Improving Return on Investment (ROI)

ROI is a measure of financial performance used to gauge the profitability of an investment. It’s often referred to as the rate of return. ROI is usually expressed as a ratio (or percentage) of the money gained or lost on an investment divided by the cost of that investment. For most businesses, the gain is normally called net income or profit. The investment cost is usually called capital, principal, cost basis, or asset value.

The beauty of ROI is that you can adapt its calculation to your specific business. The danger is that the calculation can be manipulated to produce a distorted picture of reality. Because of this, it doesn’t make sense to compare your business’s ROI against those of your competitors, unless you know the methodology the competition is using.

Work from Home, Save Money

Working from home represents a different lifestyle than a corporate job. Not only do you have more flexibility in your work schedule, you’ll have more time to devote to productive work, and waste less on commuting, and office politics. But, thanks to your home office set up, there are other easy ways to save money, and maximize the value of your time as a stay at home working mom. Here are four money-saving changes you can start today.  
 

Using Pinterest to Promote Your Bath & Body Products

This article is the first in a three-part series.

This piece will cover the basics, while the next two articles will offer more technical internet marketing tips and navigational tools for using Pinterest. In case you haven’t heard, there are more and more bath and body entrepreneurs jumping on the Pinterest bandwagon (http://www.pinterest.com). In addition to being a fun social media site to visit for inspiring photos of anything from decorating ideas to soaps, many Pinterest users are reporting increased website traffic and sales.

In fact, some Etsy sellers have reported that after they have added Pinterest to their mix, online sales rose from 30% to 50% of their revenue. If you sell or shop on Etsy, you may have noticed that it recently added Pinterest's "Pin It'' button next to each item on sale. Customers click the Pinterest button to add an item to their pinboards. Even if they don't buy the product, artists benefit from the exposure.

Benefits of an Outside Consultant

For some small business owners, hiring a consultant may seem like big, unnecessary expense. You’re trying to cut operating costs, not find ways to increase them.

These are valid concerns, but shouldn’t preempt the idea of hiring someone with specific expertise to help you. This is especially true when you first start your business. If you get off on the wrong foot, it may cost you a lot more in the long run if an expert could have helped you avoid problems to begin with.

It’s like a golfer who doesn’t takes lessons and never learns to swing the club properly. Bad habits turn into a bad golf game that becomes very difficult and expensive to correct later on. Some money wisely spent in the beginning would have prevented those bad habits and provided a very high payoff in the end. The same is true in business.