Train and coach

Small Business Week for Central Texas Business Owners

Posted on by Monica Peña in Business Tips, Community Partner Events, Success Stories

For more than 50 years, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has celebrated National Small Business Week, which recognizes the critical contributions of America’s entrepreneurs and small business owners. National Small Business Week is celebrated during the first week of May every year and takes place from April 30 to May 6 this year. As a local partner organization in Central Texas of Small Business Administration (SBA), Economic Growth Business Incubator (EGBI) is looking to close the gap of information from informal business to bankable businesses.

EGBI provides training, coaching, and support to aspiring and existing business owners in central Texas who face barriers to growing a successful business. These barriers can be financial literacy, cultural awareness, education, and capital.

Through out the year, EGBI equips small business owners to a road of success through trainings on building a business plan, automating their business, and 90 days to success. Support services include free legal clinic twice a year and setting up Quickbooks for your business by appointment.

Most importantly, EGBI offers individualized help to central Texas business owners through business coaching to new or growing businesses. This may include bookkeeping support, marketing assistance, techinical training on apps to save a business time, or helping to reach business goals. Read more and register today for business coaching services in English and Spanish by clicking HERE.

Train and coach

SEMANA DE LA PEQUEÑA EMPRESA PARA LOS PROPIETARIOS DE EMPRESAS DEL CENTRO DE TEXAS

Posted on by Intern in Business Tips, Community Partner Events, In Spanish, Success Stories

Por más de 50 años la Agencia Federal de Pequeños Negocios (SBA por sus siglas en inglés) ha celebrado la Semana Nacional de la Pequeña Empresa. La cual reconoce las contribuciones fundamentales de emprendedores y propietarios de pequeñas empresas estadounidenses. La Semana Nacional de la Pequeña Empresa se celebra durante la primera semana de mayo cada año y este año se lleva a cabo desde el 30 de abril hasta el 6 de mayo. Como organización local asociada del centro de Texas a la Agencia Federal de Pequeños Negocios (SBA por sus siglas en inglés), la Incubadora de Empresas para el Crecimiento Económico (EGBI por sus siglas en inglés) busca reducir la brecha de información de negocios informales a empresas financiables.

EGBI proporciona entrenamiento, asesoramiento y apoyo a aspirantes y a propietarios de negocios existentes en el centro de Texas que se enfrentan a barreras para hacer crecer una empresa exitosa. Estas barreras pueden ser la educación financiera, la conciencia cultural, la educación y el capital.

Durante todo el año, EGBI equipa a propietarios de pequeñas empresas en el camino del éxito por medio de la formación sobre la elaboración de un plan de negocios, la automatización de su negocio y los 90 días hacia el éxito. Los servicios de apoyo incluyen una clínica legal gratuita dos veces al año y una configuración de Quickbooks para tu empresa con cita previa.

Lo más importante aún, EGBI ofrece ayuda individualizada a los propietarios de empresas del centro de Texas a través de asesoramiento comercial para empresas nuevas o en desarrollo. Esto puede incluir apoyo de contabilidad, asistencia de mercadeo, capacitación técnica en aplicaciones para ahorrar tiempo o ayudar a alcanzar objetivos comerciales. Lee más y registrate hoy para los servicios de asesoramiento comercial en inglés y en español al dar click AQUÍ.

Traducido al español por Daniela Ariza. Para leer el artículo en inglés, haga clic aquí.

How To Promote Your Business on Alignable

Posted on by Intern in Business Tips

Are you starting your own business? Do you want to know if anyone around you is too?

Alignable is an online network that connects small business owners. It is a US-based company that went public in 2014. Now, it has more than 7 million members.

Imagine a LinkedIn but specifically, for micro and small business owners.

Here is what Alignable can help you with:

Make connections with other business owners

Alignable is meant to act as an “ice breaker” for this community by helping you make connections, post about your business, and refer others. You can announce new events or product lines to all your contacts at once.  

You can also create and join groups to connect with other business owners that have similar interests. When you first join, Alignable adds you to a community that includes the businesses in your general area.

This makes it easy for other owners in your area to seek out your business and vice versa. Once you establish a connection with each other, you can continue it through Alignable.

Contribute to your local community

Alignable is great to get you in contact with business owners in your local community.

It spans about 5 to 10 towns in your area and you can personalize your connections by specifying who you want to connect with.

These might be potential customers and partners!

Here are 3 Steps to Promoting Your Business on Alignable:

Step 1: Figure out the logistics

You need your post to communicate your event or announcement clearly. What is the title of your announcement? What is the date and time of your event? Who is it for? What are you promoting?

Step 2: Create art for your post

Unique social media art is a big part of catching your audience. Make sure your message is clear and the color palette is simple. Your design should be something that you stop scrolling to take a look.

