Our 7 new year tips for small business owners
1. Talk to your customers
Your existing customers are the best people to give you feedback on how well you are serving them, as well as providing useful insight into where you could or should be taking your business.
2. Don’t rely on a single big customer
You can’t always anticipate or be advised of changes within your customers’ businesses but you can make sure you’re not exposed by relying on one or two large customers for all your income. Time-manage yourself, however limited you are, to finding new customers.
3. Increase your earning power
Look at what your business provides to its customers and consider what other complimentary products and services they might be interested in. What other things do they need? If they come to you for design services maybe you could offer print as well, or if you sell flowers why not pots, or seeds as well? Or why not arrange flower arranging tutorials or workshops?
4. Know your competition
Keep an eye on your competitors: what they’re selling, who they’re selling to, how they’re selling, and at what price. You also need to watch out for new competitors and new trends in the market that affect your customers and their need for your services.
5. Measure the effectiveness of all your marketing activity
If any of your marketing activities are not bringing in more business than they’re costing, it’s time to stop and try something else. If you can’t measure how much business they’re bringing in, it’s definitely time to stop! All marketing activity should be measurable so always set targets for each activity and review performance regularly.
6. Keep an eye on your costs
Identify where your major areas of cost are and ensure your spending patterns correspond with your key business objectives. So if you’re planning to hire more direct sales staff you might not need to plan for a 50% increase in advertising spend. Once you know where your main costs are and have aligned them to your key objectives for the year you can then consider when and where you can make savings.
7. Keep the cash flowing: chase money that you’re owed
Cash flow problems are cited as one of the main causes of business failure so it’s important that the money you’ve earned actually reaches your bank account. Think about whether you have to give credit at all. If you do make sure your payment terms are clearly understood and that your invoices clearly state the date by which it should be paid, and contain clear payment instructions. If payment is not received by the due date get on the phone straight away. Here's some suggestions for what to say:
Have you received our invoice?
We don't appear to have received payment. Is there a problem with the invoice?
The invoice is due now, how will you be paying? We accept cheque BACS or payment via PayPal.
