Here’s How To Make Your Small Business Look Bigger On The Outside

When you are running a small business, it can be hard to find your footing on the market. The reason for this? You’ll already be competing with larger companies that are established in the industry that you are entering. These companies and massive brands have the trust and the support of the customers that you will be trying to reach. That’s why so many new businesses end up failing in their first year. They can’t grab the interest that they need. 

Unfortunately, it’s also fair to say that the majority of customers and clients don’t actually want to buy from smaller businesses. Instead, they want to purchase products and services from established companies that are larger. So, where does this leave you as a small business owner? Well, it means that you should take steps to try and ensure that your business looks significantly larger. There are a few steps that you can take to achieve this impact. 

Think About Your Website

First, you need to make sure that you are thinking about your website. For various customers the website will be the first impression that they receive of your brand. As such, it’s vital that you do have the right one. You might want to consider working with a professional web designer. They can guarantee that your website matches your brand perfectly while offering a user friendly experience.

A website that looks poor is a clear sign to customers and clients that a business is significantly underfunded because it’s a major part of the brand as a whole. One of the ways that you can deal with this is by avoiding using a template for your website. While these might be cost effective, the key problem with them is that everyone uses them. So, it’s very difficult to ensure that your business stands out.

Do be aware that your website has to hit the right technical marks too. If there are technical issues, then you could end up developing a high bounce rate overall and that’s the last thing that you want. A high bounce rate will mean that you are missing out on a massive number of sales. One example would be the speed at which your business loads. You need to make sure that there aren’t any delays or problems here. Ideally, you should aim to guarantee that a page on your site will take no more than a couple of seconds to load. You can usually ensure this by choosing the right hosting solution. 

Focus On Quality Content 

Next, you should make sure that you are focusing on creating quality content for your business. This is going to be an essential part of your marketing campaign and a key element of your business website. If you are interested in how to create the best content then it’s recommended that you try and tell a story while addressing the pain points that your customers are facing. Start with an issue that you know your target audience experiences. Address why it is a problem and then introduce a service or product that you offer as the right solution. 

In terms of the content that you want to create, you should try and mix it up as much as possible. You might find that you don’t have the time or energy to create your own content. If that’s the case, then you need to make sure that you are using the right marketing agency or freelancer. When you choose a solution like this, make sure that you check the reviews and the work that they have completed before. That way, you can guarantee that you don’t have to worry about issues with your business having poor quality content that isn’t going to impress anyone. 

Remember, you should be posting content on social media. But it’s important to make sure that you do follow the 80:20 rule here. This essentially means that only 20% of the content that you publish on social media should be directly promotional. The rest should deliver real value to your client base. 

Approach Customer Support The Right Way

Take a look at reviews online and you will find that most negative experiences relate to issues with customer support. If you don’t provide the right support for your customers then you are always going to struggle to get the positive reaction that you need from your consumer base. The key thing to remember here is that customers don’t want to wait around for a solution that they need. Instead, they want to make sure that they can get an answer quickly and you need to make sure that you are providing this option. 

There are numerous ways that you can do this. For instance, you might want to consider investing in training for your staff. The right level of training will ensure that they are always going to be far more effective at answering the needs and requirements of your customers. While you can train your staff in-house, training organizations like Corporate Coach Group are highly experienced to provide training in a variety of professional areas. Many training courses are offered online, but instructors can also provide a more traditional classroom learning environment on-site.

Alternatively, you could also consider exploring tech solutions. There are various forms of tech that are worth exploring here including live chat for small business solutions. Live chat is great because it means that customers can instantly get the answers that they need directly from your site. This also means that you don’t have to worry about issues with missed sales. If customers can’t find the answer that they need about a product or service, their reaction will often be to just abandon the shopping basket and start over. 

Outsourcing Services

Next, you should think about using outsourcing solutions in your business. The benefit of an outsourcing service is that it means that you can increase the scope and potential of your business without dramatically rising the costs.

There are outsourcing services for every area of your company. For instance, you can think about outsourcing marketing or potentially HR. Essentially, you should be looking to outsource any area of your company that is either expensive or difficult to manage.

Do be aware that a poor outsourcing service can still reflect badly on your business. As such, you need to make sure that you are thinking about how you can guarantee that you get the right outsourcing solution. First, it’s important to make sure that you don’t opt for the service that is providing the lowest rates. Taking this step could lead to your costs rising in the long term. 

You might also want to think about looking for case studies and portfolios from businesses. The best outsourcing services will provide evidence that they can deliver the right support you need.

You might also want to consider contact points, particularly if your customers are going to be interacting with this outsourcing service. It’s crucial that they can always gain access to the information that they need to have trust in your service. You should make a point of inquiring about contact points when you first interact with an outsourcing company. An example would be logistics where customers will want to know when their packages are going to arrive. 

Increase Productivity 

Finally, you need to think about focusing on how you can increase productivity in your business model. A higher level of productivity will mean that your turnaround time speeds up considerably. This will provide clear evidence to customers and clients that you can handle more significant jobs and larger projects which is crucial. 

There are numerous ways that you can work to increase your productivity. For instance, you might want to think about investing in new technology and equipment. The right tech will mean that you can avoid things going more slowly in your business because things are taking more time to load. Or, you might want to consider investing in even further training for your employees. The more training your team receives, the more effective they will be at completing tasks while maintaining a high level of efficiency. 

Of course, you can also think about boosting your levels of productivity by addressing key issues in your business model that are slowing everything down. This could be as simple as one team member who isn’t pulling their weight or it might be tied to a fundamental part of your model. One of the best ways to address an issue like this if you don’t know the cause will be to make sure that you hire a business consultant. They will be able to explore a specific area in your business model and look at how you can make key improvements to strengthen your company as a whole. 

We hope this helps you understand some of the key steps that you can take to ensure that your small business does look larger on the outside. If you take the right steps here, it’s going to be far easier for you to compete with the larger players on the market. 

Remember, looking bigger doesn’t mean that you need to significantly change your service. Instead, you should still keep the highly personalised solution that you probably started with. This is how you can gain the upper hand against larger competitors while looking as big as them.