How to Run a Successful Small Business
Why Vaping is such a Business Success and How to Get in on It
Why the Canadian Business Landscape in Calgary is so Different from the US
Why Vaping is such a Business Success and How to Get in on It
In the last decade, vaping has really taken off. It is difficult to go outside these days and not be surrounded by a cloud of scented vapor. Vaping seemingly started to take off out of nowhere and now every mall has a different vape shop on every floor. Lots of entrepreneurs have noticed the popularity of vaping and have taken it upon themselves to seize the opportunity and go into the vaping business. Many places have had brilliant success, but why is vaping so successful and how can you get involved in the success?
The creation of vaping
Before we get into the business side of vaping, it is first important to understand where vaping came from.
Though vaping was first created in the mid-1900s, it wasn’t until 2003 that it became mass-marketed. Vaping has released into the mass market thanks to the work of a medical pharmacist called Hon Lik. Hon Link was a very heavy smoker at the time but was quickly put off the idea of smoking after the passing of his father. His father’s unfortunately premature death was caused by his own smoking habit which led to him developing lung cancer.
Hon Lik was afraid that he would fall victim to the same fate as his father and tried lots of different methods in an attempt to rid himself of his addiction. However, he found that all of the techniques that he used didn’t seem to be working and he was worried that he would fall back into his same habits. Because of this, he decided to try and make his own method to quit. After testing the vape privately for a while, he realized that he had a product that he could potentially sell on the mass market
Since then vaping has been thriving on the mass market, and so there is no wonder why so many people have taken the opportunity to throw themselves into the vaping market. But why is it such a good business to go into?
Versatile
One of the main reasons that vaping is such a good business to go into is because of how versatile it. Vaping first started off with the intention of being a way for people to quit smoking, but since then it has evolved in many other ways.
With the legalization of marijuana-related products in the last few years, vaping has branched out into a wider consumed and more profitable business. In the last few years, vaping has surpassed only being used with nicotine products. These days, people also choose to buy CBD cartridges to use with their vape or just straight-up marijuana vapes, depending on their location. The trend of integrating CBD into the world of vaping has been extremely popular in the last decade, so much so that you can access plenty of instructionals on how to mix CBD oil with vape juice in order to be able to vape it.
Any business person knows just how large the profit margins can be when it comes to the sale of CBD products as the consumer market is only increasing every day.
The appeal to nonsmokers
Though the cigarette industry managed to gain the following of a lot of people, the one group of people that they couldn’t reach were the nonsmokers. However, even people who were once against smoking have come around to the world of vape.
The main reason that people chose not to smoke was because of the nicotine and also the effect that smoking can have on the lungs. However, there are a mass group of people these days that choose to vape without nicotine and just for the flavor. Vaping also does less harm to the lungs, which is why it’s so appealing to so many people.
Because of the lack of unappealing aspects that are associated with vaping, going into vaping can be an extremely clever business move. This is because you have a higher amount of consumers that you can sell to, which means you have the opportunity to make more profit.
Inexpensive
Like with any business that you can go into, you should be looking at whether the costs of the business are lower than the potential profit.
Vapes are very cheap to make and you can sell them at any price above ten dollars. Even making extremely high-quality vapes can be a very affordable process, as all the components needed to create a vape are very easily accessible and the manufacturing process is also very easy.
If you are someone that isn’t too familiar with the manufacturing process, this isn’t a problem either. You can actually buy bulk vapes from a manufacturing company and customize them to fit with your brand. Though buying in bulk may seem more expensive, you will actually save yourself a lot of money in terms of manufacturing spaces and the wages of further employees.
Easy distribution
Though vape shops are becoming the norm, there are endless ways that you can distribute your vaping products. Vapes aren’t a product that needs to be tried out, in fact in a covid world they are probably the last items that should be tried out. Because of this, if you wanted to, you could distribute your vapes entirely online. This would save you money in terms of hiring a premises, as well as having to hire in-store workers
Because of the kind of product that vapes are, as long as they are not sold with the vape juice included, there are very few limitations when it comes to distributing them. This means that you could sell to multiple locations and you are not limited to your local area.
Due to being able to sell to a larger consumer market, you are able to reach more people that would be interested in your product, which can only lead to you being able to make more profit in the long run.
Why the Canadian Business Landscape in Calgary is so Different from the US
As more and more regions around the world become more industrialized and business rich we can now see more and more differences in how businesses in specific parts of the world operate in a more unique way to others. Within Canada, you may have noticed that the way in which many businesses are made and how they operate is much different when you compare it to the way that many successful US businesses are run.
