Author: Evan Hoeflich

Most small businesses don’t make it beyond the first year. Every startup creator needs to worry about more competitors than ever and the changes in technology are putting additional pressure on businesses as well.

If you want your business to succeed, you need to put systems in place that will allow you to rise above the competition and grow the company quickly and smoothly. This can be accomplished only if you know what makes your startup unique and who your customers really are.

Prepare to increase capacity

Setting up a business takes a lot of money and preparation and business owners usually borrow just enough to open the doors, keep the lights on and operate on their own for the first month or so. It’s a mistake to approach the business in this way. In fact, there should be plans to expand the business from day one.

It is an additional cost and sometimes that can be challenging, but try to expand your capacities both in terms of infrastructure and manpower. That way, you can grab any opportunity that comes along and step into the big shoes right away.

Finding a strategic partner

New startups can benefit greatly from finding a strategic partner that can help them out during their first year. Strategic partners are a much better option than taking out larger loans because getting tied in with a bank can be troublesome for small businesses.

A strategic partner is someone who will buy your products or services in bulk in exchange for cross-promotion and thus help you combat the uncertainty that comes with starting and running a new business.

Advertising

Advertising efforts need to start right away if you want your business to be set apart from the competitors and get noticed within the business community. This can only be done if you know your customers and which of their needs aren’t being met right now.

Building and maintaining a brand, doesn’t have to be an expensive endeavor that will require you to take out long-term loans. In fact, promotional products, such as promotional caps, USB drives and mugs, could be the most effective ways to market a business and they are rather inexpensive. If these items contain your logo and some basic info, they can go a long way in promoting the company as long as you put them in the right hands. Another excellent and also essential advertising/marketing method is Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which can be done with very little expense if you learn to do it on your own.

New streams of revenue

Relying on just one revenue stream is one of the most dangerous things a business can do. That means that any problem that might emerge with that revenue stream can completely stop or even destroy your business.

There are numerous ways of handling this problem early on. The simplest option is to try to offer additional services or products that will generate income independent of your main line of work. However, this isn’t available to everyone, since it requires resources. Another way to go is to streamline some of your services to the industry you’re working in and create a business-to-business side of your work.

There are no clear rules on how to make a business a success. However, there are problems that all businesses face and preparing to deal with them early on can help a startup avoid some of the common mistakes and grow exponentially.

Author Bio:

Carolin Petterson is a Business Lady/Content Marketer and contributor for a number of high-class business and marketing websites.

Any comments or questions?

Leave them in the comments section below!

Sound business organization revolves around figuring out the most effective systems and procedures and putting them in place. So, you do not need a hefty budget to make sure your operations are running like clockwork. Do not waste time boiling the ocean. Find a way to make changes with minimum friction and avoid jeopardizing the quality of your work, service, and offerings. In other words, master the art of doing more with less. Get your priorities in order, allocate resources accordingly and spur sustainable growth.

Office purge

A good place to start your organizing efforts is the physical work environment (or if you work from home, the same applies). Take a good look at your environment and identify sources of clutter and disarray. Keep desks and workstations neat with all the necessary equipment and supplies close at hand. Digitize the office as much as possible to reduce the amount of paper you hoard. Bear in mind that employing smart, vertical storage solutions is a great way to facilitate uninterrupted workflow. This tidying up process will enable everyone to perform at the highest level and minimize distractions.

Financial house cleaning

Furthermore, make an effort to get your financial house in order. Establish a system for tracking and recording expense receipts. Consider implementing accounting platforms and apps to make your life easier.  Dive into data to anticipate holes in the cash flow and patch them up. To pull it off, proactively manage invoices, billing and payments –programs such as FreshBooks are of great help here. Oh, and do yourself a favor and remember to prepare for meeting tax obligations well ahead of time.

Tech tools of the trade

Technology is a big game-changer for small businesses. It allows them to enter the big leagues and advance by strides. There are numerous applications, from using business intelligence programs to support decision making, to hiring virtual assistants and monitoring employees via solutions like Xnspy. And in case you need to take care of a fleet of vehicles, check out car GPS tracking tools to foster transparency across the board and streamline management tasks. Whatever you do, avoid staying behind the competition.

Optimizing customer service

Next, focus your attention on customers, the heart and soul of your business. Firstly, make sure that you use proper channels to reach them and try to send consistent messages. There are various platforms you can take advantage of to automate management across touch points and make the interactions smoother and more effective. Also, have a dedicated team for these tasks, as well as for social media profiles. In this day and age, they can be utilized as powerful customer service tools.

