Month: December 2011

NOTE: Most of our case studies are real-world examples of BSA clients. This is an exception where I want to show how a bit of thought can help you make daily deal marketing work for you -and how to avoid the horror stories. See here how some minor changes can turn a horror story into a goldmine:

Notes:

1. I have ignored the fees taken by the Deal Site – clearly these must be considered in the real world.

2. This case assumes no repeat sales. As we all know(!) repeat business is the key to real profitability.

    Capturing the   details of new customers and then going back to them to keep in touch can really make

    those cupcakes fly out of the door.

3. No amount of marketing will make up for poor cupcakes in the end!

  Many people have heard the story of the local Cupcake baker who nearly went bust when their deal on Groupon swamped them. Clearly daily deals can give a real boost to your business but how do you make sure you get the maximum benefit and don’t let the success backfire…. Here are 4 key tips – the anatomy of a great deal….  

1. Don’t over commit yourself

• Get some idea of what response you might expect. Ask the deal site for stats on how many users they have and typical numbers/percentage of deals taken up in your sector.
• Think carefully about your capacity to delver on the deal.
• Put a limit on the number of deals available. If you sell out it makes for great publicity and you can normally rerun the deal later.

2. Price your deal carefully

• The deal site will give you advice on the levels of discount you should be offering.
• Be clear about your objectives. Are you looking to make meaningful profit on the deal or using it to build your customer base where your real benefit comes from repeat business?
• Make sure you know your real costs and be VERY careful about offering a deal price that doesn’t at least cover these.
• How much do your customers normally spend with you? If you set the value of your deal below this amount you can realise significant overspend on the deal – more revenue to you.

3. Get your timing right

• Let your deal redemption run for a reasonable time so that you don’t get everyone coming at once.
• Don’t let redemption run forever. A time limit puts more focus in your customer’s mind.
• If you have busier and quieter days, set the redemtion to finish when you are normally quieter in case there is a last minute rush.

4. Think about terms or restrictions you could impose

• Limit the number of vouchers that can be purchased by one person.
• Limit the deal to new customers only.
• Only allow redemptions during times when you are normally quiet.
• Require voucher customers to complete a registration card.

Hopefully these tips will give you some focus on how Daily Deals may work for you. And finally, here are a couple more thoughts: Remember that the Deal Site will take a significant commission from your deal price – don’t forget to include this in your costs. If you are looking to build your customer base don’t forget to record customer details when they redeem their vouchers. We have seen a client assume they would be given a list of all voucher purchasers by the Deal Site only to find out, when it was too late, and this was not the case. Their deal was offered at pretty much cost price so they ended up with a great deal of work for nothing. To demonstrate our approach, I have put together a (dummy) case study showing how the Cupcake company could have made things work out better. Click here to take a look Here is a link I found to a site listing lots of UK Daily-Deal sites    

As it’s the week before Christmas we thought we would put the marketing ideas on hold & offer a little light distraction with a new game we’ve found. We found it very addictive – once we realised you needed to click to jump the snow-drifts! Here is the link to the 2011 BSA Christmas Diversion

Tax Returns are just one of those things you have to deal with – a bit like dentists – but unlike your dentist, there are serious penalties for missing your appointment and this year they are more draconian than ever. Thank you to Peter Hayes from Newland Hayes Accountants for this timely reminder.

Penalties for missing your Tax Return deadline

Note: These penalties relate to filing your Tax Return, NOT paying any tax you may owe. All penalties are CUMULATIVE!

1 Day Late

A fixed penalty of £100. This applies even if you have no tax to pay!

3 Months Late

£10 per day for each day late after the first day up to a 90 day maximum – £900

12 Months Late

£300 or 5% of the tax due whichever is higher. In serious cases you may have to pay up to 100% of the tax due. All of the above penalties are cumulative.

Here is an example:

Mrs A’s tax return is due on 31st January 2012 but HMRC don’t receive it until 5th August 2012 Mrs A’s return is over 6 months late so she will have to pay the following penalties: £100 fixed penalty PLUS £900 penalty – i.e. £10 per day for the 90 days from 1st May 2012 to 29th July 2012 PLUS £300 or 5% of the tax due whichever is higher A total of AT LEAST £1300 – and this is even if she had paid her tax on time! You have been warned! If you need any help with your Tax Return do get in touch with Peter who will be able to help.