The success in a business is a very tricky thing since there are a lot of influential factors that are involved in it. This is also one reason why many companies tend to search for survival tips for a small business. In fact, there was a survey which proved that businesses felt threatened by everything such as international markets, currency fluctuations, elections, and even the change in tourism. With all these obstacles, things can be very difficult for the new and small companies.

In short, the credit squeeze, the high oil prices, and the forever going recession could all create a highly challenging trading environment. But if you have the right advice and follow them, you would be able to stay on top of the crowd. It would help your business grow and eventually prosper even in such a challenging year.

Survival Tips for Your Small Business

Fortunately, you have a lot that is still under your control that would help you with your business and that is why we have gathered the top 15 survival tips for your small business which are shared below:

1. Have a plan

This is the very first and the most important one of all the survival tips for your small business. A lot of people feel that a business plan is just a document and there is no need to create it unless and until you are about to raise capital for the company. Well, that is not true at all. The first step to success as a business is to have a proper plan. In fact, many successful entrepreneurs spend a lot of time in reviewing it again and again even after their business is on the roll.

Not to mention, the business plan is like a road map for how your company would be operating. It would tell you where you want to go and help you reach there. The business plan would help you create targets and you can work towards reaching there. It would also help you stay on track while you successfully reach a benchmark.

Moreover, the business plan would do the work of motivating you and forcing you to focus just on your business. You would be able to keep your mind on what your business does and what is that makes your business different from other businesses.

Further, you would be able to see your business from a customer’s point of view which is also why this is one of the most important survival tips for your small business. And this means that you should always have a business plan. Prepare your plan as it is still not too late, even if you have already incorporated and started your business. Do not forget to keep reviewing it and updating the financial profit numbers to help you company grow.

2. Differentiate yourself

In the world today, a lot of businesses and people tend to copy each other. There is a highly increases in the sameness in the world. This is why the next one of the survival tips for your small business is to differentiate yourself in the market. And what we mean by differentiating yourself doesn’t involve reducing your prices to a very low point.

In fact, there are a lot of things that you can differentiate yourself for other than reducing the price of your product/service. You can begin with creating a unique selling strategy. The differentiation can also be in terms of the delivery of the product or service.

For instance, you can offer the service solely online. Basically, you need to find something about your business that you would do different from your competitors. Just like the other survival tips for your small business, this would help you grow your business even in tough times.

3. Get good people around you

If you ask any successful entrepreneur how they were able to make it to where they are, you would get to hear that they were surrounded by good people. Basically, it is important to have positive vibes around you. Nonetheless, in today’s time, these people do not necessarily have to be on your payroll. It can also be the people who you work with and have the same vision.

4. Know the numbers

A lot of the business owners do not have the proper idea about the key numbers in their company’s operations. The numbers are not necessarily financial, even though the financial ones are important. But there are a lot of other things such as the quantitative measures like the number of enquiries, conversion rates, the website traffic stats.

For a business to become great, it is important to notice everything that moves and that does not move. Hence, keeping a record and measuring the crucial Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) would give you something that you can create a benchmark against. Again, this one just like other survival tips for your small business would help a lot.

5. Streamline internal systems & processes

It is important that you make sure your systems and processes are streamlined as possible. This would not just help in saving time, but it would also show your customers and contacts your commitment to the quality of service. Spend time to determine the system breakdowns and bottlenecks at an early stage. Also, make sure that every part of your company runs like the working of a clock.

6. Use your time well

The next one of the survival tips for your small business is to use the time you have properly. You might have heard quotes like – “Time is Money.” Well, having a business means that you need to schedule your time and use the time you have properly. So, with the limitless list of tasks to take care of in a short period of time, you would need to manage your time well.

Moreover, avoid getting overwhelmed with the increase in the telephone calls and emails to eventually disrupt your train of through. Also, avoid working on multiple things at the same time. Even the computers crash in such cases, and you are just a human. Follow this tip just like all the other survival tips for your small business and see how it would change the way your business move.

7. Get online

Another one of the survival tips for your small business is for you to get online. This means that you should have a presence online. If you haven’t already created a website or promoted your band online, it is high time you get online. In fact, in the world today, it is important for you to have an excellent online presence.

Everyone expects all the businesses to be online. It is one of the points that helps in the credibility of a company. Spend time and money to monetize your website. Also, look for ways to offer your business services and products digitally.

8. Refine your social-marketing advertising

Social media marketing is another thing that has to be on this list of all the survival tips for a small business. With the technology evolving, having a social media page for your company has become a vital part for surviving the market competition. Moreover, the social media platforms help you in targeting your audience easily.

This is done by preparing the ads and choosing the criteria like the ethnic affinity, financial status, education, and life events. With this, you might have fewer people seeing your ads. But in this case, you would have the people who need your service viewing the ads. In short, it would highly benefit your business.

9. Use targeted Facebook ads

As mentioned above, using social media can help you target the right audience for your business. Facebook ads does just that and is one of the most popular ways to get leads in a business. Using your existing customer database, Facebook would find people who match the profiles with the existing customers. And with this, you would be able to create targeted ads for the new look-alike audience. This is one thing that would help you survive the competition making a vital point out of all the survival tips for your small business.

10. Manage that cash

As mentioned initially in the article, “time is money.” And with this, “Money is the king of every situation.” So, in any situation where money is tight and the business is not in abundance as it always is, saving cash is a crucial part to survive. Moreover, it is advised to always keep a track of your expenditures. Hence, watch your credit control carefully. Make this a practice in otherwise normal situation as well since this is what would help you in tough times.

11. Diversify the markets you serve

The next one of the survival tips for your small business is to diversify the market in which you serve. There is no harm in trying out other markets if your traditional market is suffering. For instance, you can focus on selling your products in the next town rather than in your town if the time is not that great. Thing out of the box and find a new market. You can even narrow it down to people who need your service and reach out to them.

12. Sync with customer budget cycles

In case you are dealing with a large corporation or a government department, synchronizing your customer budget cycles with yours can help you learn when they would plan their budgets for the next year. That is how you would be able to make your sales pitch as well when they are working on what to spend their earnings on. Basically, this would help your sales department a lot and get you a lot of sales if done well.

13. Ask for feedback

One of the main things to run a business is that you need to be open to both negative and positive feedback. This means that you should not be afraid to ask your staff, customers, family and even friends about anything wrong in what you are offering. It is normal for employees to know a lot about where your business is going wrong. And they can help you with the problem and the solution.  

14. Work “on” not “in” the business

We understand that this is something difficult for any new business, but it is also an important part for any business. Basically, instead of working for the business, you can transfer the tasks to someone else and work on growing the business. In short, you should not do what the business does, but work towards making it move ahead. That is the only want you would be able to survive the competition.

15. Continually improve yourself

Even the greatest of minds continue to learn and read. None of us in the world know everything. And there is a lot of information that we can take in around us all the time. Being an entrepreneur, it is important to remove time and learn new things, take up interest in new skills, carry out some new research and even read others opinions. Whatever you choose to do, it would obviously help you grow and your business grow as well.

How can IncParadise Help you?

With the right survival tips for a small business and you following them properly, you can be sure to succeed even in a challenging situation with many obstacles. Plus, if you have not yet started your business due to this, then it is time to throw the fear away. These tips would help you in every way possible. So, have your company incorporated immediately. IncParadise can help you with it. Contact to know more!