Published on: 12 December 2018
Last Updated on: 14 December 2021
Today, more people than ever are starting their own first business, but not all of them are successful. In fact, only one in ten startups will survive their first year of trading and go on to turn over a profit. If you’re thinking of starting your own company, it’s important to be prepared for all the obstacles and potential setbacks that you are likely going to face. If you want to make sure that your business is the one in ten that succeeds, it’s vital to be ready for the challenge. For many new business owners, overlooking some important aspects of starting a new company can quickly become their downfall. In order to help you avoid future issues, we’ve put together a handy list of common things people don’t consider when starting their own business.
1. Insurance To Look forward while Starting First business:
Starting your first business can be challenging if you do not have enough capital backup. You might assume that liability insurance is unimportant if your business doesn’t deal directly with members of the public. For example, if you’re planning to sell items online, you might not think that insurance is necessary since your customers won’t be visiting your shop in person. However, insurance may be needed depending on the type of products that you are selling, as it will help ensure that you are covered if anything goes wrong. No matter what you’re selling, general liability insurance is essential to protect your company from claims of bodily injury, associated medical costs, or damage to property.
2. SWOT Analysis and Business Plan:
You’re probably ready to get started with your business as quickly as possible but failing to put in the right amount of preparation and planning now can cause many issues for you down the line. Take the time to sit down and come up with a business plan that will help you make sure you are on the right track in the future. To be fully confident in your new venture, it’s essential to know that your business is going to work. Completing a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis will help you position yourself strongly in the market and enable you to plan for the future.
3. Legal Considerations:
Before you begin trading, it’s important to make sure that you’re aware of all the legal implications and potential hurdles you could face as a business owner. As an entrepreneur, no matter what kind of business you’re thinking of starting, your line of work is likely going to be governed by a wide range of rules, regulations, and laws that you will need to adhere to. Whether it’s licensing for operation or professional standards that you must meet, you’ll need to be fully prepared for the legal implications of business ownership. It may be worth consulting with a business lawyer before you begin; they will be able to advise you on the best steps to take.
4. Establishing a Reputation:
Before you make the leap into starting your own business, it’s a wise idea to set yourself up for success by establishing a reputation for yourself and your brand in the industry. Networking is key to building a strong foundation for yourself and your business, making it easier for you to get your brand off the ground. Connect with industry experts, like-minded entrepreneurs, and potential leads both in-person and online. Use social media platforms such as LinkedIn to get in touch with people who could potentially help you build and expand your network, and don’t be afraid to get out there at trade shows, networking conferences, and other relevant business events.
5. Keep on Top of Admin:
Starting as you mean to go on is definitely one of the most important factors when it comes to business admin. Tasks such as bookkeeping, payroll, and inventory management can quickly become unmanageable if you don’t make sure to keep on top of them from the beginning. If possible, you may want to consider outsourcing these tasks – today you can find freelancers or entire companies that you can outsource the work to. This makes it much easier for you to manage since you can rest assured that the work is being handled by professionals with the know-how and experience necessary to support your business success. If outsourcing isn’t possible, there are many alternatives to consider. When it comes to accounting, you can find many free or inexpensive online tools to make the process much easier for you to manage. Take some time to research different software programs that you can use to make managing the admin side of your company easier from the start.
When it comes to starting your own first business, it’s important to make sure that you are fully prepared to propel your new brand to success. These are some of the main factors that people don’t think about when starting a new business; don’t fall into the same trap.
Content Rally wrapped around an online publication where you can publish your own intellectuals. It is a publishing platform designed to make great stories by content creators. This is your era, your place to be online. So come forward share your views, thoughts and ideas via Content Rally.
If you want to attract more audience, ad revenue, and gain affiliates to make profits to what you are selling, you need to increase your traffic. If you are a startup or a small business, your advertising budget may be limited. The good news is, using pay per click services from a professional agency can help increase your traffic while balancing your budget. This is because you pay for your digital ads that display on banners, pop-ups, and other online formats only if a user clicks on them.
