How a Business Loan Can Help Grow Your Small Business

A small business loan can help you take your business to the next level, but it is important to know which investments will make the biggest impact to your business. CB&S Bank has put together 7 ways that a business loan can help grow your small business.

1. Step up your technology—Stepping up your business' technology can not only help you with your customers but can also help you protect your company... By investing in a customer relationship management (CRM) software, you can learn more about your customers. A CRM software can help you identify customer's purchasing history and all customer interactions. It may also be a good idea to look into added firewall software to help protect your business from hackers.
2. Invest in your employees—I'm sure you've heard the saying, "Employee's are a company's greatest asset". This is particularly true because a happy employee will perform to their best ability, improve your brand's reputation and become your business' biggest advocate. Look into implementing incentive programs, perks and employee benefits to help keep your employees happy and productive. Check out services like CB&S Bank's Workplace Advantage Checking and Simplified Employee Pension if you think that offering your employees the benefit of convenient banking and savings options would be helpful.
3. Update equipment—Don't wait until your current equipment breaks. Be proactive and replace older equipment so that you won't be stuck with an emergency replacement later down the road.
4. Improve your marketing plan—Investing funds into your marketing plan can prove to be beneficial to target new and existing customers, help bring in new business, and help to keep your current customers' business. Some ways that you can improve your marketing plan is to buy new banners/promotional material, attend trade shows, hire freelance writers to create content for your website and social media pages, and you can even run advertisements on social media, television and radio stations.
5. Pay off debts—If you currently have a business line of credit or are using a business credit card with a higher interest rate than your new business loan, devote some of your new funds to paying off your existing debt. By paying off these higher interest lines of credit, you are helping increase your business credit score.
6. Increase inventory—If you're in need of new inventory for your business but do not have the necessary funds to achieve this, a small business loan can help you handle this.
7. Expand—If you're ready to take your business to the next level and expand, a small business loan can be a great way to do that! You could look into opening new locations, open stores at pop-up shops or even explore franchising opportunities.