by Irina Georgieva | Jan 2, 2025
As frightful as it sounds, studies show that 77% of brands could disappear, and no one would care. This means a staggering number of businesses failed to satisfy and retain customers.
And what have you done to make your customers care about your brand? Have you failed at customer retention? Are you one of them?
You better not be, because the Pareto Principle shows 80% of your profits come from just 20% of customers. In other words, if you have 10 clients, the most loyal 2 of them are more valuable than the rest combined. This is where you should put your focus – on retaining customers.
Furthermore, revenues for businesses that prioritise customer service rise 4-8% above their market.
However, it is not our goal to scare you but to show you ways to do better at customer retention. There could be as many customer retention strategies as there are businesses in the world, but you should only adopt the ones that fit your brand. Start from the following:
Surprises
Although there are people who claim that they don’t like surprises, we doubt they will return a gift, no matter how small it might be. That’s what makes surprises one of the best customer retention ideas.
In fact, 61% of consumers think surprise gifts and offers are the most important way a brand can interact with them.
Now, we understand that you can’t give away cars for free as Oprah did, but your customers will be grateful for a lot less than that. To put it differently, these surprises shouldn’t cost you a fortune and overburden your already tight budget. A small gift, a special discount or even a handwritten note of appreciation can take you a long way with your customers.
Complaints
In the business world, you need to understand that complaints shouldn’t be taken personally. Instead, they are opportunities for growth. The product or service you offer is built for the needs of the customers and should serve them 100%. Complaints will show you where you failed to deliver the maximum.
77% of consumers say they favour brands that ask for and accept customer feedback. It’s important to know to accept the bad as openly as the good.
Overdeliver
Don’t promise the stars and the moon to your customers. Instead, promise them only the moon and then bring along the stars. In this case, they won’t be expecting the starts so if you were unable to deliver them, they won’t feel betrayed and robbed. On the other hand, if you manage to deliver the stars as well, that will win you major points.
To put it differently, you have to exceed their expectations by adding a pre-calculated extra.
48% of people expect specialized treatment for being a good customer.
Personalise
Do you keep detailed notes about your customers? If not, you should start immediately!
Listening and understanding the particular needs and wishes of each customer will help you connect with them on a more personal level. It is now surprising at all that 86% of customers say an emotional connection with a customer service agent would make them continue to do business with the company.
Instead of treating them as a number, you should engage with them in a meaningful way.
For example, this is how Konnexx do it:
- Empathy – understanding their situation and being mindful not to force our agenda onto them until it is appropriate. Booking call back times if necessary.
- Being Polite. Asking if it is a good time to talk – and if not, booking a call back time at their convenience.
- Asking questions rather than delivering information. Listening more than talking.
- Mirroring some of their language.
- Confirming their needs and wants and dovetailing these with the benefits of the products/services we have to offer.
- Talking about benefits rather than features.
- Confirming what action needs to be taken and following it up where necessary.
- Booking in a convenient time for the next call.
Community
Build a community! You can do so by creating a discussion board on your website or a Facebook group where all of your loyal customers will be invited to join. This gives them the opportunity to connect with each other and exchange opinions regarding your products or services. You can also turn it into a place where you share promos, discounts or general news about your company.
Another way you can leverage the power of social media is to create engaging accounts that will constantly interact with your audience through meaningful and branded content.
Customer service
We are aware that customer service is a relatively broad term including a lot of factors. However, knowing that 93% of consumers are more likely to make repeat purchases at companies with excellent customer service leaves us no space to ignore it.
Take a better look at your customer service and identify your weaknesses. Maybe it’s response time – reduce it! Or maybe you over-automated it – bots are good to an extent, they can’t replace real humans.
Know your offer by heart but don’t be scared to admit when you’re into the blue. Turn to your colleagues, act as a team. Customers can recognise a genuine effort to help them and will be patient even if it takes more time to get what they deserve.
Just show that you care!
Purpose
Did you know that brands which are meaningful and viewed as making the world a better place outperform the stock market by 134%? Why? Because people love to feel like they’re contributing to a greater cause.
Find a way to support a cause that fits well into your brand. For example, you can donate a percentage of your proceeds to a charity organisation, or plant trees for every purchase, or finance scientific programs… It doesn’t matter what it is as long as it’s done with good intentions and pure heart. Your customers will see and recognise this effort, and reward you with their loyalty.
Onboarding
How do you welcome new customers? If ‘Thank you for shopping with us’ is the best you can give, then you’re not trying hard enough or you really don’t care about your customers.
The welcome message they get the first time they spend their money on one of your products or services is of crucial importance! It is the first step to building a long-lasting relationship with mutual respect.
Customers are five times more likely to engage with you in the first 90-100 days than at any other point.
For that reason, you should educate them with branded content. Email newsletters are great for this. Send them regularly but not too often because it can be perceived as pushy. Include content that will teach them how to use your products or services e.g. step-by-step guides, behind-the-scenes footage, etc. Give them a reason to stay with you.
Loyalty Programs
Reward, reward, reward!
Create your own loyalty program where your frequent customers will be rewarded with discounts, special incentives, better deals, exclusive offers, etc. This is a perfect way to encourage them to spend more with you. Your brand will become part of their daily life.
