(collaborative post)
When you start a business, your main goals are to make it a success. You may spend a considerable amount of time working on what to do, your products and services, and how to attract more customers and clients. But once you have established yourself as a small business online or within the local community, what comes next?
Being a small business owner may have meant everything to you. Your idea, the time spent, the investment, and the effort to bring the dream to life. You may have worked solely online or had a retail premises or shop. The way businesses operate has changed considerably over the past few years. You may have had to adapt in areas such as how you sell your products or services and even how you conduct your business, be that digitally or face to face. Your business can ride this storm and emerge thriving. However, the problem is that nobody truly knows what the future holds. So how can you make changes to support your small business?
There are things that you can do to shape your small business for the future, to find areas where you can excel, and ultimately move your business forward. Whether it is expanding globally, with products and services, or just increasing sales, here are the next steps to future-proof your small business.
Enhancing your website
Many people are avoiding going out right now and there’s a lot of encouragement to stay at home unless it is essential. You may need to think outside the box so that people can still use your business. Especially if you relied on the high street and footfall sales. A website is a great way to create an online shop and e-commerce option for customers and clients. If you already have one, which is likely in today’s world, then you may want to think about how you can enhance it. Look at the layout of your website and make sure that each web page flows.
It could be worth checking to see if you need to make any amendments to the content that you have on there. Using specific keywords, which we will come to with the next point, but also making sure all content is relevant to today’s world. Your e-commerce side of things needs to be up to date with correct pricing and stock levels and also easy to use. Last of all, think about how your business stands out on the screen. Could you brighten up or change your logo? Maybe rebrand now to make some positive changes for the future? The more you enhance your website and make it easy for people to use, the more your business can survive.
Looking at the content you share
While your website may predominantly be all about sales and an online shop or ordering service, there is also another element that you need to consider. Adding content to your website is a great way to boost your presence online and help you build a following. Start a business blog where you can share posts to do with your business and niche. Or even get contributors that could help you boost the amount of content that you have.
You could speak with an agency that could talk to you about how to syndicate your content or help provide content for you. They could also look at placing content you create on other people’s sites. This content will have a link to your website that will then encourage people to visit your business. Or in the online world, help boost the presence of your website in search engines.
Making SEO a priority
SEO is a huge part of any business, and so you might need to think about how you can make it more of a priority and incorporate this into your business website. You may not have had to think about it before, or not even know what it is.
Briefly, SEO is search engine optimisation. It makes it possible for your website to be seen in search engine results and rank higher than others. When you browse on the internet, you are likely to pick the first few web pages that are brought up, assuming they are the most relevant. That is because the search engine has deemed them relevant due to SEO and also keywords that are used within the content.
If SEO is not your thing, you may want to look at agencies who can help you. Experts can look at the content you have and come up with an SEO strategy to help you get started. You could also research how to do it yourself, and by investing a little time, you may be able to build up your search engine ranking. The more you focus on SEO, the better it will be for your business website.
Coming up with a social media strategy
Social media is of huge importance to small businesses right now. So many people are using the platforms not just to share their lives but also to seek out businesses locally to them and other recommendations. The more you use social
media, the better it could be for your business, and having a strategy to consistently post will help you work with the algorithms on them. However, there is more to it than just posting about your business. You need to engage there; you need to comment and like and respond to comments and any direct messages that you get.
It’s a good idea to mix up your content from business and sales-focused posts to something a little more humanised. People buy from people, so giving an insight into that through your business could help with it. Social media can help any business, and involving influencers who already have a targeted and engaged audience to review and share your products or services could be a great way to increase your reach more naturally. The more organically you grow, the better it is for your business.
Host or attend networking events
Another way to get your business out there is to attend networking events or look to host your own event. This is a great way to help you solidify your space in that business niche. You could speak and connect with like-minded people and look at collaborations that could help both businesses to thrive. Whether that is a collaboration on a service or product or even coming together to help boost socials by running a competition for a prize. You could also look into hosting your own event, which could be a great way to help build up your reputation.
Focusing on involving your business in the community
Finally, make sure that you put some focus and attention on the local community. As a small business, it is more important than ever to have a greater stance and representation in your local area. A great tip would be to advertise more locally, get involved in local events and sponsorship and become more involved with charities. You could even consider sponsoring schools or teams in the local area by having your business branded onto uniforms. The more you spread the message locally, the more you will generate more business. Consumers are wanting to support small and local businesses, now more than ever, so capitalise on that and make sure that your business is the ‘go-to’ in your niche.
In conclusion, implementing these strategies can significantly enhance the resilience and growth potential of your small business. From revamping your website for a seamless online experience to mastering SEO tactics that boost visibility, each step plays a crucial role in future-proofing your venture. Active engagement on social media, participation in networking events, and a strong community presence further fortify your business against uncertainties. By embracing these initiatives, you not only adapt to evolving market dynamics but also position your business as a formidable force in the competitive landscape. With a focus on innovation and community involvement, your small business is poised for sustained success in the ever-changing business environment.
This post was published in collaboration with a content partner. The article is meant to inspire you how to live a slow, simple, soulful and sustainable lifestyle and may contain (affiliate) links to articles, websites or products/services that may be of interest to you.
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