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What challenges do small and medium size businesses face today?
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9 Answers
Very few business problems are not dramatically impacted for the positive by selling significantly more product or services. I had a boss years ago that would say to many challenges we faced," this is nothing a million dollars in sales wouldn't fix", and then he would look at me, as I was in charge of sales.
Even in the worst case, selling more may give you different challenges, but better challenges.
We recently put this question to our small and mid-market clients. The top three concerns were:
1. Access to capital (a top three concern for every respondent)
2. The rising costs of health insurance (a top three concern for every respondent)
3. Services becoming commoditized and the resulting downward pricing pressures
I got a few :)
Cashflow - some of the big guys just don't pay on time
Managing distractions - all employees are subject to more distractions than ever before - how do you keep them on task for long enough?
Risk averse clients - buying from a small company feels riskier than it used to. Will smaller companies be able to cope or survive in a troublesome market?
Seasonal fluctuation is less predictable than it used to be. Summer breaks are more spread out over 8 weeks or more this year - will Christmas be the same - can we recover enough revenue in the uptime?
It feels too risky to expand the business - even if you are doing OK - plenty of scope for missed opportunities right now.
I think of a couple of things:
1- Cash flow- Consumers are so much into the lowest price that many small companies have a hard time just making a profit. To run a business, provide adequate customer service, hire and provide training to employees is very difficult when consumers are do price conscious.
2- Marketing- the rules have changed drastically. There is so much to learn, however don't try everything. Hone in on a few things you can do consistently and do them consistently. Search for your niche and drive deep into that niche.
From an online marketing perspective they face many challenges in organic search.
The costs of SEO continue to be expensive without much of a guarantee of getting to the number one spot.
The big players in the industry have more money and can drive you right out of the market in this aspect. Advertising dollars spent on this are wasted. Like Butch mentioned finding a less competitive niche in your market and drilling down into it is the best chance of turning a profit or gaining recognition.
Internet marketing in general is not a one time solution so putting as much as you can towards marketing on a continual basis is key, but as mentioned previously, cash flow is an issue.
Finding a reputable internet marketing company that is reasonably priced and produces tangible results.
One fundamental challenge all businesses of all sizes face (and most have a very hard time with it) is differentiating themselves from the competition in their marketing. It's critical.
Al Shultz
www.alshultz.com
I agree with Al and David. What makes you different in a way that people would want to do business with you. We get caught in doing what everyone else is doing and that puts us in the herd. It is like running a TV ad without any voice volume. They can see, they just can't hear you.
Capital is a major roadblock for many businesses. They don't know how to ask for it or are not prepared with business plans and the information needed to secure it. You must have a marketing plan, knowing what it will cost and a step by step plan on hwo you will implement it.
When it comes to running a small business these days, many new entrepreneurs may feel particularly squeezed.
The truth is that access to capital is NOT the biggest challenge currently facing small business owners- at least not based on recent research, such as this National Federation of Independent Business Survey: http://www.nfib.com/research-foundation/surveys/small-business-economic-trends
The rising costs of doing business, including runaway health care expenses and the higher cost of commodities, coupled with stagnant or declining sales (fallout from the sluggish economy) are the real challenges today.
Another challenge is getting customers' attention in the midst of all the competing "noise" out there.
In my work with small business owners I see many of the same issues that are mentioned above however I think there are basic fundamental challenges that business owners face such as finding the time to do it all and managing all aspects of their businesses. Many of the business owners I work with want to control everything and therefore are not focused on specific challenges like those above that they need to be in order to grow. And many of them have no idea on how to create and execute a game plan for success.
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