It seems that the social lifestyle factors which are significantly different across the US and across Canada have a significant effect on the techniques that businesses must use in order to accommodate the customers in their location. As there are many differences between the demographics and customer groups that are present both in Calgary, Canada, and the US it makes total sense that the businesses would have to operate in different ways so they could be successful in their locations.
A business landscape is defined as the fundamental components of a business and the methods that a specific company uses to become successful and how they operate. As you can expect certain environments and locations require a more specialized marketing and operating technique that will attract the right kind of people to your business and increase the chances of them going ahead and investing with your company.
Advertising and Marketing Methods
One of the main differences between the business landscape in Calgary in Canada would have to be the way in which certain companies advertise their content and the services that they provide. Where many retailers rely upon lavish methods such as television adverts and huge LED billboards to show off their brand, the methods that are used within much Canadian advertising is through the innovative use of free social media platforms
Where many US businesses are spending a fortune on getting the most high profile spaces to advertise their services much of Canada’s business success has come from the innovative use of funding. The main benefit of using social media as a marketing tool is the fact that it is free to create an account on social media, and by simply posting a daily post you have the opportunity to reach a hugely diverse customer group and make them aware of your brand. Sensible allocation of funding seems to be a higher priority within the world of Canadian business rather than the mainstream attitude that a fortune needs to be spent on advertising, although advertising and effective marketing is key to any business when there are strong opportunities that are more affordable it makes sense to focus your efforts on this aspect.
The difference in The Types of Sectors
Another big difference between the Canadian and American business landscape would be the areas where the most important sectors and retailers differ in certain areas. In the more rural areas of America, we see a huge increase in the amount of smaller businesses offering more natural products, such as farmers’ markets and other independent fresh food retailers. In the main cities, you will find that the focus is on more luxurious goods such as technology and expensive fashion items. Whereas in Canada there is generally a more varied range of businesses each offering a variety of different items with a mix of expensive and more affordable price ranges. It seems that the more unique independently owned businesses do much better in terms of success rate and profits in Canada than they would in the US due to the huge amount of big mainstream corporations that small businesses have to compete with.
An example of a smaller company that has done very well for itself would have to be the image line painting company in Calgary, their focus on offering an affordable yet professional service with interior painting has made them one to watch in the industry. It is arguable that this painting and decoration business would not have seen the same rate of success if they were to open in the US, due to the fact that there are already some very well known and trusted brands in existence that would be strong competition.
Trade
Another reason why the business landscape is so different in Calgary than what it is in the Us is the difference in trade routes and the fact that Canada has such a variety of trade and import options available to them. Canada is very lucky to have access to over twenty-four international airports, seventeen seaports, and over one hundred and seventeen different border crossings into the US. With all of these resources at their disposal, it is very clear that Canadian companies do not have to worry about their trade routes as much as those in the US.
Levels of Education
A final factor that has contributed to the difference in business is the standard levels of education which are very different in the US and Calgary, Canada. It seems that there is more importance placed on higher education in Canada with almost fifty-eight percent of Canadians between the ages of 35 and 64 entering higher education at some point in their lives. This would mean that a higher percentage of the population is educated to a higher level making a more talented workforce more accessible, the graduate rate in America is not a sign and the number of self-starting business owners is also much higher.
The Free-to-Play Model: Understanding How it Works
Free-to-play games have risen over the years from humble beginnings to now occupying a huge chunk of the entire video game market, to the point where the most well-known game around right now is the free-to-play portion of Fortnight. But this begs the question; How do these games make enough money to sustain themselves with so many players and how do they profit?
Historical Enterprise
There are many ways developers profit from offering their games for free. “Free to try” or “soft” free-to-play games are the most basic of these. A preferred method in the older industry, with games like Runescape and Adventure Quest offering huge games for free, with the option of paying for a membership which unlocks huge amounts of additional content.
While this may seem a lot like a simple demo like in the olden days, it is subtly different in that it is a method employed almost entirely by Massively Multiplayer games. This skews the developer’s design philosophies towards having huge swathes of content for players to enjoy and allows even a small percentage of this to occupy players for dozens of hours when offered for free.
Modern Business
In more recent times, the most preferred business model is a result of a few other models which have popped up other the last few years mixing together in a few games to create an intensely monetized homunculus. Be it on mobile or console, most high-profile free-to-play games hit the same spots when it comes to their general business model.
Such games will include a season pass, a premium currency with an item’s store, and very often some sort of “surprise mechanic”. The season pass in free-to-play games asks players to pay money upfront at the beginning of each development cycle in return for additional cosmetic and in-game upgrades while they gain progress along the season.
