Starting a business isn’t easy, so much so that 50% of startups fail within the first five years. However, with the right preparation and knowledge, your chances of success suddenly become much higher. How can you ensure this? By making sure that you’re aware of these small business startup hacks that Circle Hub is about to share:
Get Creative With Cost-Cutting
You need to be strict with finances when starting a new business. Stay away from extravagant purchases, opting for money-saving measures whenever possible.
One area where many small businesses falter is in acquiring an office space. While you may want a lush private office, a shared workspace, such as a coworking space, tends to be a much more cost-effective option. Plus, choose the right coworking space and you’ll still have access to private offices, high-end furnishings, out-of-the-box amenities, and so much more, all for a very reasonable monthly fee.
Share Resources With Other Small Businesses
Another way to cut costs while also enhancing how you run your business is to share resources with other small businesses. After all, it’s not just your business that’s trying to watch expenditures. Just about every other small business out there will be in the same boat. This means that the majority will more than likely be receptive to, essentially, ‘bartering’ for skills.
Say, for example, you’re a star at copywriting but don’t know much about graphic design. Speak to a small business that has a graphic designer on board and you could get your logo and other branding elements done for free, in exchange for you doing some copywriting for them. Base your business in a coworking space and you’ll be surrounded by other small businesses, making it so easy to acquire the extra skills that your business needs.
Stay Organized
A successful business is usually an organized business. Allowing organization to slide can very quickly spell your downfall. This means staying on top of everything from documentation to time management.
When it comes to recording your business finances, this should be overseen at least once a week. Every sales transaction, invoice, and receipt needs to be correctly filed for easy access in the future. In terms of meeting deadlines, even those that you’ve set yourself, consider investing in some project management software for your small business. This also makes it easier to plan ahead, which every small business should be doing!
Build a Reliable Team
Working for a new small business isn’t for everyone. Team members need to appreciate the unique spirit that a startup sports and they need to be excited about helping that small business to grow.
So, while talent and skills may be your first point of call when seeking team members, pay attention to how passionate they are too. Find team members who are eager to make a big impact and who genuinely care about what your business does. This is another advantage that comes from working at a coworking space – you’ll have an amazing and diverse talent pool at your fingers, making it much easier to build the perfect team.
Leverage Social Media as Early as Possible
While there are plenty of marketing channels out there, social media is often a big focus for a small business, and rightly so. With social media, you have the opportunity to reach a huge audience, usually for a very low cost. With 71% of consumers stating that social media has a big influence on their purchasing decisions, this is something that a small business needs to take full advantage of.
This should be leveraged as early as possible. Choose the best social media platforms for your business and work on creating unique content. Make use of analytics to see how well your content is performing and make the necessary tweaks to boost reach and popularity.
Automate Repeatable Tasks…
There are certain repetitive tasks that you’ll need to complete on a regular basis, such as replying to customer questions, sending emails out to new leads, tracking sales and inventory…all of this takes precious time, something that a small business often struggles to spare. Nevertheless, they’re essential tasks that can’t be ignored.
However, choose to automate them and you’ll be able to get those jobs done with minimal input from yourself. For example, install a chatbot on your website to deal with the more common questions you receive from customers. Email marketing campaigns can be automated too, as can sales and inventory tracking. There’s so much tech out there now that makes this so easy, so ensure that your small business is benefiting from all of that.
…But Offer a Personal Touch
While automation can definitely make life much easier for a small business, there’s also no getting away from the fact that today’s consumers appreciate a personal touch. In this day and age, when so much of the world is automated, even just a small amount of personalization can be enough to sway a customer to choose your business over the competition.
How can you do this? Consider adding a handwritten note to big purchases, thanking customers for their business. Freebies are also always appreciated. A small free gift in exchange for a review could go a long way in building brand loyalty.
Regularly Study Your Competitors
Hopefully, before setting your business up, you spent some time studying the competition. However, once your business is up and running, don’t let this slide. Every small (and large) business should be keeping a close eye on the competition at all times.
Why? Because this can teach you so much. You’ll be able to determine the ways in which your offerings are better than theirs, which you can then highlight to your customers. You’ll also learn how your competition outshines you, showing you where your business can improve. Assess both their strengths and their weaknesses and your business will excel as a result.
Hone in on Your Niche
Every small business needs a niche. This tends to be something that a business needs to identify before they actually start operating. However, once your business is up and running, you may find opportunities to hone in on your niche even further.
This often gives small businesses an edge. They’re able to specialize in a way that a larger business can’t do. This may mean that you narrow down your target market even further but, in the long run, this can really pay off as you’ll be offering a product/service that no one else is competing with.
Start Attending Industry Events
If you want to make a name for your small business in your chosen industry, you need to get out and about. Running a small business can be quite isolating, not to mention time-consuming. The thought of having to spend a few precious hours at an industry event can sometimes fill a business owner with dread, especially when they have a long list of other tasks that needs to be completed.
However, this can be extremely beneficial. You’ll gain valuable industry insights that will help you steer your business in the right direction. You’ll also be able to meet other influential people from your industry, which can help to give your small business some important exposure.
Pay Attention to Trends
While many businesses choose to distance themselves from trends, keeping up with those trends can go a long way in helping your business succeed. Sure, jump on a trend after lots of other businesses have done the same and you likely won’t see much of a difference in sales. However, detect those trends early, before your competition has done so, and you’ll be able to really capitalize on them.
While you shouldn’t completely overhaul your small business to stay in line with the latest trends, you should definitely allow them to influence you when it comes to everything from marketing to product development. This will keep your business relevant and at the forefront of people’s minds.
Ask for Feedback
Small businesses often place a lot of focus on acquiring new customers, and this is understandable. However, you need to also take the time to learn from your previous customers.
How? By asking for feedback. This is vital if you want to grow your business. You need to know exactly what customers think of your product/service. Which features did they particularly like? Are there any areas where they would want to see changes? This is all vital information that will enable you to improve your offerings. Implementing ideas from your customers will also show them just how valuable they are. It’s so easy for a new business to grow stagnant once they’ve experienced a small amount of success but continually improving your business will contribute to your success in a big way.
Remember to Have Fun
This isn’t technically a hack. Instead, it’s more of a reminder…
Have fun with your small business! It’s so easy to get bogged down with mundane details, meaning that many small business owners can sometimes forget that the process is meant to be fun! After all, you’re following your dreams – something that many people don’t get the opportunity to do. Not only will you be doing what you love but the sense of satisfaction that you’ll experience with every success will, usually, make up for the disappointments that you encounter along the way. Don’t allow the difficulties that your business faces to overwhelm you. Instead, stay positive and focus on making your journey to success as enjoyable as possible!
Experience Small Business Success With Circle Hub
At Circle Hub, our coworking facilities are ideal for a small business. In fact, many of the small businesses that have chosen Circle Hub as their base are now seeing roaring success, and this is largely down to all of the benefits that a coworking space is able to offer a startup. From low costs, a professional working environment, a strong sense of community, and amenities that encourage a healthy work-life balance, choosing the right coworking space for your small business can often make that path to success a much shorter one!
Wondering if Circle Hub’s coworking spaces would be a good fit for your small business? Click here to book a tour today!