Basic Survival Tactics for Small Businesses

Basic Survival Tactics for Small Businesses in Portland, Oregon

Accounting:

Accounting is boring but if you don’t use some form of basic business accounting, tax time will be very difficult.

If your company is a start up, you’ll need software and basic knowledge (until you have the money to hire an accountant). Start by getting user-friendly software like QuickBooks and take a night class at your local community college.

If you have no time for classroom education, a good book on this subject is The McGraw-Hill 36-Hour Accounting Course, 4th Edition.

Market yourself to your customers:

You may have the greatest idea since the invention of the personal computer, but if your potential customers can’t find you, you’ll go out of business.

First, make a profile of your target customer. Find out which places that they will look for products or services like yours.

Don’t spend your entire budget on marketing. Instead, find cheap ways to market your business. The following five ideas are just a few ways to market on a tight budget.

1. Join a local directory for your type of business. For example, sustainable businesses in Portland, Oregon use the ReDirect Guide.

2. Use social networking services, such as Facebook and Twitter. Advertise on FaceBook itself if you can afford to.

3. Advertise or rent a booth at local events that are related to your business.

4. Join a community group or association related to your industry. If a group doesn’t exist for your industry, create one.

5. Create or sponsor a podcast. A podcast costs a fraction of what you would pay for a radio ad. Podcast marketing could be as easy as finding a struggling local writer and paying the expenses for their Podcast. All they have to do is read their stories and give you a shout out at the beginning of the podcast.

A good book on this subject is The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use News Releases, Blogs, Podcasting, Viral Marketing and Online Media to Reach Buyers Directly by David M. Scott.

Build relationships with your customers:

You’ll need to develop a good customer base to be successful. Loyal customers create repeat business and good word of mouth, which is the best form of low budget marketing.

Do whatever you can (within reason) to keep your customers and be the expert on your type of business. Give out free pamphlets or a company newsletter that contain helpful advice that is related to your business.

A good book on this subject is Hug Your Customers by Jack Mitchell.

Make a good website:

A good website serves a dual purpose. It allows you to build an ongoing relationship with your customer. You can give them the “inside scoop” on your business by creating a blog.

Find a company that is willing to work with you on your website. In Portland, small companies like Forix can help you create an effective website for a decent price.

Maintain your website. Since your website is your presence on the web, not updating it for six months looks bad. Eventually you can hire someone to take it for you.

Don’t grow too fast:

If your business does well in the short term, don’t grow it too fast. Growing too fast before you are ready can cause all kinds of problems.

Move your business forward at a regular pace and try to plan ahead as much as possible. This means saving the profit from a good year to cover a bad one.

Portland has more than a few empty storefronts from businesses that didn’t survive the recession. Being careful will keep your business from becoming a statistic.

Learn to delegate:

There will be a point where you are no longer the entrepreneur who created the innovative business. You’ll be the manager and your job will be hiring qualified people to perform the tasks that you used to do.

Eventually, you will hire a manager and you won’t be part of day-to-day operations. You’ll need to trust that manager and your employees to do the jobs that you hired them for. If they weren’t qualified, you would not have hired them to begin with.

A good book on this subject is The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber.

Look for help (you are not alone):

If you need outside assistance, you can go to the Small Business Administration or you can locate local non-profits that specialize in small business development.

In Portland, Oregon, you can go to the Business Outreach Program (BOP) at Portland State University. This is an excellent program that uses a combination of industry experts and business students who can help you create a business plan.

Another great place to go to in Portland, Oregon is the Oregon Microenterprise Network (OMEN). This is a statewide association of micro-enterprise development programs. If you need training or small business loans, this is a great place to go to.

Written by Howard DiNatale (http://howardpdx.blogspot.com) in cooperation with Forix Print Bridge (http://www.forixprintbridge.com), affordable web to print software.

© Howard DiNatale II 2009