Step 3: Share your post

Below is a list of all the different functions on Alignable. You are able to click what kind of post you want to share so your potential consumers can understand your post’s purpose.

The main difference between Alignable and LinkedIn is that it’s more casual. Since it connects you from town to town, it feels close knit.

If you want to contribute to your local community and connect with other small business owners in your area, Alignable might be good for you.

Small businesses deserve the spotlight too.

See if Alignable is a good complimentary platform for you.  

Trello for businesses

Trello for Small Business Owners

Posted on by Monica Peña in Business Tips

By Shamitha Ramanan

Trello is a web-based project management program with an easy-to-use interface and a lot of flexibility for organizations of all sizes and sectors. It’s an excellent option for entrepreneurs and company owners searching for a low-cost solution. Trello’s base plan is free, but they do offer two paid versions: Business Class and Enterprise.

Features

The first thing people will notice that distinguishes this platform from others is that it has no restriction on the number of projects, users, or tasks. The site also provides templates that are customized to specific sorts of tasks. 

Trello divides projects into boards, similar to the software in Pinterest, and divides diverse chores into easy, basic phases. Time-sensitive activities may be assigned a due date and time, and when done, just drag and drop them into the next phase of your board.

Productivity & Creativity

Whether you’re working on a design sprint that has to be structured into phases or a creative project for your newest client that needs to go through numerous review procedures before completion, the platform can help you get everything organized and done as efficiently as possible. 

Product Development

Trello may help you assign tasks to different members of your team and keep track of product phases and deadlines.

Sales 

If you want to organize your sales cycle with Trello, the software makes it quite straightforward. Lists may be established to track lead information, score, and status, and team members can be allocated to different cards. 

In one page, you can move cards down your pipeline, designate due dates for tasks for your clients, attach necessary documents, and keep track of where your leads are in your sales or CRM pipelines.

Event Planning 

Trello is also a wonderful tool for event planning, even if you are not a professional event planner.  You may make a board for a specific event and lists to help you keep track of deadlines, task status, and dates.

Save money

Actions to reduce operating costs

Posted on by Monica Peña in Business Tips

By Shamitha Ramanan

By lowering your operating costs, you can outperform your competitors. Small business entrepreneurs ought to constantly hunt for strategies to save costs without compromising the caliber of their goods or services. 

Consider these suggestions to lower your company’s operational expenses and possibly increase revenue:

1. Automate tasks

Numerous internet platforms and software tools are available that help streamline and automate a small business’ daily operations. Numerous functions, like bookkeeping, website hosting, marketing communications, payroll, and others, can be handled by these systems. 

Technology is beneficial because it encourages productivity. Efficiency results in lower operational expenses, especially for things like direct labor.

2. Outsource 

Delegating certain jobs to subject matter specialists will help you save money and provide even better outcomes. Marketing and advertising are two areas that gain most from outsourcing. Certain operations can be outsourced as a long-term investment that pays off in the long run.

3. Find a freelancer

It’s one thing to outsource your IT department or human resources’ requirements, but what about routine tasks? In your company, freelancers might step in to cover tasks that aren’t always required. 

It makes little sense to hire a full-time staff for sporadic demands.

4. Pay your bills in advance

Many suppliers may give you a discount if you pay your bill ahead of time. Savings of even 2%–3% every billing cycle can add up quickly. 

To minimize any late fees or other penalties, make sure to at the very least pay your invoices on time. The same holds true for any other debt you have, including loans. If you are late or start missing payments, your interest costs might rise.

5. Think eco-friendly

Your company’s running costs go up when you print everything from fliers and catalogs to internal papers. Encourage staff to print papers only when absolutely required, and if you must print a catalog, purchase a size that will prevent any from ending up in the recycling. 

Compact fluorescent lighting should be used to save heating and cooling expenses, and physical waste should be reduced. To save energy, disconnect the equipment from any unused workstations to decrease electricity usage. You’ll save money on monthly office supplies prices in addition to electricity bills.

Apps for small business

APLICACIONES ÚTILES PARA PROPIETARIOS DE NEGOCIOS

Posted on by Monica Peña in Business Tips, In Spanish

By Alison Flangel

Como propietario de una pequeña empresa, las aplicaciones son un muy buen recurso para gestionar varios aspectos de tu empresa mientras ahorras tiempo y energía valiosos. Con miles de aplicaciones disponibles a tu disposición, puede ser difícil determinar cuales realmente son útiles. A continuación están algunas aplicaciones que deberías considerar utilizar si tienes una pequeña empresa.

