audience to the company. Each staff member needs to be able to identify and understand every customer in order to better support them from the initial contact and throughout their buying experience. –       Identify your brand. Your brand needs to have a story and a voice for the customer to be able to relate to. The company is or should be about more than merely selling goods and services, it needs to represent something. There could be a strong family heritage for which you want to base your business or a completely different nontraditional approach to make a distinct, unique name for the brand so it stands out in the industry. Once your audience recognizes the brand, you can express what you see for the strategy to your demographic so they can anticipate the experience. –       Making that connection. As a business owner, it's a priority to let those who do business with you know that they are crucial to your success, that they matter, and that you appreciate their patronage. In exuding a positive customer experience, you need to thank the target group for spending money at your establishment and that will look like offering rewards for loyalty. That can happen by offering specific promotions only to those customers, discounts, or setting up a reward system. It will encourage continued loyalty. See here what all customers want. –       Pay attention to feedback. Brands that encourage customers to leave feedback and then act on the suggestions and comments will enjoy a much stronger customer experience. Even when things appear to be going fantastic, one customer somewhere might have an issue with something or have had a misstep with someone. There can always be improvements. When you continue to work on the strategy, that's the way to make it superior to the competition. Also, check out the comments online to see what the word-of-mount is like. You can see what people really like to increase on those efforts and what's not so great to change that up. Sometimes customers don't want to leave feedback with the resource itself, but they'll share openly on the social sites. It's essential to be part of that. –       The team needs to be onboard. The brand's entire team needs to be onboard with the customer experience strategy since each person at some point will likely have some interaction with a customer in one capacity or another. These members need to align with the vision and the goals Not only will leaders invest in a customer-oriented way of doing business but there will be a constant investment in motivational training and development of skills to ensure positive experiences as processes evolve. –       The competition matters. You never want to mimic the competition's practices, but you do want to learn their tactics to make sure that you're always a step ahead. When others in the industry are successful, it can be an incredible learning experience to see how they handle their experiences. Top brands got where they are because they too became educated by watching others before them. Final Thought When investing in the customer experience and developing a loyal base, that doesn't mean a brand can then slow down and enjoy the fruits of their labor. It's a constant work in progress. If consumers become bored or a potential new demographic doesn't see innovations with a brand where the competition is rolling out fresh material all the time, they'll walk away. The ideal strategy will ensure that a company stays on top of their game and their customers remain happy. Focusing on the customer as a sort of marketing approach to business serves as an investment for the overall brand. The company will see an increase in loyalty, increases in revenue, and improvements in word of mouth – another marketing tool. That will result in a broader reach and a stand out over the competition. The post Tips On Implementing The Best Customer Experience Strategy appeared first on The Startup Magazine.

Nancy Etz Shares Seven Financial Aid Tips for Startup Owners Posted: 30 Nov 2021 08:35 AM PST Starting a business is an uphill battle. It’s tough to get funding, and it can be even more difficult to find the right person for your company. If you’re lucky, you’ll land on some startup financial aid that will help keep your business afloat until things start picking up. Source: Pixabay Here are seven tips every startup owner must know about financial aid: Apply for Government-funded Grants or Scholarships There are a ton of government-funded grants and scholarships out there for students who have the initiative to apply. Some of these, such as Pell Grants or federal Stafford Loans, always offer aid. In contrast, others might be specific to certain categories like geographical location, race/ethnicity, gender, academic performance, or major field of study. In an interview with Nancy Etz, she explained that scholarships are the perfect way to get help with funding. Ask your Local Community College for their Financial Aid Resources If you’re still in school and looking to get your business off the ground, consider attending a nearby community college or technical institute before transferring into a four-year institution. Your chances of receiving government funding will be much higher at these schools because they focus on helping students who need financial assistance complete their courses and get a degree. Use the Free Resources Available Online to Find Government-funded Programs There are quite a few places you can look for startup financial aid information, including local community colleges (like we mentioned above), universities, state governments, and even some of the federal agencies like Sallie Mae. A quick Google search will point you in the right direction for free financial aid resources. Be Prepared to Spend Money on an Advisor or Consultant If your startup’s cash flow doesn’t allow for expensive consulting fees, other ways are to find help. Many organizations offer online courses and seminars that teach business owners about government-sponsored programs. These might be a cheaper alternative than hiring someone with experience when it comes to finance and mathematics. You can also contact your local Small Business Association (SBA) branch, which offers guidance at no cost! Consider Starting a Kickstarter Campaign If you have a business idea taking off, creating a Kickstarter campaign might be the best option for financial aid. This is especially true if your startup needs some capital to get started or expand its reach on social media, etc. We suggest doing all of your research before launching this type of campaign because it can either help you acquire funding or tank completely. Apply for Small-business Loans with Local Banks and Credit Unions Small-business owners are often looking for alternative sources of financing outside their bank accounts, including personal lines of credit (PLOC) against future income potentials. Many options are available through traditional lending institutions, but make sure you do extensive research before choosing one. Some banks and credit unions offer small-business loans up to $500,000, but you must find the right loan for your business at a competitive rate. Start Investing in Stocks or Mutual Funds If you have a lot of extra cash socked away from past investments, now might be the best time to reinvest those dollars into your startup! There are several methods of doing this, including buying individual stocks or purchasing shares in a company through an online trading platform like E*TRADE. It could also make sense if you already own additional stock as part of another investment portfolio. Just remember: there’s no better way to lose money than by gambling on high-risk/high reward plays with limited knowledge about what goes into these types of investments. This blog post has provided you with seven startup financial aid tips for startup owners. By following these guidelines, you will be able to take care of your business finances more efficiently and have money left over at the end of the month. We hope that this information helps you on your journey as an entrepreneur! The post Nancy Etz Shares Seven Financial Aid Tips for Startup Owners appeared first on The Startup Magazine.

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