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As you begin to scale your business, the sheer number of things that need to get done can seem overwhelming.

And while you don’t have to do everything yourself, even with a great team behind you, it can still become too much for you to handle.

That’s where smart automation comes in.

By automating your business in certain ways, you can take either repetitive or once difficult tasks or responsibilities and simplify everything so that it’s far easier to manage, often reducing the amount of work they take to complete on a consistent basis. Not to mention helping you combat competition. 

Is automation all about technology?

Keep in mind that automation doesn’t only have to do with tech-related improvements you can make.

In the list, below, we will mention some amazing additions or adjustments you can make related to modern tech that can be used as a tool for helping automate parts of your business.

However, there’s also a lot you can do that simply has to do with how you manage your team and work on a day-to-day basis.

Here are 5 ways to automate your business and get more done in less time and with less hassle. 

5 Ways to automate your business that will save you time and money

1. Streamline task management 

One of the easiest things you can do right off the bat is to streamline your task management and other similar systems such as communication.

Software like Slack can help centralize communication, reducing regurgitation so that everyone can get key messages from the same place (preferably, a second or third time after hearing about it in the meeting). 

And software like Asana can help organize your task management, doing things like: 

• Creating a visual board to track the progress of tasks
• Managing a calendar to chart the schedule of content, product updates, and anything else, and
• Giving employees a centralized place to manage their current tasks via their inbox. 

Plus, in a surprise twist (well, maybe not so much considering modern software), Slack and Asana integrate with one another, allowing the two to works seamlessly. 

In addition to this, you can organize appointments with something like Doodle, almost fully automating the process of scheduling out meetings throughout your week. 

And if you set up Google Calendar integration, those appointments get dropped straight into your calendar where you can view everything in one place. 

The amount of time and hassle you can cut down on just by using these few tools is immense, especially if you find yourself in several meetings a day or have a newly budding team that’s still communicating primarily through email or strictly verbally. 

2. Set clear policies and systems for your internal team– then outsource for expertise

When it comes to automation, systems are your friend. 

You don’t want to bog your team down with protocol, but by setting up clear policies and systems for your internal team to operate under, you take out a lot of the guesswork from their day-to-day work. 

Why is this so big? It not only saves you time by reducing the number of occasions where an employee has to get your attention to ask you how to handle a situation, it keeps them from losing their own flow throughout the day by you not being a bottleneck. 

The make these procedures ideal for your team, remain open to their input throughout the journey of establishing and testing these different systems out. Hear what they have to say and make adjustments to help them and you work better as a whole. 

Next, once you’ve done that, save time and maximize your results by outsourcing for expertise to freelancers and agencies on sites like Upwork. 

Your team is ideal for everyday work. However, when you need to run a big marketing campaign or something similar, it can be better to hire an outside expert as they’re likely better in their specific field than anyone on the team (of which employees tend to be more generalists) and are motivated to do a good job compared to a regular employee. 

3. Use AI and machine learning systems

Still somewhat vague and confusing terms, AI and machine learning, as they pertain to business, are quickly becoming invaluable for a number of reasons. 

In fact, you may already be utilizing some form of machine learning or AI without even realizing it. 

One major example is Google Cloud or Microsoft Azure, both being machine learning and automation platforms which are being updated regularly with new tools that give you the ability to do things like: 

• Turn data into the optimal ad spend campaign
• Or to optimize pricing based on customer behavior

With AI and machine learning, you can take data your business already has and use it to maximize what you’re already doing, maximizing results and making everything more efficient. 

4. Document everything

You know how they always say we shouldn’t forget our history, lest we repeat the same mistakes? The same can be said for your business.

By documenting everything, including what you did for a particular project or campaign, how much you spent and how, timeframes, results, and anything else important, you have something you can look back on to inform future decisions.

What does this have to do with automation? 

Decision-making is a critical part of any business, and it only becomes more important the larger the business becomes. 

Documenting everything in this way means you spend less time in decision-making later when the time comes to pull the trigger on a new project because you can use your historical data to inform the new decisions related to that project, essentially semi-automating your decision making. 

5. Create a lead generation system

The various collective tools of digital marketing, from ESPs like Mailchimp and ConvertKit to Facebook Ads,  have given businesses the ability to create a lead generation system like nothing that has ever been seen before. 

Where before businesses had to run advertising campaigns in newspapers, or billboards, and T.V. commercials that hopefully led to new leads, now it’s very different.

Now, you can create a campaign that is almost fully automated, from the sharing of new content to the running of ads, collecting emails, and email marketing.

Huge sections of modern marketing can be semi-automated, freeing you up for more specific marketing efforts as well as to optimize those campaigns over time (something that machine learning can help automate as well).

Look for ways to automate your business– the right way

Automation can never be 100%. After all, we’re not quite ready for robots to take over. 

However, many of the processes within your business can be automated, saving you huge chunks of time and money, including:

• Decision making
• Marketing campaign optimization
• Marketing campaign execution
• Communication
• Task management
• And even just daily internal goings-on

So, use these tips to help bring the power of automation to your business and watch how it helps you free up more time and energy for other things that deserve your attention, allowing your business to grow that much faster.

What is a high-risk business loan?

High risk business loans are small business loans offered to business owners with bad or inadequate (not enough) credit or considered to be operating in a high risk industry. 

Approval for traditional loans is based mostly on credit– often in the 720+ range– which in the past meant that if you didn’t have good credit, you were out of luck. 

With high-risk business loans, though, you can be approved for a loan on bad credit, often at a higher interest rate. Hence, the term ‘high-risk’ refers to the risk the lender takes on when approving a high-risk loan, not the borrower. 

What do lenders consider high risk?

So, what exactly is high risk?

We’ve touched on credit so far, but exactly what credit score is considered high risk? And what other factors make you high risk?

Factor 1: Credit score below 600

If your credit score is around 600 or lower, you’re considered high risk. Keep in mind that this includes several other credit factors as well, including:

• Too little credit history
• Marks on your credit report, including judgments, liens, and bankruptcy

Factor 2: In business less than 2 years

Virtually all banks require you to have been in business for at least 2 years to approve you for any kind of business loan. 

In fact, most require you to have been in business for 5 years. 

This is the simplest and most straightforward factor and it comes down to one thing: the lender wants to see that you’re an established business that will be here tomorrow, so to speak. 

Factor 3: You’re in a high-risk industry

Certain industries are considered more high risk compared to others. This could be because of regular volatility, seasonality, they way they’re paid, or because they’re taboo.

High-risk industries include:

• Auto sales
• Construction
• Trucking
• Cannabis
• Strip clubs
• Gun shops
• Home-based business

Keep in mind that this is a short list, there are many more industries that your lender may consider high-risk. 

If you have one or more of these factors, the best thing you can do is to review your business reports, such as profit and loss, as well as your credit report and try to clean things up as much as possible. 

Factor 4: You’re not showing profit

A final but equally important factor is showing profit or loss. If your business doesn’t show profit, or is operating at a net loss, lenders will be very wary of working with you.

The basic idea is this: if you’re not showing profit, how will you have the extra cash to pay off your loan? Lenders want to see a consistent history of net profit to ensure they’ll be able to recoup their investment. 

