How to Go Viral on TikTok

Contrary to popular opinion, you don’t have to be a teenager with cool moves to go viral on TikTok. But you do need to be creative with your TikTok account to produce content that can strike a chord with millions.

12 Tips to Make Your TikTok Video Go Viral

Everyone from crafters and makeup artists to home cooks and pet owners have joined the TikTok bandwagon to reach their audience. Thanks to the platform, more people from all over the world are gaining viral success today, this includes TikTok for business.

But the increasing popularity of this social media channel has led to a sudden spurt in competition. This means you have to be truly unique to stand out from the rest and produce trending videos.

Wondering how to go viral on Tiktok? Here are some tips that can help.

1. Limit Your Video Length Video

Digital consumers today have very limited attention spans. Eight seconds, to be exact. TikTok has successfully capitalized on this trend. The average watch time for videos on the platform is 15 seconds. So, the shorter your TikTok videos the better. This can be a challenge when you start using the platform, but as you produce content try to share your message in a few seconds.

2. Promote Content on Other Social Media Platforms

Thanks to TikTok’s huge popularity, the trend of short videos has caught on all over social media. Today, Facebook, Instagram and even YouTube are promoting short video content. By cross-promoting your TikTok video content on other social media channels you can increase your reach and improve your chances of going viral.

3. Post Regularly

If you want to go viral on TikTok, you need to post frequently. Successful TikTokers use this social media platform consistently to create and share quality video content. That’s because the TikTok algorithm favors content creators who can bring traffic to the site.

You don’t have to post new content every hour. Just try to maintain a schedule so users can find your content and have reasons to check new videos you post.

4. Keep Up with the Latest Trends

TikTok is by and large a trend driven tool. So, it’s extremely important to understand the trends. The way TikTok algorithm works makes it easy for users to follow and leverage trends.

You should check out TikTok’s Discover page where you will be able to see trending videos in your niche. This can include anything from trending music, trending song, trending audio, trending sounds or trending cooking videos. This will help you spot the new trend and use it for your content.

5. Use Relevant Hashtags

Hashtags help videos improve their rankings. That’s why, it’s important to avoid generic hashtags and use relevant ones that can boost your video’s visibility. If you’re trying to decode how to go viral on TikTok, a detailed hashtag analysis will be on top of your agenda.

6. Encourage Interaction

Like any other social networking site, TikTok provides a platform for not just content creation but also interaction. This is especially important when you are trying to gain followers. Try to respond to the comments you receive on your videos.

You can also provide a prompt to allow users to Stitch or Duet a response video to boost interaction.

7. Collaborate with Other Content Creators

A simple yet effective way to expand your base and reach target audience is by collaborating with existing popular accounts. You can start by liking and commenting on videos posted by influencers who are part of the same niche. Engage with these popular accounts and explore opportunities to co-create content that can boost your profile.

8. Leverage the Duet Feature

The duet feature lets you create videos that respond to other users’ content. This video side by side feature is unique to TikTok. As a content producer, you can also encourage users to reply to your videos by enabling the feature option.

9. Focus on Storytelling

You may have all the tools to create great videos and yet your content may not get popular because of poor storytelling. Users will keep coming back for your videos as long as you have a compelling story to tell. And you can break down the story in different parts or videos. For example, if you want to show difficult Yoga poses, you can create a couple of videos each capturing a new pose to engage your audience.

10. Add Compelling CTAs

If you don’t want to be a one viral wonder, you need to make sure TikTok users keep coming back to your account. That’s why, it’s important to add strong CTAs that can excite viewers and prompt them to look for your next video. Something as simple as Follow me for daily tips can be highly effective in engaging the audience.

11. Find the Right Time to Post Content

Posting content at the right time is another way to ensure your video gets attention. But what’s the right time to post content? That depends on your audience and the time they most actively watch videos on TikTok. For example, if your larger audience has a day job and uses TikTok after work, you may benefit from publishing your videos in the evening.

There are social media scheduling tools that can help you plan your posts in advance.

12. Use Your Own Audio

Your own audio can help you connect more closely with your followers. This is also smart because TikTok algorithms pick up on words, which can boost your video ranking on the app.

When including same audio, include your own spin to make your videos more interesting. For this, you can use humor and wit to get your message across.

What will go viral on TikTok?

The best thing about TikTok is almost any better video can go viral. While most teenagers look for fun dance videos, most people in other demographics are using the app to watch all kinds of content. This may include videos on cleaning, cooking, petting or painting where creators share tips and more.

How many views is a viral video on TikTok?

A user’s video must get 300-500 views within half an hour of posting to be considered viral on TikTok.

Image: Depositphotos

This article, "How to Go Viral on TikTok" was first published on Small Business Trends

Zoho Cliq Helps Teams Communicate and Collaborate More Clearly

Small businesses around the world continue to adapt to a new normal workplace as remote and hybrid models dominate many sectors. How do teams communicate effectively from remote locations? Workplace collaboration has never been more important to success, and businesses seek innovative software tools to boost their collaboration efforts and maximize their communication. 

What is Zoho Cliq?

Zoho Cliq is a workplace collaboration application that offers customers text, audio and video chat capabilities, as well as individual channels to keep conversations separated. Customers can migrate to Cliq from competitor tools like Slack while they integrate their communications operations with other business functions linked to the Zoho One suite of products.

Changing Communications Market

Zoho Cliq offers unique business solutions in two markets: The instant messaging software market is expected to reach $75 billion by 2025, and the internal communications software market could be worth $1.78 billion by 2027. Both markets were separately robust and growing in 2019, but the global pandemic changed the game as demand for remote communications services skyrocketed around the world. 

“Large things changed the lines between the instant messaging software market and the internal communications software market,” Senior Marketing Analyst for Zoho Cliq Prason Selvanayagam said. “That line kind of blurred when a lot of instant messaging software started getting into the B2B sector, and a lot of internal communication software market players started incorporating a lot of B2C capabilities into that product line.”

Even now that many world marketplaces have reopened, and the world anticipates the post-pandemic society to come, many workplaces have retained a hybrid business model, as employees work together from in-office and remote locations. As a result, both the ICS and the IMS markets continue to grow and adapt to new demands. In fact, the ICS market is growing at three times its pre-pandemic rate, which already reflects a healthy rise. Gartner predicted that by 2022 three-quarters of small businesses would conduct work completely remotely. 

“Just one month into the lockdown, the global remote workforce doubled in the U.S. alone from the 30% audience of workers who were working remotely just doubled,” Selvanayagam recalled. “At the same time, because of this sudden change, 60% of the companies around the globe did not have a long term strategy for internal communications software. And just because of working remotely, the employee productivity increased by 25% when they’re closely connected by an internal communication software.”

Zoho Cliq Product Journey

Cliq joined the Zoho family of products in 2017 as a business collaboration tool, joining a market that included competitors like Slack and the then-recently launched Microsoft Teams. When Cliq launched as a new product, it featured typical chat messaging software. 

