Business survival is the ability of a business to develop, persist, and grow in a competitive market environment.
This refers to the capacity of a business to remain profitable and operational despite obstacles like political, economical, and social changes that may have a negative impact on it.
Over the years small businesses continue to struggle to keep up and meet market demands leaving them far behind competitors,
you must always have it at the back of your mind that, it is not a bad idea to think of worst-case scenarios and make systems that can handle it if it does.
Your Ultimate Guide to Building a Sustainable Business in Nigeria today with the raise of Economical and political issues in Nigeria and Africa as a whole
You deserve respect for trying in this difficult period
Here are a few ways small business owners can stay relevant in the market, stay up to date and keep the competition strong
Tips For Small Business Survival
Embrace this era of uncertainty as an opportunity for growth
Focus on people
Review your budgets
Identify sources for financial support
Stay social
Be adaptable
Heading #3: Review your budgets
1: Embrace this era of uncertainty as an opportunity for growth
Staying afloat as a small business during this challenging time is a big task for entrepreneurs, but the past few years presented a whole new world of challenges while it's impossible to predict every problem that comes your way.
one key to success for a small business owner is innovation. Boosting your company's resilience so that you are better able to roll with unexpected punches will in the short and long term offer you the leverage that you need these business survival tips and strategies to see you through the pandemic and beyond
2: Focus on People
The purpose of a business is not to make profit, it's to create/attract your ideal clients/customers and hire good people, you want to create a situation that makes a customer buy for the first time and come back to buy again and finally refer your product and or services to their friends/family.
Implement a way to regularly communicate with your team, clearly outline and state your benefit and let them know their options because an informed and engaged employees are empowered and more dedicated.
Note: How you are doing is related to how many satisfied customers you have and to increase your customer satisfaction you have to listen to them and be part of their buying experience.
3: Review Your Budgets
Creating and sticking to a budget is an important part of business success in any year, but it's particularly vital now to occasionally review your budgets, creating a fresh budget today will provide you with a clear roadmap to follow through 2022.
Think about your objective for the year and then determine the areas that you need to allocate more resources, you can review your budget by following these simple steps
Checking amount in details
Re-evaluate your business situation and make changes where needed
Find category
put into consideration the price of new expense
Consider the possibility of not having a budget.
4: Identify Sources for Financial Support
The greatest threat faced with small businesses has always been financing (cash-flow), whether you are seeking access to capital or sustainability, the goal of most entrepreneurs remains building a sustainable business comprising of committed employees as well as a growing customer community without necessarily seeking for bank loans.
Sources of finance can include but are not limited to:
personal investments or personal savings
Government assistance
Commercial bank loans
Buyouts
In Nigeria today small businesses are having problems maximizing their profits, but a lot can be achieved by first planning what to do after generating profits, you can decide to allocate your profits efficiently by investing profits into a new project, say building a new branch in a new location, or partner with other companies to create a joint venture.
Most business owners in Nigeria today wait until they could save up some funds to use as capital before they launch their ideas while there are some ways to quickly fund your ideas.
Here are a few ways you can finance your small business.
Friends and family
Equipment leasing to learn more visit: winock and VT leasing
crowdfunding
5: Stay Social
Put your business out there for awareness as more than half of the world population is now on social media, the new era of Tv is now Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Ticktock. etc. Social proof is now part of the business process as customers/investors look businesses up on the internet before doing business with them, and this system or platform is the best place for referral.
Social media is more important than ever to stay connected with your customer/clients
and your business survival should include a clearly defined social media strategy, as this lets you communicate with your customers to understand how they react to your product (s), listen to what they are saying about your product or service, understand how to better respond to any topics, queries, concerns or suggestions your customers may have, and to keep them updated on new product and/or services, as well as to stay updated and relevant in your industry.
Social helps you become more competitive and competition is everything and the difference to successful selling.
Social is a way of staying rent-free in your potential customers' subconscious, this makes you the go-to person anytime they searching for your type of product or related service.
6: Be Adaptable
past year taught us all how important adaptability is, which is why this year's successful business ideas revolve around this theme. we know now that you need to prepare for worst-case scenarios and be willing to adapt, budget, create marketing strategies, and even with full business models accordingly. conduct brainstorming sessions with your staff to come up with fresh ideas. it's also a good idea to have cushion cash in your budget to see you through rough spots.