It really doesn’t matter if you’re a big business or a small home company- your aim is the same. You want to provide your customers with excellent products or services and make a profit as you do. For this reason, it’s important not to see yourself as a different entity from bigger businesses and especially your competition. Here’s how you can go about running your small company in the same way as a big enterprise.
Take it seriously
Customers don’t expect a lesser service because they’re buying from a smaller business so be sure that you’re stepping up to the mark. Take your venture seriously, put the hours and effort in and treat is as you would if you were something much bigger. You have to work to build up that level of trust with customers and clients, and then run things professionally so you’re able to keep it.
Have a professional design
Again, just because you’re a smaller business doesn’t mean you can or should come across as amateur. A professional design helps to give the impression that you’re a professional business- which you are. A web designer is needed to give you a smart looking website- don’t try designing it yourself unless you have experience as it will be obvious to customers that it’s a DIY job. If you can afford it, invest in an app too. Since this is something that many smaller businesses don’t bother with, it’s an easy way to overtake your competition. Since most customers prefer to shop using an app (rather than a phones’ browser, laptop or computer) you won’t be missing out on any potential sales. If you send out things like emails and paper letters, you’ll need to make sure your logo is incorporated, this can be created by a graphic designer. You can find talented individuals to do this for you on sites like Etsy, and if you go down this route it isn’t as expensive as you think.
Outsource
Speaking of enlisting the help of professionals, this is something you can do on a regular basis. Not just for one off jobs like web design or logo creation, but on an ongoing basis. You can outsource entire departments meaning your company is able to grow but without you having to personally hire staff. Outsourcing is common with big businesses, but smaller companies don’t always realise it’s something they can take advantage of too. It can make your small venture more efficient, as you’re able to grow without having to spread yourself too thin by trying to do everything. If you know nothing about marketing for example, it would make sense to outsource your marketing to a third party company so that it’s all taken care of, and then use the time you would have spent on this getting on with jobs that you can do. Have a think about what your role is within your company, it shouldn’t be doing a little bit of everything. From there, you can work out where you need the extra help, and outsource companies to tackle these tasks for you.
Protect yourself
It’s easy to think that because you’re a smaller business that you’re unlikely to be targeted by criminals, but that’s just not the case. In fact, lots of criminals actually prefer smaller businesses, unlike large enterprises they don’t have a corporate firewall that’s impossible to crack, or strong security measures. Some are so lax they have easy to guess passwords and very little cybersecurity at all, making it easy to rinse accounts, steal data and much more. Make sure you’re protecting yourself online, not only could money be stolen but customer details could be taken and used in fraudulent activities. This of course is going to severely damage your reputation and could even lead to lawsuits being taken out against you. Protect yourself, use the right online security and complex passwords. Get insured so your back is covered if the worst were to happen.
As a small business owner, your venture really is personal. Chances are you started out because you wanted something rewarding to work on, something that means something to you instead of being stuck in the rat race. So success is crucial, start valuing your small business as it’s just as important as any other!
Photo by Ylanite Koppens from Pexels