Category: News & updates

Categories
News & updates

4 ways to get more reviews

For any business – operating online or offline – reviews are an integral part of acquiring new customers. Research shows that as many as 91% of consumers will read online reviews before making a purchase decision.

1. Add it to your signature

Sometimes it can be tough to remember to request reviews, you’re busy running a business! Think about high traffic places customers will see the request, somewhere you can easily link to reviews. Start with your email signature, and consider where else you might place it.

2. Use our Sync Accounts feature

Did you know on Oneflare you can sync your accounts to all appear in one place? Showing reviews across multiple sites (like Google and Facebook) helps boost your credibility and trust with potential customers. 

3. Use Word of Mouth (literally)

Reviews are an important part of any business’ marketing strategy, and its important to consider other avenues. Websites like Word of Mouth can be a great option for a quality small business looking to harness their good referrals. With over a million hits each month, Word of Mouth provides a platform where businesses can be promoted based on merit, and not how much they charge.

4. Simply ask!

If you’ve done a great job, most people are more than happy to leave a review – but sometimes they’ll need a reminder. Think about your timing when asking for a review, consider if you’ve completed the job yet, and whether you’ve developed a good relationship with the customer.

You could consider setting up an automated email after the final invoice is paid asking for a review, or manually sending a request every few months to recent customers. For those starting out, consider asking any friends or family who you’ve performed a service for to write you a review to get the ball rolling.

Categories
News & updates

Updates to the Business Profile

Over the last few months, you might have noticed enhancements to the way your Business Profile looks. This new, more streamlined layout makes it easier for you to navigate, and quickly edit your business – helping keep your information relevant. 

Read on to find out exactly what’s changed. 

What’s new?

We’ve been busy adding to and updating the business profile to help you better showcase your business. Here are the new fields you can now customise using our web browser or iOS app: 

  • Opening hours
  • Social media links
  • Payment methods
  • Unique Selling Points 

You also now have the ability to reorder images in your image gallery, another way of putting your best foot forward and giving you more control over how your brand looks online. 

Check out the new look Business Profile now. 

What’s next? 

Watch out for more upcoming updates! We’ll be adding these new features in our Android app very soon, plus some exciting other new features we can’t wait to unveil.


If you have questions, feedback, or suggestions about what you’d love to see next, you can always reach out to your Account Manager or email us at [email protected].

Categories
News & updates

What types of insurance do you need as a plumber, a builder or a handyman?

The rise of micro-businesses in Australia is a testament to the freedom and opportunities that running a small enterprise provides. But as more people are choosing to go out and provide specialised trade services, more are being faced with insurance issues that they haven’t encountered before. If the aim is to build a healthy and robust small business community, it’s crucial that more tradies understand insurance well enough to make informed decisions about their risk management plan.

In 2016, the ABS reported that a whopping 88.3% of businesses in Australia had 0 to 4 employees, which puts them in the sole trader or micro-business category, whilst only 9.2% had 5 to 19 employees, which is a more traditional small business size (1). The figure is slightly distorted by the number of ABNs allocated to SMSF ownership companies, but the reality is clear: the staff of the archetypical Australian company can all be driven to work in a small family car.

So if we’re going small, it means more business owners have less resources and limited experience with business insurance. If the trend continues, this issue could become a very real form of exposure within the business community.

With this in mind, let’s have a look at some of the major insurance types that tradies should consider. We’ll also offer some hints on what to consider before you buy, and the kind of information you’ll want to have handy.

Public Liability Insurance

Public Liability (PL) insurance is the number one priority for most small businesses because it covers a huge legal liability – the duty of care we have to keep others and their property safe from injury or damage. Whether a claim is valid or not, PL protects you against the legal and compensation costs involved.

Due to the nature of the claims involved, costs for PL cases can stretch well into the millions of dollars, so the risk for a small business can be incredibly high. Claims can stem from something as seemingly innocuous as tripping on a loose cord, accidentally bumping an expensive piece of equipment, or spilling coffee on a client’s laptop.

Highlighting the importance of PL insurance is the fact that many government and professional organisations require minimum coverage before they’ll licence a practitioner or grant membership admittance.

