“Reviews aren’t just about feedback, they’re about building a relationship with your customers.” (Oprah Winfrey)

According to a recent survey, 91% of people regularly or occasionally read online reviews, and 84% trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation from a friend. There’s no doubt that reviews are having a moment. 

The challenge comes when you learn that it can take as many as 20 good reviews to overcome a single bad one. Little wonder, then, that many companies try to focus on encouraging unhappy customers to remove their bad reviews, while generally neglecting the good ones, save for a short thank you message. This may, however, be short-sighted as using reviews correctly, can change the entire good vs bad formula, strengthen your company, improve sales and improve your bottom line. Here are our tips for maximising those good reviews. 

1. Maximise your visibility online

Gone are the days when search engine optimisation (SEO) was purely about the words on your website. Google is now working tirelessly to ensure that good companies with great customer service are more visible online. Customer reviews can be used in your online content to add credibility and “expertise” and therefore improve the way Google views your content. But reviews can’t simply be shoe-horned into your site – they must be incorporated in a way that’s justifiable and organic.

Remember, you can no longer simply write your own reviews as Google tracks which reviews are left when and by whom. Real people leaving reviews in a believable way boost rankings – but fake ones hurt them.

2. Boost your conversion rates

Conversion rates are probably the single most important stat for an online business and your reviews can be used to make a significant impact. Research conducted by the Medill Spiegel Research Center has revealed that displaying reviews across your website has the potential to boost conversions by as much as 270%. Because of the weight users give to the views of others, simply seeing a good review boosts credibility and trust and encourages users to take the next step.

3. Don’t hide bad reviews, use them to boost trust

Earlier we spoke about how many companies try to remove their bad reviews. This is not necessary. Everyone’s going to get a bad review from time to time, and your customers know this. Leaving your bad reviews up – along with your clear responses to try and fix the issues – has actually been shown to boost customer confidence. People like to know that if something goes wrong, you’ll do whatever you can to fix it. These bad reviews help them to see that far better than if you simply sweep them under the carpet. 

4. Good reviews can lead to better hires

Your reviews can also be used to attract better staff. A 2024 study by Deloitte showed that 44% of millennials and 49% of Gen Zs consider a company’s values before accepting a job. People want to work for likeable companies. Including a few choice Google reviews on your website can therefore be used to create a more attractive employer brand and therefore lure in more applications, which will help you to find the best-of-the-best. 

5. Leverage reviews in the real world too

Digital reviews almost never make it out of the digital sphere – and yet they can have just as much impact on paper as they do online. Including reviews in sales documents, pitch decks and press releases has been shown to generate credibility and boost trust. There’s also evidence that including reviews in press releases increases the likelihood they will be published at all. 

The bottom line

Your reviews are some of the most valuable tools you can use and finding the money in your budget to maximise them is therefore essential. As your accountants, we can help you to refine your budgets and free up cash to improve all of your marketing efforts.

Disclaimer: The information provided herein should not be used or relied on as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact us for specific and detailed advice.

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“He who buys what he does not need, steals from himself.” (Swedish Proverb)

Many think of corporate travel expenses as being a non-negotiable, and expensive part of doing business. The thing is, it is possible to cut back on travel expenses without cutting out the necessary requirements and little luxuries. Here are our four top tips for saving money on your corporate travel account.

1. Plan ahead

Most corporate travel is not an emergency. Whether you need to pitch to new clients in London, attend a conference in Los Angeles or visit a supplier in China, proper planning can save a great deal of money. All travel expenses increase the closer you get to the departure date. Simply looking at the necessary travel for the year ahead, scheduling it in advance and booking comfortably ahead of time will save you a significant amount. Flights are generally at their cheapest between 30 and 60 days before departure. 

Taking this one step further, you can also make sure you aren’t travelling during peak times. If you need to visit your clients every second month, make sure your trips don’t coincide with large conferences or entertainment events as these can drive up hotel costs. 

For domestic travel it makes sense to try and fly on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday, as flights are generally cheaper than on other days. Early morning or early afternoon flights (before 3 PM) are not only cheaper, but also tend to have fewer delays and cancellations – which means there’s less chance of additional accommodation or car hire charges.

