Small Businesses
Optimism among small business owners hit the highest mark in a decade, according to a new survey. A general view of the atmosphere at Small Business Saturday Night in New York City, Nov. 29, 2014. Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Small Business Saturday Night

When it comes to running a business, there’s really no shying away from challenges. Whether you run a small brick-and-mortar store business or you’re the CEO of a large corporate enterprise, you’ve just got to face and scale through challenges.

But, of course, the sorts of challenges you face will depend on the type of business you’re running. For instance, while most corporate firms are often confronted by challenges such as legal claims, insurance claims, liability claims, and the likes, most small businesses are still battling trivial business issues like low revenue and sales generation, poor customer relationship, and insufficient financing options.

While we are not here to discuss the challenges facing the big boys in the industry (many of them have the resources to call in experts to help fix their challenges), it is highly imperative that we discuss those ones confronting small businesses.

In this light, here are five of the biggest challenges facing small businesses in the world today.

Finding customers to patronize the business

You don’t need to be a small business owner to understand how difficult it is to convince people to buy or patronize what you offer. Just put up an advert for a product you’d like to sell on your Whatsapp status or Instagram story and see how your friends and followers respond to the advert.

Most likely, many will reach out to you, many will ask you about the details of the product, and several others will promise to be in touch. But guess what? Your product might be there for months without anyone actually making a purchase.

This is exactly what many small business owners face on a daily basis. Yes, they offer some of the best solutions to the pain-points of their target audience, but still, no one is really coming to buy them. Many owners will lose sleep over these issues; many will even expose themselves to the possibility of getting scammed online by trying out different sales strategies, while several others will decide to close down the business and try out something else.

How to fix it:

Sleeping in church and praying for months without taking a proactive decision hasn't helped anyone in the past, and it isn't going to help you now. To bring more customers to patronize your business, you need to review all your marketing strategies so far. And by that, I mean writing them out and asking yourself how far they've helped you.

Find out new strategies that work best for your type of business and implement them. You can ask from senior owners in the industry or consult experts; most likely, these people will have some pieces of advice for you on what to do.

Hiring the right people

Finding the right people to hire is often one of the biggest challenges for small businesses. And this is so because most small business owners are often limited in terms of business funding, so when they want to hire their team of workers, they tend to search for those that fit their budget. Unfortunately, they end up hiring cheap and under-motivated labor.

How to fix it:

Hiring the right type of people when you’re tight on budget can be difficult, no doubt. But not impossible! All you have to do is to find people who are as motivated and driven by your goals as you are. These types of people are not after what they’re going to earn in the short-term, but they want to join you because your project appeals to them.

To find these types of employees, you can put up a post regarding this opportunity on your social media pages, such as LinkedIn, attend virtual and live conferences, or tap into any existing business network you have.

Spreading brand awareness

It can be difficult getting people to know about a business. Just ask the guy running the small fashion store next door, and he’ll tell you just how much he’s tried to get his business name out there. Spreading the news of a small business is really a major challenge for many owners, and this explains why many small businesses are still struggling to become household names even in their immediate locality.

How to fix it:

Nobody will announce the arrival of your business for you. You’ve either got to do it yourself or pay someone to help you. Basically, the most common tactics you can use to spread the word about your business include:

  • Use of PR (Public relations)
  • Co-marketing (teaming up with other brands)
  • Blogging

Finding business funding

This challenge is most prevalent among small business startups. Many of them struggle to find funding to kickstart their business ideas, and even those that are lucky to find financing, they often do it at the expense of their business control (equity).

How to fix it:

As a small business owner, you shouldn’t underestimate the number of financing options available to you. And before you decide to approach those investors – many of whom will ask for a part of your business equity in exchange for funds – banks, or corporate institutions, ensure that you’ve exhausted all other friendlier options, such as family, friends, self-funding, grants, and savings.