5 Common Struggles of a Small Business Owner

Every business faces struggles. However, there are some struggles that are extremely pertinent to small business owners. When a business is small, there is a smaller scale of operations, smaller infrastructure and resources as compared to established business.

But despite the paucity of resources, the journey of graduating from a small business towards a new one is gradual and steady. This journey is completed in a minimal time when the common struggles are faced and conquered with ease.

As stated, a small business owner has to perform in limitation of resources and capacity. The scale of operation and performance has to fit within these limitations. To develop a holistic understanding of small businesses, lets understand the 5 common struggles of a small business:

Operational Costs

The operational costs of a small business owner are multi-faceted. As a business that is developing in nature, there are a lot of costing factors. Below are the most common operational costs of a business:

Communication Costs

Communication costs acquire the major chunk of operational costs. A small business mostly undergoes a very rampant tele marketing spree and hence communication costs only see an upward graph.

 From installation to monthly call costs, this is a perennial variable cost for a small business. A lot of unrequired costs can be eliminated if the calling number is sought from WeNumber.

As a small business owner, you click here to read more about different numbers and how they help in establishing communication foundation for small businesses.

Fixed Costs

Fixed costs are the costs that need to be rendered by a small business irrespective of its operations. Such costs involve office rentals, machine rentals, fixed instalments for loans, etc. So, even under a circumstance of zero operations, these expenses need to be incurred.

Marketing Costs

A small business needs to advertise and market its products and services to ensure brand awareness. A small business is mostly at a nascent stage. To grow and develop, there needs to be an aggressive marketing approach that introduces the business to the target customer.

Other Variable Costs

Then there are costs that are directly linked with the scale of operations. There are many multi faceted variable costs like commuting costs, sudden major order, raw materials, packaging, etc. that are directly related to the scale of usage.

Salaries

A small business has limited personnel, but they need to be paid at par with the industry standards. Salary is a recurring monthly expenditure and it has to be paid timely to ensure that the employees feel motivated.

For a new business, having sales based commission is another very common expense. This enables the salesmen to work with a personal interest towards attaining the goal of the business. This brings coherence in the purpose of sales. 

Brand Awareness

As there are bigger and better alternatives that customers rely more on, small businesses struggle in creating brand awareness amongst the target customers. Establishing a customer trust is important and it is something most businesses continually struggle with.

A small business struggles to create a perception of stability in the minds of the customers. The lesser people are aware of the brand, the lesser reliance they have on the products and services.

Creating brand awareness does not come easily as it involves additional costs. All good quality advertisements and marketing strategies come with an equivalently larger cost.

Tele calling is a preferred way of creating some brand awareness. WeNumber is a virtual number providing platform that offers an array of desired codes. A sound tele marketing strategy through the code and number support from WeNumber can minimize such cost to the lowest.

Competition

Bigger businesses have the advantage of scale. This scale also gives them competitive advantage. They can offer more lucrative discounts, memberships and what not. This is where the small business is bottlenecked as it needs to meet its cost.

The competition small businesses face with bigger and better businesses is immense. The customers mostly seek better discounts and bigger businesses can afford them. Creating a competitive advantage does become a very common small business struggle.

Cash Flow

Maintaining a steady cash flow in a small business is a common struggle. The finances of a small business mostly relate to the small capital of the business, and also sometimes the personal estate of the owner.

Bringing about the balance between the cash inflow and outflow is a common struggle in small businesses. The bank finances, bank instalments, maintaining solvency and meeting the expenses as well all needs to be done at once.

Lack of Time

Small businesses have a very little time to prove their efficiency and stand up to the competition. As the bank finances, infrastructure and term is time bound, a consistency in operations is required.

Small businesses do not have time to waste as even holidays would seem like a great opportunity. While their scale is small, they have to struggle in managing their existence round the clock. They work harder than bigger businesses, though the scale of returns are lower for them.

Conclusion

There are many challenges in a small business. It has to undergo the struggle of proving its mettle in a perfectly competitive market. As bigger businesses offer better infrastructure and are able to present their product in a fancier way, they often win the customers over.

Reaching out and building trust of the user is a struggle for small businesses. You can click here to read more about 0845 numbers and how they can ensure cheaper call rates. If you seek a code and number from WeNumber, a lot of communication based challenges will be met.

Growing brand awareness, creating a very dedicated customer team and winning the customer’s trust is done through a dedicated calling team. From WeNumber, such plans can be sought that portray a very professional picture of the business.