Around 60 per cent of Australian businesses fail in the first three years of starting. Whether it's due to a lack of originality or not paying close attention to essentials, plenty of small trips can catch you off guard. With the right advice, you'll fall into the 40 per cent that find business success.
In an era where many markets suffer from idea saturation, copying your competitors won't allow you to stand out. While it may sound cheesy, if you have a unique take on a product or service dozens of others in Perth are offering, someone out there wants to use it. After engaging in some basic market research, consider how you could:
After determining how you'll stand out from the crowd, begin developing your branding. Everything from your slogans to the colours you use in your ads will help customers recognise your store or service throughout Perth, so put effort into which branding strategies will work best for you and stick to them. By using consistent branding throughout your offline and online ads, you'll develop an image others are familiar with and instil a sense of trust.
Although a lot of niches offer lucrative opportunities, you can't seize said opportunities unless you know who you're addressing. Understanding your audience requires you to:
Always remember, few businesses appeal to everyone. Discovering who your audience is, no matter how narrow they may be, prevents you from floundering by trying to appeal to every resident in Perth.
First of all, it's worth recognising that as a small business owner, you're less likely to mirror the rapid response times larger organisations create. However, even if you do respond to queries and complaints slowly, you can make up for this with an empathetic approach. Play on the fact that your business is small by delivering a personalised and empathetic service that will allow you to compensate for a lack of speed. One way to achieve this is to have your employees use your products and services. That way, when they do deal with complaints, they'll speak from the heart rather than trot out buzzwords.
On the empathy note, the words you and your employees use will have a significant impact on your reputation. Try and use phrases such as:
"I understand what you mean"
"I can see where you are coming from"
"I want to help you make this better"
Using such phrases acknowledges that you have recognised a customer's problem, without admitting fault. However, using them alone won't save your reputation if your customer has a bad experience. One of the world's leading airlines, British Airways, uses a phrase called "Listen and make things better now." Ensure that you and your employees know how to listen, apply the right language, and act on problems at the moment to develop a stellar reputation that precedes you for the right reasons.
When you first begin building your business, it's not unusual to want to hire employees and send them out to work straight away. However, depending on the nature of your organisation, doing so could mean you're ignoring a vital element of organisational communication called "human factors." In short, human factors involves ensuring your employees understand each others' roles. It gives them the confidence to communicate with each other, and to make suggestions to those they perceive to be at a higher level than them. The use of human factors avoids costly mistakes and is routinely employed in arenas such as medicine and aviation to develop better business acumen at all levels.
While the success of any new business can never be guaranteed, your business is more likely to be profitable by taking your time, following these tips, and learning from mistakes as you go along.
If your business requires IT support, feel free to give our team a buzz for information on how we can help you be even more of a success.