2. Set up a travel policy

In order to effectively plan ahead and book all that’s needed, you need to implement a company-wide travel policy. This policy should cover all aspects of travel including: 

• The booking process for accommodation, flights, transfers, vehicle rentals and everything else.
• Expenses and meal allowances.
• The approval and reimbursement process.

3. Be as loyal as possible

Hotels and airlines offer loyalty programs that reward their most frequent travellers with perks like airport lounges and dining discounts, but they also offer important benefits for the business. Airline loyalty members often get to cancel their bookings or change dates at a reduced fee, and the frequent flyer miles and rewards can add up to other free travel benefits. Hotels are much more forgiving on loyalty members when it comes to late and early check-ins and room upgrades. And they typically offer a guaranteed discount on their room rates.

4. Use an agent

Travel agents are basically a free (or at least very cheap) service for the people who use them. Often the prices are the same whether you book yourself or do it through an agency because the agent commissions are already built into the prices of the rooms, flights and car rentals. Booking with an agent can save your HR, receptionist or PA valuable hours that could be put into something more productive. 

Agents are already experts so paying them a small service fee (if required) to keep them on your books will allow them to search further for the best possible prices and benefits using their back-end travel systems. This may not save you money on flights as the airlines are generally pretty transparent, but it can make a big difference on insurance, car rental and accommodation. Agents are also much more likely to be able to wangle last-minute refunds or changes. 

If your company is really big (or if you and your staff travel a lot) it may make sense to allow a corporate travel specialist to manage all of your travel requirements.

Bon voyage!

Corporate travel can be a very good investment – but there’s no reason to pay more than you should. Speak to us if you want any help trimming your business travel costs.

Disclaimer: The information provided herein should not be used or relied on as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact us for specific and detailed advice.

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“As an entrepreneur, one of the biggest challenges you will face will be building your brand. The ultimate goal is to set your company and your brand apart from the crowd.” (Ryan Holmes, Founder and CEO of Hootsuite)

Trying to get a business off the ground is challenging. Every step of the process requires a mountain of time and investment. Choosing between going it alone or involving others as partners or investors is a decision that should not be taken lightly. In this article we’ll break down the options available and take a look at the pros and cons of each.

1. Going it alone

Self-funding, also known as bootstrapping, is when a business owner goes it alone, providing all funding, time and energy themselves.

Pros of bootstrapping

Whether you’re finding the money from savings, or your monthly pay cheque at another job, bootstrapping is perfect for the entrepreneur who wants full control over their business. With no partners on board, all decisions are yours to make, and all the profits, achievements, and losses are yours alone.

Apart from the independence it offers, bootstrapping can also be easier. There’s no time spent filling in application forms or putting together pitch decks to impress would-be investors. There is also no accrued interest on the debt involved and no loss of equity in your own business. This makes running the business far simpler.

Cons of bootstrapping

On the downside, bootstrapping can be much slower. Each cent spent on the business needs to come from your own pocket and so necessary investments need to be prioritised from month-to-month. Things that are essential for success may need to wait another month – and this can mean your break-even point takes longer to arrive.

Bootstrapping also increases your chances of failure, as some expenses simply can’t wait if you want to make money. Bootstrappers are also more likely to become frustrated with the slow pace and give up.   

2. Tapping into venture capital

Venture capital (VC) is one of the most popular routes for finding funding in entrepreneurship. This is where a company or an individual provides funding to your business in exchange for a percentage of ownership.

Pros of VC

Venture capitalists are able to offer significant investment in the company and can often provide all the funding necessary to take the company from start-up to established business. What’s more, venture capitalists likely come with significant experience in business and a strong network of contacts.

Cons of VC

Working with venture capitalists requires that you give up some control of your business. This new partnership can create friction if the person who pays the bills doesn’t share your ideas of where the company should be headed. In some instances, their investment may even give them a majority stake and the dream you had of being your own boss might now be a thing of the past.

3. Touched by an angel (investor)

Angel investors are also happy to provide the financing necessary for your business to thrive. Unlike VC, however, they are typically looking to take a more background role and are hoping to cash in when your company has become established. 