Professional Indemnity Insurance

Professional Indemnity (PI) insurance is crucial if you provide advice or services, and protects against the legal costs of being accused of any breach of duty. PI protects professionals against a huge legal liability by covering the risk of negligence, and will pay for court costs and compensation claims – regardless of whether a claim is valid or not.

Common business types that require PI include accountants, bookkeepers, masseurs, beauty therapists, consultants, life coaches, personal trainers and psychologists. Claims can arise from something as simple as an accountant missing a tax expense, to something more complex such as an engineering or architectural error leading to faulty building construction.

Business Insurance

Business Insurance (BI) can protect your contents and work premises against loss, damage or theft, as well as the financial pain of business interruption. But this is just the tip of the iceberg, as BI is really an umbrella term for a host of cover options, including things like machinery breakdown, glass, theft, portable equipment, employee dishonesty and money.

With BI, you can literally pick and choose the options you want to include, depending on the nature of your business and specific items that you wish to insure. It might be your tools, your dishwasher or the glass in your store. It may even be that you want to protect yourself against the expense involved in a tax audit, or business interruption so that an insured event doesn’t stop the flow of cash to your company.

The point of BI is that it should be tailored to your specific business needs. Be aware of the exclusions in your policy, however. Finding out you’re not covered for a claim after the event is a painful way to learn.

But wait, there’s more…

PI, PL, and BI are the primary insurance types that micro-businesses may need, but there are others that warrant consideration, including Management Liability, Personal Accident and Cyber Liability insurance. Personal Accident insurance, in particular, is widely needed as it protects your most valuable real asset – your ability to earn an income. Also, as more business is conducted online, the threat of cyber attacks is turning more business owners to Cyber Liability insurance.

So, where to begin?

The process of purchasing business insurance should be prefaced by a little bit of forethought and a small amount of research.

The forethought is related to risk. Ask yourself what kind of insurable risks your business faces and what the severity of those risks might be. The level of impact is key, because severity is much more important than probability. You want to protect yourself against the events that could do the most damage, not the ones that you could easily handle. You’ll also want to have a think about how you personally feel about risk. Do you have a high tolerance for it, or does the thought of risk keep you awake at night?

The research part is mostly about collecting the basic information you’ll need to have handy when you take action, including:

  • Location
  • ABN
  • Industry
  • Business size
  • Number of employees
  • Turnover

In addition, you should have a fair idea of the amount of cover required. With Public Liability insurance, for example, $10 million is a standard amount, but $5 million or $20 million are sometimes required.

Wrap up

Australia isn’t really a nation of small businesses, it’s a nation of micro-businesses. This is a wonderful sign for our economy, but the risk is that vast tranches of the business community are trading without first catering to their insurance needs. The key for sole traders and micro business owners is to find out what those needs are, and shop around for a provider that can meet them.

If you’re a small or micro business on Oneflare, insurance is important for you to have to perform jobs safely and without risk. It’s about being protected from any possible situation that could leave you out of pocket. If you haven’t already, upload a copy of any licenses, certificates and proof of insurance that you may have onto your Oneflare profile.

*Michael Gottlieb is the founder and managing director of BizCover, a leading Australian small business insurance site. He has founded a number of insurance businesses since 2001, and is featured on Insurance Business Magazine’s 2017 Hot List.

BizCover™ Pty Ltd (ABN 68 127 707 975; AR 338440) is a corporate authorised representative of Mega Capital Pty Ltd (ABN 37 098 080 418; AFSL 238549). This is general advice only.

Categories
News & updates

4 ways to grow your margins through automation

Staying ahead of the curve for trade companies is notoriously tricky. The number of moving pieces involved in carrying out a job means that from the initial job request through to invoicing there are thousands of points where a job can go south.

The sheer scale of staying across every single facet of two or three jobs, let alone 20 or 30, is a task that nobody can or should be expected to complete flawlessly. In a lot of cases, there’s a sense that trade businesses are too much trouble past a certain point.

Over the past five years, however, we’ve seen trade companies start to emerge from piles of paperwork and mountains of debt by automating repetitive tasks and adopting smarter organisational tactics.

To spread the good word and help our tradie mates out, we’ve put together a list of tactics we’ve seen take trade companies from ditches to riches.

1. Accounting software

In the early days of running a trades business, there can be a tendency to want to learn how to do everything yourself. It, however, often a much better use of your time to hire a bookkeeper to look after your accounts for you.

