Ideas for small business in a difficult environment

Posted by Lukevdp on December 9, 2008 under Marketing, Small Business, Websites | Be the First to Comment

In yesterday’s SMH, there was a great article about “Thinking Outside the Box” for small business owners. It’s always great to get new perspectives, and here are some points from the article that I thought were worthy of mentioning here.

“In these sorts of economic circumstances a lot of businesses fall into the trap of doing things the way they have always done them,” Gerrish says. “But now is not the time to keep doing the same old stuff. It is time to start being innovative in the way you approach your business and thinking outside of the square.”

It’s always very easy to do what you already know, and the step of trying new things can be a daunting one. A good way to find new ideas is to talk to people close to you, people who have an understanding of the business, and even customers, and find out what could be done to meet customer needs more effectively.

Although many businesses think the only way to grow is to create new markets, Bickerstaff says businesses should really focus on defining their market.

“It’s natural when sales are falling that you look at opening new markets but the successful businesses focus on their current market and instead may look at extending their geographical reach. It is a better way of using your marketing dollar.”

This can be especially true if your core competencies are based on the skills of your people. For example, with my web design firm VDP Websites, rather than expand into print design, we are looking to expand and engage new clients Australia wide.

Director of website smartmoney.com.au, Amanda Gome, says investing in website design is an effective way of doing this.

“Marketing and advertising people are looking at how to build up what they’ve got – getting more from their customer base. Businesses are looking towards the internet, not only ensuring that their websites receive more traffic but how to engage people when they are at the site,” Gome says.

The internet is such a low cost and effective way of engaging customers that I’m not surprised at all to see this in here. A prime example is a monthly email newsletter. The cost is next to nothing, but the traffic and sales it drives can be quite significant.

The full SMH article can be found here.

Why does every small business need a website? I’m going to open Lukevdp.com by addressing it’s very premise....
Getting your business on the (Google) map This article is taken from the second issue of the...
Web based communications strategy for small business I was speaking to the owner of an internet cafe...
Make sure you have a phone number on your website One of the biggest mistakes I see on e-commerce websites...
How I got 250% more leads 466% cheaper These aren’t just numbers that I plucked from thin air,...