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Go You. Go Daddy: Bring your business idea to life online with GoDaddy

Got a fresh business idea you want to take to the next level? Tell us about it for your chance to win…

Enter now to get your idea going!

About GoDaddy

GoDaddy’s mission is to radically shift the global economy toward small businesses by empowering people to easily start, confidently grow and successfully run their own ventures. With 14 million customers worldwide and 62 million domain names under management, GoDaddy gives small business owners the tools to name their idea, build a beautiful online presence, attract customers and manage their business. To learn more about the company, visit http://www.godaddy.com/.

© 2016 GoDaddy Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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“Creativity” and “innovation” – 2 words on the cusp of becoming nothing more than clichéd buzz words in young, millennial centric businesses. When in fact, creativity is now widely considered to be a major personal skill. There seems to be much confusion when it comes to our understanding of creativity That’s because it allows for so much more than just ‘creating’ a stagnant piece of work. A creative mind set allows for flexible thinking, unconventional methods and unique solutions to problem solving. In today’s globalising world, these traits are not only appropriate, but necessary.

Creativity inherently leads to innovation. We are a generation, not interested or intrigued but obsessed with innovation. Especially in an increasingly congested and complex business world where everyone is trying to prove that it is them, and their business that is worthy of the customers attention. On the flip side, as we use our creativity to develop new business cultures and strategies we are also pushing back against outdated practices that have been ‘the norm’ for too long. The problem here is that if the culture does not allow creativity to blossom, how can draconian policies possibly be modernised?

It is business critical that the true value of creativity is appreciated. Workplaces that do not nurture a culture that breeds creativity have, in my humble opinion signed their own death warrant. Everyone wants to believe that their business is creative and innovative and when a business is young, a team is small and the workload is manageable, it’s easy to adopt exercises and create environments where creativity flourishes. However as a business grows, more often than not the focus on team culture and induvial imagination gives way to bureaucratic management systems and policies. While these systems are designed to co-ordinate and control increasing workload, they often stifle the ‘idea’ flow and processes become over relied on.

“The true value of creativity within a company is that it is the engine for enhancing the business. A successful company starts out with a unique value proposition, which is its first creative act, and then executes on that promise. Without any evolution or change to the business, however, the company runs the risk of a competitor developing something better, or a disruptor substituting for the product or service that the firm provides. By harnessing its creative capacities, a company is able to evolve its business either in the way it creates its product, the product itself, or in the pool of consumers, thus increasing revenue.” Explains Orin Davis, a start-up advisor and business professor, “At a micro level, the value of creativity is that it enables each person to engage in meaningful work. Instead of doing something that leaves us feeling like cogs in the wheel, when we are creative on the job we are injecting a part of ourselves into the work that we do. We apply our unique combination of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and experiences, to put our imprint on the product/service with which our company creates value. In doing so, we are able to see how we create value, and how we make this spinning bit of rock better off specifically because we were on it. It is this very notion that inspires people to put their all into their work, from the basic functions to the extra mile of discretionary effort that keeps employees staying late to “get it done!” Best of all, when people feel free to be themselves on the job, they are also more likely to share their ideas, take smart risks, and bounce back from failure, because they recognize the ways in which their work fulfils their sense of purpose.”

While growth is an indicator of success, it shouldn’t be forgotten that creativity and innovation are both key drivers in all parts of a business. As start-ups begin to scale up, directors and senior level staff can become distanced from the front line all too quickly and while those still there can see the problems appearing, there is no longer the room for creative solutions to be generated. The burden of an ever increasing workload can prevent open minds from operating because everyone becomes so focused on completing the tasks to timescales, suddenly maintaining creativity levels is no longer a priority. I would argue that creativity leads to productivity when managed correctly, but productivity also relies on processes that have already been learnt and mastered. So perhaps it’s more of a fine balance of the 2 that leads to maintain high levels of productivity. If everyone is head down 9-5, you soon find the very soul of employees being sapped without a disregard for how the energy and drive is going to be replaced. Productivity levels will drop off the chart. It undoubtedly comes down to the Quality Vs Quantity argument. It’s a fine balance, of course every new business is striving for growth. However in the quest for growth, it’s important that creativity isn’t compromised.

Allowing your team to use their creative skills communicates that they are trusted to make the right decisions and those decisions are respected, building an emotional connection and developing a culture of self-progression and self-determination. By now we understand the value of ‘story telling’ when it comes to marketing our businesses, and the fundamental impact of building an emotional connection with consumers. But how can businesses expect to build a connection with consumers when the connection with their employees has been lost? Personal development is crucial, a continued cycle of education and support gives individuals the chance to understand the issues and opportunities that would benefit from creative thinking.

