Daily Struggles Of Small Businessmen.

Top Concerns Of Small Business Owners

In the era of technology and digitalisation, big firms and companies are taking advantage of the internet and artificial intelligence; but small-business owners still operate their businesses with limited resources. As per recent statistics, there are more than 63 million MSMEs in India. MSMEs are the backbone of the economy. Many industries are solely dependent on small and medium businesses, from manufacturing to retail.

Nonetheless, running a small business with low funds and limited resources is difficult. Here are some common issues faced by small businesses and how to solve them:

Less Lead Generation

1. Because of restricted marketing knowledge and low online presence, small firms struggle to generate leads to grow their business.
2. Small businesses are still investing their money in traditional marketing strategies like hoardings and pamphlets.
3. These are not enough to compete with big firms, who use modern advertising methods.
4. Fewer leads and limited customers affect the sales of small businesses, which is the most crucial aspect of running a business.
5. Many small business owners discontinue working in a particular industry because of not having enough customers and the immense competition.

HOW TO SOLVE IT:

By doing some online marketing with small budget campaigns, small businesses can achieve their desired goals and improve the company's profit ratio.

Hiring A New Employee

• Small business owners go through a lot while hiring a new employee.
• They have to ensure that hiring someone for a particular position will not affect the business' revenue because of fewer sales and less profit.
• We cannot deny that having talented employees in the company is an asset.
• But with the limited resources and funds, small business owners avoid hiring new employees, resulting in the existing employee doing daily overtime for no extra incentives.
• One of the most common problems small business owners face is having employees who lack the required skill and experience.
• It does not matter if it's a small shop or a big organisation; having experienced employees is essential for the company to maintain its stability and growth.
• With limited staff and workers, small businesses cannot create a good team and environment that can help the firm achieve its desired goals.

HOW TO SOLVE IT:

Having a good balance of experienced employees and freshers can make a good team. As every 1 in 4 graduates is unemployed in IndiaHomepage, it will help decrease the unemployment numbers and will also be beneficial for the business owner, as freshers and interns usually work for a lesser salary. Also, hiring an employee who can multitask will be a huge plus point for the company.

Lack Of Technology

1. Small businesses lack the availability of tools to make everyday work easy and error-free.
2. There are numerous software and applications that almost every big company buys for managing the details and follow-up of customers, and to make the job easier for their employees.
3. With fewer tools in the workplace, small businesses cannot compete with other big companies and go through several human errors and delays in work.
4. Because of fewer funds available for the company, the owners use old and redundant technology or devices to operate their business, even in these times of artificial intelligence and robots.

As per recent studies, almost 90% is unorganised sector in India, because of lesser funds and other reasons. Customers like to buy the product or service from the business with the latest technology and resources available, as technology and tools are more reliable and tend to make fewer errors. A small business misses out on both the technology and customers, as they mostly cannot afford to invest their money in the latest technology.

HOW TO SOLVE IT:

By using some of the free tools and applications available, small businesses can reduce the effort and human errors that happen frequently and hamper the business.

Less Brand Awareness

1. Having good brand awareness is an essential part of the business in any industry and sector.
2. With low brand awareness of the product or service, the sales and profits get affected, which affects the growth of the business.
3. Small Indian businesses are struggling to make their brand known amongst people because of bad marketing strategies and ineffective advertising of the business.

There is an estimation that Facebook has more than 2 billion users. Not having enough online presence and reach in the targeted demographics makes the small brands less popular and leads to business failure. Businesses with low reach to their target audience are likely to have less business growth and success. On the other hand, big firms with prominent advertising and marketing campaigns and famous brand ambassadors create excellent brand awareness and build trust within their targeted audiences.

HOW TO SOLVE IT:

Working on social media optimisation for business pages can help small businesses gain some eyeballs among their target audience and improve the company’s brand awareness.

Not Having Enough Funds

1. Not having enough funds is the most common problem small business owners face in every industry and business type.
2. Small business owners with below-average credit scores and banking transactions struggle to get business loans for dire financial situations and emergencies.
3. Many financial institutes and individual investors avoid funding small businesses, as the risk of businesses not performing well is always high.
4. In India, many finance companies and commercial banks are helping small entrepreneurs by providing necessary funds.
5. The government has also launched several schemes and policies to make funds available for small and medium-sized businesses.
6. If the business is in its initial stage, then the situation worsens and runs the risk of shutting down.
7. Having sufficient funds and capital improves the business transactions and makes the overall operation smooth and easy.

HOW TO SOLVE IT:

Small businesses can get funds from commercial banks and finance companies at low EMI rates. Applying for government loans for small businesses can be another good option.

Business Analysis

• Data analysis to know what is benefitting and affecting business is crucial for a successful organisation.
• Small businesses with lesser capital and employees mostly do not have a data science department to get insights into the business.
• They are likely to repeat the same mistakes because of fewer data available, which affects the growth of the business.
• Small and medium-sized businesses struggle to get the analytics and statistics of the business's previous performance and thus continue the same routine without solving the particular issue present in the organisation.
• Data like employee performance, business profits, and losses are the key factors to make decisions for the improvement of the business and overall growth.
• Small business owners lack the data of the firm's performance, which affects their business growth, and they mostly have no clue about what changes need to be implemented to get a good outcome.

HOW TO SOLVE IT:

Small business owners can analyse and compare the performance of the employees and business history by manually doing some data entry work, or by using some free applications available in the market for the purpose.

Poor Customer Satisfaction And After-Sale Service

1. With limited staff and less information about business insight, small businesses often fail to manage their customers' requirements.
2. It can be following up leads, providing good service, or the after-sales service.
3. Small businesses mostly seem to have unorganised or poor management to fulfil the needs of their customers.
4. Bad management of the customers' needs and satisfaction impacts the image of the business in the market, and investors do not invest funds in a company with unfavourable reviews.

In 2019, India reached 120 million online shoppers. Having poor after-sale service mostly affects the online brand image. The existing customers write about their negative experiences with a particular company in several websites' user review sections. With bad reviews and ratings on the internet, small businesses struggle to get new customers, and also lose the trust of the existing ones.

HOW TO SOLVE IT:

By making the management strict regarding customer satisfaction and after-sales service, and providing smooth return and replacement options, small businesses can achieve trust among their existing customers, which will eventually increase the number of new customers.

CONCLUSION

1. With several issues and problems like low funds and lack of easy accessibility to tools, small business owners in India face a lot of struggles while operating and managing their business.
2. Solving the problems given in this article will certainly help them, and improve the flow and management of the business altogether.
3. From startups to big companies, every business should know about the essential resources and tools to achieve success and get ahead of their competition.

Also Read:

1) How Small Businesses Afford Digital Marketing?
2) Does Commercial Solar Power Make Sense For Businesses?
3) 7 Different Types of Loans for Your Small Business
4) Hiring and Managing People Wisely: HR Mantras For Small Businesses