The Benefits of PPC Advertising:
Copy-testing solution
PPC ads are an excellent way to experiment with various techniques if you are looking to create the best ad copy for different platforms. It is easy to do because you can change your PPC campaigns any time, allowing you to try different copywriting, graphics, colors, headlines, etc. You can test each option for a specific period and review the campaign analytics to find out what works best for you. Polish or change your advertising by using this data.
Targeted audience
Your PPC ad only shows up when a searcher uses the keyword you have bid on. In other words, an online user who sees your ad means the person is interested in what you are offering. With PPC advertising, you have full control when and when your ads will show up online. This allows you to have better targeting capability and set up your pay per click campaign to attract your target market.
So, if your ad is visible to your target market, it increases your chance of acquiring click-throughs and converting them with sales.
Increased brand awareness
For a small or startup company, other people besides your existing audience may be unfamiliar with your name. For this, many people will not search for you online using your business name. However, they may use related keywords when searching on Google, displaying your ads in their web feeds.
Consumers will begin to recognize your name or logo when they constantly see your PPC ads. This will trigger their curiosity to click and take action because they keep seeing you in the search result pages.
Grow your traffic fast
As you build your search engine optimization and increase your audience, working on your organic traffic often takes time. To obtain a huge amount of traffic, you need to rank in the SERPs. On the other hand, your ads will skyrocket straight away with the help of pay per click services, giving you the amount of traffic you want much faster. You will get clicks through once you set up a PPC campaign, gain more exposure, acquire more business, and rise in the results because of increased traffic.
Measurable outcomes
Using pay per click gives you easy access to essential data to thoroughly evaluate the results of your marketing strategies. You can determine the number of people who have clicked your PPC ads. This helps you analyze the effectiveness of your campaign when you run your reports.
PPC also allows you to keep track of your costs. You can calculate your return on investments and profits from your campaign if you know your advertising spend and the number of clicks you get. All these details can help you decide if you should change or continue certain aspects of your campaign.
Why Use a PPC Agency?
If you allow the skills and expertise of a PPC team from a reputable agency to handle your campaigns and manage your accounts, you will have some peace of mind as the professionals’ work on your side. Expect them to stay updated with the best PPC practices, keep up with the constant changes to various platforms, and how to optimize your PPC campaigns. These specialists possess the experience and knowledge that are essential to increase the ROI of your business from your ad spend and budget.
Also, the best PPC agency knows that it is risky to disregard any data that have key insights regarding the improvement of your business. You do not want someone running an ad campaign for you but not paying attention to their performance.
Whether you need to overhaul your existing campaign or need to start from scratch to set up your first campaign, using pay per click services will give you a team that will use an innovative approach to each of your PPC campaigns, making sure you will get the best ROI. You could either have an employee to work on your PPC or take advantage of a professional agency with a team of well-trained and highly experienced specialists who know how to run a wide range of PPC campaigns.
Read Also:
8 Reasons Your SEO Campaigns Aren’t Showing the Desired Results
Organic Traffic vs. Paid: Where Should You Focus Your Budget?
It is a fact that the agricultural sector is of massive importance to the whole U.S. economy. It is thought to be worth over $1 trillion to the country each year and is a major employer. Of course, it also gives us the food we need to survive! As such, agriculture is extremely important to the USA and is a popular sector for entrepreneurs to open a business.
Although you may have been successful to date, you might currently be struggling with how to move your business up to the next level. This is an important step as it will stop you from stagnating and allow you to generate more revenue. This is true whether you own a farm or run another kind of agricultural company. The below should help if you are looking for a few tips on how to do this.
Erect new buildings to house stock or animals
For the agricultural sector or business, sustained growth can only come about by having enough of what customers want to buy. Sometimes though this can be seriously limited by the existing space you have to work with. For example, you will struggle to grow beyond a certain point if you have only limited space to house stock or your harvested crops.
