9 Ways Small Businesses Can Compete With Amazon This Holiday Season

The holiday season is a perfect opportunity to boost end-of-year sales, increase revenue, and attract new customers. But no matter what time of the year it is, it can be tough to compete with ecommerce behemoths like Amazon. With a massive variety of products, discounted prices, and fast shipping, giant online retailers often offer a cheaper, more convenient buying experience.

That doesn’t mean you should resign to losing customers, though. Of course, it’s nearly impossible to match Amazon when it comes to product selection and price, but the good news is you don’t have to. As a small business, your strength isn’t universality—it’s singularity.

Whether you own a brick-and-mortar candle shop or an online T-shirt company, you can cater to customers in a way Amazon can’t.

How?

By embracing your niche, offering quality products, and providing exceptional customer service. Here are nine strategies that’ll help set you apart and expand your customer base this holiday season.

1. Showcase your brand personality.

The biggest advantage your business has over generic e-retailers is its brand. Instead of trying to appeal to the masses, focus on identifying—and showcasing—your business’s unique brand personality. This should come through not only in the products you sell, but also in your company’s social media posts, website format, store setup, and marketing copy.

If you sell greeting cards that feature famous movie quotes, for example, make sure your product descriptions match the fun, clever tone of your cards. Or, if your business makes eco-friendly beauty products, include a note with each purchase that shares tips for recycling the containers.

A clear brand identity doesn’t just help customers differentiate you from other businesses, but also helps establish a sense of connection and loyalty. As your brand becomes more defined, the culture surrounding it will grow, too.

2. Include more product details.

Customers like to make an informed choice before buying, but many ecommerce sites don’t include enough relevant product information to do so. This is where your online store can get ahead.

Help facilitate the buying process by doing the research for your customers. Start by brainstorming the questions an average customer might have about your products, then answer these questions with clear, comprehensive product descriptions. Include details about the materials used, the manufacturing location, the product lifespan, or any other pertinent information, like measurements or whether it’s one-of-a-kind or vintage.

Supplying customers with all the information upfront accomplishes two things: it speeds up the purchasing process and shows customers you value transparency, which may help foster long-term brand loyalty.

Plus, the more detail you provide, the less likely you are to receive emails from customers asking questions, which means your team can focus less on reactive work and more on getting ahead.

3. Be purpose-driven.

People want to support businesses that have a clear purpose beyond making money, whether it’s to reduce clothing waste or donate reading glasses to children in school. In fact, according to the 2018 Cone/Porter Novelli Purpose Study, 77% of people feel more connected to purpose-driven companies compared to traditional businesses. And this translates to more loyalty. Sixty-six percent of consumers surveyed said they would switch from a product they usually buy to a product from a purpose-driven company, and 57% of people said they would pay more for an item from a purpose-driven company.

So, don’t be afraid to vocalize your business’s larger purpose. In addition to advertising it on your website, product tags, and marketing materials, find a way to involve customers. That might entail letting them vote on which organization you give a percentage of sales to each quarter, for example, or starting a campaign to collect and donate used items.

4. Ramp up your customer service.

Providing exceptional customer service is a foolproof way to attract new customers and guarantee the loyalty of returning customers.

If you operate an online store, make sure your customer service email address or phone number is visible and clickable on your site. If you can, make sure someone from your team is available outside traditional work hours to field complaints and resolve issues.

If you have a retail store, think about how you can improve the customer experience. Can you issue returns more easily? Start a loyalty program? Greet every customer as they walk through the door? Identifying and attending to your customers’ needs goes a long way, especially when compared to the service larger retailers offer, which may be slow or impersonal.   

5. Offer discounted shipping.

Consumers shop giant ecommerce sites for the convenience—namely fast, affordable shipping. If you run an online business, it’s crucial to make the purchasing process as fast and stress-free as possible, especially for customers who buy gifts at the last minute.

One way to do this is by offering free or discounted shipping. Look at your balance sheets to figure out whether you can afford to mark down or completely absorb shipping costs during the holidays. You can also encourage customers to buy more by cutting shipping costs when they reach a certain spending threshold, say $50.

You may have to spend more upfront to do this, but it’s a worthwhile investment. Reducing the shipping cost on your website can make the difference between a customer clicking “buy” or searching for a similar item on Amazon. According to the UPS Pulse of the Online Shopper survey, 81% of consumers said free shipping is a top concern when shopping online, and 58% of people said they would add items to their cart to qualify for free shipping.

Just make sure you clearly communicate the shipping timeline. If customers don’t know how long an item will take to arrive, they might just opt for the familiarity of Amazon’s two-day shipping.

6. Add something extra.

Quality products and stellar customer service are key to securing customer loyalty, but it never hurts to toss in a freebie every once in a while. This holiday season find simple, but impactful ways to show your customers you care.

Can you offer free gift wrapping for in-store purchases, for example, or include a small gift with purchase, like a holiday card or ornament? You could also add a larger gift, like a tote bag, to every online purchase above a certain dollar amount, or offer a discount on their next purchase to encourage them to come back.

The best part: it’s usually cheaper to create and give away one item to every customer than it is to slash product prices. Plus, it helps your business stand out and incentivizes customers to buy.  

7. Streamline the payment process.

Part of the appeal of sites like Amazon is the one-click payment process, which eliminates the hassle of searching for your wallet and inputting a 16-digit credit card number every time you want to make a purchase.

If you run an online store, make it easier to create an account on the site, either by enabling autofill settings or limiting the amount of information shoppers have to provide. From there, add a PayPal or Apple Pay integration to save customers time and confusion.

It may seem like a small change, but a quick, painless payment process is an easy way to improve the overall shopping experience for your customers, and it might lead to higher conversion rates.

8. Participate in local events.

The beauty of owning a brick-and-mortar business is that you have a physical presence in your community. And people want to support their communities, in part by shopping local.

Instead of waiting for customers to come to you, find ways to get involved in your community and give back. Partner with a local charity to host a fundraiser, team up with another business to do a trunk show, or participate in community events, like a holiday race or silent auction.

Giving back to your community can help you meet new potential customers and secure the loyalty of returning customers.

9. Double your marketing efforts.

Boost the traffic to your business with strategic marketing. If you own a store or manufacture products from a specific location, revamp your website with city-specific SEO keywords to attract more local customers. Or start an email campaign to introduce new products, remind customers about bestsellers, or share news about upcoming community events.

According to the Holiday Ecommerce Revealed study from Shopify Plus, email marketing is the number one source of conversions. It beat out other forms of non-email marketing, like Facebook ads, by over 15%.

Another smart strategy is creating a detailed gift guide to share via email or social media. Don’t just compile your favorite products; rather, use the gift guide as another opportunity to showcase your brand by including personalized descriptions and compelling photos.

***

Competing with sites like Amazon may seem intimidating or downright impossible, but it’s not. Drawing on what makes your business unique—your brand, community, and customer service—can give you an edge this holiday season. Good luck!

The post 9 Ways Small Businesses Can Compete With Amazon This Holiday Season appeared first on Fundera Ledger.

from Fundera Ledger https://www.fundera.com/blog/ways-small-businesses-can-compete-with-amazon/

How to Get Manufacturing Business Funding

Manufacturing is a major propelling force in the American economy. According to the National Association of Manufacturers, every dollar spent on manufacturing puts an additional 89 cents back into the economy. And small business owners are a huge part of that contribution: three-quarters of manufacturing businesses have fewer than 20 employees. But all of that production costs money, which is why the right source of manufacturing business funding is essential.

Manufacturing loans are useful for many reasons: helping out with cash flow, especially when suppliers don’t pay on time; hiring new workers, especially during high seasons; and triaging those emergency moments when your vital equipment takes a nosedive.