How can lenders approve high-risk businesses? 

A common question asked by business owners looking for and applying for a high-risk loan is: how can I be approved in the first place if my business is considered to the lender?

Lenders are in the business of lending money, but if they don’t get that money back, they’re out of business. So, why would they approve you if you’re considered high-risk? What’s the catch?

In the past, banks approved businesses based almost entirely on credit. If you didn’t have amazing credit, you were out of luck.

In some cases, loans have been offered at lower amounts and with higher interest rates in exchange for lower credit requirements. This is where the term “high-risk loan” originated. 

Yet, the restrictions placed on these loans have often been unfavorable for business owners in need of substantial capital to grow their business.

However, now there are many alternative lenders who will approve you for a loan that is comparable to a traditional bank loan in terms of approval amounts. 

And it comes down to the fact that they take more than credit into consideration when factoring their approval.

What other factors are those? Your business’s overall financial health, including:

• Cash flow
• Revenue
• Debt-service-coverage ratio
• Profit and loss
• And more data related to your business health

By taking all of these factors into consideration, alternative lenders are able to qualify you more effectively than simply taking your credit score and report into consideration. 

What about collateral? How do alternative lenders secure loans?

Most alternative high risk business loans don’t require the typical “hard” collateral you’re used to, such as property, vehicles, or cash. 

Instead, they secure the loan with your business revenue, in some cases purchasing a portion of your future business sales as a form of soft collateral.

This is beneficial because if, in the unfortunate case, you’re forced to close down your business, you won’t be on the hook to pay that amount back. 

So, there’s no risk of losing your personal property or cash savings if your business goes under. 

High-risk and alternative business loans options

If a traditional bank loan is out of your grasp, there are a few options you have in terms of obtaining financing.

Over the past decade, many alternative options have arisen to fill the hole left by banks with increasingly more rigged qualification requirements (even though the average credit score has gone down). 

Here are a few of your options:

Peer-to-peer lending

Lending through peers is about as old as money, but modern peer-to-peer lending takes that to another level. 

With P2P lending, you can apply for funding on a platform such as Prosper or Upstart and get a sum of capital which is comprised of a collection of smaller investors who believe your business is worth investing in.

Credit union

Credit unions have long been good alternatives to traditional bank loans because they tend to offer competitive rates and member discounts.

The only negative is you’ll need a local credit union and you’ll likely have to become a member of that credit union to apply for a loan.

Alternative lending

Alternative lending comprises many different options such as business lines of credit and unsecured business loans.

Alternative lenders such as Excel Capital offer these options to business owners who aren’t in a position to be approved for a traditional bank loan due to bad credit or no collateral and need an alternative to get the capital they need to grow their business.

What is Google My Business?

Google My Business is Google’s official tool that allows you to add your business to local Google search and Google maps listings.

Chances are, you’ve run across one such listing searching for something you’ve needed before.

Like this:

Through Google My Business, you can update your business hours, add your menu, photos and video of your location and products, and post status updates that offer useful information to those looking up your business on Google.

Below, we’re going to show you everything you need to know about setting up your Google My Business listing.

Table of Contents

1. What does Google My Business cost?
2. Create a Google My Business account
3. Verify your business
4. Update your GMB listing
5. Frequently asked questions

What does Google My Business cost?

First, let’s get an important and extremely common question out of the way: 

“GMB sounds great, but how much does it cost?” 

Good news: Google My Business is 100% free for business owners to create and update their business information to show in both Google search listings and maps. 

With that out of the way, let’s talk about how to create a GMB account. 

Create a Google My Business account

Creating a GMB account is pretty easy and straightforward. 

First, log into the Google account you’d like your business connected to. Then, head to the GMB home page at Google.com/business and click the “Manage now button:

Next, either enter your business name in the search box to pull up your listing if it already exists or click ‘Add you business to Google’:

(Google may have automatically created your listing if your business has been around for a while, in which case you’d use the search bar.)

If you clicked “Add your business to Google”, you’ll be prompted to enter your business name:

Then, choose which category your business best fits into. It’s important that this is accurate because it will affect what kinds of listings your business shows up in:

If you’d like to add a location/address your customers can visit, click “Yes”. If you’re a private business that doesn’t allow walk-ins, click “No”:

Next, enter your business address if you chose to enter a location:

Then, if your business offers some kind of service outside of its actual physical location (such as food deliveries), notate it:

Lastly, for your business information, enter your phone number and website URL:

Finally, click “Finish” to complete your listing:

Verify your business

The final step is to verify your business in some way. 

There are several ways to do this, but the most common is by having a postcard sent to your business that has a unique code which you’ll then enter into your GMB account:

Other verification options that are available in select locations and for select businesses include:

• By phone
• By email
• Instant verification
• And bulk verification (for businesses with 10+ locations)

To learn more, check out Google’s official information page on verifying your business with Google My Business here. 

If you don’t want or can’t verify your business right now, clicking the tiny dropdown arrow at the bottom right within “More options” will expand a “Skip” button you can press to skip verification for now. 

How to verify by mail

If you’re using the most common method for verifying your Google My Business listing, use these steps:

1. Enter your contact name
2. Click the “Mail” button on the “Choose a way to verify” screen
3. Check the mail for your postcard (Should arrive within 14 days, according to Google documentation)

Once you receive your postcard, follow these steps to enter the verification code:

1. Log back into GMB
2. Click “Verify location” from the GMB menu
3. In the field, enter the 5-digit code you received
4. Click “Submit”

If for whatever reason you believe you did not receive your postcard, you can request another by clicking here. 

Update your GMB listing

Now that your listing is complete, it’s time to make it look amazing. 

Once you’re logged into your Google My Business dashboard, click “Info” on the main menu:

From this screen, you can click the edit button to update all the information that shows up on your listing:

Once you’re done, your listing should look something like this:

Here are a few common areas you should update first:

• Basic business information: Such as online ordering platform, reservations options, and phone number
• Photos: Listings with photos get more clicks and requests, so make sure to upload as many photos you have of both the location, the food, and the menu. This includes your cover, which is the most important photo of your business as it shows here in your search listing:

Keep in mind that anyone can click “Suggest an edit” on your listing, so you’ll need to check back periodically to make sure your information is correct.

Google photo guidelines

Google has very specific suggestions in terms of what photos you should include of your business in your profile.

Here’s a quick summary:

• Exterior: Pictures of the outside of your business during different times. 
• Interior: Pictures of the interior of your business from different angles and at different times. 
• Product / Food and drink: Show off all your products! If you’re a restaurant, make sure you photograph your most popular menu items. 
• Employees: You should include shots of your employees at work, a shot of your staff/management, and any other image that displays your unique work culture. 
• Common areas / Rooms: Pictures of where your customers will visit within your business.

*Note: for every one of the above categories with the exception of products (1 image / product), Google recommends you include 3 images. 

Get your small business seen with Google My Business

Google My Business is easy to set up and offers huge potential returns, with your business instantly showing up in local searches by customers who are looking for exactly what you’re offering.

There’s some optimization to be done, and you need to check your listing regularly to make sure your information is correct. 

