Only 10% of small businesses survive first five years, and again 10% of them will survive between next five years period. This data underscores that small business ownership is no cakewalk.
Beyond the classic entrepreneurial challenge of making and sustaining a profit, small business owners now struggle to find time and resources to adapt to new technology, say experts.
The pace of technological development is as staggering as the ever-changing ways that consumers engage and utilize it. To stay competitive to consumers and to employees,
small businesses need to adopt and incorporate online technology into their everyday business operations.
To help entrepreneurs navigate new technology and embrace the evolving business operations landscape, I recommend six tips for small business success:
  • Be visible: Even if your business is farming, the importance of having an online presence cannot be overstated. It’s not enough to simply have a website, you need to be discovered. Google frequently changes the way it determines search results rankings. Invest in search engine optimization (SEO) not once, but periodically, to conform to Google’s make-or-break formulas. A solid social media strategy and mobile capacity for your site will also positively impact your search ranking. Put the marketing books away and lean on digital marketing experts to audit your current online presence and build a strategy that works for your budget and grows your customer base.
  • Keep in touch: You may be the one pulling the trigger on big decisions, but that doesn’t mean you are expected to know it all. Seek advice from trusted industry peers or a local mentor through LinkedIn, Business Networking and or any social media. Make time for webinars and networking events. Most importantly, stay connected to friends and family during times of stress. Ask various people about their perception of your services/products.
  • Protect your data: Small businesses are often targets of identity theft.   Create sophisticated passwords to protect sensitive information. Consider investing in a protection service with round-the-clock threat monitoring and recovery support in case of fraudulent activity. Think about restore of your data.
  • Make your sales efficiently: The sale process happens between human beings. You have to know as much as possible information for them. The secret is to add context to your collected data and create valuable information. Adding experience to information enables knowledge.The wisdom as a last stage after knowledge will enable prediction of trends, behaviour and creation of new market places. On the other side it enables up-sales and cross-sales. Cost of sale is approximately 10 times less compared with sale to a new customer.
  • Get smart about taxes: Set up a legal entity for your business online. This will allow you to hold on to more of your income and increase your asset and liability protections. Business taxes can be more expensive and complicated than personal filing, so find an accountant that gets your business. You can greatly benefit from the assistance of online accounting experts. They will help you take advantage of deductions and tax credits and assist you in filing your frequent, varied deadlines on time to avoid penalty.
  • Speed up workforce: New mobile and tablet apps make tedious tasks easier and more efficient. Save your employees’ time and yours also by continual improvements in optimisation, automation and collaboration.
Not sure how to achieve all of the above? Simply give me a shout.