Smart marketing strategy

Speaking of digital media, you also need to structure your marketing campaigns in this realm. Narrow down the focus to fewer networks in case you notice that your activities do not bear fruit on some of them. Put together a content calendar to schedule posts for maximum exposure. Note that it is also possible to manage content beforehand, with the help of various handy tools.  Finally, optimize your online presence to boost visibility and ranking in search engines.

Get on the fast tracks

If you really mean business, it is time to get organized. This is to say you should try working smarter instead of just pushing harder. First off, purge your office and manage finances better. Make the best use of resources you have at your disposal and fine-tune your organizational structure. Automate some of the core processes to save precious time and money. Rest assured that all the time and money you invest today will pay dividends down the road. You will be able to make a real difference and lay the foundations for success in 2018 and beyond.

Author Bio:

Diana Smith is a full time mom of two beautiful girls interested in topics related to finances and latest business technologies. In her free time she enjoys exercising and preparing healthy meals for her family. Follow Diana her on Twitter and Google+.

Are you using any of these tips?

Small businesses used to thrive on their standing in the community and word of mouth advertising. These are still very useful and there’s nothing that can replace them, but they are no longer enough if you want your small business to succeed.

You need to have a marketing campaign that is equal to those of big businesses, at least in terms of organization and planning. As soon as you start working on your business plan, you need to bear in mind how important your marketing efforts are going to be.

Live Streaming

Pivoting to video is the trend that’s taking over all media organizations including the news, and marketing is going to have to follow suit. This is a very simple tool for keeping your viewers engaged because it seems to be unedited and unscripted (and sometimes it actually is.)

It’s also one of the cheapest marketing options out there, especially because it allows you to rely on the videos submitted by your users and customers. That way, you’re getting free promotion and showcasing your product as it’s being used at the same time.

More Personalized Campaigns

The data your customers leave online can help you make your marketing campaign much more personalized. Broad campaigns that are made to capture as wide an audience as possible aren’t as effective as they used to be. The users want to see that a brand cares about them personally and that it values their loyalty.

These campaigns don’t necessarily need to be more expensive. Since most of the shopping is done online, marketing efforts could be automated. The creative work still needs to be done by people, but all the infrastructure-related work can be arranged inexpensively.

Influencers

The campaign needs to be adapted to the channel it’s using. This requires additional work and makes the companies really focus on what the strengths of their business and their product are. When you decide to use social media as the main focus of your campaign, you need to create a message that’s suited to them.

For the majority of social media, that means choosing the right influencers to support and promote your business. Their influence doesn’t have to expand beyond social media and the industry, but it needs to be felt where it matters.

Offline Tactics

It often feels like online branding is all there is and that your business will do fine if it focuses only on social media and blogs. This is not the case for the vast majority of companies. You still need to try hard and get to the customers that don’t spend most of their time online.

For those working in the corporate world, promotional products are the easiest way of doing this. These products need to be something your clients can actually use, like promotional USB drives or notebooks and office supplies. Just make sure to place your logo and relevant info where everyone using the product can see it.

B2B Marketing

It’s important for a small business to diversify its sources of income. That way, it can avoid risks and have something to fall back on, even if there are a few rough months in terms of sales. One of the ways to avoid this is to sell some of your products directly to businesses in your industry. Selling in bulk could provide you with an additional income and a plan B.

This also means that some of your marketing efforts need to be focused on the businesses themselves and placed in industry-related publications that have a small readership, but wield great influence.

Mobile Apps

Mobile apps are one of the most convenient ways of marketing your company. They are always available to users and they provide the company with a lot of useful data to work with while making the campaign better. They could also be used to promote content of all kinds and in every medium.

Investing in this form of advertising could be a great move for a small business because it shows that you’re trying to stay on top of trends and make the most of new technology.

New Content

Producing new content in the form of blogs and videos was always one of the most important ways of staying in touch with the audience. Now, there’s a kind of content that helps with this more than any other. It’s educational and tutorial-type videos and blogs that are going to be huge in the years to come.

This content has such an appeal because it provides a value to your readers that they don’t need to pay for and that comes with supporting the brand. It’s a useful tool for both promoting the brand and working on customer loyalty.

Marketing a small business requires a plan and a long-term vision. It’s something you need to work on with diligence and all of your professional skills.

Author Bio:

Diana Smith is a full time mom of two beautiful girls interested in topics related to finances and latest business technologies. In her free time she enjoys exercising and preparing healthy meals for her family. Follow Diana her on Twitter and Google+.

Let us know what you think!