The Hottest and Most Brilliant Business Tips for YOU – Get Angel Mentor Guidance and More

Our research ninjas at Credit Suite smuggled out ten amazing business tips for you! Be fierce and score in business with the best tips around the web. You can use them today and see fast results. You can take that to the bank – these are foolproof! Let an angel mentor guide you to business success – plus nine more excellent tips for you!

Stop making stupid decisions and start powering up your business. Demolish your business nightmares and start celebrating as your business fulfills its promise.

And these brilliant business tips are all here for free! So settle in and scoop up these tantalizing goodies before your competition does!

#10. Don’t Take a Hit, Make Sure They’re Legit

Our first jaw-dropping tip is all about vetting a possible manufacturer. Tee Spring stated there are a lot of ways to check legitimacy online. This is particularly vital when you are dealing with a manufacturer based outside of the United States.

One way is by looking up a company’s registration number, as provided by the Federal Trade Commission. The FTC should have a record of any manufacturer, even one from overseas. No number? Then don’t bother.

Reviews!

Another way to check is via the medium of reviews. Of course, newer companies are likely to have fewer reviews. But for businesses which have been around for 20 or more years, you should expect to find a lot of reviews.

Our personal rule of thumb is to look at any reviews in the middle, and also to check if reviews can be tagged as ‘helpful’ like you can on Amazon. Why? Because there are cranks out there, looking to drag down any company. And there are also shills, who sing the praises of companies which don’t deserve them. By looking at reviews that aren’t too glowing and aren’t too negative, and also looking at helpful reviews, you may be able to avoid the cranks and the shills.

Get All the Details

Our favorite tip was to push for details. These are the details of everything from shipping speed to the materials being used. It might come from contracts or purchase orders, or even quotes, but it should come from something. #ProTip – get anything like this in writing, always.

Why? Because if you were promised silk and you got nylon instead, it will a lot easier to prove that in court if you have something in writing.

#9. Speaking of Products…

The next awesome tip is about using product management techniques in content marketing. HubSpot noted there are some similarities between getting content out the door and getting new software out the door.

We particularly loved the tip about the early adopter mindset.

Early Adopters

For software designers, it can sometimes be a while before a product really catches on. Sound like your blog? Your intrepid blog writer feels your pain. A lot.

So how do product managers get early adopters in the first place? One key way is via customer interviews. This sort of advance research is helpful for getting a handle on who’ll eventually buy a product. But it’s also good for asking – do you know anyone else who might be interested in what we’re doing?

For a content marketer, do something similar. Where are your early adopters? They might be online, yes. But if you’re opening up a new nail salon, maybe the best way to find them is to hand out coupons for a small, free (or heavily discounted) service.

If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! Get guidance from an angel mentor, and more!

#8. Sell the Social Way

Our following life-changing tip concerns social selling. Socialnomics said there are a lot of great ways to increase your chances of success.

One tip is an oldie but a goodie – use more pictures! They are the very heart of Snapchat, Instagram, and Pinterest. No pictures, no posts (and no sales). On Facebook and Twitter, they increase attention and engagement.

Of course, the tip we really loved was about the vital importance of content. All the amazing coupons and deals in the world can’t substitute for fantastic, on-point content.

#7. Don’t Budge on the Budget

For our next sensational tip, we looked at creating a small business operating budget. Black Enterprise made it clear. And it’s actually a lot simpler than we certainly feared.

Because there are really just three components you are going to need to care about – revenues, costs, and profits. And of course all three must be indicated in detail. But by keeping the main idea simple, this task can feel a lot less daunting.

Are you bringing in money? Awesome; you’ve got revenues. Are you paying for things or people’s labor or services? Fantastic, you’ve got costs. And do you have a bigger sum total of revenues versus costs? Then congratulations.

You’ve got profits.

#6. Tight Cash Flow? Pay Your Employees No Matter What

This tip is so important, and it works! Small Biz Club noted there are a lot of reasons why a business could end up short on funds. But no matter what, it should be a matter of absolute, 100% last resort, to not pay your employees.

Seriously, was there any doubt?  Sadly, yes.

True story time.

What Do You Mean, There’s No Check?

Your intrepid blog writer went to school with a lovely gal who ended up settling in Philadelphia. And one day we compared notes on employers, and she told me, “Oh___ (her employer)___ was late with the checks again this week.”

What?

I repeat myself.

What?!?!?!