However, to say it’s worth it would be an understatement. If you have a local business, you need to have (and optimize) a Google My Business listing. 

Frequently asked questions

What are the types of small business funding?

There are several different types of small business funding, from short-term and long-term options to others designed for recurring funding needs.

Here are 5 ways to fund your small business:

1. Business line of credit

A business line of credit is one of the most flexible types of business funding. 

That’s because, as opposed to a single lump sum, it gives you access to a pool of cash which you can tap into again and again provided you pay down your balance each time. 

Pros and cons:

• Pro: A business line of credit gives you a recurring pool of funds you can tap into whenever you need it.
• Con: Business lines of credit, due to their recurring nature, tend to have lower limits. 

Learn more about business lines of credit.

2. Term loans

A term loan is a single lump sum of money borrowed either on a short-term or long-term repayment term,

Short-term loans are often used as a quick method of obtaining a small amount needed for emergencies such as sudden expenses, payroll, or a rush order late in a busy season. 

Pros and cons:

• Pro: Good for a quick sum of cash needed for emergency expenses. 
• Con: They often have higher interest rates compared to other funding options. 

Learn more about term loans.

3. Merchant cash advance

With a merchant cash advance, you sell a portion of your future credit card sales to obtain a lump sum, which you then pay back through your daily credit card sales. 

These are particularly great if you do primarily credit card transactions on a daily basis as the amount you can borrow is based on that amount. 

Pros and cons:

• Pro: They’re a great way to obtain funding if you accept regular credit card sales but you don’t have the credit to be approved for a traditional lending option like a business loan. 
• Con: Rates tend to be higher than most funding options. 

Learn more about merchant cash advances.

4. SBA loan

Offered by lenders working in conjunction with the SBA or Small Business Administration, an SBA loan isn’t a single product but several different small business funding options. 

SBA loans are unique, however, in that a portion of the loan is guaranteed to the lender. That’s great for the lender, but how does that help you? 

Because a portion of each SBA loan is guaranteed, lenders are often able to offer SBA loans with reduced interest rates, passing a portion of that savings off to you. They’re also more likely to work with businesses that have bad credit, making approval easier. 

Pros and cons:

• Pro: Typically better rates and easier approval than traditional bank loans.
• Con: Paperwork tends to be more complicated as it must pass through a second party (the SBA), so approval can take considerably longer than other funding options. 

Learn more about SBA loans.

5. Invoice factoring

Similar to how a merchant cash advance works, with invoice factoring, you sell part or all of your accounts receivable in exchange for a sum of cash based on the total amount (often 95%).

This type of funding is useful for those who are wary of offering collateral, as the invoices themselves are used as collateral for the advance. 

Pros and cons:

• Pro: An alternative form of funding for business owners who don’t have great credit or accept regular credit card sales, and have a sizeable accounts receivable. 
• Con: The company which provides the advance takes over the collection of the invoices, which may not be preferable in terms of customer relations. 

Learn more about invoice factoring.

Complete our online application and see how much you can be approved for: Apply Now

Where can I get business funding?

Similar to the different ways you can fund your business, there are different places where you can get that funding. 

Here are the 6 main places to get funding for your small business: 

1. Banks

The traditional funding source, banks still make up a large portion of the small business funding market, even if many alternative avenues have begun to offer competitive or in some cases more favorable terms.

Banks have security on their side, with loans often insured by the FTC, but for newer businesses especially they’re notoriously hard to be approved for and approval is a lengthy process. 

2. Credit unions

Similar to banks, credit unions differ in two major ways: 

• You can get better rates at local credit unions
• You often must join or be a part of that credit union to obtain funding from it

If joining your local credit union isn’t a problem, it could be a good option as rates tend to be lower than traditional bank loans. 

3. The Small Business Administration (SBA)

The SBA, as mentioned earlier, offers several funding options through lenders. So, in most cases, you’re not really obtaining funding directly from the SBA but through an SBA-approved lender. 

However, the approval process can be quite difficult compared to other alternative funding methods, more comparable to a bank loan but without quite the same wait time. 

4. Crowdfunding

A popular way to fund most small business ventures over the past decade, crowdfunding feels new in terms of traditional lending methods, but we have a much longer history of crowdfunding and peer-to-peer funding than any type of formal business funding. 

Crowdfunding gives you the ability to acquire the money you need to launch a new business, product, or grow. However, historically it works only for one of a dozen or so industries including artistic pursuits, hand-made goods, games, books, and unique inventions among others. 

It can also take considerable work implementing a marketing campaign and there’s no guarantee that you’ll reach your funding goal. 

5. Grants

Grants are a lesser-known but useful option for funding your business. 

You need to qualify for a grant, and they’re not available to every type of business, be it an industry, size, or based on some other specification such as being a veteran or woman-owned business. 

However, if you do qualify, they’re a way of potentially obtaining funding for your business often entirely for free. 

6. Alternative lending

Alternative lending has exploded over the past decade as one of the most prominent forms of online business funding, often being the first or second place that small business owners look outside traditional bank loans (which many business owners don’t apply for, which credit score requirements often at 720 score or higher).

The two primary benefits of alternative lending options are:

• They don’t typically require good credit (even bad credit is acceptable for many options), and
• They don’t require any collateral

However, to offset the potential loss from approving businesses without perfect credit, rates tend to be higher for most alternative funding options.

Fund your small business with Excel Capital

You have more options than ever before to fund your small business ventures.

At Excel Capital, we offer several options for business owners who have bad credit or are lacking other elements that would typically deny them approval for a traditional loan.

Whether it’s:

• A business line of credit that offers you a flexible cushion during a slow season or the extra funds you need to stock product before a busy one
• A single lump sum to handle an emergency expense, or
• A merchant cash advance you can pay off on convenient terms that adjust as your sales rise and dip

We have an option that’s a perfect match for your financing needs. 

If approved, you can get exactly what you need to grow your business, make that key investment, or keep things moving along smoothly without skipping a beat. 

Learn how much you can be approved for:

Complete our online application and see how much you can be approved for: Apply Now

Frequently Asked Questions

Are you at a loss about how to market your small business online?

Have you looked through countless pages, read about a hundred different marketing strategies, and you feel no closer to know what you should actually do with your time and marketing budget?

You’re not alone.

The Internet is filled with marketing suggestions. “101 marketing ideas” this and “1,000 marketing ideas” that. 

They sound impressive, but the truth is, most of it is just noise.

(A lot of it outdated or just plan incorrect noise, by the way.)

No, you probably shouldn’t look at some obscure guerilla marketing tactic as a go-to marketing activity. And no, getting business cards isn’t marketing. 

Top 6 Ways to Market Your Small Business Online

It’s not surprising that the main challenge for most companies is simply getting enough eyeballs on their brand, according to a recent HubSpot survey:

Digital, or online, marketing is still pretty new, so most companies have yet to figure things out. 

And yet, you only have so much budget to allocate to marketing, so you need to figure out what works and it needs to be cost-effective (see challenge #3). 

That’s why we’ve organized this list of the top 6 ways to market your business online. 

These are the pillars of online marketing and where you should consider placing your time and money; everything else is just noise or novel marketing tactics that have a low chance of working or are only effective for a small number of industries.

