There are many challenges facing small businesses in today’s economic climate. Perhaps the most obvious but also the most challenging is the access to capital or getting loans. Banking institutions have become very cautious and finding credit is difficult. One vehicle for small businesses to consider for financing is Small Business Administration (SBA) backed loans which are designed specifically for small business. More information can be found at http://www.sba.gov/category/navigation-structure/loans-grants/small-business-loans/sba-loan-programs. Business owners must make the conscious decision not to allow the economy to hold them back but instead discover some creative solutions to managing through these adversities. Know that more millionaires are made in tough economic times than in booming ones!
Another big problem for small business today is in hiring employees that can truly help your business grow. It’s difficult to compete with the larger businesses for the same talent when you have such limited funds. The answer is to become creative and understand what you can offer that larger companies can’t. Flexible work schedules, job sharing or remote work are all options to be considered. If you can’t compete on financial compensation then figure out what you can and use that as leverage.
For many mainstream or traditional businesses the emergence of e-marketing has many business owners wondering “do I need to use social networking?” LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are three of the most common forums for consideration. The short answer to this dilemma is yes with the key being to define who your customers are and then use that information to determine which social media matches best to these profiles. A simple way to determine which media to start with is to think of Facebook as family based, Twitter as more tech savvy people and LinkedIn focused on Professionals.
Doing business in today’s world is a series of challenges but remember that the single biggest challenge for business owners is breaking free from the mentality that says, “I have to do it all myself.” Start by overcoming this fear and you’ll be surprised how many answers you’ll get to questions around what your business needs.