Photo by Artem Bali on Unsplash
Running a business is a very difficult venture. Did you know that nearly half of all businesses fail within the first five years? While this statistic has improved in recent years, it’s still challenging to keep a small business afloat.
The reason for such failure is not always simple to determine, especially since there are so many things that can go wrong. One thing that does consistently affect a business’s success is lack of capital, which leads to a lack of investment. Failing to invest in your company has devastating results. Here are several essentials you need to invest in to push your small business to success:
1.The Right Advice
Regardless of whether you’re just starting out or have been struggling to keep your head above water for a few years, you could benefit from the advice of a small business accountant. Even if money is tight and you think there’s not enough to pay for an accountant, in almost all cases you will find that the right financial advice will ultimately save you more than the outlay to obtain it..
An accountant is invaluable to your business in many ways. He or she will:
- Identify all the available tax deductions you have coming to you at tax time
- Help you avoid an audit
- Save you time, energy, and sanity so you can focus on running your business
- Help you make quick, real-time decisions that could affect your bottom line
- Help you plan for the future
2. A Cohesive Design
One of the things your customers notice first and most often is your company’s brand. This includes your logo, the colors you use, etc. Your website, business cards, logo, smartphone apps, and the general branding of your business should all be the consistent throughout. If you don’t have the means to do this yourself, it pays to hire a professional brand design agency to do it for you.
3. A Good Marketing Campaign
Marketing is one of those things that a business cannot do without. Big and small businesses alike need to pay close attention to their marketing strategies, especially if there is a lot of competition in their niche.
Marketing involves knowing who your target audience is, making sure your advertising is relevant to that audience and ensuring your product(s) are consistent in advertising and tone. A good marketing campaign maximizes your company’s sales and gives your design team something to work with.
4. Technology
Everyone knows the importance of technology in everyday life, but it’s even more important to the success of small business. In order to compete with others in your niche, you must be up-to-date in all your company’s processes. From using social media to automating everything online or employing unified communications systems, it’s important you save time and money where you can by using the advanced technologies that exist for your business.
5. Insurance
Almost all businesses need insurance. You never know when disaster will strike and you need to be prepared. Theft, illness, flood, fire, hurricane – any of these can destroy what you’ve worked so hard to build if you don’t have insurance to cover your loss.
Running a successful small business is challenging at best. Without the proper tools and people on your side, it can be nearly impossible to stay afloat. With half of all new start ups failing in the first five years, it’s important you do everything you can to ensure your business continues to thrive. Use the list above to make sure your small business has everything it needs to survive and succeed.