The goal, however, was a product that teams not only used to communicate and collaborate, but also relied upon to develop and create small widgets and programs that can be used to speed work and boost productivity. Since Cliq’s inception, the focus has shifted to productivity and building internal communication tools designed specifically with remote and hybrid workplaces in mind. 

Zoho Cliq Features

Cliq can be used to communicate through a variety of ways, from audio and video calls to instant messaging to sharing screens or media files. A few of the most popular Zoho Cliq features include:

Collaboration Tools

Zoho knows that effective collaboration is the cornerstone to every team’s success, and Cliq is designed to boost collaboration efforts on multiple fronts. Users can create teams and channels within their organizations, and Cliq also can be used for group calls and meetings for as many as thousands of people. With Cliq, teams can create custom widgets, send reminders and automate their messages. 

Remote Work Tools

Remote work features were introduced to Cliq in 2020 with the goal of bridging the gap between remote and physical workplaces, creating the ultimate hybrid workspace. With a quick glance, team members can see who is available, who is not available and who is already in another meeting. They also can see what meetings are scheduled by which team members, as well as stats of everyone’s productivity. 

Hybrid Work Tools

Hybrid workplace tools are some of the newest features of Zoho Cliq. The tool features asynchronous capabilities so colleagues working across different time zones can collaborate seamlessly by not only recording calls and meetings that can be sent to team members, but also sending video clips and screen recordings. Zoho Cliq also features synchronous capabilities to help hybrid teams collaborate better with whiteboards and meeting functionalities. 

Product Usage

Part of the Zoho One suite of business software products, Zoho Cliq is available as a desktop app, a web browser app or a mobile app for iOS and Android. The product also can be used with Google Gear, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The tool continues to grow in popularity, evidenced by the data its use generates. Since introducing the remote and hybrid work features, Zoho Cliq has experienced 300% growth in the use of daily messages and 400% growth in use of meetings. 

Zoho Cliq Customers

Four out of every five Zoho Cliq customers come from the small business space. The tool is of particular attraction in the finance and healthcare sectors, which must take security and privacy even more seriously than the average company. 

Because Zoho Cliq has a robust security and privacy policy in place, all the files are shared inside the same system and are completely secure. The benefits are so popular that the Cliq retention rate among the finance and healthcare sector is more than 80%, and the year-on-year growth has doubled since the pandemic.

Customers are loyal to Zoho Cliq for a few primary reasons. Zoho Cliq stands apart from the competition thanks to its admin controls, a capability not found in even its largest competitors. Customers can set and give privileges for the users of their own organization rather than contacting the host company to make changes.

Customers also prefer Zoho Cliq because of its cost competitiveness, as the software offers a greater value for its price than competitor products. Plus, because Zoho Cliq is integrated into the Zoho One suite of productivity software solutions, small businesses can combine more functions for seamless operations. 

“What drew us to Cliq instantly was its tight integration across major products in the Zoho suite,” Kingsgate Logistics IT and business analyst Jason Greenwalt told Zoho. “This integration made sure that we did not have to switch multiple tabs to keep up with ongoing discussions.”

This article, "Zoho Cliq Helps Teams Communicate and Collaborate More Clearly" was first published on Small Business Trends

Equal Pay Estimator Tool Promises to Address Wage Disparity Among Employees

In a bid to overcome pay inequity in the workplace, Trusaic, specialists in regulatory compliance software and pay equity analytics, has introduced the Equal Pay Estimator.

Address Wage Disparity with the Equal Pay Estimator Tool

The data-driven tool is designed to prevent pay inequity from occurring from the moment an employee is hired, a time when pay discrimination can typically occur.

The new tool analyzes employee details against market rates and internal ranges in real-time. It simultaneously compares external wage ranges alongside internal wage ranges, to provide a fair compensation offer at the time of hiring.

Unfair Pay is Bad for Business

Unfair pay is bad for business. By contrast, pay systems that are transparent and pay the entire workforce fairly, sends a positive message to employees about a business’s values. Fair pay can also help attract and retain the best workers, thereby reducing staff absence and turnover.

Unequal pay can be especially prevalent at the start of employment. Research estimates that a difference of $1,000 at the start of someone’s career can equate to a loss of around half a million dollars throughout a career.

Preventing Unfair Pay from Gaining a Foothold

Getting pay right at the appointment stage when renumeration is worked out and offered, is therefore essential.

As Robert Sheen, CEO of Trusaic, comments: “One of the most effective ways to advance pay and opportunity equity is to proactively prevent pay inequities from ever gaining a foothold. The Equal Pay Estimator can ensure that a company’s compensation offer is equitable in relation to other employees within the organization doing comparable work and competitive relative to the market rates for the position. It allows organizations to demonstrate to their employees and stakeholders that they are truly committed to equal pay.”

Emsi Burning Glass

In order to provide businesses with benchmark data to support their compensation decision process, Trusaic has partnered with Emsi Burning Glass, providers of labor market data and analytics. The company has access to the world’s largest and most sophisticated proprietary databases of job openings and career histories. Its data is collected from over 40,000 sources each day in more than 30 countries.

The Equal Pay Estimator comes with Trusaic’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and pay equity software solution, PayParity.

By utilizing such advanced analytics to gather real-time results, businesses can ensure all pay decisions are equitable. By doing so, the requirement to perform expensive and unplanned pay remediations in the future is reduced. Businesses can also benefit from a more contented, loyal workforce from the offset.

Image: Depositphotos

This article, "Equal Pay Estimator Tool Promises to Address Wage Disparity Among Employees" was first published on Small Business Trends

Check Out These Small Business Grants with a February Deadline to Apply

Keeping up with all available small business grant opportunities can be quite time-consuming. But if you’re looking for something to apply for right away, the following list includes opportunities with impending deadlines.

Last Chance to Apply for These Small Business Grants with a February Deadline

Read on for small business grants due in February.

Bethel Small Business Assistance Program

Bethel, Connecticut is offering more pandemic recovery grants to support local businesses. The city has given out about $127,000 to 34 businesses already. And this latest round should be able to support about 70 more companies. To be eligible, businesses must have 25 or fewer employees and be able to demonstrate negative effects from the pandemic. The deadline is February 1.

Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center

The Northeast Dairy Business Innovation Center provides grant opportunities for dairy businesses in ten northeastern states. The organization’s latest opportunity is its Dairy Food Safety & Certification Grants. Funds can be used to cover expenses relating to food safety and testing, with applications due February 3.

EnrichHER

Fintech lender EnrichHER is currently running its first $5,000 small business grant contest for women and entrepreneurs of color. Funds can be used for various operational needs, like new equipment or payroll support. Applications are due by February 3.

Iowa City Matching Grants

Iowa City is offering matching grants to select small businesses in the city. Businesses without employees may qualify for up to $2,000. And those with employees may be eligible for up to $5,000. Funds can be used for one-time expenses like website development or legal expertise. And at least 51 percent of recipients must be companies founded by women, minorities, veterans, or individuals with disabilities. The deadline to apply is Feb. 4.

