Small businesses can often struggle to find opportunities for growth, but that isn’t to say they can’t be successful. Thousands of small businesses in the UK have ensured stability by limiting risk and making sure they are making smart decisions when it comes to marketing and finance. But of course, long-term success, and indeed growth, is about more than savvy finance management.
In this article, we’ll be looking at some of the key reasons why small businesses tend to stay small, and some of the ways you could start edging towards more enhanced growth by making some simple operational or strategy shifts.
When starting out a brand new business, it is important to establish the type of entity the business will belong to, as each entity comes with its own list of rules, regulations, and procedures. Sole proprietorships and limited liability corporations (LLCs) are very different from one another, and entrepreneurs might find themselves leaning more towards LLCs. Read here to get a better understanding of the difference between the two.
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1. You haven’t defined your goals
The key when ensuring your business progression is having clear-cut, achievable goals. If you aren’t sure what you want to achieve, and don’t have set timeframes or target performance metrics, you will have difficulty measuring how far you’ve come and how far you still have to go. Having goals is an important aspect of business ownership as you need to make yourself responsible for how your business performs and how you want it to perform in the future. Setting targets will also prompt you to pay more attention to your results on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis. With consistent reporting, you can identify any weak spots and focus your attention in a more guided way to produce the results you need.
2. You have limited funds
There’s no question that limited funds can set businesses back a few paces, but there are potential ways around this limiting factor if you feel financial input is necessary to grow the success of your business. While of course there is the option of making cutbacks, this is unlikely to help you from a growth perspective. There are however multiple options when it comes to business loans, and companies like Aurora Capital can help you to find the right options for your specific business needs.
3. You are spending too much time on admin
For small businesses, admin tasks can take up masses of time that would be better spent on business strategy and reporting. Consider using time-management tools across your team, or indeed hiring more staff to take on admin responsibilities if you have budget and capacity.
Entrepreneurs need to be aware of the fact that business names are crucial for the overall development and the way in which consumers perceive them. Creating an optimal name that does everything a business name needs to do can be a challenging process. This is why entrepreneurs should utilize a business name generator, as they are able to create a suitable name quickly and efficiently. Learn more about some of the best business name generators on the market.
4. You are not investing in powerful marketing campaigns
Investing in marketing is one of the most powerful tools for business growth, and those who do it well are always sure to see success. Whether you want to advertise your products on Amazon with targeted copywriting, nurture your prospects with enticing emails or develop a better system for conversion optimisation on your website, there are limitless ways you can approach marketing, and plenty of benefits that could come from it.
If you aren’t sure where to get started, or which strategies will best suit your business model, you can always contact expert marketing specialists who have had years of experience helping small businesses see significant growth.
5. You are drowning in a sea of competitors
While you cannot wish away your competitors or sabotage their business growth efforts, you can make an impact yourself and stand out amidst similar companies by identifying your USPs, improving UX on your website and using a variety of marketing strategies such as paid advertising, link building or blogging. Try to make sure there is always something unique about your product or service that will entice your target customers, and better yet, define your persona groups and learn how they behave online so that you can cater to their needs.
There are a number of reasons why your small business might be staying small, but try to remember that there may also be reasons why you might benefit from keeping that way. You don’t have to be a franchise to be successful! Take all of these tips on board if you’re looking to see significant growth, or simply make note of ways you can find more opportunities for efficiency in how you operate.
About the Author: Larry Kotch is the co-founder of The Brains, an award-winning digital marketing agency in London. Ranked #3 in B2B Marketing’s Global 30 under 30, Larry leads a dedicated, remote team of talented digital marketing professionals.