You must be this rich to play
Premium currencies in games are often only acquirable in return for the digits on your card. In return, the items you can purchase with them will often have some level of exclusivity and will help you stand out against other players in whichever game you play. Slightly on the darker side of this idea are games that allow players to buy powerful upgrades to get an edge over other players, like in the old days when you could just look up the latest working cheats for lots of modern games.
Shocking Tradesmen
Usually purchasable with the aforementioned premium currency, we have the ever-controversial Loot-boxes, infamously referred to by an EA representative as “Surprise Mechanics”. These are an extra step on top of a premium currency store, in that you can no longer choose what you buy.
When it comes to buying a loot box, they are often cheaper than the potential asking price of any given item, in return for the customer receiving a random item or items. From the customers’ point of view, this often means on average receiving less than their monies worth, but with the possibility to receive something many times the worth of what they spent.
Whales
From the developer’s plinth, on the other hand, this taps into humanity’s natural gambling instinct and can encourage people to actually spend more than they would like on getting less than they hope. This leads directly to people who have large amounts of money to hand spending insane amounts of money on these “free to play games”, leading to these people being described as whales by several game developers.
Free-to-play games are essentially a way to encourage a few people to provide the funds to keep a huge game going for many thousands of people who don’t have the facility to pay. When done right, they provide brilliant entertainment for all players, with some players getting that little bit extra out of a game they enjoy. At their worst, they can be horridly exploitative and borderline evil. But either way, the existence of such a model speaks to the greatness of the modern gaming industry.
Bringing in New Customers: How to Create the Perfect Call Script
A few years ago I took the plunge and set up my own business. It took a lot of time, money, and commitment. It was not easy, as any business owner rightly knows. But after a while, I had gotten past all the tiresome setup and was finally ready to start bringing in clients. So I thought.
I spent countless nights searching all over the web where i could buy exclusive final expense leads. For anyone who isn’t in the know, these are potential customers that you can contact. And them being exclusive means you aren’t going to have any competition when contacting them.
But there is where I made my blunder. I thought I could just call them up and wing it. And I found I was bringing in no customers at all. Because I was missing a key ingredient. A call script.
The Script
We all know the pain of sitting down to dinner with the family and suddenly getting a cold call. Someone working in a call center reading off a pre-written script, which they will stick to with a passion. And this might seem like it is ineffective and repetitive. But believe me when I tell you there is a method to the supposed monotony.
A typical call script for a cheap call center is not very long. But for a proper business, a call script is more like a manual than anything else. It aims to contain all the possible questions a customer could have and gives the caller the correct answer to it. They take a lot of work to make, so we are going to unpack what you need to do and why.
Information
The easiest way to lose a potential customer is not knowing your stuff. If they ask you a question and you can’t instantly answer it for them, they have immediately lost confidence in you. So your script needs to anticipate what they will ask.
The best way to do this is to bring in fake customers. Instruct them to try to think of as many questions for you as possible and note them down. Then you can start constructing your script to contain all the needed information to make sure you secure the sale.
You also want to make sure the information you are giving the customer is accurate, but not too boring. Try to simplify the responses. Remember you want to keep them engaged while on the phone. If you start rattling on about specifics you could lose them. Unless they ask you to be specific.
Language Matters
Not everyone is a born writer. And there is a huge difference between a working document, meant to convey information to your staff, and a script meant to bring in new customers. The language you use in the script needs to be friendly and engaging, while also being informative and straight forward.
To that end, we recommend you seek out a professional writer to work with you in creating this script. They will better understand the flow and pacing of language and will be able to construct a script that will put your potential customers at ease and help reel them in.
Flexibility
It might not always be you making these calls. Instead, it may be your staff. And no two people are the same when it comes to how they talk or interact with others. It would be easy to tell your staff to stick to the script word for word, but a better idea is to leave room in the scripts for your staff to ad-lib or banter with the customer.
In any given section you will have information that the staff member must recite exactly. But you can have sections in brackets informing the staff they can wing it and try to build a more authentic relationship with their client.
People don’t like talking to machines. It’s impersonal. And if your staff is just repeating text word for word, you’d be better of using machines. Customers want that human connection. They want to feel heard and they want to banter. So don’t be afraid to let your staff engage with them.
Honesty
There is no quicker killer of your business reputation than lying. Even if it was an honest mistake, your customer won’t see it that way. So you need to make doubly sure that everything you are relaying to the customer is 100% correct and true.
It is tempting to try to sneak in hidden costs or trick your customer into signing up. But trust us, this is a one way street to failure. Treat your customers as you would your closest friend and they will be as loyal to your business as you need them to be.
