Small Business Owner : 5 Business Tips To Stay Ahead

In times like these volatile economy, financial challenges, low patronage and declining sales revenue, I see many business making wave, increase their market share and even declaring reasonable profit. Customers will continue to buy and the hurdle is on you to ensure they buy from you, now and hereafter. Customers are also will change not because of your price, place, products etc. but because your competitors understand them and instigate better relationship than you do.

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Below are five (5) strategies which are common to firms that stay ahead in business, small business owners (SBOs) must understand these strategies irrespective of the nature of their business to drive sales revenue and referrals.

1. Know Your Customers

This should not be limited to knowing their name and phone number etc. SBOs should inquire about their taste, what they love, how they love it (package). This will generally affect and give a better insight on how to better serve them. Maintaining what triggers acquiring the customers, retaining their interest in the brand and extending the relationship beyond a single purchase. Identify what the customer will love to buy when next he or she comes, predict subsequent sales and get it ready before they return.

2. Study the Trend

It is important for SBOs to analysis customers’ purchases, the time of month when purchase was made, taste of customer, their budget, what customer did not get and are in need of etc. For example, durable goods such as TV, washing machine are purchase more during the end of month this may be because most of the customers are salary earner. Here in Nigeria consumables are bought usually on Friday and Saturday, just before the weekend also some goods sell fast during the spring while others during the winter. Study the trend and plan ahead before customers come; they might not come again if you do not have what they want.

3. Do More for Your Customers 

It is not uncommon to see more than one business outlet selling/rendering the same products/services on a street, for example I have four (4) restaurants on my street but the patronage one of them enjoys is much... so what makes this restaurant special… The restaurant offers home delivery, free fruit on every order, well-wishers services and quarterly non-cash tipping such as Cinema ticket for orders up to twenty-five thousand naira (#25,000.00). Do more and more customer will keep coming.

4. Introduce Supplementary Product (s)

Introduce products that are related and supplementary to what you are offering your customer, I’d visit nearby POLO shop for my tops and I’d see them sell fragrances and accessories- that save me the stress of looking for fragrance shop. New products that supplement what you sell will be easy to advertise, customer will be willing to buy at that point thereby increasing your sales revenue. New products give customers wide range for selection, retain customer's loyalty and attract new customers. Have you visited Kingstine Jo Fast Food popularly known as KJ in Nigeria compared to the other fast food, they added Nigeria food such as Isi-ewu, Nkwobi, Pepper-soup to their food list, they have Beer section, Teen section and Family section. They have succeeded in building atmosphere that accommodate children, lovers of alcohol and family.

"Get closer than ever to your customers. So close that you tell them what they need well before they realize it themselves" - Steve Jobs

5. Lastly, explore new ground

To expand and explore new area is not only limited to human but it also applies in business. SBOs should conduct visibility study before setting up additional business premises. It’s also crucial that the location reflects your brand values and doesn’t detract from your offering. New locality gives a better avenue to leave the populous business area where you strive to get customers to area where you can make first impression, build customer's trust, reduce cost and increase revenue. Samples gathered from FixitSME partners show that Restaurant with two business outlets only increase their overhead costs by 45% while revenue increase by 65% in their first year.

Don’t build your business, Focus on customers and they’ll build your business.

Abayomi Awojirin is the co-founder project Fixitsme, an entrepreneur, Business Analyst, I have industry experience in eCommerce. I am a participant pursing a certificate in Social Media Specialization, Coursera, Northwestern University. Feel free to reach out or connect with me on Twitter and LinkedIn

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