To support this, it’s invariably in your best interests to move your books onto accounting software like Xero. Xero is a simple way of staying across all of your financials in a straightforward interface that both you and your bookkeeper can access remotely. Among other smarts, Xero can read photos of all your rogue receipts and turn them into expenses in your dashboard, easily create financial reports, and track inventory.

2. Online Price Books

Flicking through 20kg supplier price books all day is enough exercise to cripple the heftiest of footy players let alone a wee office manager. So put down the deep heat and pick up a job management software solution that does the heavy lifting for you with online price books. Online price books are the new kid on the trade block: they allow you to significantly reduce time spent on manual data entry by saving supplier price book files and auto-populating materials with their respective costs when you’re building quotes and estimates.

3. Just in time stock control

It’s often the little expenses that eat away at trade and service business profits, so it’s pivotal to make sure as little falls through the cracks as possible. Just in time stock control is a framework employed by some of the world’s most successful manufacturers to help with loss mitigation and cash forecasting. This is a methodology for managing materials costs. It requires you only to buy the materials that you need when you need them so that you’re never left with expenses that won’t ultimately be covered by the customer. Here’s how to do it:

  • Quote exclusively what you purchase: Quote with surgical precision and make sure that all the materials you’ll need will be accounted for.
  • Order what you quote: Only purchase the materials required to complete a job.
  • Charge what you buy: If you’ve purchased materials for a job that you know you need to complete the job, make sure you charge them to the job.
  • Control what you buy: Be disciplined in buying (or instructing your team to buy) the correct amounts of materials that have been included in quotes. An easy way to do this is to use the quote as a shopping list.

For many companies, it’s not as easy as going to the supplier a few times a day for materials specific to a job (and moreover, that would be inefficient). If you’re miles away from the nearest supplier, plan and buy all the materials you need for several jobs at once.

4. Digital job card apps

If you run a trade business and you’re just hearing about job card apps now, it’d pay to take a seat as you might get a little light headed when you realise how much time, money and stress you could save by adopting this system. Within job card apps office managers, project managers and tradespeople alike can make real-time updates to job briefs. Whether you’re rescheduling a job, adding hazards, changing an address, scheduling a second job or adding photos/notes – the job card is your oyster. The benefits here speak for themselves; it’s a game changer.

All things considered

Trade and service businesses aren’t an easy game, and things will always go wrong, but it’s on business owners to create a business structure that eases the pressures on their employees and minimises room for error and ultimately grows their margin. There are plenty of ways to do this, but they won’t come knocking at your door, so it’s best to think creatively and be resourceful to find solutions to suit your business.

Categories
News & updates

How to convert Oneflare leads

5 top tips to getting hired on Oneflare and growing your customer base

There’s a few simple things you can do to stand out to potential customers, wow leads and ensure you put your best foot forward to win more business on Oneflare. Here, we’ll take you through five of our top tips to getting hired today. 

1. Optimise your profile 

Seventy percent of customers will check out your business profile before hiring you, and completed profiles win up to 230% more work. The top things customers look for when considering hiring your business are reviews and qualifications, such as insurance, license details or certifications. Make sure your profile is verified by including your ABN and Public Liability Insurance details.

Include a high resolution business logo or profile photo of yourself, professional photos resonate well with customers as they lend authenticity and legitimacy to your business.

Highlight your specific skills and experience in your business description, make it easy for your customers to identify exactly what you do, and what your business specialities are.

The benefits of having a complete online profile are not only limited to differentiating your business from the competitors but also help to build your digital presence, boost your brand and assist with search engine optimisation.

Beyond profile optimisation, also consider:

  • Before & after photos: Your business profile has a portfolio section dedicated to showing photos of your past work. Feature great before-and-after photos of the projects you’re most proud of,customers love to see evidence of past work. Use high quality photos and descriptive captions to highlight the key stages of the project.
  • Getting descriptive:  Use your profile description as a selling tool to make customers hire your business over your competitors. State your business speciality, highlight your passion for your trade, quality of recent work completed, and any specific qualifications, certificates or licenses you hold. Highlight examples of your best work in your portfolio, ensure you have included all of the different types of jobs your business offers in the services section, and provide answers to the Frequently Asked Questions.