Investing in new buildings so you can carry more products to sell and thus increase profits makes good sense. Over time, this investment will pay for itself due to the increased sales it allows. Of course, if you are a farmer then putting up new buildings can give you more space to store machinery or give you somewhere suitable to house more animals. Many businesses will opt to use fiber-reinforced concrete when doing so due to the extra strength and durability this gives any new structure.
Network, network, network
As with any other sector within a business, networking is a great way to stimulate growth in your agricultural organization. This could be on a B2B level where you attend offline networking events to forge new connections or use online platforms like LinkedIn to do the same. Of course, you can also network on a B2C level at things like agricultural trade shows or public events. By engaging in this kind of activity, you are helping to build your brand and showcase to people what you can offer. This can really help you to generate more leads, more sales, and more revenue in the future. If this is not something you usually like to do, it really is worth giving it your best shot.
Set specific goals
Many people who own a business in the agricultural sector will fail to grow it due to being overly generic in their aims. Merely saying I would like to have a bigger or more successful business this time next year is not specific enough. You need to set out realistic and achievable goals that will ultimately produce the growth you desire. Whether it is trying to develop one new product to launch, setting up a farm shop or revamping your website to attract more visitors, setting specific goals can really help. Getting a proper plan in place of not only what you want to do but also how you will go about it is crucial.
Think about digital marketing
Whatever goals you set people to need to know you exist before you can grow. By far the best way for many agricultural businesses to go about this is by using modern digital marketing methods. From farming consultants to machinery manufacturers or feed producers, these ways of getting your brand out there can prove very effective. Top of the list for many is using social media platforms. Free to set up and simple to use, they provide an easy way to reach more people globally and to show what you offer. Methods like email marketing and PPC ad campaigns are also effective when done right.
Take action to stimulate growth
In many ways, helping your agricultural business to grow is no different than doing so in other business sectors. The key is to maximize what you have to sell and making sure that your marketing efforts bring more people in to buy from you. The agricultural sector is of huge importance to the entire U.S. economy.
Planting new crops that could prove popular or bringing new products on-board to sell is also worth considering in order to get to where you want to be. The most important part is to have a clear idea of where you are headed so you can take your first steps toward reaching there.
Read Also:
Strengthening Your Community In 2018
Green Business Opportunities for Eco-Entrepreneurs
Kale is one of the most nutritious and versatile greens you can grow in your garden. It's packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber and can be used in salads, soups, smoothies, and more. But how do you harvest kale throughout the year so that you can enjoy it fresh and crisp and also make it last longer?
In this article, I will show you how to harvest kale so it keeps growing, how to harvest kale from the garden, how to store and freeze kale, and the health benefits and taste of kale. Additionally, I will also share some tips and tricks on how to grow kale successfully and how to use it in delicious recipes. Whether you're a beginner or an expert gardener, this guide will help you make the most of your kale harvest.
What is Kale & Why Should You Harvest It?
Kale has a mild, earthy, and slightly bitter taste, which can vary depending on the variety, growing conditions, and harvesting time. It can also become sweeter after a frost, as the cold temperatures trigger the plant to produce more sugars.
Kale can be eaten raw or cooked, and it can complement many dishes and flavors. It can also be seasoned with salt, pepper, lemon juice, garlic, onion, vinegar, or any other condiments you like.
Kale is not only tasty, but also healthy. It's low in calories and high in fiber, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals. It can help improve various aspects of health, such as:
Eye health
Kale is rich in lutein and zeaxanthin. These are carotenoids that protect the eyes from age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, and glaucoma. Kale also contains vitamin A, which is essential for vision and eye health.
Blood pressure
Kale is high in potassium, magnesium, and nitrates, which are compounds that help lower blood pressure and relax the blood vessels. Kale also contains vitamin C, which helps prevent homocysteine, an amino acid that can damage the blood vessels and increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
Bone health
Kale is a good source of calcium, magnesium, and vitamin K, which are important for bone health and density. Kale also contains vitamin C, which helps the body absorb calcium and produce collagen, a protein that strengthens the bones and connective tissues.
Immune system
Kale is loaded with vitamin C, which is a powerful antioxidant that boosts the immune system and fights off infections and inflammation. Kale also contains vitamin E, which enhances the immune response and protects the cells from oxidative stress.
