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12 Things Startups Should Consider When Buying Health Insurance

Posted: 24 Sep 2019 09:27 PM PDT

As your small business grows, you may find that you want, or need, to offer insurance coverage, such as medical, dental or vision, to your employees. Offering these benefits can help attract and retain top talent, but it’s also a big investment that should not be taken lightly.

To find out more about what businesses need to know before taking the plunge, we asked members of Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following:

Q. What should startups or newer small businesses keep in mind when planning to offer employee insurance?

1. Set a budget

It can be expensive to provide healthcare for employees, so set aside a budget to pay for insurance so it doesn’t hit you negatively down the road. You can budget it as a percentage of your payroll or as a monthly cost, based on each employee. —Jared Atchison, WPForms

 

2. Look at the full range of potential benefits

You can offer more than just health insurance when creating your employee insurance plan, which will be beneficial to your team and can lower your payroll tax liability. You can add dental and vision insurance, retirement plans like a 401(k), paid parental leave and more. It might be tough to choose what to offer, so if you’re having trouble, study what your competitors are doing. —Thomas Griffin, OptinMonster

3. Set an enrollment schedule

Business owners often use open enrollment to allow employees to opt in. You should think carefully about when you want open enrollment to occur when planning employee insurance. Every company has different stipulations, depending on their insurance company and business size. —Blair Williams, MemberPress

4. Check out online resources

Just like there are online platforms that help you compare flight prices and auto insurance, there are platforms that can do the same for employee health insurance. These platforms will help you compare plans side-by-side so you can easily determine which plan is the best for your small business. Be sure to take advantage of online resources. —Stephanie Wells, Formidable Forms

5. Identify employees’ healthcare needs

Employees feel like they have more job security when they receive workplace insurance, especially if they have dependents in their family. Give them that security with specific policies and they are more likely to stay. You need to decide what benefits, such as annual physicals or eye exams, will have the most value. Then you can choose a plan that’s within budget and that can maintain your employees’ good health. —Duran Inci, Optimum7

6. Assess your expenses over time as you scale

You need to calculate how insurance costs may grow over time, even with a volume discount, to make sure you can always provide the same quality level of benefits. It can be a struggle, but it’s important to assess this expense. —Peter Daisyme, Hostt

 

7. Ask employees what they want and need

If you aren’t sure what types of insurance to offer your employees, ask them. You can send them an anonymous survey so they can answer questions regarding perks that are most important to have and why. This gives you better insight into what they need from you so you can provide accordingly. —Chris Christoff, MonsterInsights

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8. Make sure employees understand what they’re getting

It’s really important to make sure your employees fully understand the benefits they are getting. Many times, agents that sign up employees don’t provide enough information or are not able to field the questions in a way that everyone can properly understand. Make sure that the account agent you get is one that can easily talk with your staff. —Nicole Munoz, Nicole Munoz Consulting, Inc.

9. Bundle your benefits

Startups and small businesses that plan on implementing insurance should consider bundling options for employees. Beyond insurance, 401(k) and retirement plans are important to many employees. Look for ways you can bundle all these features into one package. The result is happier employees who stay loyal to your company. —Syed Balkhi, WPBeginner

10. Consider hiring a professional employer organization

Don’t reinvent the wheel. Without substantial venture backing, most growing small businesses do not realistically have the resources to offer world-class responsive HR departments completely in-house. Yes, great company culture usually comes with perks like insurance, but this landscape has been traversed by professionals who can advise you. Try before you buy with a solid PEO. —Reuben Yonatan, GetVoIP

11. Think of the bigger picture

When planning small business health insurance, startups/newer small businesses should keep in mind that insurance can have a positive impact on the overall bottom line, based on tax advantages and employee access to effective medical providers. It’s tempting for small businesses not to offer health insurance, but when you do, it improves your overall image and will entice talented people to want to join you. —Jared Weitz, United Capital Source Inc.

12. Take advantage of subsidies and incentives

Startups aren’t exactly well-known for providing the best insurance deals in the market. But benefits like these represent a unique value proposition for most people, driving their loyalty and attracting other talent. To provide employees the best of what you can afford, consider applying for subsidies and public incentives that are specially made to support startups and small businesses. —Abeer Raza, TekRevol

RELATED: Don't Allow Your Small Business to Be at Risk—A Guide to Choosing Insurance

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Why Entrepreneurs Should Never Hire a Yes-Man (or Woman)

Posted: 24 Sep 2019 09:22 PM PDT

Who's familiar with the old story, “The Emperor's New Clothes”? Here's a short recap: An emperor thinks he's wearing a new suit, but he's really just naked. When he parades around in his "new suit," the people are too scared to tell him that he isn't wearing anything, so nobody does for a while.

