Author: Sara Chinnoy

The Importance of Record-Keeping for a Business Owner

Good record-keeping is essential for any business owner. Whether you’re managing your expenses, understanding legal principles could be for regulatory or tax reasons, or simply improving your business management. Collecting, storing, and effectively utilising your business information is crucial.

So why do you keep track of your data? What data should you store and how long should the recorded data stay in your database?

Keeping Records to Improve Management

Business experts often advise that the key to growing is setting appropriate targets or SMART goals. When we talk about record keeping, the key here is the M, or measurable. Without sufficient data, it would be impossible to measure your current stance and how to go about it.

Financial records of data such as expenses, revenues, and profits should be accessible from your accounting system. Information about the work you’ve done, for which client, what’s the due date and when it should be readily available from your job management system, whilst information of customers should be made available from your Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system if you have one.

Talking about keeping the financial records safe, there’s an app exclusively designed for small and medium-sized businesses. It goes by the name Udhaar App.

Udhaar is a credit management app for retail and wholesale business owners who generally do not involve cash in their transactions. Once the transaction takes place on credit, the app will remember it till the time the payment is recovered. Not only that, but it will also send an automated text to all those customers whose payments are due along with the deadline and transaction details.

Creating an Expert System For Employees to Expand and Develop

Saving information so your employees can retrieve it can help them grow, learn, and evolve. Simply encouraging your employees by making key information accessible to them can also help them make decisions without any assistance.

Keeping Good Records to Utilise Time More Effectively

The famous author Michael Gerber in his book ‘The E-myth revisited – Why most small businesses fail and what to do about it’, emphasizes that one of the reasons businesses don’t succeed is that the owners allot too much time for daily routine tasks.

Using a job management system to keep a track of what tasks have already been done and when is the next task due can help determine where your time is being spent and where you should spend it for more productivity.

How Long Should You Retain Information?

With the dropping costs of data storage and retrieval, essentially the information must be kept indefinitely. Also to abide by legal regulations, if you’re a partnership or a sole-proprietor, you have to keep your records for at least five years. Whereas Corporations are advised to keep their Tax records for at least six years from the end of that accounting period.

To sum up, when running your business it’s significantly important to maintain useful records. However, it’s not just about storing information, you also need the management systems and processes to efficiently use and analyze those records.

Small Business Marketing Strategies For 2021

strategies for businesses in 2021 latest

We all are aware of the fact that 2020 has given a tough time to everybody, especially small businesses – not just in Pakistan, but in many countries all over the world.

The Coronavirus pandemic, unleashed at the end of 2019, has delivered a massive body blow to the retail industry. The result of the situation is very unpleasant leaving countries with an increased unemployment rate.

The good news is that the lockdowns imposed in most parts of the world have been lifted and the small businesses have started to gain their lost revenues back.

Now, the point of discussion is – how can you increase your sales and revenue in 2021 given that you’re a small business owner? Let’s take a look.

Expand Your Online Presence

Research shows that a majority of consumers prefer to go through customer reviews before buying any product or service. This is mainly because consumers feel more comfortable when they know that other people are using the same product without complaining about it. This is why it is significant for you to get your business online as soon as you can.

Ideally, you should start with major social media channels like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Also, request your customers to review your products. If someone is unhappy with your services, connect with them immediately, and rectify the issue. These measures might seem simple but they can build a significant online presence and also establish goodwill among your consumer base.

Invest in eCommerce

If there’s one thing that this pandemic has taught us is that every individual should get their hands on eCommerce. Even before this pandemic, the number of people who bought from physical stores was declining constantly – especially from the clothing industry, while the number of online buyers kept rising by leaps and bounds.

Now that 2020 is over and the virus is still hovering over our heads, people have developed a habit of buying everything they need digitally. So, start your online store (if you already have one, read the next point for cost-free marketing) so that your customers can buy 24/7 whatever and wherever they need using their cellphones, tablets, or computers without exposing themselves to the danger out there.

Learn Cost-Free Marketing Tactics

Having no funds for marketing at the moment is understandable but using it as a reason to procrastinate can be devastating for your business. Everything in business is linked by a chain, your sales and revenue won’t increase unless you market your new products properly.

So, if you’re hustling with money right now, don’t worry. Try some free marketing tactics such as the Udhaar app’s free marketing tool. Udhaar app is an app for retailers to manage their credit and recover their outstanding payments from their customers and clients instantly.

