No one ever said that
starting, running and growing a small business was easy. Most entrepreneurs
know they've got their work cut out for them when they start up, but many are
unprepared for just how difficult it can be until they get there.
Platforms like
VENTUREAPP, a marketplace for businesses to submit requests for help from
experts and solution providers, have firsthand insights into the struggles
small businesses and startups experience on a real-time basis.
Based on VENTUREAPP's
data and input from business leaders, here are the top challenges businesses
will face in the year ahead, and how they can overcome them.
Marketing
Marketing for small businesses can be a big
challenge, especially when you're trying to build a brand presence. Linda Lauren, a
psychic medium and owner of the retail shop Embracing the Universe, believes
she will have to work hard to market her changing brand in 2016.
I will be going
from services to primarily products," Lauren told Business News Daily.
"The challenges that come with that have a lot to do with helping people
to shift their awareness more to my products."
Lauren said she plans
to tackle these obstacles by stepping up social media efforts to engage
customers and educating them about what her brand represents. At the same time,
this will help to steer them to her website for more information and ordering,
she said. Lauren also noted that she will use regular email newsletters to
extend her reach, which will also inform people of her latest product trends.
If you're planning to
use newsletters in your marketing strategy, pay attention to how they perform
and adjust your strategy accordingly, Garbarino said. If weekly newsletters are
yielding no results, make them less frequent and use that time to focus on
media outreach within your industry or social media marketing.
"You can't just
run marketing programs — you have to watch them and analyze the results,"
Garbarino said. "If after a few months you aren't seeing much engagement,
awareness or leads, consider changing it up. The learning resources for small
business marketers are endless and improving constantly."
Hiring
As your business flourishes, you'll likely
want to expand your team. "Solopreneurs" and partnerships whose small
ventures are really taking off, like Nicole Bandklayder of NB Talent Services,
say their biggest challenge in the year ahead will be handling that growth and
hiring the necessary staff to manage the increased workload.
But it may be more
difficult than businesses think: Over the last several years, the job market
has been favoring candidates, and that's not about to change in 2016.
Businesses can no longer post a job opening and expect a flood of high-quality
applicants. Instead, companies in many industries must put as much effort into
hunting for talent as candidates do hunting for jobs.
"[Most] professionals
have ... some sort of digital résumé or profile, and there are plenty of places
to prospect from online, depending on your industry," Garbarino said.
Before businesses even
begin the hiring process, Garbarino said they need to put hard work into their
"employment brand," which highlights the existing culture and what
prospects can expect when they come to work for a company. He also recommended
creating a unique interview process to give you a better idea of a candidate's
true abilities and fit.
"Make your
interview process more closely mirror what the applicant will actually be doing
at your company, and immerse them in the team they will be a part of, so both
sides can get a sense of whether they are a fit," Garbarino said.
Employee benefits
Employee perks and
benefits can play an important role in overcoming the hiring challenges listed
above, but meeting job seekers' workplace expectations can be difficult when
you're on a small business budget. Garbarino said it's important to create scales
of coverage that your business can account for at different stages of growth.
"You might not be
able to cover full health in your first year, but is that something you can add
on in year two or three?" he said. "From there, you can begin to
create an expansion plan of perks and benefits that will engage employees as
part of a larger, stronger culture."
If money is tight,
Garbarino advised considering cost-conscious options like work from home
options, making your office dog-friendly on certain days, weekly learning
sessions, etc. This is a great way to involve your team, too.
"Poll them to see
what perks they would like to see, and then you can be certain they are pleased
with your decisions," Garbarino said.
Financing
Business financing is
and always will be a challenge for smaller ventures. Whether you're securing a
loan, raising capital or saving up to bootstrap, the path to funding your
business is often filled with hard work and the occasional speed bump.
Entrepreneurs who want to apply for a loan in
2016 may be especially concerned with the Federal Reserve interest rate, which
was recently increased for the first time in seven years. Businesses are
worried that higher interest on loans will negatively impact their financing
options, Garbarino said. However, Forbes contributor Amy Feldman wrote in an article that the increase is expected
to be "slow and easy," and any impact on business borrowing costs
should be minimal at first. Feldman also noted that federal policy is only one
factor in loan rates.
"Whether banks
truly return to small-business lending, how lenders are able to use technology
to improve their underwriting, and whether the economy is on better footing
will all be factors going forward," she wrote. In the meantime, if you're
looking to start a business or get financing now, there are other things to
worry about than the Fed's decision."
Garbarino added that
locating and connecting with top lenders and financial experts via your own
research, your professional network or services like VENTUREAPP can help you
find the best rates and loan terms for your business.
Ad blocking
Although larger publishers and advertisers
have much more to lose from the recent trend toward online ad blocking, small
businesses aren't immune from its effects. Todd McGee, CEO of CataBoom,
a platform for launching behavioral marketing campaigns, noted that the ads
purchased by smaller companies may not get served to the audiences they're
trying to reach.
"Small businesses
are often hindered by monetary constraints," McGee said. "[They]
don't have the same big budgets as national brands to circumvent software, so
they have to look for alternative ways to reach their audiences."
Although focusing on
unpaid advertising like social media engagement and word-of-mouth referrals can
help, your business may still want to invest in some paid advertising. In this
case, McGee recommended looking into cross-promotional partnerships and native
advertising solutions.
"Native
advertising makes the ad appear to be a natural part of the site on which it's
served, so it's much more difficult for software to sense and block it,"
McGee said.
Pete Borum, CEO of Reelio, a company
that connects brands with YouTube influencers, noted that because of the
agility of many small businesses, they are often faster to adopt new tactics,
so it will be easier for them to avoid the more serious negative impact of ad
blocking.
"There are
hundreds of startups working diligently on new and better ways to reach
consumers in an ad-blocked world," Borum said. "Small businesses will
be among the first to try and to master these new approaches as they come onto
the market, just as they have been the first to adopt branded content and
influencer marketing."
Succeeding in 2016
Garbarino's best
advice to small businesses for the upcoming year is to expand their networks
and learn from those that have been through this before.
"There are so
many other experienced entrepreneurs out there who have already gone through
similar challenges, or are going through them right now and are willing to
share the lessons they've learned so far," he said. "The ability to
solve challenges directly revolves around the people you know and the
connections you make."
Finally, don't be
afraid to take risks and take advantage of your position as a small, nimble
company to help your business get ahead.
"Small businesses
still have a very steep, uphill climb to grow and thrive in a hyper-competitive
world, but when the rules of the game change dramatically ... they have a rare
opportunity to become more knowledgeable and better equipped than the major
incumbents," Borum said. "Small businesses should ... commit to
testing many approaches and to failing quickly. And they should take advantage
in the wealth of knowledge out there to become better storytellers ... than the
brands who came before them."
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