David Dews Creative Managing Director at Speed Agency shares his experience, “For us a creative culture is key because some of the best ideas come from the Speedsters that aren’t specifically here for their creative thinking…. So if you encourage a creativity and collaboration then you breed a culture where people want to share their thinking and that naturally sparks more ideas and deeper thinking. Allowing creativity to blossom seems natural at Speed so I don’t know if I have the answers but I think for us it’s probably because we have a fairly flat structure which encourages contact. So for instance, our apprentice would feel as comfortable talking to me about an idea she’s had as our Senior Designer would. We don’t really have loads of formal meetings instead we replace them with shorter impromptu ones when we feel we have something interesting to share or we are needing some help. Right now, we have a tight and fairly stressful deadline, so we’ve just had a meeting where we critiqued each other’s designs, the work is still very much in motion but because we know how to critique each other without causing offence or being too precious it helps us to keep projects moving in the right direction and sometimes a touch of stress keeps us creatively focused. So I guess writing this has helped me articulate how we achieve a creative culture here at Speed Agency – it’s about collaborating, at the right times, in the right manner and in an open yet purposeful way. Failing that give us alcohol -That’ll work too.”

Be proactive! Many mistake creativity as being something spontaneous, distracting focus. When in fact regular and planned creative breakout sessions, for instance once a week or fortnight can be therapeutic in a number of ways, some businesses even set aside some of their budget to fund experimental projects to generate further ideas ad offerings.  These tactics serve to prevent employees from becoming overwhelmed by their work load, they also encourage problem solving and dissolve creative blocks as people bounce ideas off each other until a solution is found. They often have a fundamental impact on team morale and motivation, making for a far more efficient and productive business. There is no reason why these sessions should not continue as a business grows, as long as they remain focussed and happen within a pre-determined time frame they will continue to feed the team in a positive way. To be successful when it comes to innovation and creativity, embrace the mistakes. The attitude that many businesses have is a ‘zero tolerance’ one when it comes to errors; it is very rare that something fails 100%, lessons are always learnt that allow you to push the boundaries further. Dwelling on the negatives is a rookie mistake and often stifles further creativity as seeds of self-doubt begin to grow, obstacles lead to new approaches.

Creativity leads to flawless adaptation to changing conditions, vital for survival in the fast paced world of business. To nurture creativity it needs to be rooted into structure and policies to feed into the culture, making it part of your company’s reality. Keep an open mind to all ideas and solutions, especially from those on the front line of the business and steer away from making assumptions. Look to implement strategies that invest in a holistic culture and strive to prevent presenteeism, when staff work at a pace they are comfortable with without undue pressure it often leads to ‘Eureka!’ moments. Ultimately, look to create a business with a culture that gives its team the opportunities to be creative in their approach and the growth and revenue will come naturally.

The post Don’t Let Growth Kill Creativity appeared first on The Startup Magazine.

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Starting a business, sowing its seeds, all starts with an idea. Whether original, tried and tested, or an evolution of something familiar, this is your point of take-off. It is the steps you take beyond this point, that present the challenge of turning that idea into reality. Part of that process is the journey businesses take to go online.

Consider that today, 86% of adults are using the internet in the UK[1], spending almost three hours online actively each day[2], consuming and browsing for information, discovering products and services that will meet their needs, some of which they may not even be aware of yet. While the benefits of having an online presence, however big or small, are evident for many purely by virtue of connecting with this audience, the path to turning this into a reality can be daunting. 

Time, Knowledge and Relevance

A 2015 Redshift Research study commissioned by GoDaddy found that almost 30% of very small businesses in the UK did not have any form of an online presence, while 60% had no website to represent their business. But why?

There is a common perception that a website won’t help their business or that they are too small to have one, cutting them off from the opportunity of reaching the online population. This is coupled with time and financial investment concerns, along with a lack of technical knowledge to feel capable of achieving success on this journey to embracing digital.

Let’s look at a real life example: just recently I had the chance to sit down with a local Brixton restaurant business, Kricket, to talk about their online presence and the role it will play in their business going forward. The team had made the smart decision to launch a clean, one page branded website with the restaurant’s contact and social media channel details, location and menu, enough to say “yes we’re here” but not too complex that it took them away from running the business. Therefore, whether a one person wonder or a five-strong team, owning your own space online is crucial, but demystifying the complexity first and foremost comes with the ability to recognize your own needs.

Going from Invisible to Visible

It order to make it a little bit easier for startuppers to launch their business idea with the added benefit of being visible online, GoDaddy has put together a guide that outlines the key steps to going digital. Over the next few weeks, we’ll take a more detailed look into this aspect of building a business to help ensure that you’re just that little bit more informed than when you first started reading this article.

1. Your Point Zero: You have your business idea or venture itself, it’s time to get going.
2. Hold up a mirror against yourself: It is time to ask yourself some serious questions to understand what are your online and offline objectives. How will your online presence help you reach these objectives? Do you need a simple website, a content-rich platform or a commercial site that will facilitate sales?
3. Own your domain: Your domain name is the start of your journey online, your own piece of real estate. Register a domain name that represents your business, but is also easy to type and remember.
4. Become an informed decision maker: Now that you know what your objectives are and you have registered the domain name right for you, it’s time to research your website creation options. You may want to set up your website yourself, or get some help from a web developer, regardless it’s good to have some idea about what you want. There are many different hosting and website solutions, choose the one that best meets your needs and from a reliable service provider like GoDaddy. You’ll want to be sure that they have customer support for you to call on whenever you may have a question.

