The odds of business survival are not stacked in your favor. Even the most optimistic business leader cannot argue with the available statistics about business survival rates.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, two-thirds of all businesses make it at least two years while half of all businesses make it to their fifth anniversary. It’s only one-third of all businesses that can celebrate a decade.

The good news is that the longer your business has been around, the more likely it will stay that way. Those first few years in business seem to be the hardest, so if you can just get through them, you may have built something that can last generations.

When the Unexpected Happens

That’s not to say that things can’t go very wrong at any time however. For example, a data breach could lead to huge fines and even a lawsuit. A natural disaster could wipe out your livelihood. These types of unexpected events can harm even the strongest of businesses and leave a company on the verge of bankruptcy.

Many companies have hovered near bankruptcy, including Apple, IBM, GM, Lego, and even Starbucks. Countless smaller brands and startups alike have experienced this, including famous individuals like Stan Lee, Walt Disney and Abraham Lincoln.

Internet marketing leader Jerry Banfield is one of these individuals. “I got so many clients that I was literally taking people in faster than I could handle them. Then, my personal life started going downhill. I ran my business into ruin by maxing out all my business credit cards.”

Amazingly, these companies and individuals turned it around and scaled their businesses to greater heights than they ever had before.

Here are 7 real-world business strategies that founders can leverage to scale their businesses even if they’ve had a near bankruptcy:

1. Focus on value over giving away the store.  

In a panic to get their ship financially righted, a leader may try to use freebies and highly reduced merchandise or services to win customers quickly. The strategy is that more people will come to get the free stuff and help build the business back up. However, what happens is that you essentially mainly attract the type of customer you don’t want: the one that comes for the free stuff, and moves on to the next company that is using a similar strategy.

Instead, think about how Apple came back from the brink. Steve Jobs and his team did not offer cheap products. Instead, they turned the brand into an exclusive must-have through marketing and by creating something unique. Then, they unapologetically priced those exclusive products at higher values because they were perceived as cool and innovative.

2.  Market what others can’t do themselves.  

This was an important lesson that Banfield learned during the many times he had to rebuild his Internet marketing business.

“The problem was that I discovered what I was offering in terms of services for social media advertising were already being replicated by other agencies. Or, some customers had even figured out how to handle it themselves.

To stop the income from evaporating, he kept learning new skills. Then he focused on where to apply those skills to work for an audience struggling with key problems. For leaders, that means continuing to scan and listen to the market to identify those areas. Then, it’s about taking that vision, acting on it, and communicating what you do differently.

3. Be transparent with what you are doing.

It may be easy for some leaders to decide they should get crafty in order to rake in those quick bucks. After all, there are many scams or ways to fool customers that can fasttrack a company to better financial results. Some examples of this may include unnecessary repairs, fake fans on social media or re-sold leads.

However, these methods usually don’t bring long-term, stable success or return customers. In most cases people figure out that the brand they trusted may not be following the letter of the law or isn’t being entirely honest or ethical in its business practices.

You might think it will take longer to bounce back by being transparent in everything you do. But the new reality is that it could be exactly what you need to get and keep customers for the long term. If you can prove your trustworthiness, savvy customers will see it and appreciate it.

Companies that have been less than transparent may have to work twice as hard to regain trust. Facebook is a current example, using TV ads to essentially beg forgiveness for its lack of data transparency. Wells Fargo’s recent sales practices also significantly harmed that bank’s reputation and it’s still trying to win back lost customers.

4. Aim for steady growth instead of fast success.

In the rush to amp up revenue, many business owners are tempted to use an “any means necessary” approach that often either violates rules or exploits loopholes.

Banfield learned this the hard way on Google, Facebook, and Udemy where he initially disregarded site policies completely. He then started following rules more carefully, but still exploited loopholes and committed minor policy violations.

The problem is that these strategies may work in the short term, but eventually site administrators catch on. Banfield was no exception, as he suffered suspensions and account bans just when business started to pick up again.