Chicago Founders First Grants

Founders First is a Chicago-based organization that supports underrepresented businesses. The organization’s latest grant program will support 30 businesses, giving out a total of $100,000 and access to a business accelerator program. To qualify, businesses must have fewer than 20 employees, and the founder must be Black, indigenous, a person of color, a woman, a veteran, or a member of the LGBTQ+ community. The application period closes February 4.

Beaverton COVID-19 Relief Grants

Beaverton, Oregon offers relief grants to businesses with fewer than 25 employees that have been negatively impacted by COVID-19. Businesses can use grant funds for various expenses, including utilities, inventory, and rent. Grants are intended for businesses still losing money due to COVID, like restaurants, bars, gyms, and salons. February 4 is the last day to apply.

California Paid Family Leave Grants

The California Employment Training Panel and the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency provide grant funds to support family leave. Small businesses with 50 employees or fewer may apply for $2,000 to cover expenses accrued when an employee uses the state’s Paid Family Leave Program. And businesses with between 51 and 100 employees can apply for $1,000 for each of these employees. This is an ongoing program. But the deadline for the current round is February 8.

Connecticut Equity Match Grant Program

JPMorgan Chase and Connecticut’s Women’s Business Development Council have partnered to support the state’s small businesses. The Equity Match Grant Program includes $300,000 in grants for women owned businesses. Eligible companies can apply for between $2,500 and $10,000 to cover operational expenses or expansion. The deadline to apply is February 13.

Indiana Technical Assistance Program

The Indiana Small Business Development Center recently began accepting applications for the latest round of its Indiana Technical Assistance Program. The statewide program offers up to $15,000 in professional services and connects eligible businesses with relevant services. Businesses can use the funds for any project that requires technical expertise. The deadline is February 20.

Voodle Visionaries Grant Contest

Video messaging platform Voodle is launching its Visionaries Grant Contest. Female, non-binary, and/or BIPOC founders are eligible to submit a 60-second video to apply for a $10,000 grant and promotional support. The deadline to submit a video is February 25. The top ten videos will then be judged, but only one winner will get the $10,000.

Kern County Relief Grants

Kern County, California offers a grant opportunity for local businesses that haven’t already received relief funds. The current round includes about $1 million, distributed in grants of $2,500. Businesses must have revenues under $50,000 and five full-time employees or fewer as of 2019. They also must be able to prove pandemic-related losses and lack of support from other relief programs. Grants will be awarded until funds run out. But the program launches in February and businesses are encouraged to apply right away.

Image: Depositphotos

This article, "Check Out These Small Business Grants with a February Deadline to Apply" was first published on Small Business Trends

10 Upcycled Furniture Projects to Make and Sell

Some of the simplest endeavors can be used to start a small business. With little more than a few simple tools, a can of paint and some old furniture, you can start making money from selling upcycled furniture. In fact, with a few dollars, a quick trip to a local flea market or garage sale and a little bit of elbow grease, you can turn a fun hobby into a successful small business.

What is Upcycled Furniture?

What is upcycled furniture? Also known as repurposed furniture, upcycled furniture is created when a person conducts a makeover on used furniture, either giving it a new look or an entirely new purpose in life. Some people upcycle furniture pieces as a personal hobby, and they use and gift the repurposed items themselves. Others transform their love for furniture upcycling into thriving small businesses, selling the treasure for a profit.

How do You Upcycle Furniture?

How do you upcycle furniture? Any old furniture can be repurposed with a creative eye and a little bit of effort. If you don’t have old furniture already sitting around the house, you can find inexpensive items for sale at flea markets and thrift stores, at garage sales, on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace, as well as other online platforms, and even sitting on the curb on trash day!

Once you have your used furniture, you can repair it, give it a fresh coat of paint or even reconstruct it into an entirely new and unique piece furniture. You even can combine parts of multiple pieces into repurposed furniture ideas. Popular upcycled furniture ideas include updating and repurposing dressers, cribs, coffee tables, bookcases and even individual drawers.

23 Upcycled Furniture Ideas

Are you ready to turn your DIY projects into a successful small business? Do you need some inspiration to get started on your repurposed furniture ideas? Check out the following upcycled furniture ideas and add a touch of your own DIY deco style.

1. Upcycled Dresser Ideas

image: The Owner Builder Network It’s not hard to find an old dresser that might be a little shabby but still perfectly functionable. With some fresh varnish or a new coat of paint, you can breathe new life into an old dresser and give it the perfect decor style to fit into a modern home. Dressers can also be repurposed into shelves, tables, wash stands and even benches.

2. Upcycled Drawer Ideas

image: Diary of a Crafty Lady You don’t need a full piece of furniture to reuse parts of it into something new. Often you can find spare drawers from old dressers at a thrift store for no more than a couple of bucks, or you might be deconstructing your own furniture that featured drawers. Either way, dresser drawers can make the ultimate DIY project as they can be transformed into almost anything, including wall decor, tables, chairs, ottomans and shelving. All you need are some tools and a creative idea.

3. Upcycled Coffee Table Ideas

image: Love My Little Cottage Coffee tables are always in demand, and they frequently get replaced when people move or redecorate… which also means there are plenty of old tables to go around. You can refurbish an old, damaged coffee table or truly upcycle a used table with fresh paint or a unique design, such as the sunflower table pictured above made with acrylic paints. You are only limited by your imagination and inspiration.

4. Upcycled Bookcase Ideas

image: Good Housekeeping Plenty of options are available to upcycle cheap bookcases. You can paint an old bookshelf and give it new life or you can repurpose bookcases and create entirely new furniture designs. You can turn trash off the street into simple storage solutions that are also stylish. Just attach some wooden planks and transform some old shelves into a beautiful custom curio cabinet.

5. Upcycled Chair Ideas and DIY Projects

image: New Life Furniture and Recycling Old chairs are easy to upcycle just by adding new upholstery. To create innovative furniture designs that are easy to sell, choose fabrics with unique designs, perfect for accent pieces in any home, and be sure to paint the furniture with a splash of color to match. A chair upcycling small business might create custom chairs, designed with clients’ favorite colors. Of course, chair also can be repurposed into other decor and furniture items.

6. Upcycled Filing Cabinet Ideas

image: One Crazy House A file cabinet might be upcycled by giving it a custom paint job to match any decor style, but it can also be repurposed into a completely different type of furniture. For example, it only takes two small filing cabinets and a wooden plank to create a roomy and stylish desk. With multiple filing cabinets, the reconstruction options are only limited by your imagination.

7. Upcycled Mirror Ideas

image: DIYs.com Artistic entrepreneurs can upcycle a mirror by either painting it or adding accessories and other decoration like beads, flowers, tiles or sequins. Consumers enjoy mirrors that match their home decor, so the options for decorating an old mirror are as endless as customers’ personal tastes. Mirrors also can be repurposed into other items, like chalkboards, picture frames and magnetic boards.

