Being a small business owner is a full-time job. Your employees and customers depend on you, and there’s no one else to turn to if things go wrong. Whether you are a new business owner or have been running your company for many years, there’s always more to learn. Here are ten ways to guarantee the long-term success of your business.
1. Develop Your Vision
The best way to get yourself off to a good start or give your business a refresh is to create a business plan. Know what you want your business to look like in five, ten and twenty years. Set both large and small goals for yourself. Be prepared to share this information with your business partners or investors.
2. Create a Marketing Strategy
Whether you offer property maintenance services or run a restaurant, marketing your business is an important part of reaching new and existing customers. Create a marketing budget and decide whether or not you will hire a marketing firm. If money is tight, you may choose to handle all marketing and advertising in-house. Brainstorm the best way to reach your audience and choose the appropriate channels to use.
3. Harness the Power of Social Media
If you are a business owner, there is no excuse to avoid social media. Choose one or two platforms and use them regularly. You don’t need to post every day and you should feel free to think outside the box. You may even want to give social media duties to a trusted employee. Think of social media as another way to reach your customer base. Remember to keep your content fun and relevant. Post interesting photos and videos, and don’t forget to advertise any sales or discounts.
4. Keep Detailed Records
Keep detailed records of your inventory, income and customer information. This is important from a legal standpoint, but also so that you can know the precise status of your business when it comes to finances. If your business isn’t thriving, you should know about it right away so that you can make a plan to increase sales.
5. Be Prepared to Make Sacrifices
Running a business means being on call both day and night. It might be something as critical as dealing with a serious customer service issue or as simple as changing the lightbulbs. Regardless, as a small business owner, it falls on you to make sure everything is done correctly. You should expect that running a business will mean doing more work than you would if you worked for someone else. This may mean sacrificing hobbies and time with loved ones.
6. Build a Strong Team
Hire people that you trust and that you are confident will do a good job. Be mindful of what you want your company culture to be like. Make sure that your employees know what is expected of them and foster an environment of respect. Encourage collaboration and innovation among employees, and let them know that they can come to you with any questions they may have.
7. Delegate
Another part of building a strong team is learning when to delegate duties to trusted employees. Give simple tasks to other team members so that you can focus on the big stuff.
8. Pivot When Necessary
There may come a time when your business model is no longer working. Be realistic about this and know when you need to change things up.
9. Know Your Customers
Being aware of who your customers are and what they want from your business is crucial to your continued success. You may want to ask your marketing firm to collect data regarding your customer base. At the very least, don’t be afraid to ask your customers for their feedback.
10. Continuously Strive for Improvement
Finally, every good business owner knows that they should constantly be trying to make their business stronger and more successful. Be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of your company, and implement a plan to do better in pivotal areas.