Instead, you should aim for steady and consistent growth from the beginning. Learn how to use sites and services effectively within their frameworks. Bans become far less likely, and lifetime success tends to be exponentially higher compared to quick money schemes that collapse.

5. Ask customers before assuming you are doing things right.  

Lego is a prime example of this reality. It’s a company that pleased generations of kids and parents until around 2007 when many of it’s products seemed to be slipping in quality and it had lost some of the magic that made it what it was. The company continued to assume it was doing everything right until the financials said otherwise.

When the company started making Lego sets that customers told them they wanted, revenue came back. The same goes with any other brand. Listening to customers needs and wants and then delivering on those is the best strategy a leader can follow.

6. Don’t be in business just to make money.

The mantra that a company is only in business to make money is no longer popular today. Yes, there has to be cash flow to keep the ship afloat. But, it shouldn’t be the sole purpose of the enterprise.

Many of today’s customers want to know that you are doing something good with those profits, not just lining pockets or paying bills. Doing good for others and paying it forward can provide a significant return that will continue to build your brand and trust in the eyes of your prospects.

Get involved in a cause you feel passionate about, donate time or money, and encourage your audience to learn and get involved with that same cause.

7. Choose quality over quantity.

Leaders can also go wrong when they think they should create a massive portfolio of products or services. They want to be everything to everybody. However, like with multi-tasking, it leads to doing a lot of things not so well.

If you’ve ever watched one of those shows where an expert comes in to a restaurant to turn it around, you know that one of the first things they change is the menu. They often downsize it from a book to a page or two.

The reason is that the kitchen staff can do a much better job quality-wise with a few key dishes than they can preparing 100 items. This is why restaurants like In-N-Out Burger are so popular. They have just a few items, but those items beat out most other hamburger joints easily.

The same goes with that business you are trying to scale back up. Pick those products or services that you know will deliver the best quality and experience. Stick with those and you’ll go far.

The post 7 Leadership Lessons You Can Use To Scale Your Company After Nearly Going Bankrupt appeared first on ReadWrite.

“Innovation” bubbled up a few years ago to join “synergy” and “thought leadership” as business buzzwords. Business leaders talked so much about innovating their companies that they eventually had to put their money where their mouth was: 74 percent established processes to spur innovation, and more than half hired chief innovation officers.

Seeking innovation isn’t easy — it takes approximately 30 years to transition from proposing an idea to making a real market impact. But these innovation efforts pay off. Not only are consumers more intrigued by and engaged with innovative companies, but innovation is also profitable.

However, most leaders are pushing themselves — and their teams — to dream up futuristic products and services, enabling them to outpace their competitors. Once-in-a-lifetime ideas rarely appear on command, and it would make more sense for most business owners to simply think of new ways to approach their industries — they can make a real impact in a market that’s primed and ready.

Doing Real Estate a New Way

While people have sold their homes without realtors for decades, the FSBO road hasn’t always been easy. Nicolas Jodin, the co-founder and COO of Beycome, tried to sell his first home without a realtor. “I realized almost immediately that hardly anyone was willing to work with a FSBO home,” he said.

Seeing how for-sale-by-owner opportunities were treated was frustrating for Jodin. “All you’d find would be horrible and scary articles stating that this is the worst thing homeowners could do…almost as if selling your home — YOUR home — was the most ludicrous idea a person could think to do,” Jodin explained, “but it’s absolutely ridiculous — it is not a law that people need to use an agent to sell (or rent) their home, so why are you paying strangers 6 percent of your final sale (or 10 percent of your annual rental income) if you could do it just as well?”

That led to the development of Beycome, a property listing online platform that makes it possible for homeowners to complete the entire selling or renting process online. The platform offers three types of listing packages; users provide details about their property, along with photos. They set their price, receiving two estimates from the software’s algorithm. The platform then helps automate the home showing and marketing processes; the platform also allows homeowners to review and accept or decline offers virtually. Once all parties have agreed, Beycome provides a digital contract that’s legally binding.

