Recently, I came across an online article written by the one, Georgia McIntyre. The details she put across were alarming, and I thought why not share as many business tips for small businesses.
Why? Well, I believe entrepreneurs need these after reading about how much small businesses fail in the USA. We may argue all day, but the statistics are there for all to see. She said 20% of small businesses fail in their first year, and 30% also fail in their second year. She also said that 50% fail in their first five years, and 70% in the 10th year.\
What we see there is just the word ‘fail’, and one wonders what could be going wrong?
But, I can only say that, you ought to be vigilant in business, because it simply comes with no manual. What I mean is there are no instructions to how you will take your first ‘sharp’ curve in business. And, because there are no instructions, many consistently fail.
As such, it has been reported that almost 47% of all businesses make less than $23,000 annually. This was according to the SPA’s most recent survey. It’s so sad, and we ought to discuss this in detail.
Therefore, I intend to show just how businesses fail:
No instructions are given on conquering everyday business puzzles. You just start your business, and from that moment, the reality is, you are on your own!
I must say, when I read about the shocking statistics from SPA, I got worried for a while. The reason for this was that in today’s world, we got so many technologies for businesses to tap into. It does not matter which size the business is, there is always a software here and there to increase sales.
However, in as much as we use software, sometimes it can’t help increase sales.
There is simply no manual to help you with new tricks when business takes a certain turn. We have seen businesses investing in websites for like $5,000. But, when you make a follow up, they do not have the means to mobilize $5,000 worth of sales.
And, when the maintenance fee for the website, and other costs kick in, the business fails a few months later. I was asking myself, what should be done in such cases? Because surely, we cannot keep counting backwards; entrepreneurs need to be profitable.
My answer is, we require to learn as many growth strategies for small businesses. More so, small businesses fail to manage their income because of neglecting taxation, and bookkeeping. If you find yourself in this category, you also need to learn about bookkeeping tips for small business.
As an accountant with as many clients, I have seen failure, and I have seen success in equal measure. As such, I would like to dwell a little on business owners. These, sometimes, I have observed they do not invest much in their businesses.
In order to garner more sales, you ought to market, and you ought to improve on your product offering. Customers love quality, and they also need the marketing strategy to let them know about your products, and services.
Did you know? Most of your business success is dependent on how successful your marketing strategy is.
Without a proper budget, both in money and time for it, expect less sales growth. And, without a significant sales growth, your business comes down crushing.
These are just facts. Marketing has gone digital, and so has accounting, but I understand cloud computing may be expensive. However, these are investments that you need to make.
Remember, we mentioned before just how you must practice proper bookkeeping to capture all your business patterns. What do I mean by patterns?
Well, these are numbers that tell you how you are making money, or not. When you successfully master this, you then have sort of a manual as in what to do next.
Remember also, we mentioned that business does not come with a manual as in what to do when you hit a sharp curve. But, I want you to know that you pick these up as you move.
And, you can only do this by carefully studying your business trends, as well as how your customers behave. You can learn your customers’ patterns by using digital marketing tools that are available. Invest as much in these.
They tell you exactly what your customers want, and at what time.
It’s just unfortunate that most businesses ignore this. In a 2017 survey by Smart Insights, only 34% of businesses agreed to have a defined digital marketing strategy integrated into their overall marketing strategy.
And, 17% had it in a separate document, which really does not help. A huge 49% did not have a defined digital marketing strategy at all!
I will re-emphasize, businesses do not come with a manual that is clearly defined.
Every trick and development angle, you learn them as you study your customers, and sales patterns. Thus, ignoring marketing, and the technology that comes with it, is tantamount to digging your own business’ grave.
Besides marketing, there is the work that you have to put into your product.Product development must be an ongoing process, and deliberate too. There is no such a point where you would have made it. I speak mostly to small businesses, therefore, at such a stage, everyone must surely have room to improve their products.
As a parting shot, I would like to mention something that’s very important, something like a business tip for entrepreneurs. Most of the work for successful businesses is done behind the scenes.
You should never underestimate the power of hiring an accountant to look at your numbers.
And, you should never underestimate the power of hiring a marketer to look at your sales patterns.Once you have these in place, you have the power to develop your own business manual.
More importantly, when starting a business, tell yourself that you have nothing to refer to (like a manual). Therefore, you have to work hard to develop one that’s unique to your business.
