Six Survival Tips for Small Businesses in 2021.

Without mincing words, due to the uncertainty in the global economy, while bigger companies and conglomerates can and have been able to withstand the heat, the survival of many smaller businesses, on the other hand, is threatened. As a small business, I can imagine the worry when you consider all your business has to contend with at this time. However, there is no need to despair; 2021 is different from 2020 and it is a good time to start over by changing your strategies to ensure your business’ survival. Having said that, here are six survival tips for small businesses in 2021. 

Be Strategic About Customer Focus

Now, more than ever, customers are wary of marketing from businesses; they will more likely trust reviews from family or friends and other customers. So, what this means for you is that you should prioritise building relationship with your customers, especially loyal customers and those who continuously patronise you. Usually, when people hear about focusing on customers, they think about advertising and treating customers nicely or being available when customers have complaints and questions.

Now, all these are also important but much more, you will be able to retain more customers if you make them feel like a part of the brand. Acknowledge customer’s reviews on social media by retweeting/sharing or giving them a form of incentive. Also, you should identify your core or returning customers to retarget your marketing to them because they are the easiest to advertise to as they already are loyal to your brand. 

Listen to Your Customers

Sometimes, we can become so defensive when we hear/see any contrary opinion on what we feel we are doing right in our business. But your customers are an important part of your business, so you should not close your ears to their constructive and even non-constructive criticisms. It might hurt but all you should focus on is if it will help your business, that’s all you should be bothered about. Ask customers directly for feedback and you can also search social media to hear what people are saying about your business. 

Leverage Social Media

If your business is not on social media, you are very wrong. Your business should be on social media and you should take advantage of social media. In case you need convincing, according to Hootsuite, 52% of all online brand discovery still happens in public social feeds. So, if you want to increase brand awareness, social media is the place to do it. Besides that, you should take advantage of paid ads because they can be used to target your target audience. Instead of advertising to a large demography of people that might not be interested in what you are offering, you can target the group of people who are likely to be interested in your business. 

Cut Unnecessary Cost

Consider cutting cost on things and aspects of your business that are unnecessary and eating into the business finances. You will have to decide on that depending on your business structure. And personally, now might not be the best time to buy that luxurious car; maybe you should consider investing more into your business instead. 

Be Adaptable

If there is something the Coronavirus pandemic taught us is that life is full of surprises and we have to be prepared to adapt to the curveballs that life throw us. Plus, you will not be given a warning, so, as a business owner, you need to approach business with that mindset. I mean, besides a global pandemic, other obstacles threaten business survival, ranging from the weather, government policies, customer’s taste, to the economy, and other unforeseen circumstances. The implication of this for your business is that you have to be prepared. Your business should be structured in such a way that it can adapt to altering situations; you can do this by including a worst-case scenario forecast to your business plan or business strategy/policy. 

Stay Positive

You are probably not expecting this tip on a list of the survival tips for small businesses in 2021. But it is important because it is easy to get gloomy and give up because of the present situation. However, ask everybody that is up there and they will tell you it wasn’t all rosy. Keep pushing; this phase will become history someday. Of course, being positive doesn’t mean sitting down and doing nothing because you are expecting magic to happen. What I am saying is to stay positive while implementing all the changes you need to make and applying all the tips for small businesses highlighted in this article as well as the advice from well-meaning people who have gone ahead in business.

And that’s it. We love to hear from our readers. Tell us something you have had to change in your business recently to stand on your feet.