2. Get in quickly

To optimise your chances of winning work, always aim to respond to customers with quotes quickly. Sixty percent of winning quotes are submitted within 60 minutes of a job being posted. Responding to quotes quickly proves to the customer that you are keen to complete the work and run a professional business.

Did you know we offer autoquoting? 

3. Get personal

Personalising your quotes will show that you really care. When responding to customer quotes address them by their name, customise the price estimate and message to their needs, make alternative suggestions you feel may work based on their request, and attach any before-and-after photos of similar projects you have completed.

Explain to the customer how you estimated their price, provide a rough breakdown of costs, including labour, materials and time needed to complete the project. Let the customer know what the next steps involve one they have reviewed the estimation, and portray your excitement for completing the work. Phrases such as ‘I’d love to help’, ‘that’s our speciality’ and ‘we’ve just completed a very similar project, check out the before and after photos’ are great ways of showing the passion and expertise in your field of work.

4. Follow up

Oneflare will notify you as soon as a customer has viewed your quote, follow this up with a more personal conversation. Thank them for reviewing your quote and provide them with more information about your expertise, and how this relates to their specific needs. You are able to contact verified customers by their mobile number and email, though it’s always best to reach out via their nominated method of contact. 

Give the customer enough time to review before you make the initial point of contact. Calling them as soon as they have received the quote may catch them off guard and lead them to think you are too pushy. Some customers prefer email or sms communication, while others respond better with a direct call. With time you will develop a deep understanding of your customers and know what triggers a better response from them.

5. Maximise your reviews

Having good reviews on your profile will resonate well with prospective customers. Businesses with five or more reviews are hired, on average, four times more often than those with less. Don’t be afraid to ask your customers to leave a review of your services after you have completed the job. Oneflare makes this easy providing every business with a review link, which is found below your business information on your profile. You can share this link with customers via email/SMS and social media. The Oneflare Win Work Guide includes comprehensive, step by step instructions on how to collect customer reviews.

Categories
News & updates

3 ways to progress your business career

Whether you’re running your own business or working in a role for an organisation, there are a few things you can pay attention to, ensuring you’re on the path to continual progression. The number of small businesses in Australia is growing; according to ABS data, there were 1.2 million sole-trader businesses in Australia in June last year, up 32,000 over the previous two years.

According to social commentator, Bernard Salt, “The bottom line is that business activity is blossoming across suburban Australia where a nation of tradies, professionals and shopkeepers is building and servicing whole new communities.”

If you’re a business person, it’s sometimes tempting to put your own needs last as you focus on your business’ goals. This is rarely a good idea. Here are three strategies you can employ to progress your business career and keep continual improvement on your radar.

#1: Check your mental health

Mental health in the workplace is a continuing growth focus for many sectors of government. An employee or worker who looks after their mental health takes fewer sick days, is more productive and has a greater impact on happiness and stability.

According to the Human Rights Commission, a total of 3.2 days per worker are lost each year through workplace stress and stress-related workers’ compensation claims have doubled in recent years, costing over $10 billion each year. It quite literally pays to keep your mental health in check.

At work, you should be on the lookout to identify possible workplace practices, actions or incidents which may cause, or contribute to mental illness and stress, and then you need to take actions to eliminate or minimise these risks. Take frequent breaks from work, speak to a medical professional if you feel your mental health could be improved; and reach out even if you feel the issue you are experiencing is minor.

Organisations like Headspace have now begun to offer programs specifically tailored to people who are at work, and might feel too stretched to concentrate on their mental health. Simply, employers are obligated by law to provide a safe and healthy workplace, and this organisation provides a helpful list for employers and employees to offer simple strategies that can be incorporated daily to make the lives of workers more safe, satisfying and secure.

#2: Look after your fitness

One sure-fire way to keep your health in check is to look after your physical fitness. Often, the more absorbed we become in a business role, the more we might ignore the basics of our own physical health.

The ABS recently reported that up to 2015, a staggering 63.4% of Australian adults were overweight or obese, well over half of our nation’s population. That’s almost two in three adults. Look after your fitness and make a focus on good health as part of your daily regime. This not only promotes physical health, but mental wellbeing as well.

