Starting a small business can be an exciting venture for those striking out on their own, pursuing a passion, and determined to be their own boss. But it also comes with its own unique problems and hurdles to navigate. Competing with bigger companies, dealing with lifestyle inflation costs, establishing a new brand, and attracting customers may all be tricky, but they are achievable.
Without the budget, experience, and contacts of larger organisations, there are certain areas where a small business may struggle, but there are usually workaround solutions for most of them. One of the main problems can centre around employee salaries, lifestyle inflation, and payments, but web services such as paystub portal can help you on your way!
Below we will look at the Top 5 Main Problems for Small Business Owners and Their Solutions.
Top 5 Main Problems for Small Business Owners and Their Solutions.
- Financing and Funding when Starting a Small Business.
The number one challenge you will face when starting a small business will be securing the funds you need to create your products, market your brand, secure premises, and take on employees. This can be especially difficult when dealing with lifestyle inflation costs as well! Most small business owners won’t have enough savings to do all this on their own. There are two different approaches you can take to this issue:
Your first step in starting a small business can be to look into the loan opportunities offered by banks. Or perhaps a friend or family member may be willing to invest in your new business endeavour? Most banks will have a small business and start-up loan package set in place and will require you to present them with a business plan detailing projected costs and earnings before they decide whether to loan you the money.
Alternatively, if taking out a loan makes you feel uncomfortable, you could consider whether you should scale back your ideas a little to begin with. Start with a pared-down product line, don’t take on any employees yet, and work out of your home. Once you begin to make a profit, you can invest back into your company for organic, self-fuelled business growth.
- Marketing and Advertising when Starting a Small Business.
Being able to advertise on billboards, buses, and TV adverts may be a long way off, but in the internet age, those starting a small business don’t need a bloated marketing budget. Harness the power of social media, which will allow you to present your business, advertise your product and engage with your target customer base – for free!
An important step in starting a small business is doing your research and coming up with your perfect target customer in terms of age, location, job, and interests. Then discover uno reverse which social media apps they use. Older customer bases are likely to be found on Meta/Facebook, while a younger crowd can discover your product on Instagram or TikTok.
Consistency is often the key to successful social media campaigns, so you need to make sure to come up with interesting social media content which will stand out from the crowd regularly.
- What is Your Individual Selling Point? Are you Offering the Right Product?
If your sales are slow and you aren’t getting much interest in your product offering, you need to consider if what you are offering is suited to the market. You need to be selling something that improves or adds value to your customer’s life in a new and fresh way – if you aren’t doing so, what reason do they have to buy?
What makes your company stand out from the crowd? What do you offer that no other company does? Have you come up with a great new modification of a current product that will make it even easier, more cost-effective, or offer an improved functionality? Always be thinking about what can make your products stand out from the crowd.
(Remember, your individual selling point doesn’t have to just be product based. If you have set up a sandwich or food stall, can your individual selling point be its handy location? Are you set up somewhere convenient for commuters to stop off on their way to work?)
- Maintain a Workable Cash Flow
Before you even get started, make sure that you are familiar with the best and most optimised cash flow practices for small businesses. Getting your first few customers is incredibly exciting, but in B2B sales, particularly, it is normal practice to raise an invoice and then wait for a month before you receive payment. What are you going to do in the meantime? How will you fund product creation for new incoming customers? Are you striking a good balance between spending and saving?
Making use of online accounting and payroll websites such as Pay Stub Portal will allow you to track your income each month and plan for your taxes and big business investments accordingly.
When starting a small business, budget accordingly and make sure that you don’t have too many outgoings at once. Maintaining business solvency should be your number one priority. Don’t make the mistake of trying to take on huge orders which will decimate your funds and leave your business stranded until you receive payment.
A helpful step in starting a small business can be to consider shortening the invoice payment date to two weeks (always make sure your customer is aware of this) and creating an emergency savings fund that you top up regularly to see you through leaner months.
- Taking on Employees
This can be an intimidating and headache-inducing step in starting a small business, but taking on help is the only way you are going to be able to grow your company. Hiring the wrong person for the job is a waste of time, money, and resources, so you need to make sure that you take the right approach.
Make sure that you make the first right steps by sitting down and coming up with a detailed job description and profile of the type of person you need. This work will inform all your future hiring decisions from how you word the job advertisement, what platforms you choose to advertise on, which people you select for interviewing, and the questions you need to ask. When you have your final shortlist, go back to your job description and ideal profile. Do they match?
Remember Lifestyle Inflation and keep track of salaries with Pay Stub Portal
You also need to be able to provide decent pay after taxes, keep to a set amount of time off and maintain your payroll funds. Pay Stub Portal can help you with all of this and keep you organized in your hiring, salary payment projections, and tracking your outgoing employment costs.
Make sure that you are offering a decent salary that is in line with lifestyle inflation and standard of living costs. This will help to attract the right kind of candidate for the job you are offering.
Don’t let yourself be swayed by personality too much (although a bright, positive person is always an asset), be on the lookout for hard workers, humble attitudes, and people who seem motivated and committed. These will be very important factors for success when starting a small business.
