Starting a small business is a risky proposition. Half of small businesses are close within their first five years. But here are five reasons why yours will survive the first five years, and grow into an established company.
Buzz
Any business can catch the public’s eye, but the really successful ones catch their attention and keep it. You don’t need to sail a giant rubber duck up the Thames, or skydive from the edge of space to generate buzz: it’s more effective to do your research and commit limited marketing resources carefully.
A new retail or beauty business on a high street can benefit from being an active partner in community events like Christmas markets or school fêtes. This builds your market from the grassroots, creating customers from the people on your doorstep
Love Your Customers
While bigger businesses are omnipresent, the cost of that is a personal relationship with their customers. You have the scope to treat everyone who comes through your doors as an individual, and give them a personal service. Waterstones may be on every high street, but they can’t afford to have long-running conversations with any customer who wants to through their social media like The Kirkdale Bookshop in Crystal Palace.
Loyal customers come back, and the spine of a successful business is a repeat custom.
Love Your Employees
In a small business, every employee is important: there’s no space for clockwatchers. If you recognise the contribution your employees are making, they will repay you by going the extra mile you need them to.
Have A Plan
Working to a plan is important as your business expands: when you start a small business, you need to be a tactical thinker who can be flexible to solve problems as they arise. As your business begins to grow, you need to become strategic, planning for the future, and setting structures in place so the business doesn’t need your personal attention in every area.
Consulting online legal services can help you develop these plans, and ensure your contracts with employees, suppliers and investors cover all the eventualities you need them to.
Identity
It will always help you to have a strong sense of identity. If you know who you are, who you customers are, and why they need you, you can always return to these core values in a time of uncertainty.