5. Launch with confidence: You’ve selected your products, set-up the flow and content of your website and previewed it on your desktop and mobile devices to help ensure everything looks good. Now it’s time to press the publish button and launch your website.

6. Continue to ask questions: Launching doesn’t necessarily mean you are done and dusted. Take a look at the metrics of your website; what is your daily traffic, how are people interacting with your website? If you have any concerns or just want to confirm something, contact the customer support team of your service provider.

7. Let people know you’re online: You have your website up and running, make sure people know about it. Add it to your email signatures, business cards and other promotional materials, while linking it to your social media channels will help drive traffic back to your website and vice versa.

8. Connect with more people and grow: Whether you choose to grow and nurture your customer base through email marketing, or tap into new audiences with search engine or social media marketing, you have the ability to track and monitor your performance and traffic or customer acquisitions.

9. Keep on moving: There is always room to do more, to make tweaks, to do better. So, don’t stop. Enrich your website and communications with different types of content, there are plenty of tools and solutions to play around with. Add on a calendar, reservations or even an online store feature to help you better connect with your customers and push them down the purchase funnel.

Now you have a rough framework to follow, it’s time to get thinking about your journey online. Next week we’ll take a more detailed look into effectively outlining your objectives.

[1] Internet Users: 2015, 22 May 2015. Q1 2015 figures. http://ift.tt/1NWrrlb

[2] Internet Advertising Bureau, Definitive Time People Spend Online, http://ift.tt/1ilNZCD

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The titans of the business world often lead crazy lives that beggar belief. You would likely be forgiven if you ever found yourself scratching your head wondering how they managed to fit at least some sleep into their hectic lives – let alone the time for regular exercise.

However, you will likely find that this select group of individuals understand better than anyone that staying fit is a crucial part of their continued success. Numerous studies have shown that regular physical activity can significantly boost your mood, quality of sleep, energy and most importantly – productivity.

To give you an insight into some of these highly successful people’s fitness regimes, Funding Circle have made the Exercising Entrepreneur infographic. Included in this are the exercise routines of 36 of the most accomplished individuals from the world of business, as well as an estimate of how many calories these people burn on a daily and weekly basis.

Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle somehow manages to find the time to go sailing on a regular basis, as well as fitting in the occasional session at the gym. This sees him burn approximately 600 calories daily, or 4,299 calories on a weekly basis. Frits van Paasschen, the former CEO of Starwood Hotels, on the other hand, manages to squeeze in a modest 10 mile run every day. This gruelling dedication to his fitness regime sees him burn roughly 1,350 calories each day – or 9,450 calories each week!

If you’re looking for some inspiration for exercise that you can work into your professional life, why not take a look at the Exercising Entrepreneur infographic? You might just find that spark you need that will help you get both your body, and your business into fighting form!

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Tax time. Those two words can strike fear in the hearts of many. There’s no doubt that doing your taxes isn’t much fun for most of us, but there are things you can do to make tax season a little less painful. Follow these tips from professional accountants and save yourself a lot less time and hassle.

Stash your receipts

This is so important! When it comes time to do your taxes, whether you do them yourself or submit documentation to an accountant, you’re going to need to provide receipts to back up your write-offs. Instead of having to hunt down your receipts each spring, designate a particular spot in your home, whether it’s a file, or a box or a drawer, to stash your receipts all year long. That way, come tax time, you’ll have them all together. (Side note: If you purchase something for your job for which you are not reimbursed by your company, keep the receipt. You can claim the cost on your taxes!)

Familiarize yourself with potential deductions

Deductions can dramatically affect your taxes return, so it’s important to familiarize yourself with any potential deductions to which you may be entitled. Whether they are deductions because you work from home, deductions for business lunch expenses, travel deductions, etc. In a similar vein, it’s important to understand any tax credits for which you may qualify, such as a disability tax credit or credits for activities in which your children are enrolled, etc.

Choose smart investments

There are all kinds of ways to invest your money, but in terms of the impact they will make on your taxed, some investments are unquestionably better than others. Investments that are tax-free may not garner the kinds of high returns as other investments, but that can usually be compensated for by the fact that you won’t have to pay tax on them at the end of the tax year.

Tally your donations

There’s no doubt that charitable donations help out those in need.  If you do make donations, keep your receipts for those, too. You can use them as deductions come tax time. When you make a donation, always ask for a receipt.

Contribute to your retirement fund

As much as you are able, it is so important to contribute to your retirement fund. This will ensure that you not only have a nice little nest egg on which you can retire, but also because the more you can contribute, the less income you will have to report. That could knock you down to a lower tax bracket, which means you pay a lower tax rate.

Tax time isn’t what most people consider enjoyable, but by being organized and informed, you can maximize your tax refund and minimize the amount of hassle involved I preparing your taxes. If you aren’t comfortable doing your own taxes, always hire a qualified tax accountant to navigate the complex preparation process for you.

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