Udhaar app has a free marketing tool with which you may share any new offer, promotion, discount, deals, information, or a special message with a simple or using an appealing banner to promote your product or service to a broader audience. Similar to this tool, there are hundreds of other tactics that you can use for free marketing.

Udhaar App – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)

Udhaar Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Udhaar App is an excellent tool for managing business operations and getting cash recovered instantly. As a credit management application, Udhaar App has not only been trending in Pakistan but also around the world. The growing popularity of the app has got customers into asking about the working and functionality of the app. Therefore, we bring you the answers to the most frequently asked questions. Let’s dive in.

Where can I find this app?

Download the Udhaar app straight from the PlayStore or easily by clicking this link here

How do I create an account?

Setting up an Udhaar account is an easy 3-step process. As soon as you download the Udhaar app, open the app on your smartphone. From here, you will be asked to choose the language you’re comfortable with (English, Urdu, Roman Urdu, Sindhi). For the next step, you’ll be guided to enter the mobile number you want to get registered with the app, and verify the phone number through an automated OTP (One-Time-Pin) generated and sent to your phone via SMS. If the code is not submitted automatically, please open your inbox and enter the code into the app.

On entering the correct code, you’ll now be redirected to a screen where you’ve to enter your personal information such as your Name, Business Name, and Business Category. Here “Business Name” refers to the name of your shop/store, and “Business Category” refers to the sector or area of your business operations.

Setting up an Udhaar account is a one-time and 2-minute process. Once the account is created, you just have to log in and carry on with your business.

How do I add the first customer?

After successful signup, you’ll be redirected to your Home Screen. On the bottom right corner of the screen, you will see a circular green-colored button. Clicking on this button will give you the option to add a customer through your contact list or enter a customer manually.

If you choose to add a customer through your phonebook, just type the customer’s name, and confirm.

If you choose to add a customer manually you will be required to fill in their name and number (customer’s number is optional, but to get the most out of your experience using a digital Khata app, we suggest you fill all the fields).

How do I give udhaar/credit to customers?

After creating a customer account, you can either add transactions straight from a personal chat room or you can access this feature on your home screen by tapping on your customer’s name.

Afterward, you’ll have two options at the bottom of the screen: “Accept Payment” (in Green) and “Give Udhaar” (in Red). Clicking the “Give Udhaar” button in Red will move you on to the next screen where you can enter the Udhaar amount you want to give to the customer. You can further choose from the options like, whether you would like to send auto-reminders to the respective customer or add notes for the Udhaar given to the customer as your own reminder and so much more.

What’s the Idea Behind “Udhaar Recovery”?

How to recover outstanding payments from customer and clients?

Let me tell you a short story of a shop owner named Ahtesham and his customer Haider. Residing in the same society, both have known each other for years. Both Ahtesham and Haider were honest and happened to be trustworthy.

Haider was on good terms with Ahtesham and also Ahtesham’s regular customer. Haider used to buy each and every routine products and services like rashion, easyload, etc from Ahtesham all month, and would make the payment altogether at the start of the next month. Since there was a long list of transactions, they both used to write down details of all transactions in their own respective Khata Registers.

About one day, Haider visited Ahtesham’s shop. He bought whatever he wanted and as always, asked Ahtesham to write it in the register. Coincidently, Ahtesham was really busy with other customers so he told Haider that he would note it down some time later. Ahtesham, later that day, noted Haider’s udhaar details in his register.

Then days passed Haider kept on buying from Ahtesham. The next month arrived, Haider came to the shop to clear all the outstanding dues for the previous month. As they began tallying their hisaab-kitaab, there was a mismatch of amount in the khata of that day which made Haider really furious.

Here Ahtesham was in a complicated situation because deep down he wasn’t sure about his own hisaab and couldn’t remember it as it was more than 15 days old. Haider, on the other hand, was getting angrier because he goes through this hassle every other month. The complexity of the situation got Ahtesham into thinking whether to trust Haider or his own Khata.

If Ahtesham drops the argument, he might lose some money and if he trusts his own Khata, he might end up losing a loyal customer like Haider.

This story is about one customer but talking to Ahtesham made me realize that he comes across a number of such Haider each day. They do business with each other because of the trust established between them and this trust should never be lost.

So, for the shop owners to keep this trust alive there’s a strong need for transparency where both parties get notified as soon as a new transaction takes place or both the parties have access to each other’s register of hisaab-kitaab.

This is one of the business owners key issues we are trying to solve. Small shop owners sell goods on credit, lose their Khata register, lose their money, and then start again from sqaure one.

