Mistakes are a natural part of running a small business. But if you can avoid the obvious missteps, your business should be better positioned to make it through tough times that are unavoidable. Below, read tips from members of the online small business community for avoiding or managing some common entrepreneurial missteps.
Be Realistic About Managing Remote Work
These days, tons of small business owners and their employees are working from home. While it’s certainly possible for many to stay productive, you need to be realistic about managing your team under these conditions. Read more in this UpCity post by Jason Randall.
Create Business Cards That People Won’t Throw Away
Business cards can be an effective way to network with people. But if the design, style, or content of your cards isn’t appealing, people may simply throw them away. Avoid this misstep with the tips in this DIY Marketers post by Ivana Taylor.
Analyze Your Content Gaps
If the content you create for your business isn’t bringing in quality leads and helping you convert new customers, there’s a problem somewhere. Content gap analysis can help you determine exactly what that problem might be. Micheal Habiger explores the concept in this Pixel Productions post. And BizSugar members offered thoughts here.
Keep Customer Churn Rates as Low as Possible
Churn describes the amount of customers that leave your business. Obviously, small business owners should try to keep this rate as low as possible, but you first need to understand what factors contribute to a high churn rate. Ivan Widjaya of Noobpreneur discusses here.
Stay Up to Date with Information for the Franchise Industry
Many independent franchises have been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus pandemic. So franchise owners need to stay up to date on all the latest news and updates that could impact their operations. Joel Libava of The Franchise King has compiled a helpful list of updates in this post.
Integrate Security Best Practices into Your Workflows
Efficient workflows can help your team get more done — but they won’t actually help your business if you’re not able to keep them secure. In this Process Street post, Oliver Peterson details how to integrate security best practices into your workflows so you can enjoy the best of both worlds.
Practice Self Control to Build a Sustainable Small Business
Self control is crucial for starting a small business. It’s also important for keeping your business growing at a sustainable rate. In this Crowdspring post, Katie Lundin discusses some of the scientific concepts surrounding self control and how they relate to business owners.
Don’t Leave Money on the Table
These days, it’s absolutely possible to build a business around a blog, or to use your blog as an additional source of income. But plenty of bloggers have made missteps when it comes to monetizing. Jasmine Watts of Miss Millennia Magazine outlines some of those common mistakes here.
Avoid Basic Small Business Publishing Mistakes
Self-publishing has made it easier than ever for authors to get their work out there. Whether you’re building a business around your books or just want to offer your work as an extra source of income, avoid the mistakes in this Always Write post by David Leonhardt. Then head over to BizSugar to see what the community is saying about the post.
Guide Your Employees to Post More on Social Media
Plenty of small businesses use their own social media accounts to engage with customers. But if your employees aren’t posting on their accounts, you might not be making the most of these platforms. In this Social Media Examiner post, Natasa Djukanovic offers tips for guiding employees when it comes to social media.
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This article, "10 Tips for Avoiding Small Business Missteps or Recovering from Them" was first published on Small Business Trends
April 11, 2020 at 12:35PM
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Annie Pilon, Khareem Sudlow
