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I want to have an open discussion of some of the pains we've all seen at small businesses - online and but especially offline; reason being I'm brainstorming some ideas on how to solve them. People can walk away with whatever idea they come up with, I won't even ask for my 15% royalty fees.
1. Revenue - One of the biggest things I thought most small business owners had was generating revenue, but after dealing with a ton of them, I realized that is not the case. Unless they were completely oblivious to their market most small businesses don't have a problem getting revenue, it's keeping it that's the problem.
The one thing I've seen which was the biggest problem was overall lack of customer service/support. Customers wanted to give them money, but the small business itself was hindering the process by poor customer service, support, or overall lack of "caring" from employees. So when new customers were acquired they were essentially left hanging not knowing the next steps of the process.
I figured out a couple of ways to help businesses which walked customers through an 'on-boarding' process, so they knew the next steps. Even giving them a "Next Steps Guide" was better then leaving them hanging around to discover what's next.
2. Marketing - I see business owners pinching pennies instead of putting dollars into marketing. Maybe it's because they have an overall lack of "how to market" knowledge, or aren't confident in their skills and abilities.
This is an overall knowledge problem, cause most of it requires hunting down new "keys" of success to this. I don't have a non-complicating solution for this, but maybe, if someone could come up with one, a bootcamp, newbie guide, or different tactics used to generate new business it could make for a killer idea. I wonder if a free marketing app might work. I know one of the hottest apps is the bible, so a marketing bible where people could go to read resources of different marketing material and have easy quick access and a search function when they are on the go.
Example, if one wants to figure out the best ways to do a direct mail campaign with postcards, how would one get started, where are some places near by they can outsource to, and what are some DIY guides with resources. Having a website is great, but an app that allows me to not have to google every single thing - maybe even a stack-overflow like Q&A session, they key is, it has to be mobile. Besides forums are there even marketing resource centers that allow something like this? Like in the mobile app stuff, I'm not looking to sit down and login to Udemy when I'm in the middle of traffic thinking about a marketing concept and need to validate some ideas.
3. Messaging - Conveying each business's USP (Unique Selling Proposition - what differentiates them from their competitors) is a bit tricky. On one hand - business owners want everyone to know about them, but on the other, they don't want their competitors to copy them. You see the dilemma, it's impossible to do both, so I advise doing the one that makes more money, rather then worrying about a competitor copying them, cause competition will copy no matter what. You just have to be louder and say ahead of the curve or re-create the landscape in your own image.
4. Too Many Ideas - Sometimes - Small business owners especially, operate under a lets do everything and see what sticks mentality. Going in twelve directions, whether it's with marketing tactics, or new product ideas is never going to work out. Lack of resources is the biggest culprit. But it doesn't stop there, when you divide your time and effort, you aren't putting 100% of your energy into one idea, so it's not the absolute BEST it could be, it's simply some MVP (minimum viable product) style, which is a philosophy I completely disagree with - in fact I hate it.
If you are going to present something you have to present it at it's absolute best, since it's difficult to get people to come back and give it another try if something didn't work. Even taking extra time and delaying is better then coming out with a half-ass idea to see if people would buy it. Go all in or just don't bother, no point in putting your name, brand on something half-assed, cause your reputation is on the line.
5. Not In-Touch With Their Customers. I have no idea why, but there is a group of small business owners who simply are not in-touch with their customer's pains. They got into business to solve them, but simply cannot make that transition to taking critical advice from their own customers. The worse are the ones that are terrified of the phone - aka hate customer service. I don't know how you plan on growing a business if you aren't willing to talk to your customers - only solution I can think of is hiring a communication director or someone specifically designated to handling customer care. It has to be someone that enjoys the process of solving people's problems and is kind.
One thing I know is the way people send emails now-a-days is pretty shitty. Recently with a project I started I had to force myself to becoming the best customer service rep possible. Since communication is primary email, just getting a great email explaining things from an owner has an extra warm feeling, so I made it mandatory that I reply to every feedback or request myself so I'm in-touch with my customers as much as possible. I've learned a lot about their pains and needs, but also dozens of new features, ideas, and ways to make things simpler have come from customer ideas and interactions. The only way to improve a service is to constantly communicate with the people who utilize it in their daily routines. I recommend everyone that utilizes email read this post about how to create better emails: https://www.helpscout.net/guide-to-better-email/
Anyways, that's all I got for now. If you have ideas, pains you see, or solutions feel free to add it, I'm going to be coming back and forth to this thread cause it'll give me a spot for brain dumps.