Why (& How) You Should Listen to Your Customers
Customers are the most important factor to run any business, whether it is small or large. They are the source that can help grow the business; therefore, maintaining a good customer relationship is very necessary. In this article, we have jotted down a few reasons why and how to listen to your customer’s problems and issues.
Reasons Why Should You Listen To Your Customers
Reduce Churn of the Customers
Concerning churn, is the leading explanation why consumers change providers is inadequate customer service. If consumers are not respected during a service interaction, they will seek the rivals for assistance quickly. Indeed, if you have excellent customer service, 86 percent of your customers will be pleased to pay more for another provider.
Improve Loyalty of the Customer
As described earlier, the majority of your customer base is churning from only one lousy interaction.
Which gives your customer service little space to wiggle. To ensure that customers are satisfied and loyal to your company, your team needs to play its vital role. The best way to keep pace with consumer demand and meet short and long-term needs is to listen to their input. A loyal customer is a very significant source for your company’s profit.
Increases Retention of the Customers
Service experiences are also better if the workers listen to their clients. Representatives and consumers are on the same page with troubleshooting, just as simple. This absence of friction is significant because it increases the retention of customers. Studies have shown that 91 percent of clients stay with their providers after a successful customer service call.
Identify Chances to Cross-Sell and Upsell
Customer listening is not just a way of maximizing client satisfaction. It is also a tool for upselling and cruising customers.
Let’s assume, for example, that your representative solves a client dilemma. The customer is frustrating with the use limits of their tools when he explains its issue. They are limited and need more room to store their data.
Your agent will clarify your premium plan’s advantages and how your issues can be addressed. The service officer will refer you to your sales team and seal it if the customer is interested.
Create Engaging Customer Interactions
If you listen actively to someone else, the conversation would be personal automatically. You are dedicated to dialogue and to the role that you play. When customer service agents are invested in discussions, their clients will reach beyond and beyond. They have identified the needs of the customer and are dedicated to offering a friendly service.
While most customer service teams are aware that they should listen to customers, many do not know-how. And, it’s all right. You won’t think listening to clients in a way that always delivers a good result is as simple as you might.
Fortunately, below we have compiled some acceptable practices to strengthen your listening skills.
Ways You Can Listen to Your Customers
Let Your Customer Speak
If you think you can’t listen to anyone else. So your employees should stay quiet until the customer discusses their dilemma, to listen honestly. And when you know the answer, the team looks impatient by interrupting you. It’s best to wait for the customer to chat because you never know what details might change the situation.
Stay Patient and Humble
Working with a client who is new to your service or product can be frustrating. They wouldn’t know the fundamentals, they fumble the terminology, and it feels like you have to hold your side for each problem-solving phase. These are the cases where reps can check out mentally and forget expensive facts.
The leaders in these circumstances must stay calm and humble. Note, there had been a time when the items were as fresh, and when they had concerns, they probably felt as lost. Each problem is critical, so the team must judge each person equally regardless of how good the case is.
Talk to Them on Preferred Channel
The purpose of customer service is to make your company more comfortable. Part of this is to speak to consumers on platforms they want to work on. It demands that your team gets to know your client base thoroughly.
It allows customer care to fit with marketing. Have service managers analyze your clients and determine the platforms your clients most use.
Consider your Interaction Body Language
You may think that this tip is just for customer service in person, but these activities may also influence calls and talk. The language of the body is a crucial factor demonstrating whether or not you listen to a client. You do not listen to your client because your rep’s body shows that they are uninterested or do not care.
Its also refers to phones and chats. Your bodily language will still affect contact, even though you are not directly facing the consumer. You will be enthusiastic and optimistic for starters during a call if you sit down at your desk and maintain a smile.
Exercise Active Listening
Active listening is a communication method used by sales representatives to conclude business. This approach to customer engagement, however, seamlessly translates to customer service.
The consumer talks at the center of active listening. It allows reps to care about what the customer says and then replay the problem to ensure they genuinely appreciate it instead of finding a fast answer. It tells the consumer that the agent is invested in this situation and clearly understands the issue.
Focus on Both Problem and Person
“I told you so,” mainly clients, no one likes to hear. Even if your representative has found the right solution, you must be careful about putting it for clients. The wrong thing is a great way to derail a client service case at the wrong time.
To solve the problem at the right time, Reps must be mindful of the individual and the problem. You must be emotionally intelligent to assess how the consumer responds at various times to different answers. It allows them to advise that the consumer feels secure.
To sum up the article, we must say that it is necessary to listen to your customers. Giving proper attention to their queries is a must for maintaining brand image and building a loyal customer. So it would help if you always took care that your business gives proper attention to each client to grow the business to great heights.