  1. Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 es uno de los mejores, si no el mejor software de oficina que existe. Anteriormente solamente disponible como un programa software de computadora PC, Microsoft ha cambiado de marca para ahora hacer la aplicación disponible en dispositivos móviles Android y iOS. Dentro de la aplicación Microsoft 365 existen 3 programas de software esenciales que puedes utilizar: Word, Excel y Powerpoint. Word se puede utilizar para crear documentos escritos de todo tipo, el cual posiblemente será utilizado diariamente dentro de tu negocio. Excel y Powerpoint son un poco más especializados, pero demasiado útiles. Excel puede ayudar en la organización de tu negocio al crear hojas de cálculo y Powerpoint te puede asistir en la creación de presentaciones. Microsoft 365 es imprescindible para propietarios de pequeñas empresas, ya que es utilizado universalmente por la mayoría del  mundo.

  1. Quickbooks Online

Quickbooks en línea es una de las herramientas disponibles más poderosas en la nueva era de tecnología. Ya sea que estés buscando convertir contabilidad tributaria a nómina, organizar la gestión de inventario o analizar ingresos, Quickbooks puede hacerlo todo (!dependiendo de la versión que hayas pagado!). Quickbooks tiene varias versiones y precios que se adaptan a las necesidades de pequeñas empresas. Ahora se encuentra disponible en línea como una aplicación de móvil, puedes crear facturas, rastrear y gestionar gatos y mucho más en tu teléfono móvil.

  1. SOS Inventory

SOS Inventory es una aplicación que te ayuda a manejar todo lo relacionado con la industria de la manufactura; rastreo de inventario, gestión de órdenes y más. Con esta aplicación puedes administrar todo tu inventario de múltiples ubicaciones comerciales, rastrear tus productos y crear recibos y fichas de embalaje. La aplicación móvil es gratis con una suscripción de software, aunque los planes para el software comienzan a $39.95 por mes.

  1. Square

Si eres propietario de una pequeña empresa que tiene un local comercial, es posible que hayas oído sobre Square. Square es el proveedor más grande de punto de venta (TPV) que ha cambiado la forma de cómo los negocios procesan las transacciones de tarjetas de crédito. Square ofrece varias soluciones de software y hardware con la versión más básica solo pagas 2.6% + $0.10 por cada pago que aceptes en persona. Square es claro y profesional y garantiza hacer fácil los pagos de tarjetas de crédito para tus clientes.

  1. Gusto

Gusto es una aplicación de servicio completo de nómina y de recursos humanos, disponible en computadora de escritorio o dispositivo móvil. Gusto te permite manejar tu nómina, las prestaciones y el cumplimiento de las normas para tus empleados. Además, puedes calcular y reportar los impuestos sobre la nómina, y rastrear las vacaciones/tiempo de enfermedad en la aplicación. Gusto se encuentra disponible actualmente vía suscripción mensual, con un pago base de $39 por mes. El costo vale la pena por la organización sin complicaciones que Gusto ofrece.

Traducido al español por Daniela Ariza. Para leer el artículo en inglés, haga clic aquí.

Money spent

¿QUÉ SON Y CÓMO SE CALCULAN LOS COSTOS OPERATIVOS DE TU EMPRESA?

Posted on by Monica Peña in Business Tips, In Spanish

Por Shamitha Ramanan

Los costos operativos son cualquier gastos que son requeridos para el mantenimiento del día a día y para la administración de tu empresa. Comúnmente se refieren como “gastos generales”, estos costos comerciales esenciales incluyen electricidad, nómina y renta de oficina. Las empresas pueden recortar en gastos superfluos y ahorrar costos al revisar gastos operativos.

El costo de los productos vendidos es uno de los principales elementos de costos operacionales (COGS siglas en inglés). Los gastos directos que incluyen la fabricación de productos o servicios ofrecidos por tu compañía son conocidos como Costos de Bienes Vendidos (COGS por sus siglas en Inglés)

Índices de gastos operativos

Los datos de ingresos operativos y de gastos operativos son las dos piezas fundamentales de información de costos operativos que puedes reunir.

Ingresos operativos

El rendimiento total generado por la  operaciones de tu negocio es conocido como ingreso operativo. El ingreso operativo se calcula usando la siguiente fórmula:

Ingreso operativo = Ingreso Total – Costos operativos. 

Índices de gastos operativos. 

Por otro lado, los datos de los gastos operativos sugieren sonido financiero. Sin importar que tan grande o pequeño sea tu firma, es más simple compararte con otros dentro de tu ramo cuando la eficiencia se expresa en porcentaje

Al comparar directamente tus gastos con tus ingresos, los OER (Índices de Gastos Operativos por sus siglas en inglés) te permite monitorear tu eficiencia. La ecuación de OER es la siguiente: 

Índices de Gastos Operativos = Costos Operacionales ÷ Ingresos Totales 

Traducido al español por Daniela Ariza. Para leer el artículo en inglés, haga clic aquí.

construction business

Start a Construction Business in Austin, Texas

Posted on by Monica Peña in Business Tips

By Monica Peña

Are you wanting to start a business in the construction industry, but don’t know where to begin?  Whether you specialize in flooring, remodeling, painting, or roofing, below are helpful tips to successfully launch the company.