This process takes out the middleman — the realtor — and ensures homeowners pay nothing in commission fees, saving more for themselves. The platform boasts a 96.5 percent sale-to-list ratio and has saved an average of $13,667 per sale. While Jodin and the team at Beycome didn’t come up with a new concept — FSBO existed long before the internet — they did come up with a new way to make FSBO opportunities more enticing for buyers and simpler for homeowners.

Removing the Hassle From Moving

Americans move about 11 times in their lives, and 37 percent of people say they would move anywhere in the world for better career prospects. That means a lot of people are grappling with packing, setting up utilities, and finding new schools, vets, and healthcare providers.

That realization led to the creation of InMyArea, a home services comparison shopping site. The platform was established to serve as a one-stop shop for consumers, who could compare prices and packages on everything from internet to home security systems. Consumers could then use the platform to purchase those services and streamline the setup process. InMyArea sought out partnerships with several well-known providers to make the process even easier for consumers, counting businesses like DIRECTV, Mediacom, Charter, Cox, and Time Warner Cable as partners.

Michael Gleason, the founder and CEO of InMyArea, knows how difficult it is to move on one’s own, particularly with competing obligations, such as family, work, and school. “My wife and I had our first child when I was a graduate student 3,000 miles away from family, so I empathize with [those] who are starting their families,” Gleason explained.

His company’s approach has garnered positive feedback: The brand’s data analysis and customer service have resulted in the highest rankings possible with the Better Business Bureau and TrustPilot. InMyArea examined a frustrating process for consumers — moving — and found ways for a third party to make it less stressful. Combining technology and data on the InMyArea platform allowed service providers and consumers to find each other more easily.

These companies didn’t create new niches within their industries; they simply found new ways to manage their industries’ work. Innovation doesn’t have to be complicated, but it absolutely has to have a payoff — for both companies and their customers.

The post Innovating an Industry Isn’t as Complicated as You Think appeared first on ReadWrite.

With our business and personal lives moving to the digital environment, it makes sense that education — from elementary school through to college, trade schools, and professional development courses — will also migrate to a more technologically focused model. And that includes the influence that virtual and augmented reality will wield in the classroom over the next decade.

AR and VR Will Revolutionize the Classroom

Today’s education environment is increasingly offering immersive experiences that help children, teens, and adults truly enjoy the process of learning. Plus, these technologies can help certain students learn more effectively than traditional classroom methods by overcoming language barriers and accommodating visual learners.

With the prices of AR and VR equipment starting to drop, the technologies are becoming more accessible to teachers looking to accomplish those objectives. The possibilities for adding AR and VR to their classrooms are exciting.

Use Cases for Enhanced Learning Experiences

Virtual field trips are one way AR and VR are already in use. After working through some issues with WiFi networks, charging issues, and the comfort levels of students and teachers, many educators now find this an ideal way to teach lessons and keep students engaged. Melinda Lohan, a Massachusetts high school teacher, has been conducting virtual field trips for three years and reports that “The kids love them.” Introducing the technology has changed what happens in her class. Students watch lectures and take notes at home so they can get immersed in these types of learning experiences during school hours.

In addition to enabling educational “travel,” AR and VR have been shown to improve motor skills, enhance imaginative play and thinking, and inspire learning through gamification. Also, an increasing number of educational applications are being created with these technologies that focus on applying critical thinking skills to real-world problems. This helps students see how to take these skills with them into the workplace and makes what they are learning more relevant to them. AR and VR applications can also serve other educational purposes, such as professional development for service personnel, police officers, and more.

Marketing to Educators

While educators may be interested in this technology, the real news is that they are also planning to invest heavily in it. According to Forbes, “Goldman Sachs estimates that roughly $700 million will be invested in AR/VR applications in education by 2025, on simulations for everything from forklift operations to architecture to invasive surgery. Gartner projects that 60 percent of all higher education institutions in America will be using virtual reality in the classroom by 2021.”

That means there is a significant opportunity for education marketers to influence purchase decisions. Education marketing firms like MDR, a division of Dun & Bradstreet, have emerged to help companies market to teachers by connecting educators with brands that offer AR and VR tools. This includes helping tech providers understand to whom they should market their products and how to illustrate ways they can solve specific problems or challenges for that audience.

