If you survey small business owners on their primary goal, most will tell you they want to grow sales. Laying down a game plan can help increase the likelihood of achieving that goal.
Below are 12 actionable small business tips for 2023 and beyond, that can help boost sales, cut costs, and accomplish much more.
1. Update your point-of-sale (POS) system
While you may think a POS system is just another name for a cash register, most modern POS devices can do much more than process payments. With the latest software technology, a POS system can help you manage your business from end to end, all in one dashboard, whether at the store or on the road. Keep track of sales, schedule employees, monitor inventory, and process payroll. Enhance your system's functionality by customizing it with the apps you need to run your business, streamline your manual tasks, and grow sales.
2. Accept all popular payment types.
Did you know that different age groups prefer to pay in other ways? Make it easy for all your customers to purchase from you by allowing them to pay for their items or services the way they prefer—credit card, debit card, mobile wallet, cash, check, or even gift card. Giving your customers more payment options helps provide a seamless shopping experience and increases the likelihood that they'll return.
3. Join the paperless movement
Going paperless isn't just about saving the environment. It's also a savvy business decision that can help save you time and money. Buying, managing, and storing paper carries many hidden costs that can affect your profits and your employees' productivity.
4. Compete for business awards
Competing for local, state, or national business awards is a great way to boost visibility and increase brand awareness. Yet, most companies either need to learn what award programs are available or don't have the time to submit the applications. Learn four ways how winning awards can help your small business grow and how to search for award programs in your industry.
5. Protect your payment environment
Accepting electronic payments comes with the added responsibility of preventing and detecting fraud within your payment environment. A data breach can not only burden your business with out-of-pocket losses, legal fees, and punitive damages, but it can also result in diminished customer confidence and loss of sales. You can help minimize your fraud risk with a more secure payment environment by maintaining PCI compliance, implementing fraud management tools, and keeping your devices and systems up-to-date.
6. Offer flextime and work-from-home options.
Many managers prefer having their teams on-site during regular business hours. This type of schedule might be necessary for some businesses, like retail stores. If your operations allow it, consider offering your employees flextime or work-from-home options. Studies have shown that doing so can help boost employee morale, improve mental health, and increase productivity. This could be an attractive benefit to potential new hires in today's tight labor market.
7. Explore new markets and business models
If the pandemic has shown us anything, businesses may need to pivot quickly during times of uncertainty to stay afloat. It might surprise you how many opportunities can surface with some minor tweaks. If you're a brick-and-mortar business, consider expanding your business online. Another way to establish a more substantial online presence is to implement a buy online, pick up in-stores.
Spend some time this year thinking about expanding your reach, modifying your business, and targeting new customers.
8. Mitigate the effects of inflation
With inflation and supply chain issues continuing to impact the economy, there are ways small businesses can minimize the adverse effects on their operations aside from raising prices. Read what you can do to overcome inflation.
9. Educate yourself
There are countless resources available that can help you learn more about building and growing a business. Today from watching a Netflix documentary to listening to a podcast to reading a blog post, studying the challenges and successes of other entrepreneurs can help you figure out what strategies work out best for your business.
10. Launch a loyalty program
Most business owners intuitively understand the value of loyalty programs, and you can generate a steady stream of repeat business from satisfied customers with the correct setup. The main hurdle is getting started and loyalty programs can help you gather more and more customers which will further help you foster your business.
11. Reduce your tax bill
Most business owners are constantly looking for ways to reduce their taxes. Whilst you prepare for this year's tax season, it is an excellent time to discuss ways your business can save on taxes with your accountant or professional tax preparer to help you get a head start on making those adjustments sooner than later.
12. Optimize your site for mobile
Recent research shows that almost 60 per cent of online traffic comes from mobile. If your goal is to convert as many online users as possible, redesign your current site to be more user-friendly for smartphones and tablets in order to attract the young crowd.
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13. Make SEO a priority.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is getting your website and blog content to rank well in Google. When someone types in a keyword related to your business, you want your website to appear at the top of the search results.
There's a lot of online advice for small business owners on how to succeed at SEO. To help increase your chances of ranking well, you will need to optimize existing content with the keywords your users are searching for, produce quality educational content regularly; and ensure the technical health of your website. Learn more about improving SEO for your business website.
14. Adopt video
Did you know that YouTube is the second most popular search engine after Google? People love watching videos. Research shows that adults spend nearly three hours per day watching video content on TV and another 80 minutes watching videos on their mobile devices.
As a business owner, consider catering to this growing demand. There is no need for a huge budget to get started. If you have a camera phone and a compelling offer, that's often enough to create your content and get started.
15. Discover the sharing economy
What if you could have the best tools, equipment, and talent for a fraction of what you're currently paying? These are the benefits of the sharing economy — a world in which you pay for access and not for ownership.
As an entrepreneur, this means hiring freelancers, renting business-critical equipment on a short-term basis, or using coworking spaces. With this approach, you can always access the latest and greatest without committing to the cost of employing, buying, or long-term leasing these resources outright.
These are just some small business tips and tricks that can help you in the New Year. Realistically, you may only be able to implement some 15 small business tips. However, tackling even four or five of them could have a positive, measurable and lasting effect on your business.
Contact our eatOS Business Consultant today if you're interested in learning more about how we can help you make your business more accessible and innovative.
