Breadcrumb

4 Small Business Challenges Everyone Faces

Written by

The GoCardless content team comprises a group of subject-matter experts in multiple fields from across GoCardless. The authors and reviewers work in the sales, marketing, legal, and finance departments. All have in-depth knowledge and experience in various aspects of payment scheme technology and the operating rules applicable to each. The team holds expertise in the well-established payment schemes such as UK Direct Debit, the European SEPA scheme, and the US ACH scheme, as well as in schemes operating in Scandinavia, Australia, and New Zealand. See full bio

Last editedOct 20212 min read

It’s no secret that starting up a business is a difficult feat. From the initial brainstorming stage, to finding venture capital and investors, and to actually gaining a loyal customer base, there are countless business issues that come up along the way. In particular, the first few years of a new company or startup present the most business challenges, and many end up failing within their first few years.

However, that shouldn’t discourage you from starting up the business venture of your dreams. Armed with the right information and a positive mindset, anyone is capable of dealing with the small business challenges that all entrepreneurs face. Read on to find out about 4 common business problems and how you can resolve these.

Finding customers

A good customer success strategy is essential to any business. After all, customers are your source of revenue, and without this you cannot operate. For this reason, you should aim to attract a loyal customer base during the early stages of your business, and ideally create repeat customers who will come back again and again. However, this can be one of the biggest business issues faced in the early stages of an organization.

The first stage of finding your customers is identifying who they are. Spend some time considering your target market, thinking about who they are, what age range they fall under, where they spend time online and how they are spending. By creating a specific template of who your customer is, you will be able to target marketing to them and spread your message to the right people.

Turning a profit

Even if you manage to find the right customers, creating profit can still be a significant small business challenge. There are numerous costs involved in setting up your business, including purchase of stock, rental of premises, production processes and more. All of this can leave a dent in your finances and impact your cash flow.

Creating profit involves two key components. Firstly, you should aim to generate as much revenue as possible through an effective marketing strategy and generating leads. Secondly, you should aim to minimize your costs as much as possible, which can be achieved with the help of financial advisors. While it might seem counterintuitive to pay for these services, it can actually save you money in the long run. In addition, you can use credit wisely to manage any cash flow issues you run into.

Keeping customers happy

Finding customers is one thing, but maintaining their loyalty so that they make repeat purchases is another business problem. Many struggling businesses find that their lack of revenue is due to an inability to generate repeat customers. What’s more, for small businesses finding their feet, it can be difficult to know exactly how to keep these customers happy.

In order to solve this, it’s important to get a good understanding of your customers and their needs. You can achieve this through customer surveys and questionnaires that identify what they are looking for and how you can deliver this to them. In addition, good customer service is crucial, so make sure that you hire the right representatives to create a good impression of your company.

Hiring and retaining valuable employees

Employees are what keep any company going, and they are often what make or break a company in the early stages. Since a lot of time and money goes into the hiring process, you should aim to get this right the first time.

Make sure to consider exactly who you are looking for before hiring. What kind of skills should they have, and what kind of personality would work well with the rest of the team? You can then create a detailed job description based on this information, and spend time finding the people who fit the specifications perfectly.

Once you have hired the right employees, keep them happy by showing your appreciation for them. Regular appraisals and incentives are key to this, as well as offering a fair salary that reflects their skills and experience.

We can help

GoCardless helps you automate payment collection, cutting down on the amount of admin your team needs to deal with when chasing invoices. Find out how GoCardless can help you with ad hoc payments or recurring payments.