A recent study by Harvard looked at circadian rhythms in the workplace. Often, or natural life’s rhythms are ‘out of sync’ with our working lives, adding to stress and bad habits at work, that can translate to other areas of our lives and affecting our general fitness. The study concluded that, “Managers who want to maximise their employees’ performance should consider this circadian rhythm when setting assignments, deadlines, and expectations,” according to Harvard Business Review.

“This requires taking a realistic view of human energy regulation, and appreciating the fact that the same employee will be more effective at some times of the day than others.”

Take your lunchbreaks and don’t eat at your desk. Plan to leave ‘on time’ most nights of the week and avoid unnecessary overtime. Take holidays and spend intervals in nature. Make exercise part of your life and follow the national guidelines on consumption of fruits and vegetables. Concentrating on your all-round health will make you a better, more efficient business worker in the long run.

#3: Enjoy the flexibility of continual learning

The business landscape in Australia has never been more fast-paced. Continuous improvement is now part of most business courses as goalposts and KPIs become more fluid. Aiming to constantly improve your skillsets will future-proof your career, whether you run your own business, or work in someone else’s.

A benefit of the digital age, now there are so many avenues available to continue your learning while on-the-go. Many online courses can be studied from anywhere you have an internet connection, and flexible start dates and work-at-your-own-pace formats are now increasingly common and accessible.

Online providers such as Upskilled offer dozens of courses in key areas such as business, information technology, accounting and finance, human resources and project management. Many of these courses can be completed at your own pace, so you can take them as slowly or as quickly as you have time for, structuring your learning around your other commitments. Check out Upskilled’s range of nearly 100 courses in areas as diverse as technology sustainability; leadership and management; and social media marketing.

Progress and protect your future

By employing the three strategies above, people working in business can make the most of the time they have to think about their futures in the industry. Look after your mental health, keep a focus on your fitness and aim to learn new skills via flexible learning.

Success is never guaranteed in all ventures but personal success can take on many forms. There is a quote that says, ‘Success is where preparation and opportunity meet’. Learn to put yourself and your needs at the top of your to-do list and gain the satisfaction of a job well done, whatever type of business you work in. Start today and future proof your career by focusing on both your goals and growth.

Categories
News & updates

What government support is available to businesses?

As COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep up with updates from the media. 

To cut through the noise, we’ve put together a summary of what government support has been made available to Australian small and medium-sized business owners/operators to date*. Where possible, we’ve included related links to credible sites that maintain current information on each particular announcement.

Please note, the information provided in the following links was current at the time of writing. 

What is the federal government doing to support me?

The recent headline announcements from the Australian government have been (in order by most recent):

Higher Education Relief Package – Announced 12 April 2020

Workers who find themselves displaced as a result of COVID-19 may now be eligible to enrol into short, focused online courses at universities/non-university higher education providers for a significantly discounted rate. The courses, which are largely focused on national priorities, will be offered from 1 May 2020. For more, see here.

Code of Conduct for commercial tenancies – Announced 7 April 2020

The National Cabinet has agreed that all Australian states and territories will implement a mandatory industry Code of Conduct for commercial tenancies. For more on the Code, see here.

Jobs Hub – Announced 3 April 2020

In light of the currently volatile labour market, this recently launched website serves to support Australian businesses as well as those looking for work. It provides details of current employment opportunities, explains what’s happening in the market, and highlights what jobs are in high demand. So if you’re business is looking to hire the right talent, this might be a good place to start your recruitment process. For more on this initiative, see here.

Early Childhood Education & Care Relief Package – Announced 2 April 2020

From 6 April 2020, weekly payments will be made by the Australian government directly to early childhood education and care services in order to keep our 13,000 childcare centres open and their employees working. These payments will be in lieu of the Child Care Subsidy and the Additional Child Care Subsidy. For parents, this $1.6 billion cash boost will undoubtedly be a welcome breath of fresh air. For more, see here.

Economic Stimulus Package 3 – Announced 30 March 2020

From 30 March 2020, the government will be providing a subsidy to eligible businesses that have been significantly affected by COVID-19 in order to help them retain their employees. The fortnightly payment of $1500 per eligible employee – also known as the JobKeeper Payment – is currently available, and eligible businesses should apply to claim these funds directly via the Australian Taxation Office website. For more on this $130 billion payment, see Factsheet 1.

Update: The Government has passed legislation for the JobKeeper Payment, with support from both sides of Parliament, on 8 April 2020. 