Folks, this is exactly the kind of thing you want to avoid in business. Do you want to be the naked emperor who thinks he's wearing a magnificent suit? No. So don't be the entrepreneur whose dumb ideas are applauded. Be the entrepreneur whose employees (or coworkers, as I like to call them) have the courage to say No, your ideas are crap.

I don't know about you, but I need my coworkers to save me from myself. Sure, I have plenty of experience and great ideas. But, I also know that sometimes my ideas may be a little out there. And when I'm out in the cornfield again, pursuing some goofy idea, I need coworkers who are willing to tell me and reel me in.

That's why I cannot hire a yes-man (or woman). Trust me when I say that you do not want to hire yes-people if you want to grow your small business.

Where's Waldo? Spotting the yes-man

It's easy to spot the yes-man . . . if you're watching a TV show or movie. But when it's happening in your business, finding the yes-men and women might not be so easy.

Here are some things that might indicate you're dealing with a yes-person or people:

  • You feel good about your business ideas all the time (aka, your ego is huge).
  • There's never any pushback.
  • You only hire like-minded employees.
  • Nobody takes responsibility because nobody else is accountable.
  • Your company culture creates and rewards yes-men and women.
  • An employee tells you your ideas are good but tells others they're bad.
  • Your business is plateauing.
  • You say something crazy and your employees agree.

Looking for a yes-man might be tricky at first. But as you start to pick up on more signs, it will get easier.

Why you should hire the nope-guy or gal instead

Some of your business ideas are going to be crazy. You're an entrepreneur—you sometimes fly by the seat of your pants. But that's OK! For as many good and creative ideas you have, you're bound to have a few that are a little out there (or some that aren't out there enough).

And when you inevitably come up with something that could end up hurting your business, you don't want someone kissing up to you and agreeing with your horrible idea. You don't need an enabler. Entrepreneurs need people to say Nope, not a good idea or Nope, here's how we can do it better. We need nope-guys and gals.

So when it comes time to hire or promote someone in your business, you need to look past the yes-men and women and find the nope-guys and gals. Don't believe me? Here are a few reasons why you need to say no to the yes-man.

1. The yes-man squashes innovation and growth

Businesses need innovation to grow—true or false? Companies need growth to stay in business—true or false? True and true.

I'm sure we all know that innovation and growth are the goals in business ownership. And I bet we all know that our coworkers and support systems can help us reach those goals. But if we hire the yes-man, we'll be getting a lot of the same thing, and it's not the things we need for innovation and growth.

A nope-guy or gal will challenge you, build on good ideas to make them better, and get you thinking about the flip side of an idea. On the other hand, the yes-person will nod along, squashing innovation and growth.

The nope-person doesn't have all the answers. But by looking at things from a different light, they can point out things you might have missed.

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2. The yes-man substitutes honesty with what you want to hear

There's no way I could have gotten this far in business without my wife. Not only are her ideas brilliant, but she is also honest with me—and that includes saying no to some of my business ideas.

Honesty is critical for relationships to succeed. Shouldn't the same go for your business relationships?

When it comes to yes-people, one thing's for sure—they aren't upfront with you. They might tell you one thing then go off and whisper something different to a coworker.

Think about it. Do you really want to surround yourself day in and day out with workers who aren't honest with you? I sure don't. Not only is this going to get really old really fast, but it's going to cultivate a toxic, gossipy work environment.

Some of your employees may have trouble telling you something they think you don't want to hear. And the truth is, you might not always want to hear it. Who wants to hear people doubt their "brilliant" ideas? But one thing's for certain: you won't be doubting their integrity, courage, or honesty.

3. The yes-man is good for a limited time only

The yes-man is like a ticking time bomb. Sure, you might feel comfortable talking to the yes-man for a time. You may feel like your strategies are perfect for a time. But here's the important part: that feeling is fleeting.

Eventually, you'll discover that the lack of pushback and creative ideas is stifling your business's potential. And that's when you'll begin to question why nobody said anything sooner.