We’ll walk you through the best options for manufacturing business funding, and how to choose which type of manufacturing business loan is the best for your situation.

The 4 Best Manufacturing Business Funding Sources

Among the different types of small business funding available, several are suitable as manufacturing loans. With that in mind, the goal that you’re hoping to accomplish with your capital should be what guides you toward the best kind of manufacturing business funding for your business.

Remember that with each of these business loans you’ll encounter different requirements, including credit, collateral, and repayment terms.

Best Manufacturing Business Funding for Financing Hardware: Equipment Financing

Much of the efficiency of a manufacturing business comes down to your setup. If your hardware isn’t working, there’s a good chance that your business isn’t working, either. Say, for instance, that you’re a ciderhouse that does all of your production onsite. Perhaps your commercial apple press breaks, or your canning line stops… well, canning. Imagine how much this could hurt your business if you were out of commission!

Manufacturing equipment loans help remedy problems just like this one. With equipment financing, a lender will work with you directly to lend you capital to purchase the equipment you need. The loan’s amount and repayment terms are based on the equipment’s value. And although equipment can be something as big as a commercial cider press, it can be as small as the computer that automates it, too.

These loans are what’s called “self-secured,” which means that if you can’t pay your loan, the company will seize your equipment. Although that might sound frightening, it’s actually good news, because this collateralization lowers the bar to qualification.

Best Manufacturing Funding for Business with Strong Credit: SBA Loans

The gold standard of business loans—even beyond manufacturing business funding—are SBA loans. These loans are provided by intermediary lenders, often small banks, and guaranteed up to 80% by the U.S. Small Business Administration. This government backing enables these lenders to drop their interest rates to the lowest on the market (generally).

As you might expect, however, their low rates and extremely generous repayment terms—we’re talking seven, 10, or 25 years depending on the SBA program—makes these among the most competitive loans available. That means that only the most creditworthy borrowers will qualify.

Technically, there is not minimum credit score requirement according to the SBA’s requirements. But we’ve seen that most borrowers who qualify for SBA 7(a) loans, the most popular and flexible type of SBA loan, have personal credit scores of 680 or higher. They’re also extremely paperwork-intensive, and the entire application-to-funding process can take weeks to complete. So if you’re in a rush to get your hands on a manufacturing loan, an SBA loan won’t be your best bet.

Best Manufacturing Business Funding for Cash Flow: Invoice Financing

Like nearly all businesses that require inventory, manufacturing is a cash-intensive business. And if that cash is tied up in trade credit or overdue invoices, that can pose a big problem for all of the cash flow projections that you so diligently made.

Luckily, there’s a small business loan for that—and it’s called invoice financing (or accounts receivable financing). You work with a lender who fronts you about 85% of the total value of your outstanding invoices. When you’re paid, the lender releases the remaining portion, minus their fees. This is a stellar option for manufacturing businesses to free up cash flow, especially if it’s a matter of paying operating costs that’ll quite literally keep the lights on, or keep your workers on your lines.

The invoice financing process can happen in as little as a few days (if not a single day), so if you find you’re in need of quick cash, this could be an excellent manufacturing business loan.

Best Manufacturing Business Funding for Opportunities: Business Line of Credit

Often, manufacturing businesses need funding not to patch up an emergency, but rather to seize an opportunity. This might happen when you need to kick production into high gear in anticipation of the holiday season. Or, perhaps one of your products has been featured in the pages of a major publication. Maybe you’ve run a Kickstarter or taken a poll of your customers, only to find a huge chance to fill market whitespace.

Whatever your opportunity, you want to be able to quickly access capital to fund raw materials, labor, and anything else you need to keep up with growing demand for your product.

A business line of credit is an excellent source of manufacturing funding for this situation. This type of manufacturing loan is a kind of hybrid between a business credit card advance and a small business loan. You’ll work with a lender to get pre-approved for a sum of money—which may reach upward of $1 million for the most eligible businesses—but the best part is that you don’t have to use any of those funds unless you want or need to. And you’ll only pay interest on what you use, under prearranged terms with your lender.

Entrepreneurs across many industries keep a line of credit in their back pocket, so to speak, for situations just like this. (Though it comes in handy for emergencies and cash-flow issues, too.) And since you never pay interest unless you draw against your line of credit, this financing tool won’t cost you anything until you decide to use it.

Obtaining Manufacturing Loans Through Business Grants

It probably goes without saying that manufacturing business loans cost money. (They are, of course, loans.) But an alternative to loans is always looking for small business grants. These are trickier to find, qualify for, and ultimately obtain—but worth it, since the nature of a grant means that you don’t have to repay the money.

If you’re a manufacturing business operating for profit, you’ll have a trickier time pursuing a grant. That’s not to say there isn’t grant money out there for you—there might be! But there are two major situations under which manufacturing businesses will have the best potential to score grants:

1. Manufacturing businesses creating jobs in underserved or disadvantaged communities.

Some grant funding is available for manufacturing businesses in economically disadvantaged communities with high unemployment rates that are creating local jobs, opportunities, and training programs for local workers. You might be able to find these grants from the local or state governments first, and then search nationally as well.

2. Non-profit manufacturing businesses, or those creating products for the greater good.

Suffice to say you’ll find more grant opportunities as a non-profit operation than you will as a for-profit. But even if your business isn’t registered as a non-profit, if you’re manufacturing products with a strong charity angle, or those that can be used in, say, a disaster situation, you might be able to find a grant to support your production. You might want to begin your search with corporate incubation arms.  

Applying for Manufacturing Business Funding: What to Consider

As with any type of small business funding, the further in advance you can apply for a manufacturing loan, the better. This will allow you to be choosier about the type of financing you can apply for, as some types take longer than others (like SBA loans vs. invoice financing, for instance).

And as a general rule, the more urgently you need funding, the more expensive it tends to be. Of course, you can’t always see an emergency coming, but you can predict seasonal dips or a planned production run. In that case, you want to prepare when you can.

Here are a few questions to ask yourself before you pick the right source of manufacturing business funding for your company:

1. What’s the primary reason I’m applying for capital?

If you’re looking to finance a specific need, such as replacing equipment, versus looking for general working capital, the type of amount of funding you seek will be different. Figure out exactly what you’re using the cash for before you apply. (Heads up: Your lender will ask you this, too.)

2. How quickly do I need money?

We’ve mentioned this a few times, but it’s important: Some loans are designed for fast access to capital; others are decidedly not. If you’re up against a wall, you’ll necessarily have to rule out a few categories of financing. But you still have options.

3. How is my credit history?

Just because you want a loan doesn’t mean you’ll be eligible for one. Lenders evaluate your credit history, among other criteria, to decide if you’re a trustworthy candidate who is likely to repay your loan. Borrowers with strong credit have more business loans, with better terms, available to them than those with challenged credit. Which is not to say that you’re entirely out of luck if your credit score has taken a hit—you’re not! You’ll simply need to adjust your expectations about the variety of loans you’ll have access to, and at what rates and repayment terms.

With these tips in mind, you’re better equipped to seek the manufacturing business funding that makes sense for your venture.  

The post How to Get Manufacturing Business Funding appeared first on Fundera Ledger.

from Fundera Ledger https://www.fundera.com/blog/manufacturing-business-funding/

QuickBooks POS Review for 2019: Features, Costs, Reviews

There’s a solid chance that any given small business owner is familiar with the Intuit brand. Thanks to their wildly popular accounting software, QuickBooks, Intuit has become a main player in all things small business.

Most of the small business world is familiar with QuickBooks accounting software—but did you know there are Intuit payment solutions, as well? In fact, these Intuit payment solutions—known as QuickBooks Point of Sale—are some of the best point of sale options on the market.