Pros of angel investors

Angel investors generally offer more flexibility than VC. They aren’t looking to get involved – they’re looking for business owners and ideas that stand a good chance of succeeding without their intervention. This means they’ll often provide funding to businesses others may not touch.

Cons of angel investors

Angel investors are looking for part ownership of the business and you should therefore expect to lose some of the equity in your company. Because they’re investing without getting involved, angel investors know they may lose their money. This means they are generally unwilling to invest as much time or money as a venture capitalist might, so you should expect to still do some of the bootstrapping yourself.

Remember that angel investors are interested in one day getting a big payoff. They are looking for that moment when the company can be sold or listed on a stock exchange. This means they may pressurise you to make decisions that aren’t necessarily in the company’s best interests.

4. Borrowing from the bank

An old-fashioned bank loan is another way of bringing money into a business. 

Pros of bank loans

Taking out a bank loan gives you the money you need to grow the business. You also do not lose any equity in your company.

Cons of banks loans

The interest on a loan can be problematic and over time may add up to a significant amount – often the cost of debt is much higher than the cost of giving away equity to investors. If the company fails, you may still be required to pay off the loan in your personal capacity. There may also be some trouble securing the loan in the first place: banks want to know that they are lending to people who can pay them back!

The bottom line

Accessing funding is a decision you should consider carefully. Ask yourself what you need from your business, what you can afford and just who you would be going into business with.

As your accountants we’re here to help you so please give us a call before you make any big decisions.

Disclaimer: The information provided herein should not be used or relied on as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact us for specific and detailed advice.

© AccountingDotNews

“The unfortunate need people who will be kind to them; the prosperous need people to be kind to.” (Aristotle)

Strategic business partnerships are an integral part of any successful business and yet very few entrepreneurs think of the opportunities which arise from partnering with non-profit organisations. Collaborating with NGOs and charities has been shown to offer many of the same benefits achieved through regular business partnerships – as well as a few additional, and perhaps unconsidered ones. Here’s why helping others may also end up helping you.

Make the circle bigger

Like any other business partnership, aligning with a non-profit gives businesses shared access to one another’s contacts and opens up doors that previously may have been locked, or not considered. By hosting combined events you’re sure to not only meet the leaders of other companies in your position, but may also uncover new talent, enthusiastic and empathetic leaders and creative mentors and volunteers.

Greater brand exposure

By moving into these new areas, brands stand to not only make valuable business allies but are also likely to expand their own customer base. By partnering on events or activities with a non-profit, your brand immediately becomes exposed to the non-profit’s audience in a way that’s real, and likely to generate a warm first impression. According to research conducted by Consumer Goods, 82% of shoppers want a brand’s values to align with their own. When a charity’s audience sees you offering your support, they know you care about the same things they care about.

Improve employee happiness

In a survey commissioned by former Unilever CEO Paul Polman in 2023, a whopping 76% of respondents said that they want “to work for a company that is trying to have a positive impact on the world”. The study further found that more than half of employees said that “they would consider resigning from their job if the values demonstrated by their employer did not align with their own”, while 35% of respondents claimed to already have quit a job for this reason.

Improve your image

How your business is presented in the media impacts consumers, current and potential employees, and prospective partners. Good press is therefore vital for business expansion – and assisting a non-profit is a great way of ensuring that what’s being said is positive. When you help a charity, you put your brand values and ethics front-and-centre for people to see and admire. This goes a long way toward fostering goodwill toward your company and building positive brand association.

Reap the tax benefits

There can also be tax benefits to assisting charities and non-profit organisations. The donations made can be in cash or kind, and must be made to qualifying public-benefit organisations (PBOs). These organisations are registered with SARS and will issue donors with a certificate in terms of section 18A of the Income Tax Act. The total deduction must comprise no more than 10% of your taxable income for the given year of assessment and must be made with no strings attached. 

It’s a fairly complicated area, so be sure to get professional advice. Your accountant will be able to help you maximise the benefit of these deductions and ensure they are made in the best interests of both parties.

Make it happen

In addition to these business benefits, partnering with a non-profit also helps you to make a difference in the world, building your own self-belief in the value of your work, and helping those who are in desperate need. Put together, it’s clear to see that working with a non-profit should be an essential part of every business plan in 2025. 