8. Upcycled Mirror Frame Ideas

image: Sincerely Sara D. You don’t need a compete mirror to upcycle its frame into home decor items. Take the frame of a broken mirror and upcycle it by painting it or adding other decorations. Then, add a chalkboard, white board, magnetic board or bulletin board where the mirror used to be. Voila! A repurposed mirror frame. You also can convert a mirror frame into a deocrative picture frame.

9. Upcycled Old Door Ideas

image: My Repurposed Life Have an old door and think you’re limited to selling it as a door? You’d be wrong. Doors can be repurposed into home decor with a few basic tools and a little creativity. To turn old doors into wall art, cut them into sections, paint them your favorite color, drill holes and add some hooks to hang cups, hats or keys. You also can transform these door sections into fancy photo frames, paint decorative designs on them or add decorative but meaningful sayings.

10. Upcycled Crib Ideas

image: A Little Learning for Two Have your children outgrown a crib, or did you come across a quaint old crib at a local flea market? Cribs can be repurposed into a variety of other furniture items, including desks, chairs, tables or even a dog bed. In the above example, a baby bed was converted into a small child’s desk, perfect for a homeschool room.

How to Sell Your Repurposed Furniture

Ready to sell your upcycled and repurposed furniture? Regardless what you choose as your first project, you must be prepared with the right supplies and understand the market to be successful. And the following best practices will help you sell your repurposed furniture:

• Save money by upcycling furniture from thrift stores, flea markets and garage sales. Scour Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace for opportunities to save money on someone else’s unwanted items.
• Be sure you have basic supplies you might need, including items like paint, a foam roller, chalk paint, tools, sand paper, hardware, a tape measure and scraps of wood. You also should ensure you have a space to craft and store your upcycled furniture.
• To market your upcyced furniture, be sure and have a quality camera to photograph the items. The images will be what attracts potential customers to your online sales posts, and the photos should be clear and well-lit.
• Whether your target customer is an eclectic antique dealer or an average soccer mom, you need a way to connect them with your products. Find out where to sell handmade items locally at places like flea markets and consignment shops, or you can reach a broader audience by selling furniture online in a post at places like Ebay and Facebook Marketplace. You should also look into learning how to sell on Amazon Handmade as well as Etsy. Some DIY upcyclers even create their own blog to promote their crafts.
• Start small and expand your small business. Upcycling furniture is an awesome small business idea that easily can generate a profit. Start with a small investment and purchase just a few items and a small set of supplies, perhaps selling them to family and friends. Once you’ve sold your initial upcycled inventory, use the profits to scale your business, purchasing more used furniture and expanding your collection of supplies. This includes selling online and learning how to start a small business on Etsy.

What’s the Best Furniture to Upcycle?

What furniture creates the most awesome upcycling projects? The best furniture to upcycle is whatever furniture you have available and are comfortable working with. Upcycyclers are truly only limited by their imaginations.

You can start with an old table from a yard sale or save extra money by giving a makeover to old furniture already in your home. You can update furniture in its original state with a brilliant color of paint, or you can repurpose it, transforming a coffee table into a dog bed or a crib into a dining room table.

Image: Depositphotos

This article, "10 Upcycled Furniture Projects to Make and Sell" was first published on Small Business Trends

6 Menu Maker Options for Your Restaurant

Restaurant menus A well-designed restaurant menu is one of the top ways to retain customers because it showcases the best of what your restaurant has to offer! Menu design and how the information is arranged can make a big difference in making orders smoother and easier for customers and employees. Best of all, there are tons of tools available, including menu templates to help you make your menu online – no design skills required! We’ll look at some of the top restaurant menu maker tools currently available for this article.

What is a Menu Maker?

A menu maker helps you create and customize a menu for your restaurant by using a menu template or letting you make a design from scratch. You can use different fonts, icons, images of dishes, and other elements to create a mouthwatering menu with professional designs for different types of restaurants.

How do You Create a Food Menu Using Menu Templates?

Templates make it easier to design a menu since you have all the basic features set up. All you’ll need to do is drag and drop graphics and text, like logos, backgrounds, and photos and make it match your restaurant branding. Here’s how:

1. Find the perfect menu maker and select a template: Go through options for templates to choose something that works for your restaurant menu and displays information in logical sections – and that lets you be creative!
2. Start adding dishes: Once you’ve selected a template, start with adding the text first. Select a font that goes with your brand and the best colors to go with your theme. You can start adding items, including appetizers, entrees, desserts, sides, and more. Add saucy sentences and fun text to make it more interesting, or go for a more straightforward design.
3. Upload photos and logos: As you design your menu, you want it to reflect the best of what your restaurant has to offer. That’s why it’s essential to include images, including photos of top dishes, your restaurant logo, and more to make it truly your own.
4. Download and print your menu: Check and double-check all the text and images you’ve used. Once you’re happy with the design, flow, and text of your menu, you’re done! You’ll just need to download the file to add to websites and print out copies to keep in your restaurant.

10 Menu Maker Options for Your Restaurant

Many different menu maker options are available to help you design a mouthwatering menu. Depending on the functionalities and features you need, you can use a free menu maker or pay for a program to design your own menu. Many of the menu maker options available give you a range of options for creating a menu that’s truly unique and shows off your dishes. Let’s look at some of the best ones available:

1. iMenuPro

One of the most popular options iMenuPro gives you options to create a dazzling menu. It has a wide range of choices for restaurant menu design, and gives you freedom to add many different menu items and customize accordingly with photos, of dishes, fonts, and other brand elements.

The iMenuPro editor also gives you options to add a QR code to menu templates and more with simple drag and drop functionalities.

2. Canva

One of the best things about Canva is that it’s a graphic design tool that has templates for pretty much everything. Using their premade templates, you can create sleek and professional menus with amazing design – without having to master lots of graphic design programs! Choose from free and premium menu templates, and add fonts and other features to match your brand. You can search from a wide variety of templates and designs to find something worse for your restaurant’s cuisine and style.

3. Adobe Creative Cloud Express

Adobe products tend to have a steep learning curve, but luckily, there are easier options available within the Adobe Suite. Adobe Creative Cloud Express (formerly known as Adobe Spark) is a creative app that is filled with templates that you can adapt for your content. However, you will need to pay to use this service, so it’s not a free option

Browse online and search for templates that work for your restaurant and bar, and adapt accordingly. You have the freedom to add photos, fonts, special graphics and more to make your menu unique.

4. Must Have Menus

If you’re looking for a simply and easy drag and drop option, Must Have Menus is for you. Easily design your menu with your brand and graphics to create an online menu that you can also have printed out.

Showcase your food with creative photos of dishes, and simply drag and drop your own photos to the menu design. You can also create contactless menus with QR codes if needed. Must Have Menus is a simple restaurant menu maker that really helps your restaurant menu stand out.

