Surviving the crushing waves of fierce digital competition in the world of small businesses might be one of the greatest challenges any entrepreneur faces in this day and age. It is one thing to set everything up when you are starting from scratch as there is fresh energy and people are more inclined to try something new, rather than revisiting an old choice they were not that happy about. This is why you need even more energy to revamp your own business and make it fetching enough to overcome the hard times it is facing. It is important to react quickly, the moment you realize the number of customers is declining, you need to take action – preferably even a bit sooner. Here are some ways to fight this battle without having to spend a lot of money in these trying times.
Change target audience
When making grand changes, one of the main questions you should ask yourself is whether you ought to alter your target audience. Depending on the type of business and the needs of it, you need to decide between broadening your audience, narrowing it down or changing it entirely. Of course, this also depends on the degree of change you wish to introduce to your existing business. There are drawbacks and benefits to any choice. If you wish to risk it all and change the course of your business, there is a lot to lose, but at the same time, plenty to gain if it succeeds. On the other hand, a safer choice is to alter your target audience. That way you would keep all your existing customers and possibly add new ones.
Reinvent the brand
A natural continuance of your actions upon changing your target is rebranding. It simply has to be done, otherwise it would not make much sense to do anything else. Of course, there are many factors to take into account when rebranding. One needs to anticipate the needs and desires of current customers in order to keep them. They are the ones that need to absolutely love the changes as they are the basis of your monthly income. Moreover, the new brand should also be catchy and attractive enough to drive some new users your way. Also, one of the most important factors is the story you tell. Being creative is essential here – think of an amazing story which contains a life-changing event and motivation to do great things. You need a good reason for rebranding and people want to be amazed and inspired by your story. This will draw them to you and make them stay, not only for the quality of the service you surely do offer, but for the feeling of being a part of something noble with a good cause, as well.
Use the maximum of social media
Social networks are your main weapon when you are done with the makeover and ready to show your new old business to the world. Actually, you need one prerequisite and that is to change your social networks’ profiles to fit your new brand. Everything needs to be in harmony. Once you do that, take a few courses or read literature about using social networks. Their potential is huge and it is just waiting for you to use it. Apart from learning about the core time and frequency to post on each of the relevant social networks, there is a whole world to be discovered about analytics options that are offered to you. Using social media smart is the key to your digital improvement, make sure to make this a priority.
Update business plans
Since you are making revolutionary changes to your whole narrative, it is only logical to change all your business plans. The whole process might give you quite a headache as you will practically need to do some things from scratch, just like in the very beginning of the development of your business. However, it needs to be done in order for you to succeed. There are no shortcuts as each shortcut is a huge drawback to the whole process. If you want this to be done right, you need to change business plans. They are there to guide you when you can’t guide yourself. Do a thorough revision of your current plans and incorporate all the changes. It is quite the work, but your business will surely benefit from it.
Redesign your website
Your website needs to be changed from its very core. This refers to both the design, but the content, too. The designs have to be changedto fit the new branding. It should also be consistent with your social media accounts. When considering your options, the best choice is to go minimalistic. Keep everything short and to the point. The texts should be concise with a clear topic and point. On the other hand, the design should not be too aggressive so it overshadows the content. Using white spaces is a great thing to do, too, since they enable you to separate your text to paragraphs where each one has only one message. This may seem silly, but it makes all the difference for users. It is much more convenient and clear browsing through a website with the least possible amount of text and a clear message for each part. The users feel comfortable and they instantly start believing that your business is the right fit for them since they are able to navigate through the website without any confusion.
All these actions to take are not as expensive as they are demanding in other ways. They require a lot of time and effort, as well as using your imagination, being creative and innovative. Nevertheless, once you make that gigantic effort and change your business for the better, that simply cannot go unnoticed and it is bound to have huge success. Let that be your motivation to get to work and make the best possible version of your business.
Author Byline: Liam Collins is a tech pundit and Web enthusiast working at TuiSpace.com. He spends most of his time reading and writing about the current affairs in the world of information technology. When he isn’t working, he likes going for long bike rides and walks in nature.