Here are the top 6 ways to market your small business online. 

1. Create high-value SEO blog posts

According to Net Marketshare, Google is responsible for 94% of the entire Internet’s organic traffic. Think about that for a second. 

For most businesses, SEO is the foundation of their online traffic.

It’s no surprise, then, that 61% of marketers say that improving their SEO and growing their search traffic is their top priority.

Whether it’s through:

• High-value blog posts
• Useful and brief how-to or informational YouTube videos, or
• Sharable resources such as infographics

For most businesses the single most important investment is SEO.

2. Start a podcast 

Why is starting a podcast on an article about marketing? 

Because what most businesses still don’t realize is iTunes, and other podcast directories, are their own kind of search engine. 

Why does that matter?

Because according to Music Oomph, 32% of the U.S. population listens to podcasts monthly. 

And that number is growing– fast. 

Podcasts are popular, really popular, and they’re a great way for most businesses to connect with their ideal customer.

For example, take a method Gary V. often suggests: if you’re B2B, make an industry-relevant podcast marketed specifically at your customers that offers tips, news, and interviews experts in the space. Chances are, no one in your space is doing it and, over time, you’ll become the go-to expert in your industry.

But you can create that same kind of effect for most industries, even if you’re not B2B. 

If you sell a supplement or some kind of health food, start a podcast geared toward your ideal customer that interviews health experts. 

Your audience will be your target customer, whom you can then direct to your product or service in ad spots throughout your podcast, podcast description, various links, and through the general increase in brand awareness. 

3. Run a giveaway

Everyone loves a good giveaway. After all, with a minute of their time and for free– often just their email– they have a chance of getting something cool!

Since bursting onto the online marketing scene, giveaways have remained a powerful marketing strategy that virtually any brand can take advantage of one way or another. 

Like this example from Pajamas for Peace:

And the best part is, sites like Rafflecopter and RafflePress make it super easy to create giveaways online in a matter of minutes.

Just make sure your giveaway includes items that are relevant to your brand’s service or product (or even includes your product(s) like the example above). 

Too often companies run giveaways with iPads or something else impressive that has nothing to do with their brand, only to get a bazillion emails of people that really weren’t interested in their product and just wanted a free iPad. 

As a result, those new leads are low quality and the giveaway was a bust. Run a giveaway with something highly relevant to your brand and you’ll attract leads that are likely to be interested in what you have to offer. 

4. Scale online ads

Online advertising on platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and in Google searches is wildly popular among businesses, and for good reason.

Digital advertising is known for being extremely profitable when done right and a reliable way to attract a consistent flow of quality leads. 

The only problem with digital advertising, especially when considering that most of the items on this list require a very low investment, is that it’ll cost you. 

However, the good news is that even if you don’t have a massive ad budget, virtually all ad platforms offer starter coupons (often as high as $100) you can use to start generating leads right away with little or not investment of your own capital. 

That way, you can get a feel for how digital ads work, find out what converts for you, and start running a small campaign as you continue to test conversion rates and build up from there. 

5. Snag media attention with a unique product or 

This is probably the most unique point on this list, and not a surefire method, but it’s common enough and powerful, warranting it as a marketing effort every business should at least consider.

Getting your business featured by the media is a big deal, as a single good media plug can mean hundreds, or even thousands, of new customers for your company.

There are different ways to do this, from simply sending out a press release when you launch your product to sending out requests for segments on local news programs to using a service like HARO (Help A Reporter Out) to try and get yourself quoted in print and digital platforms.

Typically, this method works best when your product or service has some uniqueness to it. Is your product or service fresh or does it offer an interesting twist on something classic? Does your business operate in some new and interesting way, or do something odd? 

Anything out of the ordinary is cause for getting featured and typically the best route if you’re considering using this method.

6. Build an email list 

Email is still the undisputed king of digital advertising.

And it makes sense why. Social is powerful for businesses, but conversion rates are often low and it’s a better audience and lead nurturing platform than it is at attracting new leads and customers. 

For most of us, our social feed is crowded and we treat messages more as public announcements than anything.

However, email is a private, intimate message from one person to another. 

Email is a quasi-sacred space where you receive personal messages from colleagues, peers, family, and friends. If you can get into someone’s inbox, you’re in good company, and they’re much more likely to listen to what you’re selling. 

Sure, you need to get them on your email list first before you can market your products or services to them, which is why we included it at the end of this list. 

However, doing that is easier than ever with tools like Mailchimp and ConvertKit offering free plans to start with everything from opt-in form and landing page templates to advanced tag functionality to help qualify your leads with ease. 

Get out there and market!

Marketing your business online is easier than ever, though it can be really hard figuring out what exactly the best ways are for doing that.

There’s a ton of advice online about this and that tactic, but many strategies quickly become outdated or aren’t useful for all industries.

However, the points we covered today work for every industry across the board, almost all are low-investment, and evergreen. In other words, they’re not going away anytime soon. 

So, get out there and start marketing your business!

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you create a marketing strategy for a small business? 

There’s no one-size-fits-all method for crafting an effective marketing strategy. But here are some tips:

• Think about your goals: What do you want to accomplish? Your strategy should be designed around that. 
• Think about when you want to accomplish those goals: Some strategies are more long-term (see: SEO, email). If you have a Kickstarter coming up soon, you might rather focus on getting some traction on social and through the media. 
• Think about what works for your industry: Social isn’t great at attracting leads for every industry, so don’t feel obligated to include it there if it’s better reserved for lead nurturing. 

What is the best way to market a business?

It all depends on what you’re marketing. 

Typically, you want your marketing efforts to be evergreen. That means it’s not a one-time or fad method that you won’t be able to replicate.

It’s also best to think about how you’re building an audience, by offering a place where your current customers and fans can meet for all things related to your brand, such as your social accounts, regular emails, blog, or podcast. 

Any of these channels offer a recurring form of marketing that is much easier to maintain and can generate a recurring flow of leads with low investment compared to traditional advertising. 

What is Patriot software?

There is –a lot– of small business accounting software out there. 

Don’t take our word for it. 

Actually, scratch that. Take a look at these:

• Ultipro Payroll: Everything You Need to Know
• Quicken vs. QuickBooks: A “Quick” Comparison

Clearly, we’ve written a thing or two about accounting software in the past and there are some great ones. 

So, how do Patriot Software solutions stack up? 

Chances are you’ve heard about Patriot somewhere and you’re wondering if the software is comparable to other accounting tools like Quickbooks, Quicken, and Ultipro 

Patriot accounting software is a payroll and human resource management software that helps with various small business accounting tasks.

There’s a lot that it can do, including virtually all the basic accounting tasks you’d hope for in a small business accounting tool, but like all software, it has its cons as well.

So, for this official Patriot Software review, let’s start by digging into Patriot’s features first to see what it has to offer– and whether it’s right for your business. 

Patriot Software: Features

All the Patriot Software solutions taken together include virtually all the basic and somewhat more advanced features you’d want in a small business accounting tool.

Features include:

• Payroll reports
• Check printing
• Direct deposits
• State and federal tax management

The software also offers personal portals for employees wishing to see the status of upcoming deposits and print W2s among other things.