  • Get experience.  If you have not already worked for a construction business, there are many aspects of the business that you may not have considered.  Industry rules related to areas from permits, licensing, contracts to customer service can be less straight forward than anticipated.
  • Register the business.  Registering your business establishes it as a legal entity which helps the owner have limited personal liability, receive funding, and create a brand that is recognizable to potential customers.  
  • Create a business plan. A business plan can help with all aspects of your start up from potential problems, pricing to explaining the concept for your business. It is a road map to the success of your business.
  • Fund your business.  Figure out a budget and how the construction business will be financed. How will material and labor be paid for? How and when will payments on projects be received?
  • Decide on the niche of the company.  Choose the specialty of the work whether projects are commercial, residential, or government contracts. Determine certain area of Austin or surrounding towns that the business will concentrate.
  • Build a marketing plan.  This includes creating a strong brand with name, logo, and figuring out how to communicate the niche of the company. Design a plan to communicate with potential clients, customers, and territories.  
  • Take advantage of resources available for your new business. EGBI provides training, coaching, and support to aspiring and existing business owners who face barriers to growing a successful business.  Staff helps connect business owners with different business tools and outside resources.

Contact us to meet with a business coach that can help guide you through your small business journey. To get started, register HERE.

Open a Daycare in Austin, Texas

Posted on by Monica Peña in Business Tips

By Monica Peña

Are you wanting to start a childcare business, but don’t know where to begin?  Texas Association for the Education of Young Children (TXAEYC) is a state affiliate of the National Association of Education of Young Children.  This is an excellent resource in Central Texas for anyone wanting to get started in the early care and education industry. TXAEYC offers updates in the childcare rules/regulations, continuing education, training opportunities, and networking events to learn from peers.

Below are some more helpful tips to successfully launch a childcare business.

  • Get experience.  If you have not already worked in childcare, there are many aspects of the business that you may not be aware.  Industry rules related to areas from documentation, cleaning supplies, snacks, communication with parents can be less straight forward than anticipated. This is where exposure to this type of circumstances would be beneficial.
  • Register the business.  Registering your business establishes it as a legal entity which helps the owner have limited personal liability, receive funding, and create a brand that is recognizable to parents deciding on using your services for their children.  
  • Create a business plan. A business plan can help with all aspects of your start up from potential problems, work flow, pricing, what is included in your services, and so much more. It is a road map to the success of your business.
  • Fund your business.  Figure out a budget and how the childcare business will be financed.
  • Decide on the niche of the company.  Choose the specialty of the services being offered by the childcare facility. Will your center offer after school services, STEM learning, language immersion, or any other special services?  Determine certain area of Austin or surrounding towns that the business will concentrate.
  • Build a marketing plan.  This includes creating a strong brand with name, logo, and figuring out how to communicate the niche of the company. Design a plan to communicate with potential parents and community partners that can refer families to the business.  
  • Take advantage of resources available for your new business. EGBI provides training, coaching, and support to aspiring and existing business owners who face barriers to growing a successful business.  Staff helps connect business owners with different business tools and outside resources.

Contact us to meet with a business coach that can help guide you through your small business journey. To get started, register HERE.

Cleaning business

Start a Cleaning Business in Central Texas

Posted on by Monica Peña in Business Tips

By Monica Peña

Are you wanting to start a cleaning business, but don’t know where to begin?  Below are helpful tips to successfully launch the company.

  • Get experience.  If you have not already worked in a cleaning business, there are many aspects of the business that may not be clear.  Industry rules related to areas from chemicals to customer service can be less straight forward than anticipated.
  • Register the business.  Registering your business establishes it as a legal entity which helps the owner have limited personal liability, receive funding, and create a brand that is recognizable to customers.  
  • Create a business plan. A business plan can help with all aspects of your start up from potential problems, pricing to explaining the concept for your business. It is a road map to the success of your business.
  • Fund your business.  Figure out a budget and how the cleaning business will be financed.
  • Decide on the niche of the company.  Choose the specialty of the work whether it is to clean commercial, residential, or after construction jobs. Determine certain area of Austin or surrounding towns that the business will concentrate.
  • Build a marketing plan.  This includes creating a strong brand with name, logo, and figuring out how to communicate the niche of the company. Design a plan to communicate with potential clients, customers, and territories.  
  • Take advantage of resources available for your new business. EGBI provides training, coaching, and support to aspiring and existing business owners who face barriers to growing a successful business.  Staff helps connect business owners with different business tools and outside resources.

Contact us to meet with a business coach that can help guide you through your small business journey. To get started, register HERE.