07/26/2023
Tips for Small Business Owners
1. Stay organized. Proper documentation, time management, and automating repeatable tasks can mean the difference between boom and bust.
2. Learn to be flexible. Agile businesses can quickly pivot in response to changing market conditions, while the slow movers struggle not to become obsolete. Lean into your data and be willing to change course. Listen to customer feedback and don’t be too wedded to your own opinions. For example, let’s say you’ve conducted interviews with prospective customers and it turns out your product isn’t well-received or the market for it is too small. Don’t cling to a business idea that won’t float. Be willing to change your business model or pricing strategy if your current approach isn’t working for you. If your website isn’t attracting enough traffic, you may need to ditch that outdated WordPress template you love and debut a more responsive design.
3. Automate as many things as possible. Automating repeatable tasks saves time and ensures small things don’t fall through the cracks. Recently met a prospective client at a networking event? Use your CRM tool to automatically follow up with new contacts within 24 hours or send emails to new leads who visit your website. Use accounting software to automate your day-to-day bookkeeping so you don’t waste time on data entry.
4. Maintain a personal touch. Small businesses are uniquely positioned to offer a personal touch — especially if you have a small team or run the company yourself. Handwritten thank-you notes go a long way. Or, you can include a simple gift alongside the purchase or offer freebies in exchange for reviews.
Use your CRM tool to make notes of personal details for each customer so you can offer more high-touch personalizations. For example, say you’re a jeweler who recently sold a custom engagement ring. You can send a simple wedding gift and a discount offer for a future purchase after the couple marries.
5. Protect your intellectual property. Intellectual property consists of the intangible assets — trademarks, copyrights and patents — that differentiate your ecommerce business from any other.
For a small business, this means protecting things like designs, business ideas and trade secrets. If a competitor tries to copy your product, they can erode your market share and damage your reputation. If you decide to register a trademark or apply for a patent, it’s best to seek an attorney’s help to make sense of the legalese and avoid making minor mistakes (eg: omissions in descriptions or drawings, missing deadlines) that can result in your request being denied.
6. Have a great website. Your website is the seat of your operations — it’s how new leads discover your products, and, unless you run a physical store, the sole method for people to buy from you.
Treat it as sacrosanct. Keep the design clean and simple — limit colors, banner ads and pop-ups — and invest time in proper SEO. Before you build a website, put some serious thought into branding. Branding builds trust and differentiates you from your competitors.
State your brand’s value proposition upfront so first-time visitors understand your offer. Take it from the search engine DuckDuckGo. Its homepage states simply: “Search the web without being tracked” — a worthy appeal to today’s consumers who are concerned about data privacy.
Use high-quality images (stock images don’t build trust) and hire a professional to take photos of all your products. Also, write thorough product descriptions — focus on product benefits, highlight key features and, where possible, tell a story.
7. Create unique content. Post unique photos of your business and your employees on social media — people prefer human faces and real, behind-the-scenes footage over stock photos or videos.
Say you run a bakery. Find a way to bring people into the kitchen by filming your process. If you run a clothing label, create unique lookbooks featuring your female friends as models to show a variety of body shapes and skin tones, rather than hiring models from an agency.
If you’re an interior designer specializing in small spaces, upload videos on YouTube or start a podcast to share DIY tips for renters. Find ways to be authentic, share your expertise and tell the story of your business.
8. Don’t be afraid of data analytics. Web analytics, social media, CRM and financial analytics provide a readout on business performance.
For example, if your website is converting leads, how many potential customers you are attracting each month, whether or not people like your social media content and whether you’re spending more money than you’re bringing in.
These are important things to know. In fact, 67% of small businesses spend more than $10k/year on analytics. If you can’t measure something, you can’t improve it.
If analytics intimidate you, here are a few starting points to get you going:
Use your CRM data to understand your customers: What are their buying habits? What is the average order value? What are they likely to purchase next?
Assess the health of your website: What is the overall website bounce rate? Which product pages generate the most/least conversions? Use heat maps to understand areas where people tend to hover on your web pages.
Determine whether social media works for you: Which posts have the most/least engagement? If you use shoppable social media posts, what is the ROI?
9. Cut costs as needed. Cost control is key to staying afloat — especially in the early days of running an online business. Establish a baseline to measure actual expenses against planned expenses. By looking at budget variances, you can see where your estimates are accurate and where they’re off. Look at where you went off track. What can you cut?
Maybe you can find a different supplier, or buy video editing software from another vendor that offers usage-based pricing since you don’t use the software as much as you thought you would. Take a draconian approach to eliminate inefficiencies like redundant/duplicate processes, underutilized software or unreasonable price markups from vendors.
Payroll is likely to be your biggest expense. Are there any low- or medium-level duties you can delegate to a qualified professional so you can take on a more strategic role in the business?
10. Limit your distractions. Use project management software to collaborate with others and create focused to-do lists daily. Also, stick to your original business purpose. Don’t try to be everything to everyone.
Naturally, you would like to expand your product line and enter new markets eventually, but if you’re still working on your go-to-market strategy and have yet to launch, don’t get distracted by pipe dreams.
Finally, productivity experts recommend working in one-hour blocks with a 15-minute break for peak productivity.
credit to the article tips - https://www.bigcommerce.com/blog/tips-for-small-business-owners/