Helping a Traditional Field Learn New — and More Inclusive — Ways

Now is the time to approach teachers and educators with technology products that will help them not only improve, but also democratize education. Melissa Pelletier, MDR’s education research editor, observes that “VR is the perfect vehicle to help students put themselves in others’ shoes. Kids of all ages could benefit from experiences that require them to work in teams or that show them what it’s like to be discriminated against. Social-emotional skills like empathy are valuable both within the classroom and throughout life. They may not be written into the curriculum like history or math yet, but they’re every bit as important.”

With so many educators seeing the results of using AR and VR in the classroom and hearing positive feedback from their students, more teachers and schools will consider transforming their teaching models for the digital age. This gives more tech startups the opportunity to get their solutions in front of an educator audience and continue disrupting what had once been such an entrenched, tradition-bound field.

The post How AR and VR Will Revolutionize the Classroom appeared first on ReadWrite.

Machine learning has been defined by Stanford University as “the science of getting computers to act without being explicitly programmed.” It’s machine learning that is now behind some of the greatest advancements in technology, driving new industries like autonomous vehicles.

From machine learning, a whole new world of concepts has developed, including supervised learning and unsupervised learning, as well as algorithm development to build robots, Internet of Things devices, chatbots, analytics tools, and more. Here are seven ways you can put machine learning to work right now:

1. Analyzing Sales Data

The sales function has benefited from the growth in sales-focused data thanks to the increase in digital interaction. Sales teams can tap into metrics from social media platforms, A/B testing, and website visits. Yet with so much data to sift through, sales teams are often bogged down by the time and analysis it takes to pinpoint the necessary insights.

Fortunately, machine learning can significantly speed up the process of uncovering the most valuable information. Not only does machine learning do a lot of the heavy lifting in the time-consuming process of reviewing all the sales data, but it can also do much of the analysis for your team. For example, Growbots applies machine learning in order to connect sales teams with the best leads for them. In return, sales teams are able to focus only on those leads that have the greatest potential, accelerating their outbound sales process.

2. Real-Time Mobile Personalization

Digital personalization is becoming a more sought-after process to engage prospects and customers, as well as enhance the overall experience so they regularly return to buy your products or services. This has become particularly important in the mobile environment with the advent of tablets, smartphones, and wearables.

Now, mobile marketers and app developers are looking for a way to leverage all the information they can find about each customer’s context so they can develop a highly personalized mobile experience that pleases the consumer and delivers a greater return. Enter machine-learning applications.

Flybits is one company that uses machine learning to enable companies to deliver real-time personalization. This context-as-a-service product allows you to have instant cloud access to internal and external data to develop personalized mobile channels.

Yet as Facebook’s recent experience has shown, companies that fail to protect consumers’ personal data can expect a backlash. According to Hossein Rahnama, founder and CEO of Flybits, “Flybits promotes data transparency and a proactive approach to privacy. Our enterprise customers want to protect the privacy of their customers, and Flybits makes this easy. First, our customers maintain full control over their data — we do not own it. In addition, we follow Privacy by Design to embed security into our software and use tokenization to anonymize all customer data. Our customers have total control over the opt-in choices that they offer.”

3. Fraud Detection

With consumers’ growing preference for shopping online, criminals have gained an enormous opportunity to commit more fraud. Businesses have employed many types of online security measures but are finding that more are needed. The rise in online transactions also means that many of the measures available to check them make each transaction take longer and slow down the purchase experience — and still often don’t work to stop fraud. The result is increased chargebacks that cost money and impact a brand’s reputation.

Luckily, machine learning is available to improve the fraud detection process. For example, PayPal is using machine-learning tools to look for fraudulent transactions (including money laundering) and to help separate these from legitimate transactions. Machine learning assists by examining specific features in a data set and then building models that provide the basis for reviewing every transaction for certain signs it could be fraudulent. This helps stop the fraud in process before the transaction is even completed.