1. Revenue - One of the biggest things I thought most small business owners had was generating revenue, but after dealing with a ton of them, I realized that is not the case. Unless they were completely oblivious to their market most small businesses don't have a problem getting revenue, it's keeping it that's the problem.
The one thing I've seen which was the biggest problem was overall lack of customer service/support. Customers wanted to give them money, but the small business itself was hindering the process by poor customer service, support, or overall lack of "caring" from employees. So when new customers were acquired they were essentially left hanging not knowing the next steps of the process.
I figured out a couple of ways to help businesses which walked customers through an 'on-boarding' process, so they knew the next steps. Even giving them a "Next Steps Guide" was better then leaving them hanging around to discover what's next.
2. Marketing - I see business owners pinching pennies instead of putting dollars into marketing. Maybe it's because they have an overall lack of "how to market" knowledge, or aren't confident in their skills and abilities.
This is an overall knowledge problem, cause most of it requires hunting down new "keys" of success to this. I don't have a non-complicating solution for this, but maybe, if someone could come up with one, a bootcamp, newbie guide, or different tactics used to generate new business it could make for a killer idea. I wonder if a free marketing app might work. I know one of the hottest apps is the bible, so a marketing bible where people could go to read resources of different marketing material and have easy quick access and a search function when they are on the go.
Example, if one wants to figure out the best ways to do a direct mail campaign with postcards, how would one get started, where are some places near by they can outsource to, and what are some DIY guides with resources. Having a website is great, but an app that allows me to not have to google every single thing - maybe even a stack-overflow like Q&A session, they key is, it has to be mobile. Besides forums are there even marketing resource centers that allow something like this? Like in the mobile app stuff, I'm not looking to sit down and login to Udemy when I'm in the middle of traffic thinking about a marketing concept and need to validate some ideas.
3. Messaging - Conveying each business's USP (Unique Selling Proposition - what differentiates them from their competitors) is a bit tricky. On one hand - business owners want everyone to know about them, but on the other, they don't want their competitors to copy them. You see the dilemma, it's impossible to do both, so I advise doing the one that makes more money, rather then worrying about a competitor copying them, cause competition will copy no matter what. You just have to be louder and say ahead of the curve or re-create the landscape in your own image.
4. Too Many Ideas - Sometimes - Small business owners especially, operate under a lets do everything and see what sticks mentality. Going in twelve directions, whether it's with marketing tactics, or new product ideas is never going to work out. Lack of resources is the biggest culprit. But it doesn't stop there, when you divide your time and effort, you aren't putting 100% of your energy into one idea, so it's not the absolute BEST it could be, it's simply some MVP (minimum viable product) style, which is a philosophy I completely disagree with - in fact I hate it.
If you are going to present something you have to present it at it's absolute best, since it's difficult to get people to come back and give it another try if something didn't work. Even taking extra time and delaying is better then coming out with a half-ass idea to see if people would buy it. Go all in or just don't bother, no point in putting your name, brand on something half-assed, cause your reputation is on the line.
5. Not In-Touch With Their Customers. I have no idea why, but there is a group of small business owners who simply are not in-touch with their customer's pains. They got into business to solve them, but simply cannot make that transition to taking critical advice from their own customers. The worse are the ones that are terrified of the phone - aka hate customer service. I don't know how you plan on growing a business if you aren't willing to talk to your customers - only solution I can think of is hiring a communication director or someone specifically designated to handling customer care. It has to be someone that enjoys the process of solving people's problems and is kind.
One thing I know is the way people send emails now-a-days is pretty shitty. Recently with a project I started I had to force myself to becoming the best customer service rep possible. Since communication is primary email, just getting a great email explaining things from an owner has an extra warm feeling, so I made it mandatory that I reply to every feedback or request myself so I'm in-touch with my customers as much as possible. I've learned a lot about their pains and needs, but also dozens of new features, ideas, and ways to make things simpler have come from customer ideas and interactions. The only way to improve a service is to constantly communicate with the people who utilize it in their daily routines. I recommend everyone that utilizes email read this post about how to create better emails: https://www.helpscout.net/guide-to-better-email/
Anyways, that's all I got for now. If you have ideas, pains you see, or solutions feel free to add it, I'm going to be coming back and forth to this thread cause it'll give me a spot for brain dumps.