What Strategies Help Overcome Significant Small Business Challenges?
Small Biz Leader
What Strategies Help Overcome Significant Small Business Challenges?
Navigating the hurdles of small business ownership requires both creativity and resilience. We've gathered six strategies from Founders, CEOs, and other entrepreneurs, focusing on their most effective tactics. From employing prayer for clarity and insights to implementing SOPs for employee satisfaction, discover the diverse approaches that have propelled their businesses forward.
- Employ Prayer for Clarity and Insights
- Adopt Detachment for Strategic Growth
- Outsource and Streamline for Efficiency
- Explore Alternatives for Innovative Solutions
- Leverage Hidden Talent for Growth
- Implement SOPs for Employee Satisfaction
Employ Prayer for Clarity and Insights
This answer won't be for everyone, but prayer... Having a deep connection with our Creator has gotten me through many tough challenges within business. This strategy has brought clarity to anything I put to task. If I'm struggling with a direction for my business... prayer. If I struggle with what I should offer and how I serve the world... prayer. Clarity and insights always come from this process. It's not instant, but allowing ourselves to open to the wisdom around us will guide us on our journey of fulfillment and service. It's honestly kind of insane. Make sure to have a journal so you can capture thoughts and ideas when clarity strikes!
Adopt Detachment for Strategic Growth
Transitioning from a 'solopreneur' to a business owner was a pivotal and challenging phase in my journey. The key strategy that facilitated this shift was adopting a mindset of detachment, where I began to view myself as a component, rather than the entirety, of my business. This objective perspective was crucial in recognizing that my insistence on handling all tasks was a bottleneck impeding growth.
By stepping back, I identified areas where delegation was not just beneficial, but necessary. This realization led me to make my first hire, a decision that proved transformative. The subsequent months saw a remarkable growth in my business, a testament to the power of strategic detachment and the importance of investing in the right talent. My advice to other entrepreneurs facing similar challenges is simple yet profound: separate yourself from your business to gain an objective viewpoint, enabling you to identify and act upon growth opportunities.
Outsource and Streamline for Efficiency
As a solopreneur bootstrapping my personal finance site, one formidable challenge early on was handling all blogging, social media, and marketing solo while also striving to grow my business full-time. I frequently felt overwhelmed juggling everything, and it was affecting output across channels. However, strategically outsourcing certain functions through freelancers and streamlining priorities helped overcome this bottleneck tremendously.
I tapped into skilled financial writers through Upwork to ghostwrite certain blog posts based on content frameworks I provided, freeing up my schedule to focus on high-level planning and optimizing our most trafficked evergreen articles. For social media, leveraging Canva's templated design tools allowed me to map out and schedule engaging posts in advance rather than creating them manually each day.
Getting comfortable with delegating functions I initially clung to tightly as founder freed up mental bandwidth to concentrate energy on mission-critical priorities like optimizing SEO and forging strategic partnerships that moved the needle most. And documenting processes thoroughly enabled smoothly integrating external support. The clarity on where I uniquely create exponential value versus where I should outsource liberated my schedule and mindset immensely. Output and traction grew rapidly thanks to ruthless prioritization and trust in virtual talent.
Explore Alternatives for Innovative Solutions
In my small business, facing a significant challenge prompted me to employ a strategy centered around seeking alternatives. When confronted with an unexpected hurdle, I resisted the urge to let it derail our progress and instead focused on exploring alternative solutions. This involved a thorough examination of different approaches and innovative ideas to adapt to the circumstances.
By embracing a mindset that actively sought alternatives, we not only overcame the challenge at hand but also discovered new, and sometimes more efficient, ways of operating. This strategy reinforced the importance of flexibility and creative problem-solving, highlighting that in the face of adversity, there's often a pathway to success through exploring alternatives and finding innovative solutions. This pivot in strategies will also allow me to keep the revenue that would have ended up elsewhere, meaning this search for alternatives could actually end up being a positive!
Leverage Hidden Talent for Growth
The biggest challenge I have faced leading a small business is finding the resources to sustain and promote growth. Even where there is a clear vision, often the cost associated with this is simply not feasible, particularly when the cost is tied to hiring more talent. What has really changed the way we operate and has accelerated our trajectory has been offering a chance to fill in these gaps to existing employees. It’s a revelation how much talent is hidden in people who might not have certifications and diplomas to prove it. By giving them the opportunity to grow, we not only level up existing talent but also sustain our own growth in a cost-effective way. It’s a win-win.
Implement SOPs for Employee Satisfaction
We experienced unhappy employees during a phase of growth in our business, and as a result, needed to make dramatic changes to our business. The solution was the creation of a standard operating procedure (SOP). Each person on the team knew when their responsibilities started and stopped, and to this day, we abide by an SOP that evolves with our business. The result is happier employees, higher employee retention, better service, happier clients, and a consistently growing business.
