Owning your own small business has many benefits, but they are benefits only awarded to the few willing to put in the work to receive them. With seemingly so many willing to at least attempt the feat, it is difficult to make your business stand apart from the rest in a beneficial way.
It’s rather easy to grab the spotlight for failure. It happens every day. With that in mind, below are a few ways you can build a solid foundation for years of dedicated customers and progressively growing profits.
Advertisement
Have you ever attempted to get the word out about a yard sale, church function, or a benefit for a friend or service? How did you do it? You advertised. Events like these are best advertised in the classified section of the newspaper, social media, flyer, or by word of mouth. These methods will certainly help you in your quest to get people’s attention.
However, when you consider advertising for a business, there are few differences to think about. First, the number of people you are trying to reach is larger. So, you may want to try inserting a commercial on local channels or renting space on billboards around town. Second, depending on the products or services your company offers, your target audience may differ.
This may determine whether you advertise through social media, signs, or a jingle. Third, how you choose to advertise may also depend on the age of your regular customers. Again, social media may prove to be a more appropriate place to reach a younger crowd. If you hope to reach the older bunch, you might consider the local newspaper or flyers in appropriate places.
Reputation
Any business, large or small, knows the value of a good reputation. Corporate giants have had repeatedly had the wind knocked out of them based on accusations against their character. Just ask Target. It’s not always a businesses character that is in question either.
Sometimes, it’s a few bad days that just happen to run close together that do you in. Maybe you had a disgruntled employee that decided to make things difficult for your customers. You might have run out of a popular product and had the supply truck run late, or the flu hit your workers one by one and being short-handed caused some unhappy shoppers.
Life deals us a constant row of curve balls sometimes. It happens. Be that as it may, your reputation is something you will have to look after on an hourly basis. When these things happen, practice patience, fix what you can, and do it with a smile.
Integrity
One of the most important things in any relationship, including the business/customer relationship, is integrity. They say that integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is looking. This seems to be a fading trend in the world of business. Matter-of-fact, it is a fading trend in the world, period.
However, there are those that value the integrity of a business more than the actual products they sell. When a person feels safe trusting you with their money, they tend to frequent your establishment more often. Practice doing the right thing even when the wrong thing might be acceptable. People crave transparency. Offer it and you may have to expand.
Owning a small business is hard, no doubt about it. Use these tips to make all that work worth it.