Wondering what exactly QuickBooks POS can offer your business? Here’s your ultimate review of all the ins and outs of QuickBooks POS.

What Is QuickBooks POS?

The umbrella of QuickBooks Point of Sale actually encompasses multiple Intuit payment solutions. For one, QuickBooks POS comprises desktop QuickBooks POS software, along with individual pieces of QuickBooks POS hardware.

To tackle all of the Intuit payment solutions available to you, we’ll break them down into two categories—QuickBooks POS software and hardware.

A Summary of QuickBooks POS Software

QuickBooks POS Software	What It Costs	Capabilities
Basic	Starting at $1,200	Ring sales, take payments, track inventory and customer data, basic reporting, integrate with QuickBooks Desktop
Pro	Starting at $1,700	All Basic capabilities, plus manage employees and payroll, offer layaway and gift cards, and access advanced reporting
Multi-Store	Starting at $1,900	All Pro capabilities, plus manage multiple stores, manage and transfer inventory, and access to advanced sales and inventory reporting between stores

 

The first section of our two-part review covers QuickBooks Point of Sale software. Unlike many of QuickBooks POS competitors, the software for QuickBooks POS software pricing is structured as a one-time, lump sum, rather than an initial cost, plus a monthly access fee. Once your business invests in QuickBooks Point of Sale software, it’s yours. That said, that initial investment will likely be more substantial than it would be for QuickBooks POS competitors that charge a monthly access fee.

Can these Intuit payment solutions offer up enough capabilities to justify their considerable price tags?

Let’s find out:

QuickBooks Point of Sale: Basic

The most basic of the QuickBooks Point of Sale software options is appropriately named Basic.

With the Basic version of QuickBooks POS software, your business will have access to all the fundamentals while avoiding the extra cost that all the bells and whistles carry.

Compared to other Intuit payment solutions, Basic QuickBooks POS software will have a short list of capabilities:

• Ring sales
• Take payments
• Track customer data
• Perform basic sales reporting
• Integrate with QuickBooks Desktop

That said, QuickBooks POS software’s Basic version with also cost less relative to your other Intuit payment solutions—you’ll have to pay a one-off price of $1,200 for this QuickBooks Point of Sale software.

QuickBooks Point of Sale: Pro

The next step up for QuickBooks POS software is the Pro version.

This version of the QuickBooks Point of Sale software will grant your business access to a longer list of capabilities, but will also come with a more substantial cost.

The Pro version will cost you $1,700 to access the following capabilities on top of those that come with Pro:

• Manage employees
• Manage payroll
• Offer layaway
• Offer gift cards
• Coordinate rewards and loyalty programs
• Perform advanced reporting

Of all the Intuit payment solutions, the Pro version of QuickBooks Point of Sale software will offer you the happiest medium between affordable and powerful.

QuickBooks Point of Sale: Multi-Store

The most powerful of all the QuickBooks POS software options is the Multi-Store plan. Relative to other Intuit payments solutions, the Multi-Store option is the most powerful and the most costly software option.

For $1,900, the Multi-Store version of QuickBooks Point of Sale software allows your business to access following capabilities beyond those that the Pro plan offers:

• Manage multiple stores
• Manage and transfer inventory
• Advanced sales and inventory reporting between stores

QuickBooks POS Hardware Options

QuickBooks POS Hardware	What It Costs
EMV Ready PIN Pad	$349.95
Receipt Printer	$219.95
Barcode Scanner	$199.95
Wireless Barcode Scanner	$409.95
Cash Drawer	$109.95
Pole Display	$209.95
Tag Printer	$329.95

 

The next part of our two-pronged review for QuickBooks Point of Sale covers the QuickBooks POS hardware options.

One of the great things about Intuit payment solutions is how customizable they’ll be for your business’s unique needs and preferences.

The following pieces of QuickBooks POS hardware are for sale individually. So, you’ll be able to mix-and-match according to what your business needs—and doesn’t need—for its QuickBooks Point of Sale system.

QuickBooks Point of Sale: EMV Ready PIN Pad

This QuickBooks POS hardware—the card reader—is perhaps the most essential to any given POS system. The EMV Ready PIN Pad is the only Intuit credit card processing machine available for QuickBooks POS systems, and it will allow your business to process payments from magstripe cards and chip cards.

That said, this Intuit card card reader won’t allow your business to accept contactless payments. Many QuickBooks credit card processing competitors will allow your business to accept contactless payments from multiple payments apps like Apple Pay and Google Wallet.

Plus, with a $349.95 price tag, this Intuit credit card processing machine is a considerable investment for your business.

QuickBooks Point of Sale: Receipt Printer

If you want your QuickBooks POS system to be able to offer your customers hard copy receipts, then you’ll also have to invest in a receipt printer. This device will put your business back $219.95.

QuickBooks Point of Sale: Barcode Scanner

You’ll have two barcode scanner options for your QuickBooks Point of Sale. The first and most affordable is a wire version that will cost your business $199.95.

QuickBooks Point of Sale: Wireless Barcode Scanner

The other barcode scanner option for your QuickBooks POS system is their wireless barcode scanner. This option is more convenient, but at $409.95, it’s also one of the costliest Intuit payment solutions available.

QuickBooks Point of Sale: Cash Drawer

If your business handles a lot of cash, then you’ll want to consider investing in a cash drawer for your QuickBooks Point of Sale, as well. Through Intuit, this piece of hardware will cost your business $109.95.

QuickBooks Point of Sale: Pole Display

A pole display addition for your QuickBooks POS system will allow your customers to see the details of their transactions, but it will also cost your business a cool $209.95.

QuickBooks Point of Sale: Tag Printer

Finally, you might want to print tags and labels with barcodes to speed up your business’s checkout process. Intuit payment solutions offers a tag printer for the QuickBooks POS system, but it will come with a $329.95 price tag itself.

The Main Advantage of QuickBooks POS

With all of the details on Intuit payment solutions laid out in front of us, it’s time to take a step back and get a wider view of all of these logistics.

What do all of the details on QuickBooks Point of Sale software and hardware mean for your business? There are a few salient pros and cons to opting for Intuit payment solutions for your business. Let’s start with the key advantage of opting for a QuickBooks POS system:

No Monthly Fees

One feature that’s certainly worth noting is the way the QuickBooks POS cost is set up.

Once your business invests in QuickBooks POS, it’s yours. So, QuickBooks POS cost won’t involve monthly access fees or setup fees.

So, what you see is what you get—the way QuickBooks POS cost is structured will allow your business to get a better picture of just how much you’ll have to invest in it.

The Disadvantages of QuickBooks POS

Despite the upsides to Intuit payment solutions, QuickBooks POS systems are far from perfect. In fact, there are arguably more notable downsides to opting for a QuickBooks POS system than there are upsides.

Let’s take a look at the three main imperfections that Intuit payment solutions come with, and why they might make you hesitate on getting a QuickBooks POS system for your business:

Costly Lump-Sum Price Tag

No matter how you slice it, QuickBooks POS cost is one of the highest on the market.

Even if you opt for the most basic setup for your QuickBooks POS system, it’s still going to cost your business a considerable sum.

And because this sum will have to be paid in one fell swoop, your business will have to hand over a ton of capital all at once. And this can be a serious deal breaker for many small businesses.

No Payment Processing Included

And on top of the initial QuickBooks POS cost, in order to actually access Intuit credit card processing, you’ll also have to pay for Intuit payment processing.

That’s right—even though you’ll only have to pay once for your QuickBooks POS system, QuickBooks credit card processing will be whole other fish to fry. And it will cost your a certain percentage of every transaction that your business runs through it.

