Taking on Small Business: 10 Tips for New Business Owners

Whether your business is just starting out or you’re in need of some advice, a few tips to increase efficiency and build a better business model may be the answers you’re looking for right now.

The Right Place at the Right Time

Amid a global pandemic seems like a terrible time to start your business, but many are finding success despite obvious challenges. In fact, the U.S Census Bureau reported a 43% increase in business applications compared to the same period in 2019. Many people love the idea of being their own boss and creating an innovative product worthy of praise. But before you bring your product to market, be sure to reflect on your goals and discover your business values. 

Who Are You?

A simple enough question, right? Wrong. It requires a great deal of self-discovery and recognition of your businesses’ inherent weaknesses. Asking difficult questions now will lead you on the journey to brand discovery. Every facet of your business will benefit as a result of these reflections and will inform designing your logo, product labels, business cards – even your website.

Bring Designs to Life

Once you’ve discovered your brand’s ethos and pathos, then it’s time to design your logos.   

Obviously you’ll want to enlist some help in areas outside of your expertise, like hiring a designer to turn your logo dreams into realities. Designers will work to bring your creative visions to life. Templates are also available to make the whole process less difficult. 

Teamwork Makes Your Dreams Work

Now that you’ve got the ball rolling, it may be time to pass it off to a team of talented individuals. Assembling a team is imperative to the growth of business. You’ll want to build a versatile, valuable, and passionate team to make your business stronger.  Taking a DIY approach when building your team will bring creative synergy and a more specialized team means stronger communication. Utilizing the skillsets of your employees is another way to build a team and reduce your workload, allowing for optimization in other areas.

The Greats Delegate

A true leader realizes the limitations and gaps in their own knowledge and brings in talented individuals to fill said deficiencies. Bringing in talent is one way to work more efficiently, as is automating certain tasks. 

Automation Nation

Automation is everywhere, and at this point, almost everything can be automated. A wide range of business tools exists to help in your efforts to build a hyper-focused workforce.

– Project management systems like Hive, Trello, Basecamp, and Asana will assist in planning and tracking the status of your projects.

– Social Media Management applications like Buffer and Hootsuite will simplify your social media posts by creating social media calendars. 

– Implementing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) programs like Salesforce and Mailchimp will greatly improve your customer communications. 

Be Personal

It is said that people buy brands not products. The psychology behind what inspires customers to buy products is full of explanations as to why customers buy, but it usually boils down to customer experience. Injecting personality and great storytelling in your marketing materials are two ways to build customer loyalty. In a study by Smarter HQ, they found that 72% of consumers say they only engage with personalized messaging. 

Everyone loves great storytelling and wants to feel a connection to a brand, and that is more valuable than just a great product. In your physical location and online spaces you’ll want to create memorable experiences. Simple visiting cards can inspire your customers to visit or revisit your business, and if they are written in a personal, engaging manner, they can be helpful tools for new customer acquisition too. These moments build trust with your customer base and help develop brand loyalty. In fact a study by Evergage found that 98% of marketers say personalization advances customer relationships. 

Customer is King

Each new customer is an opportunity for your company to grow. In many cases, customers are the most important aspect of your business. If you reward your customers with a great product they will be more likely to become spokespeople for your brand. So making their first experience with your brand feel special with grand opening banners is a way to make them excited to be in your store. 

What Reviews Can Do

A Reevoo data study found that having reviews on your website can provide a sales increase of 18%. Inversely, the same Reevoo study found that bad reviews will deter 67% of customers from making a purchase. 

Prime Example

Have you heard of DoorBot? The company was behind the smart doorbell and it’s original release garnished 323 negative reviews online, everything from faulty doorbells to hardware malfunctions were written about the product within its first months on the market. 

The owner spent nine months answering every customer email, calling angry customers, and making house calls to repair broken doorbells. That level of determination and customer care is something to strive for and it pays off. Maybe you’ve heard of his company after it was renamed: Ring and is currently worth $1B. Granted, other factors attributed to its success, but the fundamental takeaway is how customer satisfaction can make or break your product.