10 Tips to Navigate Rough Patches and Achieve Sustained Small Business Success

Life is full of ups and downs and rough patches. It is near to impossible to meet any person who has not been through harsh times and rough patches in this journey called “Life”

In a similar way, all businesses irrespective of size and type are bound to confront rough patches. The most important thing to remember is to have a clear vision and identification of the specific problem and overcoming it successfully. 

The following 10 tips will definitely help small businesses build sustained business successes if implemented accordingly. 

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  1. Have a clear understanding of the mission, vision and objectives– Before the setup of a small business, it is crucial to have a clear goal as to what is expected in order to make the business successful and assess all the profitable outcomes. Most small businesses cannot continue its operation in the long run as they lack a clear conception as to which direction to follow and feasible ways in overcoming challenges that each individual situations throw.   
  2. Arrange sufficient capital needed to run the business in the long run– This is one of the most difficult challenges that every businesses face, however, if one has a clear direction of the objectives and goals to be achieved, only then he can proceed to arrange for the sufficient and adequate capital necessary for the operational success of the business in the long run.
  3. Remain Focused- As already mentioned earlier, all businesses have ups and downs. However, the one who demonstrates patience during rough times and remain adamant and focused into achieving the objectives, wins the race in the end! Therefore, in order to run a sustained small business, one must remain patient, determined and focused on the ultimate goal and is sure to achieve victory. 
  4. Conduct Efficient and Effective Market Research Activities- This is one of the most essential among other activities taking into account the competitive nature of the global market. This activity is something which must be conducted regularly. Prior to the launching of the product, the role of market research activities are indispensable as profit is entirely dependent upon the customer behaviour. Therefore, this activity will be continuously carried out and updated in order to stay with the latest trends and stay up-to-date with the customer demands and needs.
  5. Be a Risk Taker– “No Risk, No Gain”! Therefore, sometimes it is advisable to take reasonable risks in order to stay ahead of other competitors and stay up to date with customer demands in order to serve the customers better.
  6. Successful implementation of the 4P’s- Product, Price, Place and Promotion; make a product, set up a price, distribute it to shops, wholesale, retails etc. and advertise the products’ existence! No, it is not as easy as it sounds. One slight mistake in this chain can cause huge losses and burn all the investments. All the 4 stages have to be analyzed with scrutiny and made compatible before the production takes place. Mismatch between the right product but poor advertising campaigns, too high or too low pricing strategies or poor distribution methods can tremendously hamper the business.
  7. Maintain Discipline and Punctuality– This is self-explanatory and nothing much to state here other than adopting discipline like creating user friendly purchases, making the right goods available at the right time before stock out occurs as it greatly affects the reputation and good will of the business when customers switch to other products of competitors due to unavailability.
  8. Don’t put all eggs in one basket! – Sounds interesting and humorous but it has a much deeper meaning inside. It has been observed that some small businesses selling one particular product or service are gradually expanding their businesses to many other products or services. The advantage of it is that, in case one business fails, then they do not have to face much loss as they have the other one to hold onto.
  9. Conduct Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR Activities)- Humanity is above everything else, therefore small businesses can at times conduct CSR activities at par with their abilities such as educating street children for free, donating for the medication of poor and sick children, donating wheelchairs at old homes and many others like these.
  10. Adhere to High Level of Business Ethics- Without ethics, people cannot go very far in life. Therefore, businesses big or small should be highly compliant to integrity and honesty such as creating goods and services with good materials, charging reasonable prices, paying taxes in time, repaying loans in due time and thus create a healthy environment beneficial for all. 

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Being a small business owner, you need to realize this one insight and it is essential for maintaining a cool head: you are not alone, your competitors are also facing the same problems as you are. All the small businesses, regardless of the industry they’re in, are all in the same boat. So, depending on how you respond to the challenges can make the biggest change in outcome or simply change the “game” – help you become more successful, and thereby leaving your rivals behind. It is also important to keep in mind that no matter how grave the challenges are – people do overcome them ultimately and come out as triumphant.

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