To cater to this problem, we came up with Udhaar App – a simple solution to the age old “Udhaar Recovery”.

About Udhaar App

Udhaar is a free application for personal and commercial use. It helps you manage credit (Udhaar) with customers and suppliers directly through your smartphone.
Udhaar app is an online ledger (like an online khata or journal) to record your outstanding debt, and send auto reminders to customers to increase collection and cash flow.

Automate Your Small Business

Automation is taking the business world by storm, all hail to the new stream of algorithmic technology that’s accessible for everyone to use. Now brands, regardless of sizes, can create their own automated mechanisms to transform their venture into a more productive, effective, and profitable business.

In this blog, we’re going to cover some of the key steps to reconstructing your business with automation.

Choose The Tasks You Think Can Be Automated

Be careful, if you think of it as too obvious or simple. Selecting the right tasks is absolutely crucial and this is where most businesses put their efforts to a false start with automation – so don’t fall into the same trap.

First, you need to examine how automation works and what you can achieve from it because there are plenty of tasks that can be automated, but you probably shouldn’t. There are a plethora of tools for automating web design, translation, content writing, and everything else you could do if you are a business owner or a marketer – but most of the time all you do is insufficient.

So What Kind of Tasks Should You be Automating?

If you’re a business owner, outstanding payments are the most crucial aspect of running a business when it comes to streamlining cash flows. If you are looking to automate collection processes, the Udhaar app might be the right choice for you.

Udhaar is a free application for personal and commercial use. It helps you manage credit with customers and suppliers directly through your smartphone.

Udhaar app is an online ledger (like an online digi-khata or credit book) to record your outstanding debt, and send auto-reminders to customers to increase collection and cash flow.

Set Your Automation Targets

Spending on automation tools and investing time in establishing new workflows won’t make any sense if they don’t add profit to your business. So before you put effort into creating new workflows, please ensure you set definite targets that you can use to pave the way for success and refine your processes.

Be specific with clear goals, set targets for each quarter, and be on your way to gauge success.

Track Results and Refine Processes

Without specific targets and the right KPIs, you are going to have trouble measuring what sort of impact automation is having on your workflow. Essentially, you won’t be able to point out opportunities to define your automation and maximise results.

A simple alteration to your workflow can add thousands or even more to your profitability when you enable automation to multiply tasks to almost unlimited.

Start Small and Build From There

The key to set up automation is to think big, start small, and build your business over time. Scrutinize your previous processes, track outcomes, and redefine your workflows for better results before you make efforts adding complex automation into the mix.

The said procedure is a lot more gradual but also gets faster to come to terms with. With a blink of an eye, you’ll be sharing your own blogs complementing about how high your conversion rate is thanks to your latest automation.

Should You Sell to Customers on Credit?

The best thing about retail sales is immediately getting paid after making the sale. The customer pays in cash or uses a credit card and the transaction ends right there. Unfortunately, the process isn’t the same for everyone, some businesses are different.

Credit requests or demands usually put you in an odd position, especially if you own a small or medium-sized business. Selling on credit to a client who has a good history is a good decision, provided your current cash flow can support it. On the other hand, setting terms with a client who has bad credit can go otherwise.

Always remember, the only thing worse than losing a sale is making the sale and not getting paid for it.

Offering Credit can be a Sales Tool

Offering credit to commercial clients can be an important sales strategy. It can help you close a greater number of deals, especially if you can afford to be more generous than the rest of the market. If utilized cautiously, credit can help you grow much faster and take things to the next level.

However, credit can also become a double-edged sword as you undertake additional financial risks – sometimes unnecessary. Unpaid Invoices from clients drag your finances and if you give credit to the wrong client on a bulk sale, the damage may be beyond recovery. Therefore, offer credit very carefully.

Who should be offered credit?

Offer a net 30-day deadline only to companies that you think can afford to repay in time. Examining this creditworthiness may appear difficult, but it is often very productive. Commercial credit reports on companies are easily available. Unlike consumer credit reports, corporate credit reports don’t require special permission.

The information in these reports is helpful. They accumulate the payment histories of your clientele and offer a way to determine if your potential client is creditworthy.

At times, making the right credit decision is like hitting the bullseye, especially when the information is distorted. Thus, it’s not possible to be right every time. Your objective should be to manage risk and make informed decisions rather than eliminating all risk.

What if you can’t afford to offer terms?

