The digital age has brought with it a plethora of opportunities for inventors, innovators, and designers to create a business of their own. The United States now has an estimated 29 million small businesses with an estimated 627,000 new small businesses opening up every year. While it has become easier than ever to start your own business, a surprising number of small businesses fail every year due to minor mistakes, poor investments, or simple lack of interest from consumers — statistics estimate that over half of all small businesses will fail to survive for over five years due to the fierce competition posed by online spending. Here are some ways that small businesses are thriving in an increasingly hostile business market.
Expanding Your Reach
One problem that growing small businesses face is an uncertainty regarding when is the right time to increase your resources. Small businesses that handle payroll, marketing, and human resources in house are prone to make mistakes as the business grows. An answer that many small businesses find is to outsource some of their resources in order to have more time to focus on making the business decisions needed to survive. Small businesses have reported increased sale figures, a more dedicated customer base, and an increase in the amount of benefits they are able to give their employees thanks to outsourcing their company resources. By giving yourself more time to focus purely on your business you can help guarantee success thanks to the guidance and service of a business solutions company.
Marketing Your Business
The internet is a fertile field for businesses to grow and expand their customer outreach — when used correctly. While billboards, television, and telephone advertising may have been prevalent once before, experts say that utilizing digital media resources properly is one’s best investment for marketing. It all starts with a solid foundation; a well-designed website to call home can help keep visitors informed. Social media sites are a perfect opportunity to allow customers to express their interest in your company and stay informed on special offers, events, or improvements made to your business; furthermore a blog can help direct more online traffic towards your business. All of these elements are important, yet it is the utilization of search engine tools that will be the deciding factor of whether your business attracts customers or not. Search engine optimization (SEO) helps to naturally draw from the search engine parameters through creative content advertising that is meant to help inform while curving viewer’s spending habits. By teaming up with an internet marketing firm, many small businesses are able to master the art of digital advertising to generate a truly global customer base.
Improving With Business Valuation Software
Understanding how to make the proper investments is an exercise in patience and planning; in order to do this properly a business owner must understand thoroughly the value of their business. Business valuation is principally an exercise in economic analysis; the company financial information naturally provides key inputs into this process including the income statement and the balance sheet. Proper valuing for a small business ought to be done after accumulating three to five years worth of historic income statements and balance sheets. In order to help, many business leaders are investing in business valuation software that can make the process streamlined and more accurate. The three approaches small business valuation software uses to determine business value include: a comparison to the recent sales of similar businesses, the business’ earning power and risk assessment, as well as an understanding of the company’s assets. While business value is not absolute, the picture gained through business valuation software serves as a process for measuring business worth and better understanding your investment options. By utilizing small business valuation tools, companies can become better suited to survive and thrive in an ever changing business world.