Attracting new clients is essential for the success of all small businesses, and the majority of new clients you get will find you online first. That means your business needs to have a strong online presence, starting with its website. As someone who runs a business entirely online, I can guarantee this makes a difference! Think of your website as the “store window” of your online business. It needs to be attractive, up-to-date, and interesting enough to draw potential clients in to engage with your business on a deeper level. [Tweet “Not attracting the right kinds of clients? Your website…
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Onboarding new clients is one of the most time-consuming and important tasks for any small business. Ideally, your onboarding system should run smoothly and leave clients feeling taken care of, but in the messiness of real life, that doesn’t always happen. I find that the best way to manage onboarding successfully is to automate as much of the process as possible. Of course, you still need to give the prospects and new clients your personal time and attention! However, if you can leave all the details to be dealt with according to a set of basic procedures, it frees up…
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Probably the single most helpful tool any entrepreneur can use to ensure the success of their venture is a business plan. Think of it as your road map to successfully running a small business. It will help you clearly envision your goals, and show you how to reach them from where you are. A business plan is essential for those starting a new business, but it is also helpful for established businesses to make one. You may gain new insights into how your business is running, and where you can make changes to improve efficiency and make more room for…
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The start of a new year always gets people motivated to make changes in their life, work on personal and professional development, and try new things. Unfortunately, a lot of people struggle to stay on track with their resolutions, and most get broken or forgotten by the time February rolls around. Maybe you broke them already? The last thing you want as a small business owner is for your new business goals to meet the same fate as that resolution to lose 5 pounds or eat more vegetables! [Tweet “It’s a new year, full of new opportunities to grow your…
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If you make just one resolution this year, let it be to put yourself first. Too many small business owners work themselves to the bone, burning the candle at both ends, sometimes for years at a stretch. Your body and mind need time to recover from a hard day’s work, and there’s no shame in taking care of yourself. I know how tempting it can be to try and “do it all” when you’re in charge of everything about your work. Trust me when I say I have been there before. I have learned to resist the urge to spend…
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Well, we’ve almost made it through another year! I hope it was as good for your business as it was for mine, although I have some great suggestions if you didn’t meet all of your business goals this past year. The perfect time is coming up, in the lull between holiday gatherings and the new year starting in earnest, for you to take some steps for envisioning your next year in business. [Tweet “Come up with concrete plans and goals to make the New Year, your best year yet!”] One of the key practices you should adopt if you want…
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At this busy time of year, the idea of work-life balance can seem almost laughable, especially for anyone who runs a small business. With seemingly endless tasks popping up, parties, family commitments, and more, the last weeks of the year are difficult to prepare for. However, taking space from your work is important, more so now than at any other time of year. Because so many others—including business owners and many of your own clients—take time away from the office during December, they’ll be more understanding than you’d expect when you let them know you’ll be taking a week or…
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Do you have the right team in place to support your business? Your goals probably involve the growth of your business, taking on new clients, expanding your services or product line, tackling more and larger projects, etc. No small business owner wants to get stuck in a rut or have their business stagnate. However, growth means more work. A lot of small business owners view hiring an additional person to work on their business as a scary prospect. They worry about paying a salary, whether their need for support will remain consistent enough to warrant the commitment of a new…
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It’s Thanksgiving week, which means it’s a good time to focus on the things in our lives that we’re grateful for. Owning and running a small business can sometimes be challenging or draining, but there are so many wonderful things about it that make the trials worthwhile. I always try to remember to think on all the parts of running my own business that fill me with gratitude and appreciation for the work I do and the people I work with. Especially around holiday time, when the themes of thankfulness and love are so prevalent, I find it makes me happy…
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Do you know how to listen well as a business owner? Really, I’m not asking this facetiously; a lot of people don’t actually have well-developed listening skills, and that can hold them back in the world of small business ownership. Communication is the key to running a successful business, and listening should be the bulk of your communication! In a world of constant distractions, where we’ve been taught to multi-task as often as possible, many people have difficulty keeping their attention focused on a single conversation for any length of time. This can be a huge source of miscommunication between…
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