You’ll have two payments for this: you can opt to pay as you go or you can pay monthly. If you pay as you’ll go, you’ll pay 2.7% of each swiped or dipped transaction, 3.5% of each keyed-in transaction, and 1% for each swiped or dipped transaction with a PIN. If you opt to pay monthly instead, you’ll pay a monthly rate of $19.95, as well as 2.3%, plus $0.25 for every swiped or dipped transaction; 3.2%, plus $0.25 for every keyed-in transaction; and 1%, plus $0.25 for every swiped or dipped transaction with a PIN.

So, while calculating you QuickBooks POS cost, be sure to keep in mind that Intuit payment processing will be another, transaction-based cost to consider.

Only Integrates With QuickBooks Desktop

Finally, one last notable downside to getting a QuickBooks POS system is that it’s completely desktop-based. Unlike QuickBooks accounting software, there is no “QuickBooks Point of Sale Online.” You’ll only be able to access QuickBooks Desktop POS software.

As a result, QuickBooks POS software will only be able to integrate with QuickBooks Desktop accounting software. If you want to get a POS system so that it connects with your accounting software, but you’re using QuickBooks Online for your business’s books, then a QuickBooks Point of Sale system would, unfortunately, be beside the point.

The Bottom Line for QuickBooks POS Systems

So, now that we’ve combed through all the ins, outs, positives, and negatives, to all facets of QuickBooks POS systems, what’s the takeaway for this QuickBooks Point of Sale Review?

The way we see it, there will almost always be a more powerful, more affordable option that these Intuit payments solutions. And unless you’re a QuickBooks Desktop user, and you’re determined to has your POS synced with your computer software, there will also be more convenient POS options for you out there.

For contingency POS system plans, we’d suggest you look to Square or Clover for more affordable, more fully integrated POS system bundles.

The post QuickBooks POS Review for 2019: Features, Costs, Reviews appeared first on Fundera Ledger.

from Fundera Ledger https://www.fundera.com/blog/quickbooks-pos/

How This Business Owner Left Corporate America to Become a Health-Food Entrepreneur

If you’ve been to a juice bar or health-food store recently, you’re likely familiar with acai. Whether you know how to pronounce acai is one thing (for the record, it’s ah-sigh-EE), but you may know that this Amazonian superfruit is loaded with macronutrients like protein and fiber, micronutrients that boost brain and cellular functioning, and antioxidants that protect your body from both environmental and biological toxins. And with an estimated 1 million tons of acai consumption by 2026, acai bowls are becoming a mainstay on health-conscious menus across the globe.

As a health-conscious entrepreneur himself, Will Anderson found the perfect opportunity to channel that entrepreneurial spirit in the acai market. He’s the founder and CEO of Acai of America, which supplies those juice bars, grocery stores, and individual consumers with pure acai pulp sourced straight from the Brazilian Amazon. Here’s how he broke into this promising market.       

Laying the Foundation for Entrepreneurship

Anderson wanted to be an entrepreneur since he was a kid, but he knew he needed the skills, experience, and acumen necessary to start a business that would survive over the long term.

So he started his entrepreneurial training regimen early. As a college undergrad, he chose to major in accounting, since he knew he would benefit from having a hard business skill under his belt down the line. He then went on to earn a graduate degree in finance. After school, Anderson primarily worked in the financial industry, but he really cut his teeth at Deloitte, the consulting firm behemoth.

“Of all my professional experience in corporate America, my most recent and most valuable experience was as a valuation specialist at Deloitte,” he says. “I learned how to analyze the value of companies and identify their value drivers. It was essentially half of what a stock analyst would do. But the job also helped me understand how different industries are structured. That enabled me to understand the difficulties of getting into and out of companies, and what the landscape might look like when performing or competing within a certain industry.”

Making the Transition From Day-Jobber to Business Owner

Having the right skill set alone isn’t necessarily an indication that a person will be a successful business owner—yes, Anderson felt ready to start his own business because he knew he had the right formal and professional training as his foundation. He also had the deep knowledge of industry structures to understand how to start a business within particular fields. But the other indication was far less measurable.

“I knew I could start my own business because I had the emotional temperament for it,” he says. “I had the ability to work under prolonged stressful situations. That’s something that people in banking and the financial industry are more tempered to. And actually, I’d say New Yorkers in general are better suited to stressful situations!”

The timing was key, too. At Deloitte, Anderson was in a transitional phase in his consulting career. That fork in the road offered Anderson a natural opportunity to evaluate his professional ambitions, and to switch gears if he wanted to.    

“At Deloitte I got to the point where I was a senior associate, and I was staring down the barrel of manager. But when you become a manager and make your way up to partner at Deloitte, you’re essentially a salesperson. So I would have the hard skill under me—which is my core competency here at Acai of America—but I’d be primarily selling services. I’d be putting my skills to work trying to develop a business at Deloitte, rather than a business of my own.”

That’s when Anderson decided it was time for him to leave. “I knew that if I wanted to, I could stay at Deloitte for the rest of my life and I’d be okay with it. I wouldn’t be disgruntled about it,” he says. But at that moment, the pieces were seemingly falling into place that would enable Anderson to launch his own venture. Certainly too, he was willing to take on the risk of starting his own business, but the faith he had in his entrepreneurial and managerial abilities helped mitigate the feeling of that risk.

Why Acai?

Anderson had made the decision to fulfill his dream of becoming an entrepreneur, though he didn’t yet have the right business idea to launch. But with a combination of research and luck, Anderson backed into the opportunity to start an acai business.

“My line of thinking went this way: I want to be an entrepreneur, I like brick-and-mortar, and I like tangible products. Then I thought, what tangible product has the industry structure whose barriers are favorable to the money that I have available to jump into? So while I was out there looking for industries with low barriers to entry, such as distribution opportunities, a family member put me into contact with people who had a product that I could sell—acai. And not only that, but they needed a bit of my expertise to break into the American market.”

In other words, Anderson didn’t find acai—acai found him. And honestly, Anderson says, it’s not always the case that people become entrepreneurs in order to proliferate a product or service that they’re passionate about. Some people, like Anderson, are passionate about entrepreneurship itself. Their business is the conduit for that passion.

But Anderson soon became passionate about his product after learning more about acai, especially as the tropical berry aligns with the healthy lifestyle he embodies as a New Yorker. And by leading an acai business, Anderson thought, he would be able to make the aspirational elements of that health-conscious, urban lifestyle available to people all over the country.

“I’m a healthy New Yorker who loves to work out,” Anderson says. “Acai fits very well with that lifestyle, and that’s what our brand is about. People in New York are in our 20s and 30s until we’re 45 and beyond. We love the energy of the city, we’re always pushing ourselves, and we have lofty goals.”

To keep up with the city, of course, New Yorkers need to be in good physical and mental health. Loaded with nutrients and antioxidants that enhance brain functioning, and which help the body stave off the harmful effects of pollution, acai is the perfect addition to an urban warrior’s diet.

“So I stumbled upon the opportunity, but now I’m turning it into something that New Yorkers will love,” Anderson says. “Many other acai companies keep it traditional as to how Brazilians see it. And I don’t think that’s the right thing for our brand, or for acai in this country. If acai is going to stay here, it has to be an American thing.”

And thanks to this country’s robust logistical processes for importing foreign goods, and his connection to an acai source, Anderson doesn’t encounter too many snags in delivering his product from Brazil straight to the consumer.     

Branding an Acai Business

Anderson had an idea of how acai would suit an aspirational lifestyle. But as any entrepreneur who’s crafted a marketing plan understands, establishing a brand identity requires its own, dedicated focus, if not a dedicated professional entirely to take on that task.  