The challenge that small companies often come across is the fact that offering credit creates cash flow problems. Non-payments and delayed payments often result in lost revenues. If you don’t have reserves sufficient to cover your expenses while waiting for payment, you’ll eventually run into problems. These problems can affect your business when it’s growing and derail your finances.

One way to solve this problem is to become a sword and hover over your client’s head. Not all of them but only the spoiled ones. One easy way to get your money recovered is to use the Udhaar app. This app is a blessing for Small retailers who usually trade on credit and have their payments outstanding. With the Udhaar app, you can send auto-reminders and customized reminders with a deadline and details of the transaction to your creditors and get your money back 10 times faster.

One last word of advice

If you have never offered credit to clients, you should start now. Start slowly, give yourself time to understand how your cash flow works, and be prepared to deal with sudden cash shortages. Lastly, start building a reliable cash reserve to tap if clients start paying slower than expected.

Udhaar App Ki Chote Businesses Mai Kamyabi Ki Wajah

Kia aap koi business ya dukaan chala rahe hain? Jese kiryana store, medical store, sabzi ki dukaan, mobile ki dukaan, mechanic ki dukaan, stationary shop, ya kuch or?

Agar han, to ap ko Udhaar ka masla zarur pesh ata hoga jab customers choti bari chezen Udhaar par le jate hain lekin kisi waja se lotana bhool jate hain. Continue reading

Udhaar App Dusri Khata Apps Se Kis Tarah Behter Hai

Apni dukaan ka lain dain or munafa barhane ka sab se acha tarika hai ke 1 digital credit management system ko khush-amdeed kahen. Dukaan ka Udhaar sar ka dard ban sakta hai jab ap bhool jaen kisne – kis din – kitna udhaar par saman lia tha.

Khush-kismati se technology ne is problem ka hal bhe nikal lia or 1 shandar ap banai jis ka naam Udhaar rakha, takey jo dukaandar Udhaar par saman bechte hain, un ke nuqsaan ko kam se kam kia jae or Udhaar par business ko asaan bnaya jae.Continue reading

Udhaar App – Karobar Ko Banaen Digital

Ap ke karobar mai finance management software, inventory management software, or apke business ka saathi Udhaar app, kisi naimat se kam nahi. Tamam dukaandar, dukan ke malkaan or hara tarah ka karobar karne wale log Udhaar App se faida utha rahe hain.Continue reading

How Can You Offer Credit and Manage Risk?

Trade on credit often motivates customers to pace up and increase the amount of their spending that otherwise may not be possible. Some businesses choose to offer credit and gain a competitive advantage in the industry. Maintaining a balance between increased sales and the risk of reduced cash flow is a significant part of risk management in your business.

Considering the nature of your business and number of transactions, you may choose not to offer credit to new customers. Before offering a credit facility, understand the following.

What sort of risk comes along with offering credit

Reduction in cash flow

Waiting for customers to pay reduces your ability to order new sets of inventory from suppliers. Many businesses also consider debt financing to reduce this risk.

Reduction in profit margin

Providing credit sales often reduces your profit margin and the worst part is, the cost of this only appears in your financial statement. So, you better study the pricing of your products and services before they backfire.

Large debts

Several outstanding debts can pose a risk to your business. This particularly happens if you are exposed to various single transactions.

Perform A Credit Check

A credit check is one of the strategies you can use to fix the risk of bad debt. Before you sell goods on credit, have them complete some sort of contract and sign a credit application form to denote consensus.

What to collect from individuals:

a confirmation that they have read and understood the terms and conditions and have agreed to abide by them
Identification of customers and their contact details
Permission to conduct a credit check when necessary

What to collect from corporate clients:

comprehensive information of all owners, directors or partners
3 trade credit references, at least
Confirmation of the applicant to ensure they have read and understood the terms and conditions and have agreed to abide by them.

Another way to perform a credit check easily is to automate the process. Preferably for small businesses that sell to individual customers every minute.

A credit management application to note down every transaction as soon as it takes place and sends a message to the customer mentioning the details of the transaction and the deadline to pay their dues.

Udhaar App is a simple, easy, and reliable business application for personal and commercial use that manages your daily business khata efficiently and offers features such as free SMS reminders, daily, weekly, and monthly account statements, notes, and whatnot.

Keep a track of debtors

You can either use Udhaar App if you want to be things as simple or you can use a good filing system to keep track of customers. This will assist you to follow up outstanding payments and keep balanced cash flow.