Disclaimer: The information provided herein should not be used or relied on as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact us for specific and detailed advice.

© AccountingDotNews

“There’s life and death in every email.” (Bill Gates)

Over the past 25 years, email has become synonymous with office life: a recent study found that the average worker sends between 9,000 and 15,000 emails a year. All of this is happening despite email being fundamentally flawed in multiple ways that choke businesses and, in some cases, even kill them off. Here are four reasons why email needs to go.

1. It thwarts productivity
   
   The first thing most employees do in the morning is to check if they have any important emails. Undoubtedly, they do – but these are often buried among a slew of customer queries, spam emails, company newsletters, messages from business partners, employee announcements, HR updates and IT memos. According to one study, wading through these emails to find the vital pieces of information can take employees up to two-and-a-half hours every day.
   
   The need to constantly check emails can interrupt employee thinking processes and break the vital concentration they need to keep their workflow going. This can slow down projects at every step with the hours adding up dramatically over each project’s lifetime. Worse, the need to be permanently online can mean this is happening with personal emails too.
   
   
2. It slows down collaboration
   
   For one-to-one communication, email retains a powerful role. But in groups, it’s seldom efficient. Email threads where some are always included, and others seldom lead to email dead-ends, lost information and uninformed team members. Even if you are kept in the loop, it can still be confusing. Is the version of the document in your inbox the latest one? Or has it been updated by someone else on another thread? 
   
   
3. It’s damaging staff mental health
   
   The two challenges above lead directly to a third, perhaps more dangerous one – an attack on employee mental health. The need to constantly be available, connected and ready-to-reply is exhausting and can lead some employees into anxiety or depression. Humans simply aren’t wired to have their attention constantly divided. No wonder email overload can lead to a notable decrease in our ability to function, with one study suggesting this to be the equivalent of a 10-point drop in IQ. 
   
   
4. It’s a threat to your safety
   
   The internet is full of scam artists, criminals and opportunists – all of whom are trying to find a way to steal your data and/or your cash. While antiviruses and firewalls may offer protection from many forms of attack, they can’t protect from everything. According to Seacom, 40% of cyber events that result in loss are Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams. BECs – emails designed to trick staff into giving up vital information or downloading malicious software – result in an estimated R53bn in global company losses each year. 

So, what can you do?

• Train your staff  
  
  Email isn’t going anywhere. All enterprises, no matter their size, need to find the budget to adequately train their staff in the correct, most efficient way to use emails to reduce the burdens on themselves and their colleagues, while also reducing the threat from BEC scams. As your accountants, we can help you to ensure there’s enough money in your training budget. 
  
  
• Implement email rules 
  
  While some countries (most notably France) have enshrined a “right to disconnect” in their constitutions, this is not the case in South Africa. That’s why it’s important to implement company rules that allow your employees to switch off and be unavailable – not just in the evenings and on weekends, but during the workday too. You can’t expect your employees to get any work done if they feel under constant pressure to check their emails. What’s more, you need to put your money where your mouth is, by sending fewer internal emails. 
  
  
• Use shared communication spaces  
  
  There are loads of new technologies that can help your team communicate better. Shared digital workspaces allow team members to immediately see the latest versions of documents, leave notes for the entire team, and communicate important project information without being afraid that something will get lost in the process. If you aren’t using Google Workspace, Teams, Monday, Slack (Butterfield does have skin in the game), Trello, or similar, you need to speak to your accountant about making this a priority in your budget.
  
  
• Leverage automation tools and technology
  
  The creation of AI has led to new solutions that can help your employees manage their email inboxes. These tools can sift out spam, and sort emails to help staff find the information they need while also deprioritising those emails that don’t need their immediate attention.

The world is getting faster every year, and your business can no longer afford to use email for the wrong reasons. Updating the way you work will have an immediate boost on your company’s well-being and productivity. Speak to us if you need help freeing up the budget to make it happen.

Disclaimer: The information provided herein should not be used or relied on as professional advice. No liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions nor for any loss or damage arising from reliance upon any information herein. Always contact us for specific and detailed advice.

© AccountingDotNews