This has to be the one thing every small business owner has in common, they want more business, they need more business, they can handle more business, just how do they go about finding it?
Well, if this is you and your asking yourself how do you find it then you are half way there, at least you realise you have to go looking for business, it won’t come and bang your door down!
It’s quite overwhelming the number of places you need to be to be seen, do you have a website? So many more people are search the web for business. Having a website is not in itself the answer, once you have the website up does anyone know it exists? Is your website on your letterhead, business cards etc? Which site have you got it listed on?
Traditional advertising, although it doesn’t work for everyone it still does work. Yellow Pages, Thompson Local, Local Newspapers both paid for and free ones, are you listed in any of these places?
Networking events, and that does not mean a Friday night down the pub with your mates, organised events of which there are many now throughout the country and world. These events can also serve more than standing there asking for a referral, it is a place to meet other small business owners like yourself and share experiences. It also sometimes helps to get out and meet other people.
Marketing, what marketing activities do you undertake, and I don’t mean an add in the local paper, have you used a telemarketing company, no why not?
The thing to remember when you are looking for more business is that you have to actually go and look for it, seek it out, there are no short cuts, and very few of us have businesses that operate in niche sectors where the work does come to you.
If you don’t have a big budget there is much you can do cheaply yourself, great some flyers printed and go out one nice day and put them through letter boxes, write letters to potential customers introducing yourself, why not what have you to loose? Keep an eye on the local press and when a local business is in there about an achievement, write to them, congratulate them, introduce yourself and your business and let them know you will be phoning on a set day and ask them if they would take time out of their busy schedule to take your call.
Depending on what your business is, you can give seminars, run them for free, but run them with two or more others who will compliment your business, for example, Estate Agents, Surveyors, HIPS providers and Mortgage Brokers.
There may be tougher times ahead in the UK economy but that doesn’t mean you have to sit there and wait for it to affect you, quite the opposite in fact, small businesses have great advantages over their bigger rivals, it can move quicker and do it cheaper!
Take some time out, sit down and think about where your marketing is going, have you got a plan in place, shouldn’t you have one?