Digestion
Kale is high in fiber, which helps regulate digestion and prevent constipation, diarrhea, and bloating. Fiber also feeds the beneficial bacteria in the gut, which improve the digestion and absorption of nutrients and support the immune system.
Skin and hair
Kale is rich in vitamins A, C, E, and iron, essential for healthy skin and hair. Vitamin A helps maintain the moisture and elasticity of the skin and prevents acne and wrinkles. Vitamin C helps produce collagen, which keeps the skin firm and smooth.
On the other hand, vitamin E helps protect the skin from sun damage and aging. Iron helps deliver oxygen to the skin and hair cells and prevents anemia, which can cause hair loss and pale skin.
How to Harvest Kale So It Keeps Growing?
One of the best things about kale is that it's a cut-and-come-again crop. This means that you can harvest it multiple times throughout the season, as long as you do it correctly. Here are the steps to follow to harvest kale so it keeps growing:
Choose the right time to harvest
The best time to harvest kale is when the leaves are young and tender, usually about 30 to 40 days after planting. You can also harvest baby kale leaves about 15 to 25 days after planting.
You should harvest kale before it starts to flower. This is when it produces yellow or white blossoms and becomes bitter and tough.
Kale usually flowers when the days get longer and warmer. Therefore, you should harvest it more frequently in the spring and summer.
Use a sharp knife or scissors to cut the leaves
You can either cut the whole plant at the base, leaving about an inch of stem or cut individual leaves from the lower part of the plant, leaving the upper leaves to grow.
Additionally, you should cut the leaves about an inch above the soil to avoid damaging the crown and the roots. You should also avoid cutting too many leaves from one plant. This is because this will weaken the plant and reduce the yield. A good rule of thumb is to leave at least half of the leaves on each plant.
Wash and dry the leaves
You should wash the kale leaves as soon as possible after harvesting to remove any dirt, bugs, or pesticides. To rinse the leaves under cold water, you can use a colander or a salad spinner. After that, pat them dry with a paper towel or a cloth. You should also remove any damaged or yellow leaves, and trim any tough stems.
Enjoy or store the leaves
You can eat the kale leaves fresh, or store them in the refrigerator or freezer for later use. I will explain how to store and freeze kale in the next sections.
How to Harvest Kale from the Garden?
If you want to harvest kale from the garden, you need to follow some simple steps and tips to ensure a successful and bountiful harvest. Here are some things to consider when harvesting kale from the garden:
Choose the right variety
There are many varieties of kale to choose from, depending on your preference and climate. Some of the most common varieties are curly kale, which has dark green, and curly leaves that are great for salads and chips.
You can also try dinosaur kale, which has dark blue-green, flat leaves that are great for soups and stir-fries, and red Russian kale, which has purple-red, frilly leaves that are great for salads and smoothies.
You can also choose kale varieties based on their maturity time, cold tolerance, flavor, and color. Some popular kale varieties are Winterbor, Redbor, Lacinato, and Scarlet.
Plant the seeds or seedlings
Depending on your preference and availability, you can plant kale seeds or seedlings in the garden. The best time to plant kale seeds or seedlings is in early spring, as soon as the soil can be worked, or in late summer or early fall, for a winter harvest. You can also plant kale seeds or seedlings every two to three weeks, for a continuous harvest.
You should plant the seeds or seedlings about a quarter to half an inch deep, and one to two inches apart, in rows that are 18 to 24 inches apart. Additionally, you should water the seeds or seedlings well, and keep the soil moist until they germinate or establish, which usually takes seven to 14 days.
Thin the seedlings
When the kale seedlings have two to four true leaves, you should thin them to avoid overcrowding and competition. You should leave about six to 12 inches of space between each plant and eat or transplant the thinned seedlings. You should also weed the area around the kale plants regularly, to prevent pests and diseases.