“I’m a right-brained finance guy; I’m not artistic at all,” he says. Instead, Anderson funneled his efforts on the side of the coin he knows best: the numbers.

“What I focused on most was the practical aspect of acai. I knew that there was a body of people who eat this product, they tend to be healthier, they tend to be 65% women and 35% men, they tend to be between the ages of 18 and 27, and they tend to have a certain lifestyle. And so I focused on carving out that segment of New York and targeting it. I knew I was going to find that segment in certain neighborhoods, companies, and food-service establishments. That’s where I was first and foremost, before I even thought about optimizing the business’s brand.”

The lesson here? Small business marketing is crucial for building your business, but if it’s not within your wheelhouse, you can hold off on launching a comprehensive branding campaign until you have the right staff in place to delegate to. In fact, as the business owner, you reserve the right to delegate any tasks you don’t feel completely comfortable with, especially at the very beginning of your venture when you’re laying the foundations of a lasting enterprise.

What you do need to prioritize, however, is your market research. Without understanding how, where, and to whom to sell your product—and whether you have a market for your product at all—then your business will flounder.

Still, you don’t necessarily need to conduct a thorough market research initiative, as there is an element of common sense involved in this process. For their part, Anderson admits that it took a little bit of trial and error to initially understand who their market was, and to which outlets they should sell their acai.

“When we started, we had a foggy idea of who our customers would be, which was later proven. We knew the lowest-hanging fruit for acai was the juice bars. And as we continued to go into the juice bars, we continued to encounter the same crowd. Then, we did samplings in grocery stores, where we sell now. When you do that, people approach you, they ask you questions, and you see who takes to it more than others, who’s speaking your language. So you make these soft observations, and from there you definitively say, this is my crowd.” 

Once you’ve nailed down your target demographics, you can tailor your initial marketing tactics to reach with your target audience. As your business grows and you gain a better understanding of what resonates with your customers, you can establish a more sophisticated marketing plan.  

Encountering Challenges and Finding Solutions

Although his education and professional experience instilled in Anderson the proper skills to run his own business, he still encounters challenges in the field. In particular, as a sales organization, Acai of America’s success hinges on its salespeople performing optimally. Anderson has needed to focus much of his managerial efforts on ensuring that all of his salespeople are aligned on the business’s overall goals.     

“The most delicate aspect of the business is motivating your team to move at the beat of your drum. That’s partially because of the type of industry we’re in. When you look at the financials of a CPG [consumer packaged goods] industry such as Acai of America, all you find is cost of goods sold, sales, and general administrative expenses. So really, your business is all about being able to finance the product, and being able to motivate the sales team to sell when, where, how you like. I spend much of my time ensuring that the sales team is moving in the direction they’re supposed to be moving.”

Anderson has also found it challenging to scale his team as demand for his product grows. To better understand how to navigate this challenge, Anderson turned toward “Good to Great” by Jim Collins. In the book (the “prequel” to Collins’ bestselling “Built to Last”), the author investigates how once ordinary or underperforming companies transitioned into becoming industry leaders.

Spoiler alert: The CEOs of these good-to-great companies understood the importance of hiring the best possible people for open roles. In fact, the quality of the team can be more crucial to the business’s success than the leader’s original game plan. Specifically, Anderson cites Collins’ bus analogy as being especially useful advice when he’s considering candidates for Acai of America. Here’s an excerpt:    

“The executives who ignited the transformations from good to great did not first figure out where to drive the bus and then get people to take it there. No, they first got the right people on the bus (and the wrong people off the bus) and then figured out where to drive it. They said, in essence, ‘Look, I don’t really know where we should take this bus. But I know this much: If we get the right people on the bus, the right people in the right seats, and the wrong people off the bus, then we’ll figure out how to take it some place great.’”  

Anderson runs Acai of America with that advice in mind—that once you’ve hired the right people for the right seats, you can trust that the bus is going to go where it needs to go.

On top of that, Anderson says, “I have a management style where I let people run the show. And I believe that if you pick the right person, you can trust them enough that you don’t need to micromanage them. So you don’t have to concern yourself as much with, ‘Is this a person I want to go to lunch with?’ That doesn’t matter. What matters is that they’re contributing to the organization.”

That said, Anderson also understands that it’s important to maintain culture as the business grows. And culture isn’t a “set it and forget it” thing.

“Sometimes I feel like culture can get away from you. If you don’t instill these things into your team, and almost make culture law, then people come up with their own ways of handling problems that may not jibe with yours. I don’t think culture happens automatically. I think culture is something you have to continually talk about.”

However, hiring is another process that Anderson hopes to delegate in the near future. That way, he can contribute his time and energy toward the areas of the business that he’s uniquely qualified to handle.

Financing for the Future of Acai

To fund Acai of America, Anderson followed what he calls the “traditional ladder of financing”: He started by using his own funds, then he approached friends and family, and now he’s in the process of looking for angel investors.  

But as is the case with many small business owners, during his search for equity financing Anderson still found himself in need of immediate funds. He began researching online lenders, but most of the options he discovered were limited to merchant capital advances. Anderson knew he didn’t want to take on this kind of financing, as MCAs are notoriously expensive, and their high, frequent payments can end up trapping borrowers into cycles of debt.

Then Anderson found Fundera. “Fundera had lines of credit, term loans, other financing methods—they were able to provide a variety that other companies didn’t,” Anderson says. So he filled out Fundera’s application one Sunday evening. Early the next day, Anderson got a call from Ben Fusaro, a senior loan specialist at Fundera.

Anderson appreciated that Fundera presented more loan options than other lending companies did, with a roster that included traditional business loans, not just merchant capital. But for Anderson, what also set Fundera apart from other online lenders he researched was the transparent and personalized experience he had with his loan specialist.

“There was a special quality to Ben,” Anderson says. “He would just not allow the situation to dissolve without finding us a satisfactory loan option. He had to find it. That persistence and resourcefulness is what stood out about Fundera. He’s a great guy, and I didn’t work with anyone else but him throughout the whole process. But I’m also impressed by the way Fundera maintains relationships. Fundera is a very open company, and I understood that from the outset. That creates an edge that other companies just don’t have.”

After working with Fusaro to find and compare his loan options, Anderson secured a loan he can dip into while he continues to seek angel investors for an even bigger cash infusion. With that financial security in hand, Anderson’s main focus is on growing Acai of America in an effort to introduce this miracle fruit to as many Americans as possible.    

“Our ultimate goal is to make acai ubiquitous throughout the United States. Because acai is a wonderful food. It has Omega 3, 6 and 9 fatty acids. It has anthocyanins, an antioxidant that helps your blood flow and your brain function. It has 19 of the 20 amino acids, it has dietary fibers that help you feel satiated after you eat it. There’s a reason why it’s a staple food for the natives in the Amazon of Brazil, and we need more clean, organic foods like this in the U.S.”

It’ll take dedication, determination, and strong leadership skills to make that dream a reality. But as a business owner, and a New Yorker, Anderson is no stranger to making (and achieving) such ambitious goals.

The post How This Business Owner Left Corporate America to Become a Health-Food Entrepreneur appeared first on Fundera Ledger.

from Fundera Ledger https://www.fundera.com/blog/acai-of-america/

Kickstarter Alternatives for Business Funding

As an entrepreneur, you’re likely of the mind that coming up with a great idea is much more exciting than having to raise the funds to make it happen. It’s tough to get a good idea off the ground, particularly if you’re a newly minted entrepreneur without a ton of experience with business financing. This paradox leads quite a few small business founders to platforms like Kickstarter, where they can appeal to individuals for the money they need to start their business, without needing to navigate the traditional business loan process.