Seriously. According to the article, unless staggered pay is voluntary, guess what? It’s illegal.

You cannot just go around reneging on your obligations to your employees. Fortunately, there are several solutions. We were so pleased to see a business line of credit on the list of potential solutions. And we also loved seeing account receivables financing on the list.

Heck, we might even know a thing or two about those.

#5. Select an Angel Mentor for Your Startup

Grab this mind-blowing tip while it’s hot! Addicted 2 Success laid it all out for us.

We all know about angel investors, and we all know about mentors, amirite? So why not combine them, with an angel mentor?

But let’s back up for a second.

Cherubim and Seraphim? Not Quite

Not all angels are alike. Of course, the main reason why you want an angel investor or two or twelve or 200 is for the infusion of cash they can provide. You give them a small piece of your business, and they give you the money you need to start and grow that business. They become your junior partners in the endeavor, to an extent.

But what law says they must only be silent money partners? What if you could get more out of your relationships with angel investors?

It’s tempting to just pick the angel with the fattest wallet. Don’t.

Try an Angel Mentor on for Size

There are several positive qualities which an investor can bring to your business table. Being an angel mentor is only a part of it. Another part may seem a little paradoxical. You will need to find someone willing to take risks on your venture. But they will also have to have the patience to wait for your business to succeed.

Trust and experience are also vital characteristics of an angel. Of course your mom can be an angel investor. And certainly (hopefully!) she’s a trustworthy investor in your enterprise. But unless she’s got business experience, you’re going to have a hole to fill.

So this is what we are talking about when we say angel mentor. Basically, this is a person who can truly help you with the running of your business. And they can be someone who you can turn to if you’re lost or confused. This is someone with contacts and who’s kinda been there, done that.

Your mom can, of course, still be one of your angel investors. But adding an angel mentor will pay a lot more dividends, beyond just the cold, hard cash that person will bring in.

If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! Get guidance from an angel mentor, and more!

#4. Knowing is Half the Battle

Check out this spectacular tip, all about competitive analysis. Business Knowhow said you can gather intel on your competition pretty easily these days. We agree.

Get a Peek at the Key Employees

This was our favorite tip, by far.  Generally, for competitive analysis, you’re told to follow the competition on social media. And this article does mention that. However, the article also said to check out your competition’s key employees. So for example, a competitor’s Chief Financial Officer might tweet about getting ready for retirement, or about moving offices to a new company location. Or that same CFO might post on LinkedIn about job openings or new products.

Is all of the information the competition’s key employees tweet and post about relevant? Of course not! A vice president’s new granddaughter is lovely but hardly relevant to your purposes. So use searches and Google Alerts wisely so you’re not inundated with irrelevant trivia.

#3. To Get Attention, Pay Attention

It’s not your imagination: this winning tip can help you get customer attention. Inc told us all about what is essentially the marketing equivalent of jumping up and down and waving your arms.

Perhaps the best point was the one about catering to audience expectations. What does that mean?

Essentially, customers are going to want certain options which to them are more convenient or popular, or less expensive or faster or have any number of other virtues. Despite what your business wants, you do have to cater to this.

For example (noted in the article): Vimeo allows premium users to publish their creations on places like Facebook. That is, not on Vimeo at all. By giving their customers what they want, Vimeo garners attention. And trust. Can’t beat that.

#2. Calling All Customers – Act Now!

Our second to last unbeatable tip can give you a new perspective on crafting winning calls to action. Marketing Eye Dallas had all the info.

What we really loved were some examples of excellent calls to action. While a lot of them are probably very familiar one caught our eye immediately – find out what’s next.

Isn’t that just a fantastic line?

#1. Conquering Google Mountain

We saved the best for last. For our favorite remarkable tip, we focused on ranking higher on Google. Ahrefs laid it all out for us.

If you don’t think how your website does on Google matters, think again. You could be missing out on sales, big time, by just a few spaces down on a page of search results. Yes, really.

We were so pleased to see a lot of clear, practical, useful tips (we highly recommend just reading the entire article). In particular, we loved how this article linked to this one. We honestly think it’s even more helpful. But don’t just take our word for it. Check it out yourself and (to quote #2, above), find out what’s next.

So which one of our brilliant business tips was your favorite? And which one will you be implementing now?

If you are as passionate about succeeding in business as we are, please help us spread the word about how to take the plunge and save time and money – and your sanity! Get guidance from an angel mentor, and more!