There isn’t currently any mobile app available, but the website is responsive on mobile and easy enough to use. 

Patriot, who offers several small business software solutions, also set up integration between their tools such as their Patriot TIME software which tracks employee time and Patriot HR for more comprehensive personnel tracking. 

However, keep in mind that each of those will add to the price, though Patriot still remains even then comparable to the other more “all-in-one” HR software solutions. 

And any decent accounting software is about much more than just their basic features, but that’s especially true for Patriot. 

So, let’s talk about the pros and cons of the software as a whole.

Patriot Software review: Pros and cons 

Patriot has several unique pros without many cons.

Here they are: 

Pro: Amazing support

One of the prime features of Patriot Software isn’t the software at all, but the support. 

Patriot is known for having stellar, industry-leading support. 

Not only does support respond promptly, Patriot, like several other competitors, but also makes experts available to you for support in setting up pretty much anything. 

This can be especially helpful if you’ve never done something like payroll before which often requires an accountant’s special knowledge to do right. 

Even if you’ve never used accounting software in your life, Patriot makes it easy to get everything set up by making experts available to you at every step of the way. 

Pro: They also offer help with setup

Beyond getting help from an expert, if you’re the kind of person who likes to do things themselves, Patriot has something for you as well.

They have an extensive, dedicated setup wizard. But the wizard isn’t tucked away, hidden in the menu or some obscure settings page. 

Rather, the wizard pops right out when you sign up and walks you through everything step-by-step. 

Pro: Has virtually every feature you could ever want

If you include their extensive list of add-ons through their other offerings, Patriot offers a wide range of small business accounting tools and features, pretty much everything you could ever want.

Payroll? Accounting? Direct deposits? Time tracking? All check, check, and check. 

With that said you’ll have to pay…

Con: Price can get high with add-ons

Patriot Software’s pricing is comparable to any accounting software. 

However, due mainly to the fact that they separate their Patriot software for accounting and Patriot software payroll solution into different products, once you add on everything extra you need– let’s say, payroll and time tracking with Patriot TIME– the price is no longer cheap. At least, compared to other solutions.

Con: Not for businesses with 100+ employees

One of the only major cons of Patriot is that it’s designed specifically for small businesses with <100 employees. 

If you have more than 100 employees, you’ll need to use something like Quickbooks, which is built for scale. 

However, for most small businesses, this is a complete non-issue. 

How much does Patriot Software cost?

Now to what is arguably the most important question of all: how much does Patriot Software payroll and accounting solutions cost?

The good news is, if you’re in need of one specific feature Patriot will be about the same price (possibly even cheaper) as other accounting solutions. 

The bad news is, as we mentioned earlier, features add up quickly.

Here’s a detailed breakdown:

• Patriot Accounting Basic: $15
• Patriot Accounting Premium: $22.50
• Patriot Basic Payroll: $10 
• Patriot Full-Service Payroll: $30

*+$4/Employee for all versions of Patriot Accounting/Payroll.

Add-ons exist for both time tracking and contractor/vendor management, the former being $5 / month and the latter $10.

Patriot accounting software alternatives

Patriot accounting software offers everything most small businesses need in accounting software. However, there are several other alternatives that offer unique features and/or competitive pricing.

They are: 

Quickbooks

QuickBooks is the single more feature-rich accounting software. If you need a rare set of features of just like a ton of the extra features it offers, it could be for you.

It’s ideal for businesses who are growing quickly and want something that fits them now while still be perfectly suited to grow with you. 

Check out QuickBooks.

Quicken

If an accounting software that’s simultaneously a great personal finance tool in one sounds good to you, Quicken may be the best option for you. 

However, it’s not as feature-rich as Patriot or Quickbooks and generally falls a bit behind them in terms of purely accounting features. 

Check out Quicken.

Ultipro

Our final option, Ultipro is another feature-rich accounting software, though this offers even more complex features that even Quickbooks can’t rich.

Having said that, Ultipro balances it out with a much higher price tag than your average accounting software. It’s also know for being somewhat difficult to use. 

So, if you’re a larger company that needs some high-level feature, it may be the right choice for you.

Check out Ultipro. 

What is the best payroll software?

There is no strictly “best” accounting software.

However, there may be one that’s a better fit for you than the others.

For one, most accounting software is of comparable price. Ultipro is one of the few examples of costlier accounting software. However, it’s because of their rich list of features. If you’re a larger company and you’re in need of some of the features they offer that most accounting software doesn’t, they’re likely a good fit for you.

If you don’t need any snazzy features and you’re a business of one (or a few), something like Freshbooks or Patriot might be the better option for you. 

And if you have a small or medium-sized team and simpler accounting software like Freshbooks no longer cuts it, Quickbooks may be the perfect fit. 

Patriot Software review summary: Is it good?

It’s true that the accounting software space is filled with great solutions (and others that are not so great).

Even so, Patriot stands as one of the premier accounting solutions for small businesses of less than 100 employees. 

If you’re in need of your first small business accounting software, or you’re not happy with your and are considering a switch, Patriot is a great option to check out that can serve pretty much all basic small business accounting needs. 

It can get a bit costly when you start throwing in add-ons, so be sure to shop around and compare price vs. features. But as a basic accounting or payroll software, it’s comparable to many of the best. 

And don’t forget to check out our other guides on small business accounting:

• Ultipro Payroll: Everything You Need to Know
• Quicken vs. QuickBooks: A “Quick” Comparison
• Top 5 Small Business Tax Software
• How to Create a Balance Sheet

Need new business cards? Check out this MOO business card review to learn whether this popular business card service is the right one for you. 

If you’re due for a new order of business cards, or are just starting a new business and are looking to get your very first, fresh set of cards to start representing you and your business, MOO business cards are one of the most well-known business card services available today. 

The business world might live largely online now, but your business card still serves as a useful tool you can use to represent yourself to those you meet and communicate with. 

MOO is known as one of the most stylish and modern business card services available, so if you’re in need of new business cards, read the MOO business card review below to get an idea if MOO printing, designs, and other options are a fit for what you’re looking for.

MOO business cards: Pros and cons

Here’s a 10,000-foot view of the pros and cons of MOO’s business card service:

Pros:

• Moo business card templates are some of the most stylish business card templates available online
• Alternate card designs free of charge
• Beautiful shipping construction
• Easy-to-use ordering interface
• Transparent pricing without annoying upsells

Cons

• Higher price compared to other business card services
• Few design options
• MOO printing isn’t the most reliable: Errors are reported by some customers

MOO’s business card service is one of the easiest to use as it boasts a simple and straightforward interface that lets you customize options and complete your order within just a few short pages. 

However, MOO printing can sometimes be unreliable. Customers sometimes report small printing errors such as uneven margins and their design options are limited. They’re also just a bit pricier compared to other business card services, though MOO printing quality is some of the best in the industry. 

If MOO’s business card service sounds like a fit for you, read on to learn what it’s like to order your business cards with MOO as well as details on pricing, ordering, and quality. 

Designing your card

When you start off designing your business cards, you’ll run through a few basic options with an easy one-click interface.

