Owners of small businesses know that it’s no easy ride. Without the massive resources in terms of finances and personnel, it is small businesses that are the canary in the coal mine when things get tough.
While everybody is aware of this — and the public theoretically supports small businesses over multinationals — it is still incredibly hard for teams to overcome problems small business owners face.
One of the most important things to do first is identifying what you’re up against. By knowing what you’re facing, you can focus on what action you need to take to make things easier. Whether it’s ensuring you’ve got revenue coming in, using technology the smart way, or making sure you and your team don’t burn out, knowledge is power.
So without further ado, here are our top 5 challenges small business owners face.
1. Diversifying your customer base
One of the best things about small businesses is gaining a level of personal trust with your customers. However, one of the biggest small business challenges is what to do when you lose a client. If a majority of your revenue is from the same client, you’re placing a lot of trust in that client continuing to use your service.
So how do you go about diversification?
First of all, create some lead generation forms that you can put on your website, or link to through social media. With Bitrix24, contacts will automatically be added to your CRM where you can communicate, create invoices, and save records of each interaction.
This doesn’t mean revolutionizing your entire customer base, but spreading your income out can come in handy if your main customer moves on.
2. Keeping up with the (tech-savvy) Joneses
It can be easy to imagine a romanticized view of a small business that works solely on community and word of mouth. The reality, however, is not so simple.
We’re sure you’ve heard of companies that were too slow to adopt new technology before disappearing into the abyss.
Tracking industry changes and staying on top of them is an essential way of being a resilient small business.
An obvious example here is taking advantage of social media to reach new customers. This has the double advantage of meeting your users where they are and costing absolutely nothing to get started.
And it goes beyond marketing. Adopting the latest tools to get your company running as efficiently as it can be is important, but it can be prohibitively expensive. One of the classic challenges small business owners have to deal with is not signing up to the latest CRM because the budget won’t allow it.
Luckily, Bitrix24 covers all your business needs for free, from communication and HR management to project management and even website building.
3. Allow the business to run without you
It might be hard to take as a business owner, but if the company depends on you, it is unstable by definition. Think about the last time you took time off. Did things run smoothly the next day? Did it work for a week? Or are you one of the many small business owners who simply doesn’t take time off?
Setting up processes for your company to work without you will help you overcome any hurdles in the future and make it much more likely to succeed when it’s time for you to retire. Clearly, you’ll have to choose someone you trust to take over when you’re gone, but also leave them with all the resources you use.
This can be one of the biggest challenges for small businesses, but there are ways of overcoming it. One great way is by creating collaborative documents that you can share exclusively with your number two. Outline your go-to plans of action and put them into practice together when they arise.
4. Accept that you can’t be on top of everything
Allowing the business to run without you is just one of the challenges small business owners face. But it’s not just about a full handover when you retire.
When you start your company, you’ll be in total control of every aspect, but it can’t last. The simple fact is that while you may be an excellent entrepreneur, you can’t be an expert in every area.
Hiring a trained accountant can not only save you time, but give you the peace of mind that everything is in order. Similarly, when you’re looking to expand, the accountancy side can be a real headache, so getting a specialist on the job will help.
You can of course automate certain aspects of your job, such as HR processes. This will help you cut down a lot of your repetitive tasks so you can save both time and money.
5. Sort out that work-life balance
Among the most commonly known things that challenges small business owners is striking the right balance between work and life. It’s hard not to treat your business like a baby, giving it attention at all hours of the day out of a pure desire to see it succeed.
However, as more and more companies are going remote, a healthy work-life balance is getting tricky for teams. Daily tasks and home life are blending into a melting pot that puts people on a one-way train to burnout.
To avoid fatigue causing you to make poor decisions and to take care of your mental health, you need to find a sustainable rhythm. One great way of doing this is to time your tasks to see where you’re spending too much time and make adjustments to your schedule.
Go out and help your business succeed
Now you’re aware of the top challenges for small businesses, you’re already in a much better position to take them on. Once you’ve identified the areas that particularly affect your situation, that’s one step further.
There will always be new challenges small business owners have to deal with, so focus on keeping an eye on the ball so as not to fall behind. And remember, keeping an open mind and a good work-life balance is crucial to dealing with all the hiccups that come with running a small business.
