Choose the Right Real Estate Agent

While every area has a handful of real estate agents who make a name for themselves by outselling their competitors, that doesn’t necessarily mean that one of them is the right agent for you. While a top seller may be just what you need, it’s more important that you choose an agent with whom you can work well and feel comfortable. Whether you choose a realtor who is an outgoing overachiever or a laid back professional who takes a more relaxed approach is entirely up to you.

Pick the Right Price

There’s nothing that will knock your home out of the running more quickly than a price that’s too high. Before pricing your home, do your research and find out what comparable homes in your area are selling for. While your real estate agent will help you determine where to place your asking price, it is always a good idea to be an informed party in the process. Perform internet searches to locate homes in your neighbourhood and the adjoining ones to find homes similar to yours and see how they’re priced and which ones are selling.

Stage Your Home

Although not all sellers invest the effort required to create a warm, welcoming atmosphere in their home so it looks inviting when potential buyers come through, smart sellers do. If you’ve ever watched the real estate shows on the home improvement channels on television, you’ve probably been exposed to the concept of home staging. De-cluttering, improving curb appeal, cleaning and creating a neutral atmosphere are all key components of staging your home in a way that helps prospective buyers be able to imagine themselves in your home and encourages them to make an offer.

List Your Home on the Internet

Nowadays most home buyers start their search for a new house in the internet. What that means to you is that you should get your home listed on the internet as early in the selling process as you can. Ensure that your realtor gets your house, along with numerous attractive photos of the interior and exterior of the home, onto as many real estate search sites as he can. The more people that view your home, the more likely you’ll attract the buyer that is going to come through with an offer for your asking price.

While selling a house in a hurry can pose challenges, they’re nothing that you can’t overcome with proper planning and action. Before you know it, you’ll have a signed contract in hand and be happily packing boxes for the move to your new place.

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Crowdfunding offers an exciting funding alternative for businesses. Originally the domain of filmmakers, musicians and artists, crowdfunding is now used by start ups and business owners to raise capital, based on a simple notion: large amounts of money can be raised in small amounts from numerous donors via the Internet.

Here’s what you need to know about launching a successful crowdfunding campaign, including information on three platforms designed to raise business capital.

How crowdfunding works

Crowdfunding allows businesses the freedom to raise capital from investors, customers, colleagues, peers, family, friends – even strangers. Like anyone in search of funding, successful campaigns rely on a solid idea and a detailed business plan – including financial forecasts and cash flow statements – to convince potential donors it’s worthwhile to support your venture.

Typically, an established crowdfunding platform, like Kickstarter or peerbackers, is used to promote a campaign page, with incentives for donors in the form of rewards or equity. A reward might be pre-order of a new product, or services offered in exchange for funding support; equity would be a share of stock offered in exchange for capital.

Tips for launching a campaign

Crowdfunding campaigns don’t tend to go viral; they gain traction because they appeal to the people you already know – your network – as well as investors who are searching for an opportunity.

Successful business crowdfunding campaigns have these things in common:

• They tell a compelling story and convey passion for an idea, connecting like-minded people who share your vision and enthusiasm;
• They offer backers high level, time-limited rewards that include the product – and require fewer sales to achieve the fundraising goal;
• They use every means available to sell a great pitch, including detailed business plans, product images and video.

Choose the right platform

Here are three options for creating a winning business crowdfunding campaign:

• Fundable allows rewards-based and equity crowdfunding to attract backers. It costs $179 to host a campaign, which will put your venture in front of more than 23,000 registered investors.
• Indiegogo is open to anyone who wants to launch a crowdfunding campaign, small businesses included. It’s free to sign up but the company charges 5 percent platform fees on all funds raised and payment processing fees average between 3-5 percent.
• Endurance Lending Network is a little bit different than other crowdfunding platforms as its mission is to help small businesses seeking up to $500,000 of debt capital. Businesses benefit from easy access to loans at attractive rates, and investors earn good returns with secured term business loans.

Crowdfunding can be a smart, cost-effective way to get your business off the ground. It can also offer an incredible, unadvertised side-benefit: priceless feedback from your backers that can help tweak your idea before you move into production, allowing you to launch an even more successful product.

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These tips can help you with the process of making plans to help guide your business to greater success.

Set priorities

Entrepreneurs are typically highly creative and optimistic; as a result, they often have difficulty narrowing down their ideas from among all the exciting possibilities, whether it’s an opportunity to expand to a new market or choosing a better time management strategy.

As you update your business plan, focus on what’s most important for your business to achieve this year. Then break your goals down into smaller tasks, to maximize productivity and enjoy the little successes that lead to big changes.

Start by defining your top three business goals for the next four quarters. With those in mind, do some research to help you decide on the best way to achieve those three goals – and a reasonable timeline for meeting specific targets.

Think different

Your priorities in the coming year may be to hit a certain revenue target, launch a new product line or tap a completely new market.

An important thing to keep in mind as you make plans to move your business forward is how you’ll stay competitive. For instance, it’s important to review your pricing strategy on an annual basis, to ensure you continue to attract new prospects and retain customers.

As part of your overall business planning process, spend some time on competitive intelligence, too. Include in your plans how you’ll increase value for your offerings and continue to stand apart from the crowd.

Find money

If scaling your business is on your agenda for the year ahead, and you don’t have savings earmarked to fund your ideas, you’ll want to make sure your business plan includes adequate financial planning.

Applying to a lender for a business loan is one option. In this case, you’ll want to include up to date cash flow reports, income statements, budgets and projections in your plan for a potential lender.

If your business doesn’t have a credit history, you may need to look at other options for financing your plans. Using a business credit card on a regular basis and paying off the balance can help you build a good credit rating, which will help you prepare to apply for a loan down the road.

Your accountant can also help provide additional financial advice and support as you update your business plan, based on your most current financial records.

With these business planning tips in mind, you’ll be well-prepared for a new year of growth and continued success.

Final tips

• Review your business plan every quarter to ensure you stay on track with your goals and priorities throughout the year.
• Be realistic about opportunities and challenges as you plan ahead. Your accountant can offer business advisory services – and help you set meaningful short and long term goals.
• As alternatives to applying for a loan or line of credit, consider crowdfunding or angel investing to help you meet your business goals.

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