First, you’ll pick your size:

Then, choose your finish (customers report the Matte finish being super high quality. If you’re not sure what to pick, go with that):

Next, you’ll choose your quantity, which offers a convenient pricing overview both on a per-card and package basis (this might change based on what options you select later on down the process, but it’s a helpful ballpark): 

Once you pick your quantity, the summary section will populate automatically for you to review:

Provided everything looks good, select continue to move on to designing your card (don’t worry, anything you select on this screen can be changed later if you need).

Next, you’ll be sent to a page to pick your preferred design style. 

Keep in mind, you can choose to upload a design of your own if you prefer, but for this tutorial, we’ll be going with a MOO business card template from their own library as most will go that route (it’s far easier to execute, and MOO has some great, simple designs).

Choose your design, like this one, then select next:

Once you’ve selected your design, it’s time to input your information into your card. 

The interface is pretty straightforward: just click on a relevant section to edit it and edit any other option such as font or other type options in the dark grey menu above it: 

Once this is complete, you’re ready to move on to your final review and checkout. 

So, let’s get into MOO’s pricing and shipping options to see what our final total ends up being. 

Pricing

MOO’s pricing is higher than the average business card service, but they have one big pro when compared to a lot of other services like VistaPrint: they’re transparent and don’t bombard you with upsells.

It’s a part of the business card business model, so expect them with MOO as well, but you won’t feel like you’re being attacked as can often be the case with other business card service checkout processes. 

This is what the next page looks like, which offers a quick summary of our order so far:

We’ve selected to get 200 business cards as that’s a pretty standard order. However, you can order as few as 50 or 100 if you don’t quite need that many to drop the price down. 

Keep in mind that while MOO’s 50 business card order is $19.99, which would reduce this order total considerably, it’s still more than comparable services like GotPrint ($8.30 for 100 cards) and VistaPrint ($16.99 for 100 cards). 

Once you review your cart and hit checkout, you’ll select your shipping option:

Shipping prices are pretty standard, with Economy, Express, and Express AM options being available. 

How long does it take to get MOO business cards?

In this case, we were able to get Economy shipping, which added just $9.75 to our order and brought our total to $79.74 (same total as seen in the previous image, as that already had the basic shipping method calculated in). 

We received the order within the week, so the MOO printing and shipping process is relatively fast. 

Now, let’s finish by talking a bit about quality.

Quality

So, the order’s come in and it’s time to take a look! How’s the quality?

MOO business card orders come in some of the prettiest packaging that exists. You can tell MOO puts a great amount of care into thinking about the experience of opening your order. 

Our order looked great and matched what we had ordered online (as is often the case reported by customers).

However, many times customers have reported that their order was missing an element they originally included in their design or some design element was incorrect, such as an uneven outer margin.

Some customers report MOO offering a free reprint of their order to get it right, however, which is a big relief and largely fixes the hassle.

Is matte or glossy better for business cards?

MOO is known for its beautiful matte finish, with many customers reporting the finish being the highest quality in the industry.

On the other hand, MOO’s glossy coat is high quality, but highly reflective (even when not placed against a light source), which you may or may not like. 

For that reason, we’d suggest choosing MOO’s matte finish if you’re unsure of which to pick. 

Did this MOO business card review help?

Have a better idea of whether MOO business cards are a good fit for you now? 

Business cards might seem like a small detail, but those small details can make a big impression when you’re meeting a key business contact for the first time, so you should take some time to find not only a sharp design that communicates what you’re offering but a business card service you believe you can count on to deliver quality.

And check out some more of our helpful reviews to help get your business off the group:

• The Top 10 Absolute Best Ecommerce Platforms in 2020
• ClickFunnels Review: Is ClickFunnels right for your business?
• Top & Best Small Business Checking Accounts

Oren Fletcher, a 25 year-old car detailing business owner from Ontario, Canada was an up and coming entrepreneur. His car detailing shop, Fletcher’s Detailing, was the go-to spot in Cornwall, Ontario and showed no signs of slowing down. To keep up with the influx of customers, he decided to apply for merchant cash advance Canada to help with expanding the company.

Oren, as many young entrepreneurs do, started his company at his family home. He turned his mother’s two-car garage into a home-based business, but in recent months due to hundred of cars needing detailing, he needed to expand, hire a receptionist, train new employees, and purchase inventory. Although business was on the up and up, as fast as money was coming in, it was quickly going out to take care of overhead costs causing Oren to just break even at the end of each month. He needed working capital to put him ahead.

After seeing a news segment on TV about the growing popularity of the alternative lending industry in Canada, Oren decided to contact Excel Capital Management. After quickly learning about the alternative financing solutions offered at Excel, he sent over 4 months of recent bank and credit card processing statements to one of their funding specialists just to see what he qualified for. Within hours, Excel was able to offer a $150,000 Merchant Cash Advance. Oren quickly took the offer and was funded the very next day. Within weeks he was able to hire a contractor to start work on a new location, hire a receptionist, and train new employees on different car detailing techniques!

*All Case Studies are based on real businesses Excel Capital Management has funded. The names of our clients and their businesses have been changed to protect their privacy.*

Are you a business owner wondering how to stay ahead of constant changes in the SEO arena when you have enough to deal with running your business? SEMrush helped us improve our marketing with a collection of useful tracking and reporting tools. Learn more below. 

As someone without prior digital marketing experience, when I was just starting out marketing my business, SEO seemed like a very long uphill climb. Like Everest high. 

Add to that the fact that we’re in an extremely competitive space– business loans– which has an average competition score of .93. We had a lot of hurdles to cross to gain visibility.

Many of our competitors have been cranking out content for years, and a lot aren’t half bad at it. So, I knew looking at what they were doing would be the best place to start.

My only problem was… we had no idea how to do that or where to start. 

In came SEMrush to help.

SEMrush’s Domain Overview Search helped us get clarity about our competition

After doing a little digging around, I decided to give SEMrush a try after seeing it recommended so many times on various guides.

The first report I started using– and still the main one we use– was and is the Domain Overview Search report. 

We’re primarily a small business lender, so I started by pulling data comparing our biggest competitors in the small business lending space to find out what topics and keywords they were ranking for: 

Running the Organic Search Positions report on each of our biggest competitors helped identify other terms both big and small. 

That not only helped show us what terms we should be targeting but told us more about their own keyword strategy as a whole– what’s working for them and where they’re falling: 

We created pages for our major keywords early, but with little to no domain authority, we weren’t seeing much results.

However, what really worked well for us was targeting some of the less competitive keywords in our niche, terms we were able to identify and rank for with the Domain Overview Search report:

SEMrush’s Organic Research Tool told us what was working (and what wasn’t) 

Once we had a good collection of content up and we were working on our on-page and off-page SEO, we used the Organic Research Tool to regularly monitor our rankings: 

The report not only showed us how our rankings were improving day-by-day but both our visibility and changes in our traffic for each individual term. 

Another really useful tool we’ve used this report for is to pay attention to what SERP features we have. 

With snippets becoming such an important part of SEO, we’re constantly trying to snag new snippets for various terms– and this report helps tell us when we were successful. 

We also used the Position Changes report on a daily basis to see how rankings were fluctuating. The report is especially useful for finding out when a page is newly ranked:

Between these reports, we had pretty much all the information we needed to know what was working and what wasn’t and make changes accordingly.