The yes-person plays it safe to save their own hide. But in business, you need to do a risk analysis and take calculated risks for long-term success. That's why you need workers who question the status quo.

4. The yes-man inflates your ego

Being confident in business is oh-so-important. However, there's a fine line between believing in yourself and believing in only yourself. You have to keep your ego in check when you run your own company. You've done an amazing thing that only a fraction of the population does. But if you want your business to grow, you need to keep a sense of humility.

When you have employees agreeing with everything you say, your ego might start to get pretty big. That's why I invite being wrong. I can't let my ego get in the way of my business.

Here's another tip: You have to be humble enough to say sorry. And sometimes, it takes a nope-guy or gal to point out that you messed up and owe someone an apology.

A few years ago, I had a meeting with a few of my coworkers. I was so sure that I was right about something in the meeting. But when it was over, one of my quiet, laid-back coworkers came to my office. He adamantly told me I was wrong and owed another coworker an apology. Well, that hadn't even occurred to me until he spoke up!  I quickly apologized to my coworker.

You need to opt for hiring people who keep you humble by pointing out the things you haven't seen. Not only can the nope-guys and gals teach you new things, but they can remind you of the importance of staying grounded.

Another word of advice . . .

Just because you hire people who are willing to give you other ideas doesn't mean you always have to listen to them. Sometimes, you need to listen to yourself. If you think you have a winning idea worth pursuing even after your employees give you blank stares and counter ideas, you don't have to take their advice.

I always listen to my coworkers and hear them out. And much of the time, I do take their advice. But sometimes, despite their counter ideas, I stick to my guns.

Does that mean I wish they had agreed with my winning idea? Nope, never. It just means that if you still like an idea after some pushback, you may just have to go with it.

RELATED: 14 Non-Negotiable Traits Business Leaders Look for in New Hires

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How to Evaluate and Choose the Right Invoice Factoring Company for Your Small Business

Posted: 24 Sep 2019 09:15 PM PDT

By Grey Idol

A strong economy drives small business growth–we all know that. However, with a rise in new businesses, we also see an increase in the number of companies turning to factoring. Why? Because growing businesses need ready access to capital and factoring has proven to be a quick and easy way for businesses to get it.

The challenge for businesses is that not all factoring companies are created equal. Finding the best factoring company for your business can be a daunting task.

A quick Google search will reveal your problem: hundreds of factoring companies to choose from. However, upon closer review, you'll see that they range broadly in size, experience, and expertise. Some serve specific industries and others might only serve a segment of an industry. You'll also see that fee structures, contract terms and funding options can vary widely from one factor to the next.

Choosing the wrong company can cost your business valuable time and resources, and the possibility of alienating your best customers. When you find the right one, you have a valuable partner in the growth of your business.

Start narrowing your search by seeking answers to these questions:

1. Does the factoring company have experience in my specific industry?

You can quickly eliminate factoring companies that don't ordinarily serve businesses in your industry. Having expertise in your industry–your type of business in particular–ensures that the factor is current with issues that can impact your business and uses a structure that's compatible with your processes. Look for factoring companies with a proven and stable operating history within your industry.

2. How strong is the factoring company's reputation?

Working with a factoring company is not unlike working with a bank. It's about your money. It's important to ensure the company is reputable as evidenced by many years of experience keeping promises and treating customers fairly. It’s a good idea to avoid companies that haven't been in business long enough to establish a real reputation. That said, still do your due diligence on the ones that have been around for a while. Leverage sources like the Better Business Bureau and other review sites to ensure that other customers have had good experiences.

3. Is the factoring company associated with a bank?

Many factoring providers are independent financing companies, which means they must borrow funds from a third party to fund your invoices. As the middleman in the transaction, these companies often have to charge higher rates to cover their own borrowing costs. That doesn't mean they're always a bad choice, and many offer competitive rates and same day funding. However, if something goes awry with the factor or their third-party lender, your funds may no longer be available, putting your business in a pinch.

A factoring company that is backed directly by a bank, or is a bank itself, can operate as a direct source of funds. That means they do not need to borrow from a third party to fund the purchase of your receivables. With a bank factor, you’ll often find that the cost of funds is lower and the savings are passed on to you. Most banks are also regulated by the FDIC, which can offer you an additional sense of security.

4. Are their rates and terms competitive and fair?

Here's some good news: The increasing competition in the factoring industry is putting downward pressure on rates. Because factoring rates are calculated based on a number of things, including the monthly volume of invoices you want to factor and the average size of each invoice, factoring companies have some wiggle room to compete with other providers.

