Great Small Business Strategies For Getting Off The Ground

According to the Small Business Administration, 627,000 small businesses open their doors every year. 

Additionally, about 20% of new small businesses fail in their first year of operations, with 50% failing in their fifth year. Thus, as small business owners who want to set out, it’s crucial you identify small business strategies that can help your firm not only survive but also get on the path to growth. 

Here are some insightful tips you can use to give your new small business a leg up. 

1. Define Your Business

A business that does not understand its purpose and goals is one that’s planning to fail. As you plan to start your small business, you should ask yourself whether you want to work on it part-time or full time. That is essential as the dedication you plan to give it will determine other aspects of its day-to-day operation. 

An integral part of defining your business before you can set off is understanding how it will make money. Developing a business model is critical, as many small businesses that don’t do the hard work of figuring out how they will survive often miss the mark. 

When you know how much your firm can make, and where the revenue will be coming from, you will have a firmer grasp of the things that differentiate your company from the pack. Thus, your efforts to stay competitive once you open your doors become more targeted and effective. 

If you plan to build a business that can go the distance, then developing long term objectives will also be essential. These long-range goals act as the guiding lights to every action and decision your firm will make daily, and therefore, you won’t be operating aimlessly. 

2. Understand Your Product or Service

Having a clear understanding of what you plan to offer the market is critical if your firm is to succeed. For a new business, you need to begin with a core product or service from which you can build on and add other offerings as your business grows.

Selling as much as you can to everyone sounds like a good idea on paper. However, if you target too broad a market, you will end up spreading yourself too thin and drown in opportunity. As a result, you need to concentrate on a specific part of the market to focus your efforts and make progress. 

Focusing on a market segment allows you the time to effectively work through every emerging issue that is a stumbling block to more sales. That way, you not only set your small business on a firm foundation but also have a clear path to scaling it. 

Furthermore, having a thorough understanding of your offering helps you identify the things that your business won’t do. Knowing what you choose to stay out of helps develop effective filters for your decision making.

Keep in mind that ultimately, your product or service has to solve a problem for the customer to make any sustainable traction. Analyze what others in the line of business you want to get into are currently selling and how customers are responding to it, to identify unmet customer needs you can exploit with your offering. 

3. Spend on What Matters

As a new business, you will quickly find that there is an endless list of things you can spend your precious capital on. However, how well you can allocate your capital is a vital factor that determines your ability to survive.

For a start, don’t give any money towards things that don’t drive the core operations. A new business needs to only spend on that which it can’t live without. For example, instead of splurging on that chic office, in the beginning, you can invest in a functional but cost-efficient workspace. 

Part of spending on what matters includes looking for ways to leverage free or cheap assets that drive a degree of value for your business. When it comes to marketing, you can tap the potential social media has to get your target customers to know about your firm. 

For example, there are affordable tools that can help you post to Instagram and meaningfully contribute to your sales if that’s a channel that works for you. Create blog posts that assist your potential customers in solving problems they are facing. As you do this consistently, you become a thought leader and drive more sales cost-effectively. 

A great rule of thumb to help you spend money judiciously is always to ask if what you are about to spend on will add value to your customer. 

4. Bring in the Professionals

There are select professionals that your new small business needs to bring on board from the very start to ensure its success. Although you will have to spend money hiring some of these professionals, they are a potential profit center what the right input.

It’s advisable to get an experienced accountant for your small business as they help you understand the tax implications of your small business. In addition, having an account in your corner can help you identify ways your new business can reduce its tax burden. Your accountant will also help you develop a financial roadmap to align your firm’s goals and your numbers. 

A business lawyer is another professional your new company will need to help you understand the legal obligations facing you. A lawyer can also help you understand the legal implications of each type of business structure so that you can determine the one that best works for you. 

Many small businesses starting out tend to overlook the need for an experienced mentor who is conversant with their field. Working with such a mentor can help you identify and overcome hurdles that you may not have noticed on your own. You can also tap their network to help move your business forward. 

Powerful Small Business Strategies Can Help You Grow

Every year many small businesses open their doors as others simultaneously sound the death knell. For you to found a company that can survive and win in the long run, you need to identify and adopt powerful small business strategies that can help you unlock sustainable value. 

Are you passionate about setting your small business on the path to outsize success? Check out more of our content for tips and insights on what it takes to run a successful business.

Adam Hansen
 

Adam is a part time journalist, entrepreneur, investor and father.