About to start your own business? You’re in for a bumpy ride! After all, a stellar idea for a product or service does not mean that you can avoid the many, many challenges that come in hand with managing your own brand.
In an ideal world, your path to success would be as straightforward as possible. However, as this is often not the case, knowing how to tackle these challenges head-on will help you put your best foot forward. With that in mind, here are three common challenges that you should expect to anticipate during the early stages of your growth and development.
Fierce Competition.
One of the biggest challenges you’ll face when forming your own ability lies in your ability to stand out from the crowd. After all, it can take time to build an admired brand, which can make it incredibly difficult over to win clients from your competitors.
Fortunately, there are numerous ways in which you can navigate fierce competition, no matter which industry you work within. For example, you should start by identifying all of the things that make your business unique and capitalizing upon them. For example, are you bringing an entirely new product to the market or offering it at a much lower price point than other businesses? Factoring your USP (Unique Selling Proposition) into your marketing will help you to differentiate your brand from your competitors, winning over customers while doing so.
You should also carry out extensive market research ahead of launching your business, which should include an analysis of your competitors. This way, you know who your direct competition is ahead of time, and you’re able to prepare yourself for any future face-offs. This can also help you to determine whether (or not) there’s a gap in the market that you can fit into. If so, it’s time to get started. If not, you’ve got to go back to the drawing board and come up with a fresh idea instead.
Cybersecurity Threats.
Quality cybersecurity practices are one of the foundations of long-term success within the business world. After all, small businesses are often the primary target of hackers, as they often do not have the infrastructure in place to protect themselves.
Cybersecurity breaches, such as data leaks, can cause irreparable damage to your brand, and this is something that you need to take seriously from the outset. For example, you should be wary of who can see your search history, as this can sometimes mean that they can access your private data (or your customer’s data, by extension). You can ensure that your search history remains private by using VPN (Virtual Private Network) software and encouraging your employees to do the same.
Customer Retention.
As mentioned above, winning over customers can be difficult, but ensuring that they remain interested in your brand can also prove to be challenging. After all, failing to retain custom stands in the way of building a loyal customer base, who you can rely on to invest in your products and services moving forward. As such, while winning over new customers/clients is important, so is holding onto your current customers. In fact, a recent study found that “companies could save over $35 billion per year by focusing on keeping their existing customers happy.”
Luckily, there are many different ways in which you can tackle any challenges associated with building a loyal customer base. For example, you can start by focusing on elevating the level of customer service you offer. After all, when you show your customers that you appreciate them, they’re more likely to return to your brand in the future. In fact, “customer retention rates increase by 5% for every 1% increase in customer satisfaction.”
You can also incentivize repeat custom by setting up a loyalty scheme for your returning customers, as this encourages them to buy multiple products from your brand. For example, you may want to hand out stamp cards that unlock specific discounts (or freebies) after they have spent a specific amount of money in-store. Alternatively, you could allow them to access the same benefits by signing up to your mailing list. This comes with the additional benefit of directing more traffic toward your website, or building up hype around your latest product and services, as you can embed this content into your weekly/monthly emails. Either way, offering some kind of reward is a great way to encourage loyalty, as customers feel as though they are getting more out of your brand than they would elsewhere. This also means that they are more likely to recommend your brand to others.
