Speak to any established business owner and you’ll find there are many things they wish they’d known as a start-up. If you’re in start-up stage, thinking of launching a business or just want extra insight in a competitive market, these seven tips could boost your business.

As a small business owner, you may be looking for ways to do things smarter and more efficiently. You may be aware of how valuable it would be if you were able to turn your unutilised trading capacity and surplus inventory, into business opportunities. This would be a step towards increased sales, improved cash flow, and retaining clients – always an attractive outcome as a business owner.

The ability to adapt and change is one of the most important skills a business owner can have. In this blog, we recognise 3 business trends that experts tip as the biggest areas shaping business at the moment.

Did you know that companies that blog have 55% more website visitors? (Hubspot 2015).

If this isn’t evidence enough that blogging is essential in business, take into consideration that the evolution of the internet, smarter technology and instant access to information combined has vastly re-shaped the way customers shop.  

With so much competition and consumers looking at all options to bag a bargain, it’s no wonder people turn to the likes of GrabOne, TreatMe and Groupon for offers.  Why wouldn’t you?  But as a merchant have you worked out the real cost of discounting and the impact it has on your business? Daily deal websites charge a fee of approximately 15-20% of the sale price and stipulate that the offer presented must be at least 50% off the original sale price. 

The digital shift is in full swing, so disseminating valuable content to grow a business and attract and nurture leads should be part of every marketing strategy. In this week's blog we discuss the topic, and look at 8 ways to use content online to boost brand awareness.

Once your business reaches new heights where taking on additional employees is necessary, you enter a whole different playing level. You are no longer one of the crew, you become the manager no matter how deeply you muck in with the others in the execution of your work. Employee satisfaction is paramount to employee engagement. If an employee is satisfied with their job and work environment this directly correlates with the amount of effort they will put into their work.

There are so many ways in which a business can go through a downturn, slow-down or just plateau out. Every business faces these challenges at some time or other and, in some instances, how you deal with these times can be the making or the breaking of the business. Here are four tips on how to revive your business with Bartercard.  

Technology is a vitally important part of doing business, especially in this day and age. How you market your services, how customers interact with you, and how sales are made is often directly linked to how well you use modern approaches to technology.

The day you've waited for is finally here. You've spent years in research and development and it's finally time to sit back and enjoy the spoils from your brand new amazing product. There’s just one problem: your customers hate it. So what now?