4. Product Recommendations

If you are in the online retail environment, then you know that your customers like having personalized recommendations delivered to them. It improves the shopping experience in their eyes and offers you a way to sell more products. While Amazon was one of the first to introduce an algorithm to improve the product recommendation process, machine-learning tools have ramped up what you can do.

As John Bates, senior product manager for data science and predictive marketing solutions at Adobe, observes: “By leveraging machine learning and predictive analytics, brands can look beyond what customers are searching for and start connecting the dots on what they likely want. It’s cross-selling at scale — matching customers to specific products or content that will nudge them towards more conversions and greater lifetime values.”

Ecommerce giants like Amazon and Alibaba have already jumped on the machine-learning bandwagon. Amazon has improved upon its own product recommendation process with its artificial neural networks machine-learning algorithm, while Alibaba created the “E-commerce Brain.” Its product recommendation machine-learning mechanism has helped the retailer to significantly raise revenues just by populating billions of personalized product recommendation pages.

5. Learning Management Systems

There is greater understanding of the value of ongoing learning opportunities across all learning segments, including virtual training management software. As a result, the global eLearning market is growing by leaps and bounds. In 2010, it was approximately $32 billion. By 2015, it grew to $107 billion. Now, it is projected to reach $325 billion by 2025.

For example, eLearning Industry is an online media and publishing company that was established in 2012 to create a comprehensive knowledge-sharing platform for eLearning professionals. In order to create the most relevant platform for this industry, machine learning became an important differentiating tool. For the tools and platforms that companies create to serve the LMS industry, machine learning is a core competitive advantage because it can generate the most relevant, personalized training management experience possible.

Christopher Pappas, founder of eLearning Industry, writes: “What if you could create eLearning content and then let the system take care of the more tedious tasks, such as reviewing charts and statistics to detect hidden patterns? What if you could provide immediate personalized eLearning feedback and steer online learners in the right direction without any human intervention? Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence have the potential to automate the behind-the-scenes work that requires a significant amount of time and resources. In the future, AI can help you develop and deploy more meaningful eLearning experiences that bridge undisclosed gaps.”

6. Dynamic Pricing

The travel and retail industries see opportunities to change pricing based on a need or the level of demand. However, incorporating the concept of dynamic pricing can seem impossible across a large enterprise, as there are multiple locations or segments of customers that would need to be taken into account.

That’s where machine learning can make the dynamic pricing model work. For example, both Uber and Airbnb use machine learning to help create dynamic prices for each user on the fly. Plus, Uber uses it to minimize wait time and optimize the ride-sharing aspect of its services. Uber can temporarily change pricing in that area to gain a higher revenue stream. Also, it can reduce rates where demand is much lower.

Machine learning can utilize existing data to predict where demand may occur. In addition, if online companies or app developers can determine where a visitor’s country or city of origin, then they can charge a price based on what that person is comfortable paying in his or her home location.

7. Natural Language Processing

There are so many functions where it would be great to have a stand-in to take care of tedious tasks. These include tech support, help desks, customer service, and many others. Thanks to machine learning’s capability for natural language processing (NLP), computers can take over. That’s because NLP provides an automated translation method between computer and human languages. Machine learning focuses on word choices, context, meaning, slang, jargon, and other subtle nuances within human language. As a result, it becomes “more human” in its responses.

Using this capability, chatbots can step in and serve as communicators in place of humans for various roles. In addition, NLP applies to situations where there is complex information to dissect, including contracts and research reports.

As these examples show, machine learning is ready to step in and make many business areas more efficient, effective, and profitable. The time to implement the technology of tomorrow is today.

The post 7 Ways Your Business Should Be Using Machine Learning Today appeared first on ReadWrite.

If you feel that buying a house has become less affordable in recent years, it’s not your imagination. A Harvard University study found that nearly 40 million Americans live in housing they can’t afford, meaning they’re spending more than 30 percent of their income on the place they own or rent. That represents a 146 percent increase over the past 16 years.

As the Harvard study found, home prices have gone up — by as much as 50 percent in some areas — but wages haven’t maintained the same pace. That means millions of Americans who dream of owning a home have felt themselves hampered by not just student debt and credit card debt but also by their reduced buying power.