Mental Health, Medicare & Domestic Violence Safety Net Package – Announced 29 March 2020

Effective immediately, this $1.1 billion package will be used to boost mental health services, domestic violence support, Medicare assistance for those at home, and emergency food relief. The government’s digital mental health portal, Head to Health, has also added a section on dealing with COVID-19. It clearly outlines how to practically maintain good mental health during this difficult time, how to support others, and how to access further assistance. For more on this package, see here.

Economic Stimulus Package 2 – Announced 22 March 2020

As part of the second stage package, the government announced that a further $66.1 billion cash injection would be made to cushion the impact of COVID-19. In a similar manner to the first payment of $17.6 billion (see below), this package serves to assist households including casuals, sole-traders, retirees and those on income support, businesses trying to retain their staff, and businesses pushing to keep their doors open. For more, see the Prime Minister’s statement here.

Economic Stimulus Package 1 (Announced 12 March 2020)

As part of the first stage package, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that $17.6 billion will be allocated to helping everyday Australians retain their jobs, to keep businesses operating, to support households and to protect the broader economy from the impacts of COVID-19. For more, see the Prime Minister’s statement here.

What if I’d like more information?

For more information, you can always check out Aus.gov.au, The Treasury or Business.gov.au.

How are the state governments assisting businesses?

Each state is responding to the impacts of COVID-19 in their own way. For general information click here, otherwise please select the relevant link below:

*The information provided in this blog is not definitive. Please conduct your own independent research on what assistance best suits your businesses’ needs and what you are eligible for. 

Categories
News & updates

How to make your trade business attractive to millennials

Millennials have been given a lot of stick for their supposed attitude towards work. Yes, there may be some out there that aren’t willing to put in the hard yards, but if you paint everyone in this next generation with the same brush, it’s your loss. Millennials, otherwise known as Gen Yers, are the answer to the growing trades shortage. So instead of bagging them and taking great delight in mocking them, we need to focus on how we can create a business environment they’re drawn to. And it’s not as hard as you might think.

A career path they can follow

Many people believe the future is far from bright for young people entering the trades. They obviously haven’t spent any time in the industry at all. Once you’ve had your apprenticeship and become certified, you can work your way up the ranks and be leading your own team in just a matter of years. You can then move into project management, sales, or business manager roles, and eventually look at running your own business. You can also transfer your skills and pivot into roles at larger commercial businesses. The challenge for businesses hiring in the trades is to make all of this clear to Gen Yers at the outset. Do this and you’ll likely have a much bigger pool of applicants to choose from.

The simple economies of supply and demand

Universities have done a huge disservice to the trades, heavily promoting degrees while forsaking apprenticeships. But this is something trade businesses are not grumbling about. Quite the opposite in fact because it has almost single handedly caused the shortage, meaning there is an abundance of work out there and not enough workers to do it. This means businesses can charge more and great employees can demand higher salaries. Many tradespeople are living comfortable lives. This is a great bargaining chip to use for any newbies in the industry.

Show them what else you’re offering (aside from the money)

You might not think so, but millennials are generally less concerned about money than other generations in the workforce. It’s still important but it’s not the bottom line. There are other incentives that they’re more concerned about, such as:

  • Recognition and spot thank yous
  • The flexibility to have regular days off
  • Fun days with the team
  • Knocking off early if the job’s done quickly
  • Weekend use of the van and tools

Talk tech

Like almost any industry, the operational landscape of the trades has drastically changed. Technology has weaved its way into the everyday lives of workers, offering huge benefits to those who fully utilise it. And it’s really exciting. Take job management for instance. Rather than using paper to run the whole business and often losing half of it before it’s actioned, trade businesses can now operate on smartphones, with more and more processes becoming digitised. Augmented reality could soon see its way into the industry as well, assisting tradespeople with various tasks. Gen Yers were practically born with a smartphone, so the opportunity of being at the leading edge of the industry will no doubt appeal.

A sense of belonging

To many this will just seem like a bunch of hogswallop. But for many younger people, being part of something bigger is really important, as is being recognised for the work they do. These two points go hand-in-hand. So if you can convince millennials that they’ll be part of a close-knit team (plus be able to deliver that team environment), then you’ll make your business really attractive to this generation.