And don’t forget to set up the Position Tracking Tool, which is useful for setting up automatic updates on your focus keywords to go out to you on a daily basis. 

It’s especially nice if you’re too busy to remember to check your reports daily, which is bound to happen especially for other business owners: 

And their Site Audit and Sensor Helped us stay on top of issues

Chances are if you’ve never done a site audit, your website has a ton of on-page and/or performance issues that are affecting your visibility and ranking. 

In addition to creating great content and monitoring how that content was doing, we used the Site Audit tool to help us take care of issues plaguing the site, which we were quickly able to minimize and keep down:

We then use the Sensor tool to keep on top of any potential Google updates in relation to our industry so we can know the moment an algorithm update might have gone live that could affect our rankings: 

Backlink Audit tool helped us avoid a major ranking hit

Another tool we’ve used to similar benefit is the Backlink Audit tool. It’s helped us identify toxic domains that are linking to us that could set off a red flag to Google.

When we notice a problematic link, we can easily handle it right then and there in the Audit tab within a matter of seconds: 

Earlier in the year, we had a big hit to the site caused by some bad links that affected our rankings that were acquired via a negative SEO attack on our site by what appeared to be one of our competitors.

At first, we weren’t sure what was causing it and were worried we’d just been hit by an algorithm update or something. 

However, with this tool, we were able to identify several bad links that had just been directed at us and disavow the links that were causing the issue, fixing it right then and there. 

One Year Later: Major results with SEMrush

Just over a year from the moment we started our big push, the site’s rankings have taken off thanks in part to the SEMrush tools we utilized and traffic is climbing at an accelerated pace.

This is what our charts look like from December of 2018 to December of 2019, one year later: 

And the number of keywords we rank for has exploded (and our number of top three and #4-10 place rankings): 

SEMrush’s slew of comprehensive reports and tools not only helped us create a plan of attack by running effective research on our competitors that informed our keyword strategy, but it also gave us the tools to monitor that growth on every level and remove– and avoid– issues that could potentially affect our ability to rank.

The end result has been big gains for us in a short window of time with a concrete impact on our bottom line (and continued growth even now). 

If you’re a business owner who doesn’t know much– if anything– about SEO, I can’t recommend the SEMrush tools more for crafting your keyword strategy, helping you rank, and making sure you stay there.

How to value a business: How much is your business worth?

Whether it’s to acquire funding via a small business loan or investors or sell the business, properly valuing your business is an important step that needs to be done right. 

The more accurately you can appraise the value of your business, the more funding you’ll be able to generate and the greater chance you’ll have of securing a buyer. 

A business valuation is the process of determining how much your business is worth. 

There are several specific methods that are typically used to calculate a business’s true worth, but these are the 3 main overarching valuation methods which all specific methods fit under: 

3 Methods to Value a Business:

1. Income-based: Calculates valued based primarily on income metrics such as revenue and profit. This includes the Discounted Cash Flow method which takes into consideration projected future cash flow value at present compared to risk as well as Capitalization of Earnings, which is a combination of revenue, profit, and cash flow projections.
2. Asset-based: Calculates value based on a business’s assets.
3. Market-based: Calculates value based on the sale of similar businesses within your same industry. 

It’s also important for entrepreneurs in the market to buy or invest in to be aware of how business valuations work, so they know how to properly value a business which they’re considering purchasing or making an investment in. 

No matter where you fall in the process, you should invest the necessary time to better understand how business valuations work. 

That’s why the purpose of this guide is to break down how business valuations work, methods for doing so, and tips to help make the process smoother for all parties involved. 

Table of contents

• Preparing to value your business
• 3 Primary methods for calculating the value of your business
• How to value your business example
• Tips to make the most of your business valuation

First, let’s talk about some important tips for preparing for your valuation:

Preparing to value your business

Before we dive into the major business valuation methods, there are some important steps you should take to prepare for your business valuation.

Appraising the value of your business is a big step no matter what point in the business growth timeline you’re at, so investing a bit of time to prepare beforehand can help make sure things go off without a hitch. 

Here are 4 things you should do before valuing your business:

1. Learn about business valuations

Since you’re reading this, you’re probably already at this step. 

However, it’s important to mention that because business valuations can be complex and are directly tied to the success and/or ultimate monetary value of your business, you should take some time to learn about business valuations. 

Learn about the different valuation methods, what type of business should use which method, why, and all the various details you should take into consideration when valuing the business. 

For example, two of the most important terms you should look into are Seller’s Discretionary Earnings (SDE) and Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA).

SDE and EBITDA are both arguably the two most common types of business valuation methods (which fit into one of the major valuation method buckets we’ll talk about later), though they’re similar in nature. 

Both are essentially methods for calculating a business’s pure net profits, SDE generally being used for small businesses under $500,000 in value and EBITDA for businesses above that.

2. Research your industry

Business valuation methods take more into account than a business’s performance and well-being, they look at the industry as a whole as well. 

For that reason, take some time to research the industry the business is in– if you don’t already do that regularly– to understand its current state and direction.

Financial information for most public companies is easily enough found online and a great way to get an idea of the state of the industry. However, you can also search out potential business sales listings on sites like AngelList for any that might exist within the industry as another great resource. 

3. Get your finances in order

This one might sound like an obvious step in retrospect, but it’s often overlooked until it’s too late. 

If you’re the business owner, chances are, there are things you can do to measurably improve your company’s financial situation within a matter of a few months to a year. 

Take time to review critical reports such as your profit & loss and balance sheet to get an idea of where you can make improvements. 

Also, make sure you have certain financial documents in order which will be necessary for the valuation process:

• Profit & loss statement
• Tax filings
• Licenses and other proprietary documents
• Other basic business finance reports

We’ll go more into considering a professional appraiser later, but it’s important to mention at this point that a professional business appraiser will run a full financial audit of your company, so while they will cost you they’ll take care of this step entirely (and with accuracy you can count on). 

4. Review your assets

Similar to the previous point, you’ll also want to review your assets. 

This is important for all financial calculations, but most notably for asset-based valuation methods. 

Start by making a list of all your business assets (which essentially includes anything that adds value to your business), including both:

1. Tangible, and
2. Intangible assets

Within these two groups exist all kinds of different business assets, including:

Tangible assets:

• Physical assets such as property/real estate, your production machines, and delivery vehicles
• Inventory
• Cash
• Investments

Intangible assets:

• Intellectual property such as patents and trademarks
• Subscriber list
• Brand reputation

Similarly, don’t forget to take stock of all your liabilities, which can include:

• Business loans
• Accounts payable, and
• Expenses

3 Methods for valuing your business

Now that you’ve taken steps to prepare for your business valuation, whether you’ll be doing it yourself or hiring a professional, it’s time to break down the 3 overarching business valuation methods. 

Each method below calculates the value of your business differently. Some methods are used more often than others, however, each is useful to know as they all have a place depending on the industry and other factors. 

As a final note, if you’re doing the valuation yourself, work to make it as unbiased and accurate as possible. Inflating your numbers will only hurt you in the long run, from giving you an incorrect picture of your business health to turning away potential buyers. 