While you should always compare rates, don't rely solely on a quote for your decision. There are other elements that can impact your factoring costs, including hidden fees and sneaky rate structures. Don't sign anything until you have thoroughly read the fine print of your proposal. If you wind up paying too much on things like the application, monitoring, wire processing, or monthly volume fees, you may be better off choosing a factor that charges slightly higher rates without all the extra stuff.

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5. How quickly and frequently will your invoices be funded?

The best providers will allow you to submit and factor invoices daily or weekly. They can also process invoices and provide funds within 12 to 24 hours of submission. It may be okay to work with a factoring company with a slower turnaround, but always make sure their schedule matches your cash flow needs.

As a growing business, you will likely sign new customers and/or increase your outstanding receivables over time, hopefully sooner than later. Make sure you can easily adjust the amount that you're factoring. Put another way, if you sign a new customer tomorrow and need to sell additional invoices, make sure you're able to do that on short notice. The same goes for decreasing your receivables–your factor should allow you to pull back on factored invoices if you lose or have to fire a customer.

Beware of the float

"Float" refers to the difference between the time the factor receives an invoice payment and when it gives you (the customer) credit for that payment. Float days can have an enormous negative impact on your factoring costs.

For example, let's say you have an outstanding invoice with net 30 terms, and your customer pays that invoice on day 28. Your factoring company charges a 1.5% fee for invoices paid in less than 30 days, and 2.5% on invoices paid in 31-45 days. If that company has a 3-day float period, they can hold credit for your payment so that it gets bumped into the higher rate, resulting in a 66% increase in your factoring fees. Not cool, right?

The best factoring companies will give you credit for the invoice on the day it was submitted–even if the payment has not yet processed in full, ensuring consistent and predictable costs for your business. Some payments can take a while to process (like ACH transfers), but your ideal factor will not let that time affect your rate.

It all boils down to one thing: Do your homework. The more you understand all the potential factoring costs, the better positioned you are to find or negotiate more favorable terms for your business.

Other things to consider

There are several other points to consider when identifying the best factoring company:

Does the company require monthly minimum amounts to be factored each month? Many factors require that you submit a minimum dollar value each week or month. This reduces your flexibility and may force you into a situation that's not be best for your business. A good partner will not require minimums.

How will its representatives interact with your customers when collecting payments? When you sell your invoices, the factoring company reserves the right to directly contact your customers to collect receivables. Make sure that you trust your provider to do this respectfully and responsibly in order to preserve your hard-earned customer relationships.

Does the factor offer online submission of invoices? In today's digital age, most everything is done online. Some factors will allow you to submit and track invoices via an online portal, making your life easier by preserving data so nothing slips through the cracks.

Summing it all up

Getting the answers to all of these questions is key to making sure your business is in the right hands. Beware of companies that don't match your desired criteria and make sure to always ask for details in writing. The right factoring provider should be one you can trust to help your business grow and will not take advantage of you during a time of financial need.

Invoice factoring often gets a bad rap, but if you do your research and choose your provider wisely, it can be a game-changing solution for your cash flow problems.

RELATED: What It Really Takes to Apply for and Secure a Small Business Loan

About the Author

Post by: Grey Idol

Grey Idol is the Performance Marketing Manager at altLINE, the invoice factoring division of The Southern Bank. He’s a graduate from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communications. A native of North Carolina, he now resides in Birmingham, Alabama. Reach out to Grey for more information about altLINE’s unique factoring services.

Company: altLINE by The Southern Bank
Website: www.altline.sobanco.com
Connect with me on LinkedIn.

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6 Things You Can Do Now to Boost Your Holiday E-Commerce Sales

Posted: 24 Sep 2019 08:55 PM PDT

By Brandon Bauer

For digital marketers, the holiday e-commerce season is never far from mind. But now that the calendar has turned from summer to fall, it's time to shift fully into planning mode. After all, the biggest shopping season of the year only lasts six weeks, so we had better make the most of it.

As you begin mapping out your holiday strategy, keep these three things in mind:

1. Be mindful of past data

If you've run holiday campaigns in the past, you already have a wealth of information at your fingertips. Before starting any planning, consult your e-commerce data from the last two years with an eye for the big takeaways. Determine what worked and what did not. Are there trends you can take advantage of? Is there something you wish you'd done differently? Look for sales spikes you might be able to anticipate and leverage again this year.

