Effective Tips for Small Business Management

While launching a small business can be incredibly rewarding, it’s also a lot of work.
Just ask any business owner. Beyond the thrill of realizing your dream of business ownership, there are seemingly countless to-dos as you build a profitable and sustainable enterprise—from automating operations and inventory management to creating a competitive advantage, cementing customer loyalty, and building a strong brand presence.

Yes, it sounds like a lot…but it can be done. With the right technology, a few sound tips, and a little elbow grease, you’ll soon find yourself outpacing your competitors and locking in long-term success. 

Automate back-office accounting tasks

It’s true what they say: “time is money.” So, the more you can increase efficiencies (and save time) across processes and functions, the more profitable your business will be. And what better place to start than the heart of your business—accounting? 

Financial data drives decisions company-wide, so understanding your financial position at any given time is critical. Automating and streamlining accounting processes supports real-time views into data and offers the detailed business intelligence required to make smart, informed, and profit-driving decisions. 

Automating all functions of your accounting department, including bookkeeping, payroll, expense reporting, AR and AP, supports on-demand data syncing and up-to-the-minute views of cash flow across departments, functions, and roles. And with this level of intelligence at your fingertips, it’s much easier to make decisions that fortify the bottom line and ensure business sustainability.

Master inventory management

There are few things that frustrate a buyer more than when their favorite products are unavailable. This can happen more often than you think, especially if inventory is mismanaged. When inventory levels are out of balance, you run the risk of stock-outs, lost sales and, ultimately, dissatisfied customers. 

Optimizing inventory reduces these risks and positions your business for long-term success. To accomplish this, having the right technology like accounting software in place is essential. Some accounting software can provide inventory management functionality that offers real-time views into your stock across multiple sales channels and locations. 

Powerful inventory reporting capabilities help you track items as they move through various sales channels. This means you always have full visibility into inventory levels to safeguard against stock outs and keep customers coming back to you as their go-to provider.

Detailed inventory reporting is the cornerstone to managing inventory as accurately and optimally as possible. 

Conduct a competitor analysis

Every business has competitors. The trick to staying one step ahead of them by knowing who they are, what they’re doing, and how you can do things better. So, make sure to conduct a competitor analysis on an annual basis.

To get you started, it’s important to first understand the key components that make up a sound competitor analysis. As you check out your competition, make sure that you’re evaluating each on the following points:

• Product or service features: What unique features, functionality, and/or incentives are offered?
• Market share: How much of the market do they have? Have they cornered specific verticals?
• Pricing: Do they charge a fixed fee or offer pricing levels?
• Marketing efforts: What are they doing in terms of digital advertising, social media, and other lead generation?
• Strengths and weaknesses: Where are they out-pacing you? What are their areas of vulnerability?
• Geographic location: Where are they located and what areas do they serve?
• Customer reviews: How many do they have and what are customers saying about them—customer service, product quality, response time?

Thoroughly analyzing your competitors at multiple levels provides deeper insight into the market and highlights areas in need of improvement in your own business. 

Create an unforgettable brand and build customer loyalty

Your brand is everything. It’s the culmination of everything you do—from your storefront and products to buyer experience and company culture. Ultimately, it’s what shapes customers’ perception of your business and builds loyalty. This is why your brand should be memorable. 

The following tips will help you get started in reaching unforgettable status and enhancing customer relationships: 

• Align messaging and visuals: Brand elements must be consistent in every channel. This includes messaging and imagery across your social channels, client communications, and website. If consumers sense inconsistency in your brand, it can create a sense of unreliability and make you utterly forgettable.
• Create a culture of inclusion: Make your customers feel like they are part of something special. You can accomplish this with special promotions—like a rewards program. You can also keep customers connected to you by sending consistent and frequent communications throughout the year on a variety of relevant topics that speak to them.
• Understand your audience: Personalizing communications can help make you unforgettable. The objective is to make your customers feel like you really know them by providing information that is directly relevant to them. It also helps to personalize the salutation over offering a generic “Dear customer.”

The main goal is to go the extra mile to make your customers feel special and earn your place as their number-one brand!

Final words…

Running a business is hard…there’s no argument there. But with some planning and intentional transformation, you can build an enterprise that operates efficiently and profitably. Following the tips presented here will put you on the path to long-term business success.