The trick, then, is to find ways to make buying a house more affordable — and most of these have nothing to do with your income. Over the past six months I purchased a new home and then sold my old home. I’ve learned a lot about how to find homes online. In todays tech age buying a house is possible and finding the right deal is possible. Here is how I did it.

1. Cut the commission.

Commission on real estate transactions sits at just over 5 percent nationwide. That’s a big chunk of change to fork over right as you’re moving into a new home that may need repairs or furnishing. Some people avoid commission by working with a friend who’s a realtor — and willing to give up his or her agent or broker fees.

Another option is to use a service like Beycome, which removes the middleman (aka the realtor) and allows buyers and sellers to interact directly. The platform digitizes the standard FSBO transaction by helping with listings, scheduling home tours, and finalizing the deal with a contract.

2. Boost your credit score.

It’s no secret that a higher credit score results in a lower interest rate. Boosting your credit score from “fair” to “good,” for example, could make mortgage payments feasible — and improving your credit score could also help you qualify for loans or lines of credit for things you may want to do to the house in the future, such as replace furniture or build an addition.

To raise your score, pay all your bills on time, keep your credit card balances low, and avoid opening up new lines of credit when possible — every “hard pull” on your credit affects your score.

3. Look for the best numbers.

Don’t settle for the first loan rate you’re given — shop around to see which lender can give you the lowest rate. Some people successfully counter one lender’s offer with another’s to get the rate they want with the lender they want. The other number you can look to lower alongside your interest rate is your down payment; determine whether the homes you’re looking at qualify for special programs. Some of these ask for down payments as low as 3 percent; the USDA Rural Development Program, VA loans, and the Navy Federal Credit Union all offer zero-payment loans.

4. Invest in DIY.

Fixer-upper homes and do-it-yourself projects haven’t just fueled HGTV; they’ve also helped lots of new homeowners quench their thirst for a home. Some repairs or renovations are, without a doubt, costly — replacing a roof or overhauling an entire kitchen can represent a big upfront cost.

But many houses on the market need TLC — say, a new coat of paint — or simply need to be tweaked in stages to meet a new owner’s preferences. Being your own general contractor means you get to spend money simply on materials, not on labor or mark-ups, meaning more money stays in your pocket. Each improvement will also result in more equity for you, so your hard work will result in real money earned down the road.

5. Protect your investment.

One price that sometimes surprises new homeowners is the cost of home insurance. To keep the cost of a homeowner policy low, talk to your insurance company about bundling your home and car policies for a reduced rate.

You can also protect your home investment by looking for credits beyond the purchase price. A common credit is one awarded for overdue repairs, but some people are also able to earn credits for closing costs or home warranties. All of these options can reduce the overall cost of purchasing the home.

6. Rein in your expectations.

If you’ve saved up for a home for years, you likely have your heart set on something very specific: Victorian style, lots of turrets, window seats built in for every kid, original hardwood floors. But the term “starter home” exists for a reason — most people need to “trade up” to a bigger home down the line.

It’s important to spend less than you can truly afford to cushion yourself against a market crash and to be able to save for the other priorities you might have, like retirement or college. Look for what meets your needs and makes you happy — while that 1990s ranch home may look a bit cookie-cutter compared to your beloved Victorians, if it’s in a good school district, close to work, and big enough for your family, it may be the smartest choice.

Buying a house may be less affordable than it once was, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. By looking for ways that you can increase the spending power of the money and credit you currently have, you can improve your chances of buying a house you can truly afford — and be happy to call home.

The post 6 Ways to Make Buying a House More Affordable in This Tech Age appeared first on ReadWrite.

Most people start side hustles because they want to be business owners and make some extra money — maybe even enough to eventually stop working their day job. But if they’re not careful, their side hustle could actually end up costing them money.

U.S. News & World Report found that some people lose money on their side ventures. Their money was sunk in certifications, workspace rentals, maintenance fees, and self-employment taxes. Add in potential lost productivity from physical exhaustion or distractions, and you may be losing money at your day job, too, in terms of raises, bonuses, or promotions.