But Kickstarter isn’t the only platform out there: in fact, there are several Kickstarter alternatives for business funding that offer similar (or even better) perks for both you and your backers.

No matter why you might want to consider Kickstarter alternatives, there are plenty of options from which you can choose. We’re not just talking about other fundraising platforms, either. In fact, there are several conventional loans that you may not have considered—each providing a distinct advantage for your business, depending on why you need funding.

What You Need to Prepare Before You Seek Business Funding

Every small business needs to start with a vision, a plan, and proper documentation. This is equally true if you need Kickstarter or Kickstarter alternatives to first launch your business, or if you’re looking to finance your next growth phase.

Here are the essential materials every small business needs before securing any type of business loan (or business loan alternative, like Kickstarter). Without these materials, you may end up raising money for an endeavor that won’t work or isn’t sustainable over the long term.

A Business Plan

A business plan is a blueprint for how you plan to build your company. It spells out what you intend to do, how your business fits into the overall market, and how you plan to accomplish your goals. Conventional investors want to see a business plan before funding your company, since it maps out how you’ll drive your business.

Even if you’re not approaching conventional investors or small business lenders for financing, a business plan still helps you pace along with your initial goals, and can prevent you from getting sidetracked once things get rolling.

Drafting a successful business plan doesn’t have to be overly complicated, either: so long as you cover the basics, such as a company overview, market analysis, organization chart, product and marketing plans, and your financials, you’re good to go.

A Revenue Forecast

Having a revenue forecast in the early stages of your business helps you determine the amount of money you’ll need to bring in, how much you’ll have to spend, and how much you’ll have left over once everything is said and done. Revenue forecasting helps you make sure that you’re charging the right price for your products, and that you’ve minimized inefficiencies and production costs that could eat into your profits.

You don’t have to go overboard with a detailed revenue forecast if you don’t plan to approach conventional lenders for funding, either. Neither Kickstarter nor Kickstarter alternatives for business funding require one, but it’s helpful for your own planning purposes. A good revenue forecast helps you make sure you’re asking for the right amount of money, and that you know how you intend to spend it.

Business Registrations

Any business venture should obtain all of the appropriate business licenses and permits that your locality requires, as well as the proper registrations for your business entity. Even if Kickstarter or the Kickstarter alternatives don’t require them, you’re going to want the protection and peace-of-mind they provide.

For example, registering your company as a limited liability corporation provides you with personal protections against business liabilities (if your company goes bankrupt, for example). You may also want to register for any other local permits as required, based on the nature of your company.

The Advantages (and Disadvantages of) Kickstarter and Kickstarter Alternatives for Business Funding

Kickstarter and its alternatives for business funding offer something that most small business loans don’t: convenience.

A conventional small business loan requires a good credit history, detailed financial records, and additional documentation that proves your creditworthiness as a borrower. It might take awhile before you can demonstrate all of these credentials. On top of that, you’ll need to repay what you owe, plus interest (that’s the nature of a loan, after all).

Turning to crowdfunding can help you avoid these pitfalls. With Kickstarter and Kickstarter alternatives, you don’t have to repay the money you raise—you get to keep what you get, and not worry about how repayments might affect your balance sheet.

But Kickstarter and Kickstarter alternatives are not without their disadvantages. For one, almost every crowdfunding platform has requirements about what kinds of businesses may use their services. You typically have to provide your backers with a tangible product in exchange for their money, which might pose a problem if you offer services instead of goods. Some also use an “all-or-nothing model,” which means that you’ll only get to keep your money if you hit your fundraising goal.

Kickstarter Alternatives: Which Platforms Work for Small Businesses?

Although Kickstarter has the most brand recognition in the world of crowdfunding, there are several Kickstarter alternatives out there that may provide you with better bang for your buck. Plus, it’s getting tougher for small projects to get Kickstarter funding: the platform has seen an uptick in the number of projects with pre-existing investors, as well as the proliferation of projects that are managed by third-party crowdfunding agencies.

Check out these five Kickstarter alternatives. All of these platforms offer a competitive advantage over Kickstarter, which may end up providing more value for you in the long run.

1. Indiegogo

Indiegogo began as a crowdfunding platform for creative endeavors, such as film or music projects. The platform now allows a wider array of projects to use its platform, however, and includes small business funding as well.

Indiegogo is different from Kickstarter in that it lets you create two different kinds of campaigns: an all-or-nothing fundraising campaign (akin to the Kickstarter model); or a “keep whatever you raise” option, which lets you keep the cash you’ve raised even if you don’t reach your funding goal. The platform also doesn’t require projects to come with perks for backers, unlike Kickstarter, although Indiegogo recommends you include them for better results.

Indiegogo also offers free sign-up and campaign creation. You only pay for the money you raise as part of your campaign, with the site taking a 9% cut of the money earned. If you hit your funding goal, that take drops down to 4%, which provides an added incentive for fundraisers to hit their target figures.

2. Patreon

Patreon is a relative newcomer to the top online crowdsourcing platforms. The site lets you raise funds on an ongoing basis, rather than for specific efforts and initiatives. For example, you could set up an ongoing Patreon fund to help finance your company’s expansion without having to raise funds all at once. People who support your efforts provide you with a recurring payment, akin to a subscription model for funding your project.

Patreon is a great fit for companies that might benefit from recurring funding. But if you’re using crowdfunding to support a project with a specific end-date (such as buying equipment, for example), it might not offer your backers an ideal way to help finance your efforts.

3. Fundable

Fundable is a great Kickstarter alternative, since it doesn’t charge a percentage of your overall fundraising take; instead, Fundable charges a flat fee of $179 to sponsor your fundraising campaign.

It’s a steep price, but one that may work in your favor over the long-term, especially if you’re looking to raise a significant amount of money. For example, say you’re raising $200,000 through crowdfunding. A 5% cut of $200,000 means you’re only getting $190,000 of campaign’s total. Paying $179 for a few months’ time ends up costing significantly less in the long run.

4. GoFundMe

GoFundMe allows a wider array of individuals, businesses, and projects raise funds. The company began as a charitable platform, rather than a means for businesses to raise capital. But GoFundMe is open to business efforts now, and is particularly useful if you’re looking to do something notable for your community (akin to something charitable, but there doesn’t need to be an actual charity component involved).

If you’re not launching a venture with a social or charitable angle, GoFundMe shouldn’t be your go-to crowdfunding platform. You won’t get a ton of momentum if you’re looking to fund general business objectives, and you might find other platforms to be a better fit in these scenarios.

5. Crowdfunder

Crowdfunder is a unique Kickstarter alternative, as this platform is designed to offer backers with equity in the company itself, rather than perks and products in exchange for their funds. Of course, that means you’ll need to give up a portion of your stake in your company, but you may benefit in the long-run from recruiting a pool of engaged investors as a result.

Giving up equity is not without its risks, however. You’ll have more obligations to your shareholders, and may need to take on additional management work as you communicate your company’s performance to your backers. Be certain that you can make this model work for your business before you pursue Crowdfunder over other options.

Other Kickstarter Alternatives for Business Financing

You may have already decided that crowdfunding makes the most sense for your funding needs. But if you’re on the fence, or haven’t looked into the wide variety of business loans out there, you might want to consider alternatives before you start your campaign.

