When starting a business there are plenty of bumps along the way and things you thought you knew that turn out to be untrue. This week, members of the online small business community share some of the lessons they’ve learned along the road of entrepreneurship. Here are some of the top insights.
Don’t Assume You Need to Start a Tech Venture in Silicon Valley
Over the last several years, Silicon Valley has become synonymous with tech success stories. But if you think that you absolutely must get your own venture off the ground there in order to be successful, don’t! This Inc article by Darren Heitner illustrates the story of Nextiva and shows how your business can succeed no matter where it’s headquartered.
Wow and Win Back Lost Customers
Every entrepreneur would love to run a business without ever losing customers. But that’s not very realistic. Instead, it can be a good strategy to work on impressing those lost customers in order to win them back. Get some tips from this Crowdspring post by Katie Lundin.
Look Out for New Opportunities
Sometimes, a new job or business can turn out to be something you didn’t expect — and not always in a good way. In those cases, it can help to be open to completely new opportunities, as this story shared by Joel Libava of the Franchise King illustrates. You can also see what BizSugar members have to say about the post here.
Improve Your Employee Appreciation Programs
Your employees represent a very important part of your business. However, if they feel underappreciated at work, they might not be doing their best work. You can improve your employee appreciation programs and create a positive workplace culture by checking out the advice in a recent CorpNet post by Makeda Waterman.
Streamline and Improve Workflow
If you want your small business to be efficient, then you need to really focus on workflow. Creating streamlined processes for yourself and your team can help you achieve much more on a day-to-day basis. Learn more in a recent Noobpreneur post by Ivan Widjaya.
Don’t Discount the Importance of Cybersecurity
You might already have some basic protections in place for your company’s online data. But it might not be as high a priority as it should be. According to Jonathan Dyer of Dyer News, the average small business website is attacked dozens of times each day. You can see commentary about the post over on BizSugar.
Use Data to Shape Your Local Search Strategy
When you’re trying to attract local customers to your business, it helps to know under what circumstances they might be actually ready to buy. There’s data out there to help you shape your strategy. Heather Fletcher elaborates in a recent Target Marketing post.
Turn a Webinar into a Stream of Link-Attracting Content
Webinars offer a number of different benefits to business owners. But one that sometimes gets overlooked is how this format can help you build links to your content online. A post by Jordan Kasteler on Search Engine Land shares some tips and insights.
Focus on Good Time Management for Your Business
Business owners only have a finite amount of time each day to get things done. So if you’re not making time management a major priority, that could be a mistake. In this Corporate Coach Group post, Chris Farmer offers some insights about what constitutes good time management. Members of the BizSugar community also chime in with thoughts here.
Boost Your Bottom Line with Social Media
People talk a lot about social media’s ability to build communities, connect with potential customers and generally gain awareness. But businesses also want to see their bottom line grow due to these efforts. In a recent Social Media HQ post, Ben Steele discusses how business owners can earn more through social media.
If you’d like to suggest your favorite small business content to be considered for an upcoming community roundup, please send your news tips to: sbtips@gmail.com.
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This article, “10 Tips for Navigating the Bumps Along the Road of Entrepreneurship” was first published on Small Business Trends