small business

Small businesses are crucial to our economy.

Small and Medium businesses (SMBs) are an important source of job growth. Small businesses account for a large majority of jobs in start-ups, a key source of innovation and economic growth.

This article will provide you with actions you can take to prepare for the worst - stay lean and talk to your customers and don't stop hiring and marketing!!!

To keep your company lean, you should set and measure inventory targets and keep in daily or weekly communication with your sales and operations staffs. You may also want to weed out unprofitable customers. Every company has customers that cost more than they add to the bottom line. Identify them, evaluate how to make them profitable customers, and if that's not possible, politely hand them to your competition.

Buy and sell goods and services online to keep costs low. Virtual Marketplaces like eBay, Amazon and Tradeseam make it fast and easy to sell products and services online. Some of these websites even enable users to list their product and services in a product catalog, track inventory, network with customers and do their taxes at the end of the year.

To keep from losing business, keep in close touch with your customers. Show that you care. Understand how their business is being affected and look for ways you can help. Lasting relationships are built in hard times. And look for new market opportunities, recognizing that when the business climate changes, customer needs will change as well. That may mean new markets will open up for you.

Develop strategies to land more customers. If you want to make their companies grow they will have to steal customers from their competitors, period. The pie is shrinking. For the auto repair shops, cars are more reliable and need less frequent service and in the restaurant world there's been overbuilding and the average number of meals eaten out has declined for the first time in a number of years. The successful small business is going to have to win a bigger share of that shrinking pie.

The way to do that, particularly for small businesses, is to effectively generate sales leads and utilize online marketing solutions to connect with new customers, partners and suppliers and create a positive experience. Make sure you give every customer the best experience you can. That means courteous staff, eye contact, handshakes and great customer service. You've got to do this better than the other people out there. Another good option for local businesses is community involvement. Join Tradeseam, an online business network or the Chamber of Commerce. Sponsor a Little League team. Let the Girl Scouts do a car wash in your parking lot. This is part of bonding with your community and becoming an established part of it.

Try New Social Media Strategies. If you've been putting off launching a social media strategy, such as starting a blog or using Twitter, now is the time. During the summer, you'll have the time to implement a strategy, hire interns to do the leg work and track different programs making adjustments along the way.

Managing your business during tough economic times requires tact and diplomacy.