There are so many business loan options out there, so your best financing method depends on what you qualify for and what you intend to use your funds for. Here are just a few options to explore:

• If you can qualify, shoot for small business grants that can help you finance your next big initiative. A major plus? Like crowdfunding (and unlike a loan), you don’t need to repay the money.
• You may also qualify for an SBA loan if your company’s been in operation for a while, and has a sturdy credit history.
• Consider equipment loans if you’re considering a crowdfunding campaign to help buy specific pieces of machinery to propel your business forward (and don’t want to fork over collateral in exchange for borrowing money).
• You may be able to turn outstanding invoices into cash by way of invoice financing, which gives you fast access to funds in exchange for interest payments.
• Consider a business line of credit if you would benefit from a revolving pool of funds from which you can pull anytime you need,
• For a more traditional form of financing (but with much more forgiving eligibility standards than you’d find at your bank), look into a short-term loan from an alternative lender.

Which Kickstarter Alternative (or Other Business Loan) Is Right for You?

No matter which funding option you’re initially seeking—be it a Kickstarter or Kickstarter alternative campaign, or conventional funding—the best first step is to do your homework. Understand the ins and outs of your business, whether it’s in the conceptual stage or has already been launched. This will pay for itself in terms of saved money and strategic decision-making about how to get the money you need to move ahead.

Plus, you’ll end up with a better impression of your company’s overall performance as a result. Then, explore all of your options before you commit to anything—you may find that your first option isn’t necessarily your best.

The post Kickstarter Alternatives for Business Funding appeared first on Fundera Ledger.

from Fundera Ledger https://www.fundera.com/blog/kickstarter-alternatives/

Best Legal Services Online for Businesses in 2019

When you need legal help for your business, there’s usually a lot at stake. Whether you need help setting up a business entity, need to resolve a partnership dispute, need a contract reviewed, or have another legal issue to address, it’s vital to get top-notch professional advice as soon as possible.

Fortunately, getting legal help can be as easy as a few clicks of your mouse. There are several online legal services where you can access legal forms and resources, find a local attorney, or get help setting up a business. Read on for our picks of the best online legal service for 2019, as well as some do’s and don’ts when hunting for legal help online for your business.

Best for Businesses Needing Regular Legal Help: LegalZoom

What LegalZoom Offers

LegalZoom is one of the largest players among online legal services, with more than 4 million businesses and consumers using the site. They provide a range of services, including:

• Access to a network of vetted attorneys for legal advice and document review
• Business formation services
• Trademark registration, copyright application, and patent application
• Legal forms, articles, and other resources

While you can certainly use LegalZoom on a one-time basis (for example, downloading a specific legal form you need once or setting up an LLC), they encourage you to sign up for a monthly legal plan called the Business Advisory Plan. This plan lets you tap into legal help whenever you need it.

When to Use LegalZoom

LegalZoom’s Business Advisory Plan is a great choice for businesses that don’t have legal help in-house but foresee needing regular legal assistance. For example, maybe you’re in the early stages of applying for a patent, are planning to raise venture capital, or are getting ready to hire your first few employees. In those cases, LegalZoom’s Business Advisory Plan can function like having your very own business attorney “on call.”

The LegalZoom plan includes unlimited 30-minute phone consultations with an attorney and unlimited access to legal forms. However, it goes beyond competitors by also offering unlimited document review by an attorney, an annual business evaluation (to ensure you’re in compliance with relevant laws), access to tax professionals, and one copyright registration per month at no additional cost (great for creative businesses and artists, musicians, and freelancers).

LegalZoom Pricing

Service	LegalZoom Cost
Business Formation	LLC – $79+ and govt filing fees; S-Corp & C-Corp – $149+ and govt filing fees; Nonprofit – $99+ and govt filing fees; LP & LLP – $149+ and govt filing fees
Legal Forms	Single form – $14.95; Unlimited access to form library – $7.99 per month or included with Business Advisory Plan
Business Advisory Plan (for regular access to an attorney)	$31.25 per month for 1-year plan; $36 per month for 6-month plan

LegalZoom Pros

• Offers a huge variety of small business legal services, so they can be the “one-stop shop” for all your business’s legal needs. They’ve been around since 2001, so they can be trusted to deliver.
• Least expensive option for the business legal plan. This provides unlimited attorney phone consultations, document review, and legal forms. Tax advice, an annual business evaluation, and one copyright registration per month is also included in the plan, which competitors don’t offer.
• Longest 60-day money-back guarantee in the industry.

LegalZoom Cons

• Costlier than several other legal sites for business formation.
• Business legal plan has its limitations. Phone consultations are limited to 30 minutes, and there’s an extra charge for reviewing documents over 10 pages long.

Best for Legal Forms: Rocket Lawyer

What Rocket Lawyer Offers

Rocket Lawyer is another big player among legal websites. They offer the following services:

• Access to a network of vetted attorneys for legal advice and document review
• Business formation services
• Legal forms, articles, and other resources

For businesses needing regular legal help, Rocket Lawyer has a membership plan that’s similar to LegalZoom’s Business Advisory Plan, though it is a bit more expensive. For a monthly fee of $39.95, you can access an unlimited number of legal forms, obtain online legal advice or consult on the phone with an attorney, and get your first business incorporation for free (you only have to pay required state filing fees).

When to Use Rocket Lawyer

Rocket Lawyer is a great option for businesses that use a lot of legal forms. They have an intuitive form builder that lets you easily customize a legal document for your business’s needs. As you’re building your form, you’ll see helpful pop-ups about the legal norms and rules in your state, which is key to making sure your forms are enforceable if you’re ever taken to court.

Rocket Lawyer Pricing

Service	Rocket Lawyer Cost
Business Formation	LLC – Starts at $99.95 plus govt filing fees
Legal Forms	Single form – $20 per document or unlimited form access included with Rocket Lawyer membership
Membership plan (for regular access to an attorney)	$39.95 per month (7-day free trial, cancel anytime)

Rocket Lawyer Pros

• Does an excellent job with clarifying state laws in the form builder, so you can be confident that your legal documents comply with state requirements.
• Free seven-day trial of membership plan.
• Some great perks are included in the membership plan, including free business incorporation for new members and document defense. Document defense helps you enforce legal contracts.

Rocket Lawyer Cons

• Membership plan is costlier than LegalZoom’s.
• Legal forms are costlier than LegalZoom if you’re not a member.

Best for Finding a Local Lawyer: LegalMatch

What LegalMatch Offers

LegalMatch is a service that helps you find local lawyers who can help you with your legal issue.

You simply submit a “case” on LegalMatch’s website, which will then distribute the request to pre-vetted attorneys in their network. After reviewing your case, typically within a few hours, lawyers matching your business’s location and the practice area you need help in will contact you by email or phone (however you specify).

You can then choose the right lawyer for you based on their hourly rate, reviews from previous clients, and the number of years of experience.

When to Use LegalMatch

LegalMatch is a great way to meet pre-vetted attorneys located near your business. There are lawyers available to help in all specialties, such as patents/trademarks, employment law, immigration, and more. Once you find a lawyer you like, you can arrange an appointment with them to further discuss your legal issue.

If you have a pretty straightforward and standardized legal issue, such as incorporating a business or creating a simple contract, then LegalMatch is not the fastest or cheapest option. For that, a service like IncFile or LegalZoom would be a better choice.

LegalMatch Pricing

Pricing varies. Lawyers charge their own rates for all services and have their own fee structure.

LegalMatch Pros

• Easy way to find a qualified local attorney.
• Able to see how other clients have rated attorneys before choosing.

LegalMatch Cons

• No fixed fee pricing for business formation or document review.
• No access to legal forms.

Best for Business Formation: IncFile

What IncFile Offers

IncFile is a destination site for starting a business. You can use IncFile to easily and quickly form an LLC, nonprofit, C-Corporation, or S-Corporation.

IncFile is the least expensive online legal service for business formation. They even include Registered Agent Service free of charge for one year. A registered agent is someone who can accept legal correspondence on your business’s behalf. When you form a business, the state will require you to name a registered agent.