Harvest the leaves
You can start harvesting kale leaves when they are big enough to eat, usually about 30 to 40 days (about one and a half months) after planting, depending on the variety. You can either harvest the whole plant or pick individual leaves from the lower part of the plant, leaving the upper leaves to grow.
That is not all. You should harvest kale in the morning when the leaves are crisp and fresh and before the sun gets too hot. You should also harvest kale before it starts to flower, which is when it produces yellow or white blossoms and becomes bitter and tough.
How to Store and Freeze Kale
Kale is best eaten fresh, as it loses its flavor and texture quickly. However, if you have a large harvest, or you want to preserve kale for later use, you can store or freeze it. Here are the best ways to store and freeze kale:
Store kale in the refrigerator: You can store fresh kale in the refrigerator for up to a week, if you keep it in a perforated plastic bag or a container with a lid. You should also avoid washing the kale before storing it, as this will make it wilt faster. You should wash the kale just before using it.
Freeze kale raw: You can freeze raw kale without blanching it, which is a process of briefly cooking and cooling the vegetables to stop the enzyme activity that causes them to spoil. However, freezing raw kale will result in a mushy and watery texture and a loss of flavor and nutrients. To freeze raw kale, you should wash and dry the leaves, and then pack them in freezer bags or containers, leaving some space for expansion. You can freeze raw kale for up to six months, and use it in smoothies, soups, or casseroles.
Freeze kale blanched: You can freeze blanched kale, which will retain its color, texture, flavor, and nutrients better than raw kale. To freeze blanched kale, you should wash and trim the leaves, and then blanch them in boiling water for two to three minutes, depending on the size of the leaves. You should then drain and cool the leaves and squeeze out the excess water. Moreover, you can then pack the leaves in freezer bags or containers, leaving some space for expansion. You can freeze blanched kale for up to a year, and use it in salads, sandwiches, or quiches.
How to Use Kale in Different Cuisines and Recipes
Kale is a versatile vegetable that can be used in many different cuisines and recipes. Whether you want to make a salad, a soup, a smoothie, or a casserole, kale can add flavor, color, and nutrition to your dish. Here are some examples of how to use kale in different cuisines and recipes:
American cuisine
Kale is a popular ingredient in American cuisine, especially in salads, sandwiches, and casseroles. You can make a kale and apple salad with walnuts and honey mustard dressing, or a kale and chicken sandwich with mayonnaise and cheese.
You can also make a kale and cheese casserole with eggs, milk, and bread crumbs, or a kale and sausage quiche with pie crust and cheddar cheese.
Mediterranean cuisine
Kale is a common ingredient in Mediterranean cuisine, especially in Greek, Italian, and Spanish dishes. You can make a kale and feta cheese pie with phyllo dough and olive oil, or a kale and white bean soup with garlic, rosemary, and lemon juice. You can also make kale and tomato pasta with parmesan cheese and basil, or a kale and potato tortilla with eggs, onion, and paprika.
Asian cuisine
Kale is widely used in Asian cuisine, especially in Chinese, Japanese, and Indian dishes. You can make a kale and tofu stir-fry with ginger, soy sauce, and sesame oil.
Additionally, you can make a kale and seaweed salad with rice vinegar, sugar, and sesame seeds. You can also make kale and coconut curry with onion, garlic, curry paste, and coconut milk. If you like something Indian, you can also try kale and lentil dal with cumin, turmeric, and coriander.
Wrapping It Up!
Kale is a wonderful vegetable that you can harvest, store, and use in various ways. It's easy to grow, harvest, and store kale, as long as you follow some simple steps and tips. It's also healthy, delicious, and versatile, as you can use it in many different cuisines and recipes. Kale is a green treasure that you don't want to miss.
If you want to know how to harvest kale, I hope that this blog has been of help to you. If there are any other queries related to the same, please feel free to let me know. All that you need to do is scroll down till you reach the bottom of the page. Then leave your comments and suggestions in the box below. And I will be there to help you out with the same!
Read Also:
How to Harvest Lettuce: A Step-by-Step Guide for Fresh and Crispy Salads
Everything You Need To Know About Harvesting Basil!