Also, resist the urge to mesh methods together. Each method’s calculation can be run separately, but attempting to mesh them together is bound to result in skewed results. 

These are the 3 approaches to business valuation: 

1. Income-driven method

The income method for business valuation uses metrics such as profit and revenue (typically, future projections of those metrics), as the basis for valuation.

There are 2 primary methods used within the income approach bucket:

Capitalization of earnings method

This method takes into account factors such as a business’s cash flow to calculate its future profitability. This method is best for established businesses with stable profit. 

Discounted cash flow method

This method, which calculates the value of a business based on its future cash flow projection, is ideal for new businesses with high growth potential.

2. Asset-driven method

Asset-driven methods use, as it sounds, a business’s assets to calculate its value. These are especially good for real estate and investment-based businesses. 

Again, there are several different methods within this approach as well, including the Adjusted Net Asset method, which adds up a business’s assets and subtracts its liabilities to find its value.

To use an asset-driven method, you need to have an idea of what monetary value you can place on your assets. If you’re not sure, instead of running a guesstimate, do some research to make sure those estimates are as accurate as possible. 

3. Market-driven method

The final business valuation method is the market-based approach.

This approach primarily takes into account the purchases of comparable businesses in your industry as a marker of its value. 

This can be a useful method if you’re looking for a quick ballpark estimate as if you know of another similar business in your industry that recently sold, chances are your business will sell for a similar value.

This method is especially useful if your industry is experiencing rapid growth (such as tech) as there are likely examples you can reference in your industry. 

Make sure to gather data on all comparable businesses and don’t just settle on the data from one. The more data you can provide to a potential seller, the more solid you’ll make your case for pricing your business at what you decide it to be. 

How to properly value your business: Example

While there are many different ways to calculate the value of a business, for the sake of the example, we’re going to use the most common method, the SDE method used often for businesses of <$500,000 in value, for our example. 

Adrianna owns a local family restaurant originally started by her parents when she was a child called Luiz’s Hot Spot. She’s interested in getting a valuation for the business so she can put the restaurant up for sale.

First, Adrianna starts by gathering the basic financial numbers we touched on above for the business:

• Annual SDE: $95,000
• Annual revenue: $475,000
• Assets:
  • Real estate: $175,000
  • Equipment and furnishings: $35,000
  • Inventory: $100,000
• Liabilities: $50,000

Next, Adrianna will use these numbers to calculate the average value for her business.

Calculating SDE

Using bizbuysell.com’s latest statistics, the restaurant industry as a whole has an average multiplier of 1.98. 

To roughly calculate the value of her business, then, Adrianna takes her $95,000 calculated SDE, found with this equation: 

Net earnings (before taxes) + Personal earnings + Non-essential expenses for the year (one-time, non-repeating expenses– doesn’t include COGS) – Liabilities = Your SDE

Then runs her SDE through this equation: Business’s SDE x Multiplier, using the multiplier of 1.98 to get her estimated business value:

$95,000 (SDE) x 1.98 (Multiplier) = $188,100 (Business value, rough estimate)

Keep in mind that this calculation, in particular liabilities and intangible assets, includes things we didn’t cover here such as future prospects, local economy projections, and other elements.

What other factors affect the value of Adrianna’s business?

In addition to the abovementioned factors, there are other factors that can affect the true value of Adrianna’s restaurant that aren’t included in this rough SDE estimate. 

There are a whole collection of additional elements that must be factored in to get an accurate value for the business, including: 

• How eligible is she for financing? 
• How loyal are her customers?
• When will key employees retire?
• Supplier relationships may change

Several factors influence the final number, including the fact that Luiz’s is a family-owned restaurant and a change in ownership will be specifically impactful to such a long-held local establishment. In addition, the trend away from individually owned restaurants, local business growth, and community response. 

Keep in mind that the above example is only a rough estimation and shouldn’t be used in exactness to run your own valuation. 

Rather, use it to get an idea of what a real business valuation might look like to help you prepare for your valuation. 

4 Tips to make the most of your business valuation

Preparing for and executing a business valuation is a big event. 

You not only want to make sure that you’re properly prepared, but that you do everything you can to make the most of the valuation throughout the process– and give yourself the greatest odds of success at acquiring funds or an eventual purchase. 

Here are some additional tips to help you make the most of your business evaluation.

1. Be realistic (and take emotion out of the equation)

One of the most common mistakes of business owners during the valuation process is to overprice their own business due to bias. 

As the owner, you know how much effort you’ve invested in growing your business. This enormous effort can skew your perception of the value of your business, making you overvalue your business. 

This is all the more reason why one of the accepted evaluation methods is so important, because it takes that emotional aspect out of the equation. 

2. Consider giving your marketing and public appearance a facelift

One of the simplest things you can do to improve your chance of selling the business, and at a desirable price, is to give your marketing and overall public appearance a facelift before putting it up for sale. 

The way the public views your business inevitably plays a big part in the process of acquiring a buyer as they will see your business first the way everyone else does.

Taking a bit of time to update your marketing campaigns, branding, advertising, even simple things that might be a bit out of date such as your business cards, signage outside your business, and your facility itself will go a long way toward securing a buyer. 

3. Get key employees on board

It’s common for key employees to stay in place after selling. After all, it’s easier for the buyer to keep an already well-oiled team in place rather than hire and train their own. 

For that reason, it’s important to make sure you can secure those key employees now and get them on board with the eventual sale and transition.

When you decide to reveal this information is up to you, perhaps you decide not to reveal anything until a prospective buyer is in place, but it’s something you’ll want to do sooner than later to reduce surprises. That way, you can communicate who from the team the buyer can count on staying when the transition occurs. 

Secure not only letters of intent from those key employees but also any vital vendors as well. The more you can guarantee your potential buyer that these key elements will remain in place, the more you’ll reassure them of the return on purchasing your business. 

4. Consider hiring a professional appraiser

At this point, it might be obvious that appraising your business yourself is risky at the very least.

Between the natural bias that business owners experience and tendency to overvalue when it’s their own business and the complexity of business evaluation methods, appraising the value of your business may be in better hands with a professional. 

A professional appraiser can be costly, up to several thousand dollars for a full appraisal, but they’ll run a full audit on your financials to make sure that your valuation is accurate. 

In addition to this, having a record of a professional valuation will give credibility to your valuation that is indisputable during negotiations.

A personal valuation is definitely faster and saves you money, but not only may that valuation be incorrect, a buyer is more likely to negotiate the price down without evidence of a professional appraisal.

It’s your business– get the most from it

Valuing your business is a big step in any entrepreneur’s career, whether it’s your first or fifth and your business is worth $200,000 or $2 million (or more). 

You not only want to make sure you’re properly valuing your business but that you make that valuation and sales process as smooth as possible and put yourself in a position to maximize your return from that sale or to acquire the maximum amount of funding for the business. 

Use the above tips to prepare for your valuation, consider which method might be best for you, apply the additional tips for making the most of the process, and consider hiring a professional appraiser. 

It’s your business. You worked hard to grow it into what it is today, so don’t skimp on the details. Get the most you possibly can from your time and hard work.