5. Designhill Menu Maker

Designhill is another online menu maker with a menu template option if that’s what you’re looking for. Whether you’re creating an online menu or something for dine in, you can easily make a menu for your food with Designhill.

There are lots of menu design options including icons and fonts to choose from and you can add your own images and branding to the menus to help make a fantastic impression with customers every time.

6. PosterMyWall

PosterMyWall is more of a promotional graphics platform, but it does have some template options to create menus. You can create bold and exciting menus for customers with PosterMyWall, and create promotional campaigns alongside.

There are options to help you match your brand with your menu and restaurant marketing, so it’s more cohesive. Many of the available template options are free but there are also premium options available. With PosterMyWall, you can have fun and unique designs that are really useful when you’re looking for unique menu design options.

What is the best menu maker app?

Although there are many amazing menu maker apps available, there are some that stand out more than others. The best menu maker app is Must Have Menus because it offers a wide range of functionalities for restaurant menus. You can add a QR code and contactless menus alongside beautiful dine in menus with graphics and fonts that make it feel authentic to your brand’s style. The online menu maker is also very easy to use, and once you make a new project, it’s easy to design and print your menu.

Image: musthavemenus

This article, "6 Menu Maker Options for Your Restaurant" was first published on Small Business Trends

David Raab of The CDP Institute – Customer Data Being Everywhere is a Problem CDPs are Built to Solve

Data is seemingly coming from every interaction, from every direction, from a growing number of channels,  while using a growing number of devices… and it’s coming nonstop.  This presents a great opportunity for companies to understand what customers and prospects need and what at levels unimaginable only a few short years ago.  And while that’s sounds great, trying to pull all that data together in order to make the best use of the information coming from all that data is no easy task.  In fact it’s incredibly difficult unless because most of the system businesses have been using over the years weren’t meant to specifically handle that task.  Which is why Customer Data Platforms (CDP) were created and have grown of great importance over the last six years or so.  But over those years there has been some apprehension and confusion about where CDPs fit and how they compare with other applications organizations depend on like CRM.

But it feels like some of that confusion and apprehension over what CDP is and what it does has been dissipating at an accelerated pace over the last year or so, as more interactions go digital.  And to get more insight into the current state of CDP and how it’s being used in businesses today, I recently spoke with David Raab, founder and CEO of The CDP Institute, and to all in the industry the preeminent thought leader on the subject.

Below is an edited transcript of a portion of our conversation.  Click on the embedded SoundCloud player.

smallbiztrends · David Raab of CDP Institute – Customer Data Being Everywhere is Problem CDPs are Built to Solve

Defining CDP

David Raab: I think that people were very confused and unfortunately many people are still confused about how a CDP differs from a CRM or a DMP (data management platform) or a data warehouse or any of the other things. We already have a customer database, and in fact we have several, right? So what could possibly be different? But it’s now been established I think in most knowledgeable people’s minds, that none of those other systems does the same thing that a CDP does and none of them solve the problem that a CDP has, which you’re about to ask me what it is? So I’ll tell you … 

The problem it solves is that all those other systems have customer data, but they have “their” customer data. CRM has its customer data, the web personalization system has its data, the eCommerce system has its data and it doesn’t come together anywhere. And that’s what the CDP does, is it brings it all together in one place. None of those other systems do that natively and architecturally. They’re all set up to do something else and they’re not really suited at the technical level to pull together all those different kinds of data and assemble from a customer view as opposed to some other view, and then share that all out, which is pretty much the definition of a CDP.

So, some of them might assemble a view, but not share it for example, because they just want to use it internally. CRMs are really bad, for example , at sharing data; and CRMs aren’t that great at pulling external data either. So, it took a while I think for people to realize this is a different thing and it’s worthwhile. The pain was there and the reason that CDPs took off and then grew steadily was because there were so many people, even before they ever heard what a CDP was, who were struggling with the fact that my data is all siloed, right?

We’ve been hearing about silos for decades and they thought their data warehouse would solve or the data lake would solve it. Although they pull in data from different places, they don’t pull it all in or they don’t prep it from a customer view. There’s again, just slightly nuances in what they do that a CDP does. Now there’s actually this particular set of requirements that nothing else does, and that’s what a CDP does.   I’ll be optimistic, maybe people actually understand that a little better now or more people understand it.

Evolution of CDP Tech

Brent Leary: So, how has CDP technology evolved over the last two years. Has the technology itself changed because of what’s going on over the last two years?

David Raab: Well interestingly, the tech, the actual technology used by the tools hasn’t changed all that much. It’s a little different, but still a lot of this, Hadoop and all the big data structures and the elastic search and those, and those have all been around. The only real interesting technical change is things like Snowflake and Databricks have become way more prominent. And they’re very interesting technically because they can handle the mix of data types that a traditional relational database couldn’t do, but they can still take a SQL query like a traditional relational database. So they made it a little easier to build a CDP. Other than that, what’s changed is not so much the underlying technology that’s used, but the maturity of the applications that are built on that technology. So we have much better tools now for data quality management and governance and all the privacy related features that have become much more important are built increasingly into the CDPs.

Then the CDP vendors who go beyond just building profiles, which all CDPs do, but to also providing campaign management and analytics and sort of functionalities, application functionalities or activation functionalities. On top of the CDP, those guys have all had now five years to mature their products. They just keep getting better are richer and more advanced. So, it depends on where the vendor came from. A lot of these guys started out as say campaign managers, what I call marketing automation. Nobody calls them campaign managers except for me, cause I’m ancient. That’s what they were back in the day, they were campaign managers. You kids today don’t know.   Some of them started like that, so they were already very good at journey orchestration. Others added that on and so, you always start simple and you get better. 

Importance of Realtime Insights

Brent Leary: So, what are the most important pieces to the CDP puzzle today or components? And even… What are things that are still kind of misunderstood from a brand’s perspective, wanting to leverage what CDPs can bring them in terms of being able to understand their customers and interact and engage more, I guess in a more Real-time, with using the data, being able to interact in the right frame in order to connect? What are the things that are maybe big now that weren’t necessary five years ago?

David Raab: Well actually Real-time, I’m glad you mentioned that, because that has really cropped up. And I would say even in the last six months… I was just on a call yesterday with one of the vendors, I forget who, who they were saying, like most of their CDP applications or Real-time applications, that really surprised me. And we consider Real-time to be part of the six things that you have to do to be a CDP. But we actually added Real-time a year ago, because it was not part of our original list, but it’s now become so critical. Because if you want to manage the actual interactions, as opposed to just do analysis, I maybe push out audience lists to Facebook or to an email system or something. If you want to personalize their website interaction with the CDP data, you got to be able to read that CDP data in Real-time.