Making a difference

Building on the point above, if you can also show how your business helps other people, you’ll also hold much more sway in the recruitment process. Plumbers don’t just fix blocked sinks and broken toilets, they create hygienic environments for people to live in. Electricians don’t just give power to homes, they keep help keep houses warm in winter and the provide the juice for what is perhaps one of the most important items in a Gen Yer’s life – the smartphone.

Invest in great design

You don’t have to go all hipster on us, but investing in a great designer to create a logo and give your vehicles, quotes, invoices, and website an overhaul will give your business instant appeal. But it won’t just help you appeal to millennials, it will also make your business stand out for potential customers as well. So it’s a win-win for everyone.

So here are some ways to help you make your business more attractive to millennials.

This article was written by Michael Howard from Tradify.

Categories
News & updates

How to create an awesome company culture

Running a trade business is no easy feat. Managing jobs, looking for more work, balancing the books, overseeing the team – it’s hard enough to do these by themselves. But throw in one of your best employees leaving, and you’re up a certain creek without a paddle.

As you’re probably aware, there’s a massive trade shortage at the moment and it’s showing no signs of easing up. That means it’s hard to find excellent talent, and far easier doing all you can to keep your staff happy and in the job.


But what even is a company culture? Let’s find out.

Company culture explained

Company culture is essentially the personality of a business – think of it as a person. What is that person like to work with? How do they help you do your job better? Would you hang out with this person in your spare time? Does this person make you want to come to work every day?

In most cases, the founder of a business sets the company culture – whatever values and ways of thinking an owner has normally transfers from to the company. For instance, if the founder is really particular about workmanship, then it’s likely the business will be as well.

Why you need clear values

Setting values are helpful for both your employees and your customers (current and future). The values you set let your employees know what kind of business they’re joining, and the type of people they can expect to work with. For customers, the values can be the difference when selecting which trade business to move forward with. Check out this article on how to define your values.

Examples of values include:

  • Integrity and honesty
  • Customer-first mindset
  • Workmanship
  • Professional
  • Teamwork
  • Dependable

However, you can’t just go naming your values willy-nilly. If you just pick three or four values that don’t actually match the way you think and operate, your staff will see right through it and won’t stick around.

Getting your working environment right

The environment is a huge part of your culture, and if you can get it right, then your best employees will be more likely to stick with you for longer.

The key to having high staff retention is to have positive and empowering values and culture, rather than negative and oppressing. This is achieved by being quick to recognise great work, being serious about work, and having the odd fun day where you do some cool things completely unrelated to the job.

How this translates into hiring

The Trades Coach Andy Burrows quite rightly says that you need to ensure your employees have the same moral compass as you. After all, your staff represent your business, so you need them to act as you would when you’re not around.

So when you’re in hiring mode, look for people who best match the values that you’ve set for your business. It may mean that you don’t necessarily hire the person with the most experience or the best skills, thankfully these can be gained. Attitude, on the other hand, that’s not going to change too much.

Hiring someone who best fits your company culture will mean that everyone wins. But if you choose someone who grates against your culture, then you’ll likely face productivity issues, or worse, the possibility of having your best workers leave.

What our culture looks like

To put money where our mouth is, we’ve recently renovated our culture at Tradify and distilled it into four key points. A simplified version of them is as follows:

We put tradies first. We care about our customers’ businesses, and everything we do helps build their success.

We think big. We’re on a global mission to disrupt the status quo in the trades industry, and build a better way of doing things.

We hustle. We understand that to lead the pack we need to work harder and smarter than our competitors.

We are kind. We practice humility and spend more time listening than talking. We’re considerate, and don’t let ego influence decisions.

Now it’s your turn
Enough writing, and reading – now it’s time to crack on to making your company culture awesome. Put these tips into action and you’ll be well on your way.

This article was written by Michael Howard from Tradify.

Categories
News & updates

Tried and tested strategies to selling food online

In Australia, about five million people consider getting groceries through the internet.

In the United States, online grocery shopping became a $17.5 billion industry about two years ago.

No numbers are quite telling, aren’t they?

If you’re into selling food online, know that you’re on the right track. Your company has massive potential because droves of people are buying food online.

To help you succeed in your online food selling endeavour, we put together several tried and tested strategies you can implement to sell food online successfully.

