Small Business Struggles and (Planning for 2011)

It’s inevitable every small business goes through  growing pains, with the exception of  the last couple of years where we don’t know who to really blame, the economy, growing pains  or lack of a market or a  combination of  two or all three factors just to mention a few.

With 2011 looming, what can we do  differently?  Top challenges that small business owners face include customer acquisitions, staffing, financing, or and cash flow management. Most businesses help themselves by addressing some key areas that are free or inexpensive small lifting.

Here are five things to start with:

1. Making sure your customers can find you ( business listings, websites plenty free options out there)

2. Embracing social media (it’s not going away your might as well they are free)

3. Educating and engaged your customer on how to effectively use your service (blogs, video,  tutorials, free if you can create them  and or get someone else like these guys to you need help).

4. You are the superstar in what you are delivering however  you need  help in some areasthat you are not great at. (Get help ..or automate as much as you can from ask around the small business community on what to do (fro mbookkeeper,webmaster ….there are many options, from (Free) interns to (may cost you) freelancer)

5. Evaluate what excites you about your business and rejuvenate your business spirit (Free schedule a meeting with yourself and evaluate what’s working and what not).

What does your 2011 To Do list look like?…Pretty much tweaking the following plans your already  have after address your business pain points.

1. Customer acquisition plan for the year

2. Marketing  plan for 2011

3. Sales strategy plan

4. Customer management and retention plan.

5.  Execute, execute! oh, did I mention execute.  Yes, execute 2000% when you can

You may not have the bandwidth to research what’s out there to help you small business however you should know there are so many free and inexpensive solutions to help you achieve this goal.  Email me at concierge at errandmanager.com with any questions you might have about the anything including  the free tools that you can help you  leverage as well as  grow your business.

One of the top most mistake entrepreneurs make is not asking for help.