Or if you want to update your retargeting list in Real- time, based on what somebody just bought on the eCommerce site. Again, you need to do that in Real-time. So, Real-time has actually been a big change. That’s happened. Other features that have been added or that have been critical… I think there is a lot of interesting, I’m just going to call it ambiguity, about whether identity resolution belongs in the CDP or not, because we don’t think it does. I mean, somehow you got to do the identity resolution, but we think third-party systems can do that. And because so much identity resolution requires third party data, you almost have to use a third-party to do the ID resolution. So we don’t see that as a critical thing, but about half the CDPs have that capability.

And there’s certainly situations where you want more of these activation features. The industry’s almost splitting up into the enterprise systems that are just building a database and are assuming the data is going to be used by some external or other system for the website and for the marketing automation and so on. And then the ones that are used at marketing departments… So if I’m going to sell my CDP to marketing, not to the enterprise level, now the marketers want all the marketing features, right?

You can have a journey builder in there, that’s fabulous. You can have an email engine in there, even great, I can get rid of my email vendor. They like to buy from as few vendors as possible. So, those guys are enriching the product in that way. It’s almost two different industries evolving, serving two fundamentally different sets of requirements and even selling to different people.

Example of Good Use of CDP

David Raab:  We are a game company and we need to be able to analyze how people are using our product. When the engineers put in the new feature that lets you, I don’t know, do somersaults or whatever of course they didn’t bother to instrument the system for that because they’re engineers and they just want to get the job done and go on to adding the next feature for the reverse somersault. So, then product [team] was like, “Well, what’d the somersault thing do?” But the CDP can just pull all that data in, if it’s a good CDP, it was the right CDP and extract that somersault feature – it’s an event – and do that analysis.

So, when you have something that specific, you need a system that’s going to let you do that. Those things come in and literally in days we hear about people getting specific value out of the system. So the more concrete you are in your requirements and more narrow, that’s a very narrow requirement. The bit more likely you are to get a good, quick result.

Can SMBs benefit from CDP

Brent Leary: So, generally speaking, would you say you have to be a certain size business? Is it mid-market, enterprise up? Or are there use cases where smaller businesses would benefit from having a CDP at their disposal?

David Raab: There are a couple of CDP vendors who focus on small business. What they’re usually going to do is they’re going to have prebuilt integrations with a platform like a Shopify, some common system that a lot of small businesses are going to use and usually in retail. But by and large, small businesses don’t have that much data. They tend to use one or two main systems. “I use Shopify plus, I use the marketing automation that integrates Shopify”, something like that. You don’t have a dozen data sources or 150 data sources like a big enterprise. So, there’s a little less value to the CDP and they are expensive.

The ones that are built for small business are priced appropriately, but the ones that are more generic and more for mid-market and enterprise level companies, those are the ones who have the complexity and the people and the budget and the resources to take advantage of the findings, right? Because, it’s fun to look at the findings, but unless you can do something with it, doesn’t do you any good. So, there’s a certain scale. A $100 million in revenue, something like that would probably be the lower end to use a more of a general purpose CDP.

Future of CDPs

Brent Leary: What role will CDPs be playing two years out, five years out?

David Raab: I think my achievement in life is that every enterprise architecture will have a box that says CDP and that’s like my legacy to the world. It’s, that little box, is going to be there kind of permanently. People now realize that yeah, you do need to pull all your customer data into some system that’s just designed for that purpose and nothing else. So, I don’t think that goes away. Now, is that box embedded inside some gigantic marketing suite or enterprise suite, an SAP type thing? Sure. Is it embedded in a industry specific system, a hospital management system or education management?

All those guys are actually adding CDPs and as long as they meet our criteria, as long as they will pull in external data and share the data out, that’s okay. If it’s in applications, we still consider that a CDP. There’s going to be a lot different ways of getting at that requirement for that unified customer. But I think the understanding that there is a need for unified customer data that comes from all sources and is shared out to all sources. I think that does not change and that’s the most important thing that we’ve learned in the last five years, and that hopefully we continue to do in the future.

This article, "David Raab of The CDP Institute – Customer Data Being Everywhere is a Problem CDPs are Built to Solve" was first published on Small Business Trends

People Discuss the Worst Business Ideas They’ve Ever Seen

Not everyone comes up with the best ideas for a new business. In fact, some business ideas are downright awful or they’re poorly executed.

There’s been an ongoing discussion about some of the worst business ideas people have ever seen executed and the answers should serve as great reminders and lessons to current small business owners or people considering opening their own business.

The Worst Business Ideas Ever?

Reddit user u/Imaginary_Trainer654 posed this question a few months ago and responses are still streaming in: What’s the worst business idea you’ve seen someone try to execute?

Apparently, there are a lot of really bad business ideas. Here are some of our favorite responses:

“Vats of banana pudding …”

The first example teaches us that even if we want to specialize in one product or service, we should really consider diversifying our options.

There were vats of banana pudding in the display cases and I thought, “Well, surely they must also sell other flavors,” so I asked if I could have a chocolate pudding and the guy politely informed me that they didn’t have chocolate pudding. So I asked if they had maybe butterscotch or something else. “No ma’am, just banana pudding here.”

I mean, it wasn’t false advertising. But surely he couldn’t be selling just one single flavor in that whole shop, could he? As expected, the next time we strolled down that street a month or two later, the store was shuttered.

I feel bad for him. I’m sure that the guy made great banana pudding that all of his friends and family would compliment him on and tell him that he should probably open a banana pudding shop ‘cuz it was so good. But I don’t think they literally meant that.

~ SaltyPopcornColonel

” … Potato lasagna, potato cheesecake … “

Here’s another tale of going all-in on a concept but maybe going a little too far.

There was a Russian potato restaurant below my previous apartment. I ate there a couple of times, but their menu changed so often I never had a favorite potato. Also had potato lasagna, potato cheesecake and potato drinks. It wasn’t successful.

~ Th3_Accountant

 

“He still got his basement full of butter.”

In this example, we learn to anticipate changing market conditions.

In 2011 we had «the norwegian butter crisis» in Norway. The shortage caused soaring prices and stores’ stocks of butter ran out within minutes of deliveries. A pack of butter would sell for between 40-200 dollars on the «black market».

A friend got the idea to drive over to the neighboring country, Sweden to buy butter and sell it here in Norway. The problem was that you could “only” carry 100 packets of butter across the norwegian border. So he made a deal with our local nursing home. He rented a bus and took 20 elderly people on a road trip to Sweden in exchange for receiving the butter quota.

The next day, the butter crisis suddenly resolved and he was left with 2000 packets of butter he could not sell.

He still got his basement full of butter.

~jigge92

 

“His bright idea was to make our company’s ink weaker.”

Apparently, there’s a right way and a wrong way to boost consumer demand…

At a place I used to work, we supplied printing companies with their ink. Being that digital printing is well and truly established at the point, there wasn’t a whole lot of business for this type of ink anymore, so there was a lot of competition between suppliers.

