The Biggest Challenges Small Businesses Face Today

Launching a new business can be a fulfilling experience. However, keeping the business alive and growing is the significant challenge most entrepreneurs face. While 2020 and the great resignation have enforced the need for businesses to stay agile and adaptive to present conditions to succeed, a recent study suggests that small businesses will soar in 2022. Here are the four common challenges you may likely encounter as you look to grow your small business.

Time management 

Small business owners are responsible for executing business plans and bringing in new business. Others are faced with handling other business roles, including paperwork, dealing with vendors, and answering client inquiries. Unfortunately, it can be challenging to manage your time, causing you to miss some important details or issues. Even for the most passionate entrepreneurs, the long hours, workload, and constant pressures can lead to fatigue. The stress buildup can lead to rash decisions and possibly abandonment of the business. You may want to pace yourself to keep your business running without wearing everybody down. 

Quality and growth balancing 

Managing a small business becomes harder with growth. One moment you are celebrating a big win; the next second, you are struggling to keep up with new client demands. You may have to work long hours and need your employees to do the same. It can be tempting to cut corners to meet customer demands. Unfortunately, neither is a good option if you want to expand without hurting your business in the long run. Consider whether your business can handle growth while supporting existing quality standards. Having too much on your plate may affect work quality and pose reputational risks. It is okay to say no to accepting new clients that may risk your business' financial and operational health.

Inventory management

Many small businesses struggle with inventory management, particularly in the beginning. To start, you may have difficulty finding the right suppliers for your business. You need ones that are reliable and can meet your needs, which is why it makes sense to find specialists. If you sell food, find a wholesale food supplier that does nothing else. If you’re in the pharmaceutical business, opt for a supplier like KeySource Acquisition that specializes in supplying medical goods. 

You get the idea, and the reason for this is that your suppliers will only deal with businesses in your industry. It decreases their workload and means they should be more reliable. After finding a good supplier with good prices, you then need to focus on ordering the right stock. Do some research so you’re not over or under-ordering - both can cause a loss of money. 

Ineffective online presence 

Advertising can be expensive, and word-of-mouth, in particular, may move too slowly. Fortunately, the internet offers excellent cost-effective platforms to reach your target audience. It can be useful to improve your online presence through your website or social media. Recent research shows that 66% of brands that spent at least six hours on social media per week generated more leads. It is not surprising that several small businesses utilize high-speed internet providers to streamline their communications within and outside the business. Therefore, it is a good idea to invest in high-speed internet providers to streamline your communications and collaborations to enhance productivity. 

Recruitment 

Today, there are 31.7 million small businesses in the US, accounting for roughly 48% of all jobs. This may suggest employee recruitment is easy. However, that is far from the case, especially when you cannot compete with large businesses' salaries and benefits packages. You may require your staff to take up multiple roles, unlike the big corporations that assign a single role to each employee. For this reason, it is in your best interest to hire individuals with the right personality trait to help your business succeed. To tackle this problem, provide competitive salaries and benefits for your industry while ensuring staff feel valued and appreciated to drive your retention rates. 

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