Starting a business is a big achievement for many entrepreneurial minded persons, but how to maintain the business is a greater challenge that most entrepreneurs battle with. There are many standard business challenges that face every business whether they are large or small. These include things like hiring the right people, building a brand and so on. However, there are some that are unique to small businesses – ones most large companies have grown out of long ago. We’ll look at the 5 biggest challenges in this post.
However, there are some that are unique to small businesses – ones most large companies have grown out of long ago. We’ll look at the 5 biggest challenges in this post.
1. CASHFLOW
Why is managing cash flow so hard? To manage the normal trade cycle, a small business must maintain realistic working capital balances. Without an understanding of your cash requirements and particularly where your bank is involved with loans, failure to meet the commitments can easily result in a good business getting into trouble.
Get good financial advice and take the time to analyze the business risk of failing to meet cash flow commitments before undertaking any new project. Using online invoices and reminders is also a powerful way to persuade reluctant clients to part with money.
Also Read: How to master of creative thinking as a competitive edge in business.
2. CUSTOMERS ACQUISITION
Customers are the heart of any business. Your business is just a good idea without customers and the revenue generated. The challenge is to attract, retain and maximise your customers.
The key to winning new business and customer retention is providing great products or services and a great customer service experience. What strategies will you undertake to achieve these objectives?
3. TIME MANAGEMENT
For the average business owner, there are not enough daily hours. All owners are stretched for time. Creating more time means saying NO occasionally and focusing on what is essential for success.
This is where a smart business owner will engage with an Advisory Board or business mentor to focus on what is critical and what are distractions. Always maintain a sustainable work-life balance to stay alert and not burn out.
Learn to spend time like money. The best way to effectively manage your time is to create a To-Do list of all that needs to be done in a day and try as much as possible to say NO to all activities and distractions that were not budgeted for.
4. TEAM MANAGEMENT
The abilities that can help you launch a business are not the same as those you need to help it grow. It’s vital not to fool yourself into valuing your abilities too highly. The chances are that you’ll need to find and hire the best talents to help you build your dream business.
You need to learn to build and manage a great team. Reading books, especially on leadership skills, is one of the most recommended ways to help you build a world-class team.
5. INNOVATION
Small business owners can be so busy they forget to keep up with current innovations in their sector. When you’re scheduling your week, don’t forget to allocate time to track competitors and undertake awareness-raising activities such as reading (or writing) blog posts. Create Google Alerts, use Twitter hashtags to keep up with what’s trending, and mine the wealth of free and very targeted online information out there.
Staying innovative as a small business owner involves being able to quickly adapt to changes that may occur in your line of business and always seeking means by which you can always leverage technology in building a better business.
Also Read: 7 Best Productivity Tools For Small Businesses That You Should Be Using.
CONCLUSION
These are challenges, but not death sentences. One of the worst things a would-be-business owner can do is to go into a small business without considering the challenges ahead. An important step in overcoming a challenge is knowing the size of that challenge. What other challenges have you faced, and how have you overcome them?
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