One of the technicians somehow weaseled his way to the top despite no business experience. When he was told to very simply make more money, rather than go out and find new customers, his bright idea was to make our company’s ink weaker, with the intention that our customers will just have to buy more product to complete their jobs.

Surprise, the customers didn’t like that and went to competitors. Business was closed within a year.

~ Sajiri

 

“A hot dog at an old funeral home… also ghosts”

According to this failed business example, it’s a good idea to consider customers’ preferences… and fears.

We had a dude who bought an old funeral home and wanted to turn it into a bar/”restaurant” that served hot dogs and booze called… Frank ‘n Stein.

First, the last place I would ever want to eat a hot dog is at an old funeral home.

Second thing is he bought the building before testing the idea with the aldermen who would have to approve his license. Since he swore up and down that his hot dog idea, in a funeral home, would take off, the aldermen gave him a beer and wine license until he could show food sales were the majority of his take…

Then he decided to be a karaoke bar and fired all his staff.

Very weird experience drinking (bad) tap beer with no shots while eating nachos and hotdogs to the one weirdo belting karaoke in the one place he hasn’t been banned from. Also ghosts.

~ Duardoblanco

 

“He didn’t even wear a bikini.”

This business owner apparently never learned the value of delivering on his promises… or preparing for a snowy day.

There is an old gas station a couple doors down from me, not sure what year it was built but you could consider it vintage… The pumps were removed a long time ago and… it changed hands a few times without ever re-opening as anything else. The best/ worst iteration was the “BIKINI CAR WASH.”

Surfboard-shaped sign went up over the office door, new owner full of bluster showed up a few times to tell the neighbors what a wheeler and dealer he was. Thing is, we live in the Midwest and have four distinct seasons, summer is hot but only lasts a few months.

The real nail in the coffin was he never had the water turned on to the property so he just threw a garden hose over the fence and stole water from his neighbor. So one fat dude with a gray crew cut wielding one garden hose with regular house-type water pressure. He didn’t even wear a bikini.

~ Banannafreckle

 

“He tried to blame the landlord…”

Uh-oh! Can a business owner succeed without personal accountability for a bad idea?

There was a guy in my town that opened a business that was the equivalent of a brick-and-mortar version of Craigslist or newspaper classified ads. It was a unit in a strip mall with bulletin boards. You paid to put an ad up and other people came to look at the ads with a small picture.

This was AFTER Craigslist existed, not some pre-internet thing. There was no actual merchandise in the store, just crappy pictures of stuff with the contact info. It wasn’t even a high foot traffic location, you had to maneuver through a busy intersection, park and go inside to look at a bulletin board.

It went under, and he tried to blame the landlord because he couldn’t get a sign permit for the end of the building even though he had two other signs.

~ Montanagrizfan

 

“Free hugs for anyone”

This business example teaches us that even the best idea won’t get off the ground without a cooperative team.

When I was in high school, one of my friends wanted to start a little coffee shop/hot chocolate stand with a “cuddle corner” and “free hugs for anyone who wants them.” She offered jobs to our other friends – the idea was that this little business would be operated and staffed by high schoolers.

She failed to see the issue with having 16-year-old girls required to give free hugs to customers or having to staff the cuddle corner.

~ Chernoushka

 

“Using all the tools I don’t own…”

This prospective business owner had a solid idea, but he didn’t learn the value of investing in his plan.

One of the younger dudes in my karate class was going to start a handyman business. 24h, anything needing to be done, anywhere in our district.

Sounds good. You gonna get a loan and buy a used truck and get some tools? And you never have talk time on your phone, so will you get a landline (2006, so not super outlandish)?

“No, I’ll go on my bicycle. And I’ll just use the tools they have. And they can email me when they need service.”

Right because when I have water spraying out of my geyser through the ceiling at 3 am I’m going to email a dude on a bicycle to come fix it using all the tools and the ladder I don’t own…

~ Flyboy_za

 

“Dude bought 150k fidget spinners …”

Another example of failing to anticipate market conditions, this business owner had his own supply chain issues.

Dude bought 150k fidget spinners at the height of the craze…

It took months to ship out from China and by the time all his (stuff) arrived, the mania had ended and the retail price was already near his original wholesale price.

Guy still has fidget spinners today. I guess he may eventually do OK on it. but (dang)…

~ User30three

 

” … their entrance was hidden.”

This proves it’s really hard to get your business established if you don’t tell anyone where it is.

There was a bar that opened up in my city and their entrance was hidden. They did a news story and they refused to tell the paper where it was actually located. To everyone’s complete surprise, they only stayed open for a couple of weeks.

 ~ Linkan1234

 

” … There was a guy who used to sell wood … “

If you’re going to sell products to customers, do we need to mention that you actually need to have access to the products you’re selling?

In my country there was a guy who used to sell wood. The problem was he did not have any of it. So he would ask for payment and then not give the product afterwards, hoping that procrastination and time will make the problem go away.

He did 4 years in jail.

Yeah, well he thought he was very smart. And in addition, he would make web lectures on marketing and how to be a successful businessman. He soon became a meme in the whole country.

~ Asleep_Remote2000

These are some pretty terrible business ideas. But that shouldn’t discourage you from trying to start your own business. Just learn the lessons now that others needed to experience first-hand to avoid similar spectacular fails.

• How to Start a Business with No Money
• 25 Businesses You Can Start for Less Than $100
• 25 Businesses You Can Start for Less Than $1,000

Image: Depositphotos

This article, "People Discuss the Worst Business Ideas They’ve Ever Seen" was first published on Small Business Trends

Top 25 Small Business Tax Deductions

As a small business owner, you are probably always looking for ways to save money on your taxes. Well, look no further! This article will discuss the Top 25 Small Business Tax Deductions that you can take advantage of. In addition, we will also provide some helpful tips on how to keep track of your expenses and deductions throughout the year. So, whether you are just starting out as a small business owner or you have been in business for a while, be sure to read this article.

What are Tax Deductions?

Besides being something we can’t get enough of, tax deductions are expenses that self-employed business owners can deduct from their taxable income. This act reduces the amount of tax you have to pay, which saves you money.

What Deductions Can Small Business Owners Claim on Taxes?

There are a number of different types of deductions that you can claim from your taxable income, including business expenses, charitable donations and home office deductions. One thing’s for sure, you’ll want to take advantage of every deduction that you’re entitled to, as they can add up quickly!

Top Small Business Tax Deductions

Now that you know a little bit about standard deductions for small business and what types of deductions small business owners can claim on their taxes, let’s look at the Top Small Business Tax Deductions. Note that these deductions are valid for the 2021 taxable income you will be filing in 2022.

1. Mortgage Interest

Mortgage interest is a standard tax deduction that many small business owners claim. Here’s how it works: if you own a home and have a mortgage, you can deduct the interest you pay on your business loan to purchase, build, or maintain your home from a taxable income standpoint. What’s more? The mortgage interest deduction can also be used to get loans for a second home or a vacation residence, although there are certain limitations that may apply.