That means it’s important to save money before and during the launch of your side hustle. Having a cushion makes it possible to plan ahead, make smart decisions regarding your business, and expand when you’re ready. It also guarantees you’ll take action based on what’s best for your business, not what’s best for your wallet in the moment.

Here are a few ways to help your side hustle be profitable without draining your funds.

1. Sign up for automatic savings. A lot of people open checking accounts and savings accounts simultaneously, with the goal of eventually moving money from checking into savings to create a safety net. With 57 percent of Americans having less than $1,000 in their savings accounts, it’s clear that doesn’t happen often in reality.

To overcome your best intentions you never fulfill, open an account that has automatic savings set up. Chime has an Automatic Savings program that ensures users automatically transfer 10 percent of their paycheck to savings and have rounded-up amounts added to their savings every time they use their Chime card. In turn, you’ll be saving without doing anything additional, and the best savings are the ones you never see — because you’ve never tempted to tap them.

2. Presell your goods and services with advance payment. Harvard Business Review reported that presales can actually boost long-term sales, so this is a great investment in your business’s end game. Best of all, presales ensure there’s a market for your product or service, meaning you won’t be wasting money by investing more in your side hustle.

Presell what you’re working on, whether that’s a webinar, a line of T-shirts, or a translation service. One great way to do this is by offering some sort of sample, from an online portfolio of your work to a case study of another project you worked on. Ask people to not just sign up but commit to your offering by paying upfront. This allows you to anticipate and cover expenses — say, materials or the web designer who’s building your webinar landing page — before using any of your own money.

3. Trade services. If you’re just starting your side hustle, you’re likely reliant upon others to help you get started, whether that’s a screenprinting press you rent time at or a photographer friend who helps you capture images for your website. While some people will simply help you out of the goodness of their heart or their excitement to see you succeed, some won’t — and it’s also not a great idea to be indebted to lots of people from the outset.

Instead, work with vendors, distributors, or service providers to establish a trade relationship. If your service translates work into Spanish and your website builder is actually needing translation services for a few clients’ websites, you have a setting ripe for exchange. If your T-shirt business works with a screenprinter whose passion project is a summer camp, offer to design shirts for special camp events in exchange for screenprinting time. These are all ways to staunch the outflow of cash while setting your side hustle up for success.

4. Use your blog to profit. In this day and age, you need a blog to propel your business to success — even if you don’t have a big following, sharing your knowledge and experiences with visitors to your site can build your credibility and push them to work with you. But you don’t have to see your blog as a drag on delivering your products or services — it can be its own source of income, too.

By working with affiliate marketers, hosting ads on your blog, and writing sponsored posts or reviews, your blog can bring in money, too. And these can be helpful to visitors — say, a post about a brand of running shoes you highly recommend pairing with your running app — which helps make you “sticky” in clients’ minds. You can use additional income from sponsored posts or affiliate links to fuel your side hustle, making it a money saver rather than a distraction.

5. Claim all your small business expenses. While there are some sticky tax details regarding side hustles — like estimated quarterly taxes — there also some benefits, like claiming expenses for your business. A lot of entrepreneurs miss the deductions hidden within the 74,000 pages of tax code, so educate yourself on what you can claim.

If you use your home office, for example, you can claim not just the space, but also the utilities associated with it, such as internet. You can write off equipment you’ve purchased for your side hustle, from computers to cake decorating utensils; you can also write off expenses for travel, including airfare, mileage, or lodging. But you have to track it all in order to claim it. 1tap is a platform that helps entrepreneurs track receipts so they can claim every deduction owed come tax season; it even uses character recognition to eliminate data entry, saving hustlers both time and money.

Side hustles are intended to make money, not bleed you dry. To avoid putting in more than you’re getting out, take advantage of these methods for saving your side hustle money so it can make a profit. If you can avoid worrying about money, you’ll be able to focus on building a strong business — and you may even find yourself no longer needing your day job.  

The post 5 Ways to Save Money for Your Side Hustle appeared first on ReadWrite.