If you’re dead serious about taking your online food business to the next level, then follow these tips.

Understand the law

This is an absolute must.

Before you even think about which platforms you’ll use, your marketing materials, or your method of engaging your audience, you first need to understand the laws about selling food online.

The regulations may vary from each state, so be sure to ask your health department for the guidelines.

Some general requirements for selling food online are complete business license, water supply safety, proper food labelling, proper food storage, etc.

Know your ideal buyers

Create a buyer persona.

By having one, you’ll know the quirks and qualms of your ideal buyers, allowing you to come up with food products and marketing strategies that highly resonates with them.

From a 30,000-foot view, a buyer persona is essentially a semi-fictional representation of who your ideal customers are.

It contains their pain points, a fake name and profile picture, their job roles, the type of companies they’re working for, their age range, location, etc. The more information you can add to your buyer persona, the better.

Since you’re selling food online, include in your buyer persona the flavours your ideal customers gravitate towards, do they prefer sour food? Sweet, perhaps?

You can also include what types of foods they’re allergic to, among other things.

Once you have a buyer persona, your product development and marketing team has a guiding compass to look into whenever they create something.

For your food product development team, they can somehow foresee if the food they’re thinking of creating will fit your customers’ dynamics. If your buyer persona is into sweet foods, your product development team should avoid developing recipes of sour foods.

If your buyer persona says your customers hang out on Instagram, then your marketing can deduce that spending for paid ads on Twitter will yield very little, to no results.

To create a buyer persona, use Hubspot’s Make My Persona tool.

The online tool guides you through the entire process of creating a persona by asking you questions about the dynamics of your ideal customers, then arranging the information to a professional-looking layout.

Use a reliable e-commerce platform

Depending on the size of your business, you might only need an entry-level saas e-commerce software.

There is no point in investing top-dollar for a massive platform that’s loaded with unnecessary features when they don’t apply to your business dynamics. At least, not yet.

If your business has thousands of people visiting your site and have considerable daily purchases, then you’d be better off using top e-commerce platforms such as Magento.

The key is figuring out your needs and finding a platform that can accommodate your business demands. Your e-commerce software should also have the capabilities, and features to scale your operations should the need arises.

Work with a dependable software development company

If you’re like most food sellers, then you barely know anything about the technical aspects of an e-commerce website, because your area of expertise revolves around food.

Instead of having to dabble with the technical side of running an e-commerce store, such as your website, third-party integrations, automation, you’d be better off employing the help of a software development company.

By leaving the technical aspects to them, you can focus on improving your products, business processes, audience engagement strategies, etc.

The best part is, since you’re letting professionals manage your website, you can be at ease knowing that it’s running as smoothly as it can be.

They can stay on top of monitoring your website’s load speed, protect your store against cyberattacks, and even optimize your website’s performance — something you’d be hardpressed to do because you aren’t as learned when it comes to these aspects.

Invest in marketing

No matter how awesome your products are, if none of your target audience learns of its existence, you won’t get a single sale.

Addressing this issue isn’t exactly easy.

After all, about 4.4 million blog posts are published daily.

With how noisy the internet has become, you’ll need more than just publishing a couple of blogs or social media posts to succeed.

You need proven marketing strategies and be invested in your marketing campaigns to bring relevant traffic to your site.

Approaching influencers or food bloggers is a solid marketing strategy for selling food online.

The idea is simple:

Step 1: Look for food bloggers or influencers.

Step 2: Reach out and tell them to promote your product while offering something of value.

Step 3: Share the link to your product/landing pages along with pertinent information they can use to promote your products effectively.

That’s the gist of the strategy.

Give your due diligence when using this strategy by researching what’s important to your prospective influencer even before you reach out. Others want upfront payments. Others would prefer a commission per sale, etc.

Once you learn of their preference, prepare a compelling offer.

To find your ideal influencer, use a free online tool like Influence.co (they have a paid subscription, too.)

Find relevant influencers with loads of followers using their search feature.

The platform even has advanced search filters, so its easier for its users to find relevant influencers.

By working with influencers, not only can you generate loads of relevant traffic to your site, but your brand’s image as an authority in your industry also improves since your products are seen with influencers.

What’s next?

It might be time to hire a web designer or graphic designer to kick start your online catering business with Oneflare!