2. Business Meals

If you are out of town on business and have to eat at a restaurant, or if you take clients out for drinks or dinner, you can deduct 50% of the cost as a business expense from your income. However, to qualify for this deduction, the meal must be business purpose-related, and you must provide documentation proving that it was. Buying pizza for when your team is working late qualifies as a valid tax deduction too.

3. Home Office Deduction

If you work from home, you can deduct a portion of your rent or mortgage, as well as the cost of utilities and repairs as home office expenses. The home office expense deduction must be used regularly and exclusively for business purposes to qualify for this deduction.

4. Legal and Professional Fees

If you have to hire a lawyer or accountant to help you with your business, you can deduct those fees from your income. Remember that the fees must be related to your company, not personal matters. So, again, they must be ordinary and necessary to be written off as business expenses.

5. Business Insurance Premiums

If you have a business insurance policy that’s necessary and ordinary, the premiums that you pay for it can be fully deducted from your income. This deduction also applies to other types of insurance policies, such as life and disability insurance policies.

6. Real Estate Taxes

If you own business property, the real estate taxes that you pay on it can be a tax deductible business expense. That being said, to qualify for this deduction, you must use the property for business purposes and not for personal use.

7. Valid Business Education Expenses

Small businesses providing their workforce educational benefits can deduct the entire costs involved if it increases their workers’ skills or adds value to the business. Tax-deductible business expenses for education costs include anything from continuing education to books related to your industry to courses designed to earn professional licenses.

8. Business Travel Expenses

Business travel tax dedcutions for work is 100%-deductible if it’s ordinary, necessary, and is to a location away from the state where the taxpayer resides. Example travel expenses include plane tickets, parking & toll fees and Uber and hotel costs.

9. Business Equipment

Section 179 of the IRS tax code allows the full purchase price of qualifying new or used equipment to be deducted from your gross income. This deduction includes off-the-shelf software and short-term and long-term assets, as long as they are only for business use.

10. Business Vehicle Expenses

If you use your car, SUV or pickup truck for business purposes, you can deduct a portion of the cost of operating it. Vehicle expenses you can claim include IRS mileage reimursment, licenses & registration fees, gas, repairs, and depreciation costs associated with the vehicle. To qualify for this deduction, you must keep detailed records of all business miles driven and the purpose of each trip.

11. Internet Expenses

If you power your business with internet & phone services for business purposes, you can deduct a portion of your monthly bill from your income. This exclusion includes both the cost of the internet service and any related equipment, such as modems and routers.

12. Health Insurance Premiums

Small businesses may be able to deduct some of their workforce’s health insurance premiums from their income. Expenses that might qualify for these deductions include contributions to a health savings account (HSA), monthly premiums or tax-advantaged dollars. Also, self-employed taxpayers may be eligible to deduct premiums paid for their and their family’s medical, dental and long-term care insurance coverage.

13. Entertainment Expenses

If you entertain clients or potential customers in an effort to drum up business, the cost of those meals and activities can be deducted from your business income. However, these deductions are limited to 50% of the amount spent and only apply if the entertainment is considered ordinary and necessary for conducting business.

14. Office Supplies

If you purchase office supplies for your business, such as printer ink, paper, or Post-it Notes, you can claim them as office expense deduction from your business income. This exclusion also includes the cost of furniture and equipment used in the office.

15. Retirement Contributions

Both employers and employees can deduct retirement plan contributions from their business income, although there are set limits. Retirement plans that qualify for the deduction include 401(k)s, 403(b)s, SEP IRAs, and SIMPLE IRAs.

16. Charitable Contributions

Small businesses can deduct charitable contributions made in the course of doing business. These deductions cover cash donations, as well as the value of any goods or services donated to a charity.

17. Foreign Earned Income Exclusion

The internal revenue service defines foreign earned income as income received from sources outside of the United States. For instance, independent contractors working abroad could be paid foreign earned income. If you qualify for this deduction, you can exclude foreign earned income up to a certain amount from your taxable pay.

18. Advertising & Marketing Costs

If you spend money marketing your small business, you can deduct those expenses. These expenses may include business cards, website design and printing costs, and local newspapers or magazines advertising.

19. Employee Compensation

Expenses related to business operations, such as salary, wages and benefit payments, are all tax- deductible. Nonetheless, the compensation must be reasonable for the services rendered and paid or accrued in the tax year.

20. Professional Service Fees

If you hire a professional to help you with your small business, such as an accountant, tax advisor, lawyer or consultant, you can deduct the cost of those services from your self-employment income. This also includes membership dues for professional organizations.

21. Union Dues & Fees

If you are part of a union and self-employed, the cost of your dues and fees can be deducted from your business’s taxable income. These deductions also include any expenses incurred as a result of being in the union, such as travel costs and training materials.

22. Startup Costs

If you’re starting a new business, you can deduct the organizational costs related to getting your business up and running from your self-employed income. This deduction includes items such as the cost of setting up a website, hiring an accountant and purchasing office furniture.

23. Business Property Rental

There are two possible tax write offs included here. Firstly, if you rent property as part of your business, the rent payments can be deducted from your income. This exclusion includes the cost of renting office space, warehouse space and land. Secondly, landlords who charge business property rent may qualify for what is known as a pass-through income tax deduction that qualifies them for up to 20% off of the net rental income.

24. Bank Fees

Another small business tax deduction you can take to reduce your tax bill is the bank or credit card fees your company is charged. Applicable costs you can claim are transactions like monthly account service charges, credit card interest on business-related purchases, or transfers and overdraft fees. Additionally, you can deduct merchant or transaction fees paid to 3rd-party payment processors like Stripe or PayPal.

25. Bad Business Debt

If you are unable to collect on a debt related to your small business, you can deduct the amount of that debt from your income. This deduction includes any interest or fees associated with the debt.

Use Our List to Create a Small Business Tax Deductions Checklist for Your 2022 Tax Return

Now that you know about some of the most common small business tax deductions, you can use our checklist to ensure you’re taking advantage of all these potential deductions this tax season. Also, there are more business deductions out there if you do your research, and it’s always a good idea to consult with a professional for tax advice (especially since it’s tax-deductible!). Similarly, you should also make a list of non-deductible business expenses so you are full aware what you can’t deduct.

What Business Expenses are Tax-Deductible without Receipts?

As a general rule, if you are self-employed and will itemize deductions, you should have receipts for actual expenses to show that money changed hands. On the other hand, if you’re traveling to conduct business and claiming meals and other nonlodging expenses, you shouldn’t need receipts unless the entire cost is $75 or more.

What is the 20% business tax deduction?

The 20% business tax deduction is a fairly new tax break that was introduced with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. It allows business owners 20% as qualified business income deduction from their income. This deduction is available to sole proprietors, partners in partnerships, members of LLCs and S-corporation shareholders for the current tax year.

Image: Depositphotos

This article, "Top 25 Small Business Tax Deductions" was first published on Small Business Trends