Small businesses are such an important part of our community. It’s the small businesses that stimulate our local economy, make a tight-knit community, and give character and culture to the places that we live. It’s not the giant corporations that make your city a wonderful place to live, it’s the small businesses created by local entrepreneurs that are passionate about what they do that make your city unique.

Small businesses owners know that getting your company off the ground and making a name for yourself is not a quick and easy task! It takes a lot of hard work and passion. Here are some tips for small businesses to help get you on the right path to success!

Find The Organizational Tool That Works for You

Small business owners know that there are a lot of different hats to wear, a lot of things to do, and not a lot of time in the day to get things done. It can be really easy for balls to drop and to get overwhelmed if you don’t have a way to stay organized.

Luckily, we live in a time where we can leverage technology to help us stay organized. There are lots of organizational tools out there. Invest time in investigating the different options and find one that suits your needs (and the way your brain works) the best.

Here are just some of the tools that you might want to check out: asana, linear, Trello, process street, zapier, todoist, and Evernote. 

Pro-tip: Learn what times of the day are your most productive times and make the most out of those hours.

Never Underestimate Networking

Networking is an essential and crucial part of having a successful business. Building a successful business is a lot of work and takes a lot of energy. By connecting with the right people, you can help give your business an incredible boost. Networking is a great way to generate leads, learn about trends in the small business world, and help you overcome imposter syndrome.

You never know who you might learn from, who you could partner with, or who might have a solution to a problem that you’re experiencing. Get connected with other small business owners and make a point of attending networking events in your city. Every time you attend an event, approach it as an opportunity to learn from people. Seek out those who are smarter than you or who have different business styles than you so that you can absorb lessons that will work for your own business.

Grow Your Email List

Email marketing offers one of the highest returns on investments for small businesses. In fact, reports say that for every dollar you put into the return is approximately $42. Because emails are so valuable, set up ways to start collecting those from the very start and don’t stop.

Be Exceptional in Customer Service

There is no better advertising than a customer who experienced exceptional service. Small businesses are competing with giant corporations with deep pockets, which can mean competing with much lower bottom lines and a huge well of resources. One thing that every single small business has control over is providing exceptional customer service. Exceptional customer service can help with word-of-mouth advertising, getting great reviews, and locking in repeat customers. By being exceptional, you can stand apart from those giant corporations and have a lasting impression on the consumer.

Ask For Help

Never be ashamed to ask for help. By not asking for help, you could be costing yourself time, energy, and money. It’s better to learn from other people’s mistakes without needing to make the same mistakes yourself.

And while we’re at it, don’t be afraid to seek monetary help from grants and other funding opportunities! There are programs to help small businesses and often all it takes is a little time and effort to fill out some forms and you’ll be approved for grants that can really make a difference in your business’ success!

Be A Part of The Local Community

The local community is a tight-knit community. Work with other small businesses to lift each other up. Partner up for giveaways or pop-up events. Recommend one another to your clients. Learn from each other. Share your experiences and what has and hasn’t worked for you. By working together, you can reach larger audiences and expand your businesses faster.

Seek Verified Reviews and Pay Attention To Them

Verified reviews are one of the most important tools in your marketing arsenal. Research that 91% of people regularly read online reviews. Most people go to online reviews before making purchases or choosing businesses to work with. Online reviews are becoming just as important as word-of-mouth recommendations; a study showed that 85% of people trust online reviews just as much as they trust personal recommendations.  A lack of reviews is shown as a big red flag, especially for Millennials.

Make sure that there are places for customers to leave a review, whether that is on your website, through social media, on a platform like Locorum, or with Google. Encourage your customers and clients to leave a review, and you’ll find that the reviews will start to come in.

Pro tip: Locorum is a great platform to get verified reviews that will help inform future customers’ decisions.

Change The Way You Perceive Failure

Did you know that when you are learning a new skill, when you do it wrong or “fail” your brain learns better and faster than if you do it well right away? Our brains are literally designed to learn from our mistakes. Every time you make one, start to see it as an opportunity to grow.

Learn To Love the Data

Data analytics is your absolute best friend when it comes to having a successful business. Through data analytics you can increase productivity, lower operating costs, increase revenue, and better understand your customer.

Data can give you hindsight, but then it can also help you identify patterns and make predictions. It can even help give you insight into your competition!

The data is out there for you, you just need to figure out what data to collect, how to collect it, and then the best way to analyze it. It could be a worthwhile investment into finding data analytic tools, or hiring a data analyst, depending on your business, but even just diving into the free analytics on your social media pages and website can give you a wealth of useful information.

Have A Social Media Presence 

In today’s day and age, you need to have some sort of a social media presence, especially as the generation that was raised on computers becomes the generation with the largest spending power. Potential clients and customers will be googling you to find out more information and if they find zero social presence for your business, they might write you off. The new generations want to be able to feel like they know a brand beyond just a website and social media often gives consumers the ability to feel that way. Figure out what platforms make the most sense for your company and dive in!

Bonus Tip

Starting up a small business is no small feat, especially when there are giants in the space, who have the deep pockets and resources to be a household name. Luckily, people are becoming more aware of how important it is to support their local small businesses, and there are platforms like Locorum that are changing the game for entrepreneurs.

Locorum is a risk-free platform that helps small businesses acquire customers and receive verified reviews without paying monthly fees for their listing. Lead generation is a costly game and many platforms that are made to help you find clients require a monthly fee, whether it works for you or not. Locorum is completely different. You’ll pay zero monthly fees, making it a risk-free option for you! Join for free and see the Locorum difference.