When to Use IncFile

IncFile is a great option if you need to quickly and easily start a new business. For less than LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer charge, IncFile will file all the formation paperwork for you and give you everything you need to get started.

IncFile Pricing

Starts at $49 plus government filing fees to form a business. There is an extra charge for related documents, such as corporation bylaws ($30) or an LLC operating agreement ($40). Registered Agent Service is included for one year at no additional cost, after which it costs $99 per year.

IncFile Pros

• Least expensive online legal service for business formation.
• Best value if you need to form a business quickly. If you’re running up against a state filing deadline, it’s only an extra $50 on average to expedite your business filing on IncFile.

IncFile Cons

• Services offered are limited to business formation. You can’t get legal forms or access an attorney through IncFile, so it can’t be a “one-stop shop” for your business’s legal needs. For a range of legal services, try Rocket Lawyer or LegalZoom.

Best for Complex Legal Needs: UpCounsel

What UpCounsel Offers

UpCounsel is a business law marketplace. Businesses needing legal help post a “job” on the site and get proposals from multiple attorneys. They can then compare the proposals based on the attorney’s hourly rate, reviews from previous clients, number of years of experience, and areas of expertise, before hiring an attorney.

UpCounsel has a network of 5,000 business attorneys, many of whom formerly worked at top corporate law firms or Fortune 500 companies, including Google and Apple. They have on average 14 years of experience, so they can tackle complicated legal issues. For example, UpCounsel is a great choice if you need to create an investor agreement or apply for a patent or trademark.

When to Use UpCounsel

We recommend UpCounsel for complex legal problems. When you need legal advice, you simply post a job on UpCounsel and wait for attorneys to bid on it. You can then choose a lawyer based on their rate, reviews from previous clients, number of years of experience, and areas of expertise.

This is a great process when you’re facing a complicated legal issue and want to compare multiple bids, but it probably isn’t worth the trouble to go through this process for something quick and simple, like incorporating a business or creating a standard contract.

UpCounsel Pricing

Pricing varies. Lawyers charge their own rates for all services and have their own fee structure.

UpCounsel Pros

• Network of top-tier, highly experienced business attorneys who are equipped to handle complicated legal issues.
• Free legal forms are available for download.

UpCounsel Cons

• Costly for business formation (e.g. forming an LLC costs approximately $500—including all filing fees—on UpCounsel, but can be done for $250-300 on IncFile).

Best for Free Online Legal Advice: Avvo

What Avvo Offers

Avvo is like the Yellow Pages for lawyers. Ninety-seven percent of attorneys in the United States have a profile in Avvo’s online legal directory. Each attorney’s profile contains reviews from past clients, number of years of experience, and areas of expertise.

Avvo has a free legal forum that works like Quora and Reddit. Post a legal question for free, and attorneys will post a response, often within a few hours.

When to Use Avvo

Avvo is an excellent starting point for just about any legal question because it’s free! Simply post your question online and wait for responses from lawyers. Most lawyers provide general information and advice. If you want to dig more in-depth or receive more personalized advice, you’ll need to pay each lawyer’s contracted rate. However, most lawyers on the site offer a free initial consultation.

Avvo Pricing

Free to post a legal question.

Avvo Pros

• Largest online network of attorneys, with reviews.
• Active legal Q&A forum.
• Free legal forms are available for download.

Avvo Cons

• Not a cost-effective option if you need regular, ongoing legal help. For regular legal help, Rocket Lawyer or LegalZoom is a better option.

Other Legal Services Online

Self-Help Legal Resources: Nolo

Nolo has a big repository of articles about everyday legal topics written by attorneys. These can be accessed for free and serve as an excellent resource if you need to know general information. These cover a wide range of legal topics related to starting and operating a business.

Help With Debt Collection: LegalShield

LegalShield lets you be proactive about legal help. For prices starting at $39 per month, you can get regular access to a lawyer and document review. LegalShield is unique in assisting businesses with debt collection, one of the main issues impacting small business cash flow. If customers aren’t paying you, LegalShield can help you recover what’s owed to you.

How to Decide Which Online Legal Service Is Right for You

With so many law websites to choose from, how do you know which one is right for you?

It primarily depends on the type of legal issue you have. Some sites, like IncFile, are designed for a very specific purpose, such as business formation. Others, like LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer, offer a range of legal services. Still others, such as UpCounsel and LegalMatch, will connect you to local lawyers to discuss more complicated legal problems.

Here’s a cheat sheet of which providers to opt for and when:

What you need	Try…
Set up an LLC, Corp, or Nonprofit	LLC – IncFile – it’s designed exclusively for business formation and is the least expensive option.
Create legal documents or obtain legal forms	Single form – LegalZoom or Rocket Lawyer – both have big form libraries and form builders that let you create customized legal documents.
Regular legal advice or assistance from an attorney	LegalZoom or Rocket Lawyer – both have membership plans that give you regular access to an attorney.
Attorney who can help with complex legal matters	UpCounsel or LegalMatch – both let you submit a legal question and will match you to an attorney who is qualified to assist you.

Is It Wise to Use Legal Services Online?

Millions of businesses and consumers use online legal services to research legal questions, create legal documents, or access legal forms. But, these services aren’t lawyers, and they are not a substitute for getting legal advice from an attorney. Laws change frequently, and none of these services guarantee that the information on their website is 100% accurate and up to date.

Many business owners just need a standard contract or want to quickly get their business setup. In these situations, online legal services are a no-brainer. They make it easy to do these things for a fraction of the cost of hiring an attorney. However, there are a couple situations where it’s beneficial to go the old fashioned route and hire a lawyer:

1. Unique circumstances: Online legal services are great with standard boilerplate language. For example, almost all businesses use a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) that contains identical language. However, if your situation has added complications, then it’s best to hire an attorney. For example, if you’re trying to raise investor money or trying to sell a portion of your business, your NDA may need special clauses that a lawyer should negotiate and draft.
2. Threat of a lawsuit: Another situation where it makes sense to go with a lawyer is if you are in a highly litigious or risky situation. For instance, if a former business partner is threatening to sue you or you are in a copyright or trademark dispute with another business, you need an experienced lawyer who knows how to quickly address the situation.

To help you get the most out of an online legal service and prevent problems, here are additional do’s and don’ts to keep in mind.

The Do’s & Don’ts Of Online Legal Services

• Do double check the licensure and credentials of any lawyer who is assisting you. Even if the lawyer comes pre-vetted by an online legal service, it never hurts to confirm. All states have bar associations where you can confirm that a lawyer’s license is in good standing.
  

• Do understand all the rates and fees that you will be charged by a legal help site and by an attorney. Things you assume are included may in fact be charged as add-ons. For example, most sites charge an additional fee for registered agent service. If you are working directly with an attorney, make sure you fully understand their fee structure and that the fee agreement is in writing.
  

• Do make sure the legal website you are using includes your state laws. Every state has slightly different laws for everything from business formation to employment contracts. If you don’t follow your state’s laws, your legal documents may not hold up in court. Good-quality online legal sites will modify legal documents based on your state’s laws.
  

• Do understand that if you’re using an online law service to find an attorney, the website has no control over the lawyer’s fees or the work that the lawyer does for you. Your relationship with the attorney is independent from the website.
  

• Don’t forget to check attorney ratings and reviews before choosing to work with a lawyer. Make sure the attorney has expertise in the area you need help with and that former clients have been happy with the attorney’s work.
  

• Don’t choose a lawyer or legal website based only on budget. While your budget will certainly limit your choices, you want to be sure you are using a reputable service. If legal work isn’t done properly, you could be subject to fines or litigation, and that’s something you definitely want to avoid.

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from Fundera Ledger https://www.fundera.com/blog/legal-services/