The Heebie Jeebies of running a small business

BOO! Made you jump, didn’t it? Halloween is approaching, the ancient Celtic festival where the spirits of the dead make a return to earth. 

Many cultures like Mexico, welcome back the souls with festivities which include lots of food, drink, and celebration. 

Here in the UK, it’s the annual frantic search to find the perfect vampire and witch costume for your little ones, whilst also preparing yourself for a night filled with a constant knock on your door and hoping that your child doesn’t completely vacuum 200 grams of sugar. 

Here at Sayers Solutions, we’ve had a think about what scares us the most, for Sabrina it’s the thought of coffee shops running out of ice…and spiders, whilst for Merewyn it’s the cost of doing business crisis & inequality of women. 

We’ve also thought of the many ways in which running a small business is and can be absolutely terrifying! 

Small businesses face a variety of difficulties, yet a lot of these issues are solvable. You’ll discover that you need to stand back, evaluate your problems, and revise or change your strategy! 

In this blog post, we’ll talk about typical problems that small businesses could run across and offer some practical solutions.

1. Customer acquisition 

Even the largest, most prosperous businesses have individuals working hard every single day to acquire new consumers. Consider the big-name companies like Apple, Nike or McDonald’s. They don’t just sit around waiting for customers. 

But the problem is considerably more serious for small business. When you are not a global superstar, how can you attract customers? 

In addition, there are a lot of channels for acquisition to concentrate on, but how do you decide which ones to prioritise? 

Finding your ideal consumer is the first step towards finding them. You must ensure your message is reaching the correct audience. 

Sayers Solutions recommends that you create an idea of your ideal customer. What they look like and what they do, and once you’ve developed your target audience you can start producing content tailored particularly to it and distributing it through the platforms you already know they frequent with relevant and relatable messages.

2. Reviewing your strategy

Maybe your business is under performing lately. Maybe you’re not getting enough traction or clicks/views on your website. It’s normal to worry, but there’s often an explanation to this & a solution. 

It is beneficial to circle back on your business strategy. 

Remember your aspirations and values, re-evaluate the market, analyse your product or service and see if your ideal customer fits the mix! 

Remember, running a small business shouldn’t just be about surviving and paying the bills- it is about growing and developing. 

If you feel like your business may need a new strategy, Sayers Solutions suggests you start with brainstorming new tactics. For instance, if your goal is to develop lasting business connections with your clients, some possible techniques include offering returning clients more services, providing training, negotiating discounted long-term contracts, etc.

Each approach outlines precise tasks you must complete at specific times! Think about being more proactive, not reactive.

Sayers Solutions has developed a strategic review programme, as part of our 4 Part Plan. The programme is made up of:

1. Where you want to go 
2. Where you are now
3. What are you going to do
4. Measurement 

Whilst we place greater focus on part 2 of the plan, each part is equally as important. Read our designated blog post on strategic reviews here.

3. Brand awareness 

How will customers buy from you if they don’t know who you are? 

According to statistics, 70% of business managers believe that generating an audience is more successful than generating direct sales (O’Brien, 2021). 

As a result, marketing professionals anticipate that increasing brand awareness will be their top priority when implementing marketing strategies. 

As a small business, it might occasionally seem as though the largest names of today just appeared overnight. How did they come to be recognised by everyone? How did they expand that quickly? Can your company expand in the same manner?

One way to do so is starting or keeping on top of a blog!

Building brand awareness will highly benefit from maintaining a regular, high-quality blog. A blog enables you to develop credibility in your field and among your customers in addition to helping to attract traffic to your website and turn that traffic into sales. 

More ways include, investing your time and money into ads, or even partnering or collaborating with another company! This will gain you and your partner double the exposure, benefitting you both equally.

In short, running your business is always scary, not just on Halloween.

Here at Sayers Solutions, we are experts at helping you deal with the heebie jeebies of running your own business. 

Why not get in touch with us and find out how you can get ‘un-stuck’? We can help you review your business strategy (or create a new one) in order to ease your mind and take your business up a notch! 

Similarly you can read more about Sayers Solutions here to find out more about us and what we have to offer for you. 

References:

O’Brien, S. (2021) What is brand recognition? – strategies & benefits, RingCentral UK Blog. RingCentral UK. Available at: https://www.ringcentral.com/gb/en/blog/definitions/brand-recognition/ (Accessed: October 19, 2022).