In the first few years of business, startups experience a lot of different challenges. Research carried out by the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported by Fundera shows that approximately 20 percent of small businesses fail within the first year and by the end of the second year another 30 percent of businesses will have failed.
By the end of the fifth year, about 50 percent will have failed and by the end of the decade, only 30 percent of businesses will remain.
This is a 70 perfect failure rate. As much as starting a new business is a massive achievement for many entrepreneurs, the early phase of your new business can also be very challenging especially when you lack long-term growth strategies to sustain it and help you address some common challenges.
These challenges are prone to happen but how we navigate through them makes our business outstanding and long-lasting potential. These common challenges could be; money management, fatigue, balancing quality and growth, finding customers, increasing brand awareness. You might have abandoned your career for this cause to give complete attention and focus, so in that case, you will have to put in your best to make it a success.
Some challenges that new businesses face
Let’s dive into the several challenges every small business face:
Finding Customers
For new businesses, finding customers can be particularly difficult because you’re new in the market and still trying to get your brand registered in people’s minds. They need to spread the word to the right audience, know their audiences and be able to attract them.
Knowing when to embrace change
Not everything new or starting afresh is a better idea. Most times in business, we just need to pivot, that is re-strategizing, bringing in new ideas, and turning the working strategy of a particular business around without interfering with the original goal of the business.
We are living in a world where change is inevitable. Being rigid is not an option, so preparing for and embracing change by investing in business meetings, brand identity pitches, and innovative ideas, hiring the right people, building a brand, developing a customer base, and so on. will be the right approach to take for startups.
Increasing Brand Awareness
There’s a lot of work today when it comes to brand awareness. If your potential customers don’t know who you are or exactly what you do, they won’t approach you. Putting your brand out there and being challenging because it has to be to the right set of people and in the language they understand. At the same time be ready for rejection.
Money management for a new business can pose some early misunderstanding and even loss in a new business.
Fatigue
This is always the case on both new and old businesses but it is on a higher level in a new business because initially when a business kickstarts, more time is allocated for a proper setup and stability. This feeling of tiredness can discourage the business owner from quitting and you need to find a place that keeps the business running without losing interest. Moreover, they fear their business will crumble in their absence, so they avoid taking any time away from work to refill.
Balancing Quality and Growth
In business, a stronghold would put t that to make the most of your business, you must reduce the quality and increase the quantity for rapid growth. We fail to understand the business growth is based on trust and it takes time.m, it is built. It doesn’t matter how much you make but how long you stay in the market with a good reputation.
Leaving your business to change and being careless about it result in negative results in the long term.. It is usually that willingness to pay more attention and engage personally makes a business successful. Shoddy work and an unhealthy obsession with quality are not healthy for new businesses.
Best Strategies on How to Grow Your New Business
A business strategy is the set of actions and decisions a company plans to take to achieve its business goals and objectives. The strategy throws more light on what the business needs to do to reach its goals, which will be like a guideline for the decision-making process for hiring and allocating resources. A business strategy connects different departments of a business organization as a team working for a common goal.
Identify new opportunities
Analyze new opportunities in your business. Understanding everything from manufacturing channels to distribution channels to your direct competitors, and even pay close attention to the foreign markets and other potential industries. There are a handful of new opportunities you could chase when you have a proper analysis of your immediately with the proper amount of analysis.
Market Penetration
This has to do with trying to increase market share using your current products or services. This strategy is carried out by lowering the price of a product or service, or by increasing marketing efforts to divert the attention of the customers away from possible competitors. This has a way of buying you more customers because people love comparing prices of the same commodity.
Market Development
This involves introducing your products or services to new markets. You may want to change location, enter a new state or country or you can target a market segment. For instance, a bakery that produces cake for the consumer market might decide to advance into the commercial market by baking bread, cakes, and other confectionery for restaurants, malls, and retailers.
Translation equipment system
This is one of the several threats to new business. The language barrier can stand as a hindrance to connect with your audience and establish a connection with your potential customers. One good way of bridging the gap is by providing a means to translate the initial language used to other languages for easy understanding. A good example is by making use of simultaneous translation equipment which will help you bridge the language barrier. If your potential customers are Russian, you have to make provisions for that too.
Conclusion
As a new business owner, looking for strategies on how to improve your business is essential for maintaining a calm head: you’re not alone as your competitors also face the same problems as you do. How you choose to respond to these challenges will change the “game”. The more successful you become, you’ll realize that you’re way ahead of your rivals. Many times, you’ll see the need to take a step back, take the time to understand the pain points you’re facing in your business and how to tackle them and it is important to remember that these challenges are just normal and bound to happen and at the same time, you can overcome them.