Then, examine the same data from late summer and early fall of this year. Has anything changed? Are there new competitors that didn't previously exist? You may be surprised what insights your sales history holds, so don't overlook it.

2. Consider shifting some budget to early November

Many marketers reserve the majority of their holiday advertising budget for the few weeks between Black Friday and Christmas. However, digital marketers are seeing more purchasing happening early in November and, as a result, ad dollars are starting to follow. This tracks with buying behavior as consumers expect early promotions and deals.

I'm a big advocate for getting customers while you can, so consider targeting those early shoppers using a portion of your holiday budget. There's no reason to intentionally miss out on early November revenue because you're holding out for something that might be better in December. And, with a round of tariffs on Chinese goods set to hit mid-December, there's reason to believe that consumers might start the holiday shopping season even earlier this year—possibly before Black Friday—to take advantage of current pricing on must-have items.

As an added bonus, you may be able to meet your holiday return-on-ad-spend goals earlier in the month at a lower cost-per-click (CPC) than if you waited until later in November. CPC costs always spike on Black Friday from the increased competition.

3. Take a dashboard snapshot

One of the biggest challenges of the holiday e-commerce season is returning back to normal once the promotions end. If you've switched to a more aggressive bidding strategy to compete for all those new eyeballs and don't back off quickly enough, you risk blowing your monthly budget out of the water. At the same time, rediscovering the pre-holiday balance you spent months perfecting can take time.

We've developed a simple solution to this problem depending on the size of your campaigns. For smaller accounts, I recommend taking screenshots of all your current keyword and product group bids. For larger accounts, you'll want to export a backup of all of your campaigns using Google Ads Editor, for example. Regardless of which method you use, when the holidays are over, you'll have a handy guide ready to help recalibrate your campaigns back to normal.

It's never too early to plan for next year

Digital marketers are in the business of building on success and learning from their failures. As this year’s e-commerce campaign plays out, it forms the basis for what happens next year. With that in mind, here are three tips you can use during this year's campaign that will set you up to achieve even better results in the coming year.

1. Document your work. This easy, but often overlooked, step can make a huge difference next year. While you're planning, executing, and reacting to events in November and December, make a point of documenting them in real time. That way when the new year rolls around, you'll have a play-by-play guide that will refresh your memory, reminding you of important insights you could easily forget. If done correctly, this can serve as the guiding document for next year’s campaign.

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2. Increase Your insight. Anything you can do to increase the granularity of your insight this year will benefit you next year. I recommend setting up pay-per-click campaigns on the product line, category, or brand level with ad groups made up of single item IDs. While this approach may not change your results this year, the insight gained for next year will be invaluable.

By digging deeper into the product level, you'll be able to identify what's being clicked on versus what's being purchased and adjust accordingly. If you also audit your search query reports, you'll begin to see which products are showing up based on search terms. All this data will serve as direct feedback from the customer in the form of what they're looking for, how they're looking for it, and if they're willing to make a purchase.

Armed with this new information, you can build better campaigns that deliver exactly what customers are searching for based on the search terms they're actually using. You can also take this information into other parts of your business. For example, it might be necessary to restructure your website so customers can more easily find what they're searching for. Collecting more granular data today is the key to unlocking better results tomorrow.

3. Create a custom audience. As the holiday sales come rolling in, you can target these buyers again the following year by creating a custom remarketing audience. This approach is especially useful if you're offering some kind of holiday-specific item. So save the audience, apply your dates, and use it next year to hit a really engaged audience.

Plan early, succeed often

Even though you not be in a holiday state of mind, it's never too early to think about the upcoming holiday selling season. By making a few simple tweaks to your approach and keeping your eye on future campaigns, you can make this year and next your best holiday seasons yet.

RELATED: Do Customers Secretly Hate Your E-Commerce Website?

About the Author

Post by: Brandon Bauer

Brandon Bauer is manager of enterprise strategy at Logical Position. As a 10-year veteran of the search engine marketing industry, Brandon has made substantial contributions to Logical Position's enterprise team. In particular, he drew on his personal passion for video to help pioneer Logical Position's YouTube advertising service. He's also grown some of Logical Position's largest accounts while helping other team members implement strategies for their clients.

Company: Logical Position
Website: www.logicalposition.com
Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

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