Involve them
Put your customers in your shoes and give them a feeling that they are not just spending their money on your offers, but they’re also creating them.
- Ask them for ideas and suggestions
- Involve them in the designing process
- Give them first access to prototypes
- Invite them on company events
- Hang out with them on neutral grounds
Payment methods
Whether you have a digital-only product or a brick and mortar store, one thing is for sure – you have to make payments as easy and quick as possible. The easier it is for a person to pay, the more likely they will.
Remove unnecessary steps; forget about only-cash; implement contactless card payment (it’s quite convenient now because of the Corona situation); captchas are not always the wisest choice
Demonstration experience
Emma Ede – Managing Director of retail experience business Stellar
“The recipe for customer retention is simple – retail has to become relentlessly customer-focused. We place a strong focus on in-store product demonstrations to help consumers learn about a brand and increase their knowledge around a product. This facetime with the consumer not only helps promote brand knowledge but it gives customers a reason to return to your store. In-store events encourage repeat visits and, eventually, transactions. The more a customer visits your store, the more likely they are to make purchases.
Our most recent survey of UK consumers found that 84% of people would feel more inclined to buy from a brand in the future after a demonstration experience, and this stresses the importance of giving customers more than just a visit to a store as consumers value outcomes and unique experiences.
We’ve worked closely with our client Sage Appliances over the past few years and they’ve seen a 350% increase in ROI from last year as a result of our schedule optimisation, ensuring the best brand ambassadors, in targeted stores, at the best time to attract potential consumers.”
Conclusion
Retaining existing customers is probably even more important than attracting new ones. In fact, statistics show that satisfied, loyal customers share their positive experience with a brand to 11 other people. Which means, by retaining customers you’ll be also bringing new ones.
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by Irina Georgieva | Jan 2, 2025
We’ll start this article about motivation in the workplace by quoting Jake Third, the Managing Director at Hallam. He found the perfect words to explain the essence and importance of worker motivation. We couldn’t have said it better ourselves:
“Simply put, the word “motivate” means to provide a motive. Your team will want to succeed if they have a motive for doing so. It is the leader’s responsibility to provide that motive.
To do this, it is important to understand what is important to your colleagues. Once you understand what they want, find that sweet spot where the organisation’s goals and their personal goals overlap.
If their own personal ambitions are in alignment with the companies objectives, they will naturally want to win for the company. It is a leader’s job to clearly articulate the goals of the company, explain why they are important, and to understand the motivations of their team members.
When a leader fails to do this, a team will lack the motivation to achieve the organisation’s goals. In these instances, weaker leaders use accountability to bring employees back in line. Accountability is a tool in leadership, but is over-relied on by leaders who fail to sufficiently motivate their team.”
How to keep the worker motivation always on the high?
Quizzes, employee of the quarter, and a four-day working week
For around four months we were out of the office and working from home. Our MD suggested we all take it in turns to organise a quiz for the last 15 minutes of the day on a Zoom call, which was an excellent way to wrap up a busy day and let the stresses of work melt away. A different member of the team would also take over the Instagram story each day. This kept content fresh, interesting and insightful for our followers and also kept the team on their toes!
We’ve recently made a safe and socially-distanced return to the office, and a return to our four-day working week. Whilst working from home, we reverted to the usual 9-5, five days a week. At the office, however, we work from 8-6, 4 days a week. Whilst the days are slightly longer, we all agree that the benefits of a four-day working week hugely outweigh the extra 2 hours per day. Many enjoy a three day weekend with either a Monday or Friday off. I, personally, have a Wednesday off, and I find this mid-week break incredibly revitalising.
Our MD is always eager to do what she can to make working life easier for each individual member of staff – through all of the above, and also, regular brainstorm sessions to keep the team inspired and an ‘employee of the quarter‘, where the said employee is awarded a personalised gift of up to £100.
Hugo Condie, PR Assistant at VerriBerri
Understandable vision
The best way I have found to motivate my 5 employees is to help them understand the vision of the business and how their contributions make a difference.
I reiterate the vision continually in weekly team meetings and encourage staff to use their initiative to generate ideas of their own that may contribute to achieving that vision. We are a team and although it’s my dream I am honest about the fact that the path is not clear and I need their help (especially with curveballs like Covid!)
There are lots of menial jobs for the more junior roles – especially interns – however, if you sell them the dream and share the journey so far they will be much more bought into the brand and want to be a part of its success so will not mind doing the more boring tasks.
Jennifer Bailey, CEO at Calla
Autonomy and 13th-month bonus
Since I founded my business, almost 10 years ago now, I have always recognised that my employees are my biggest strength, whether that’s full-time employees with whom I have contact every day or contractors across the country.
As the company has grown, I have taken care to ensure that the people who join the business have the same values and ideas as the rest of the team and are prepared to go over and above to fulfil expectations. We reward hard work wherever possible, managing our employees KPI’s and offering an additional 13th-month bonus at the end of the year has been a great motivator for the team long term.
Many were, and still are in some cases, far more experienced than me in their areas of expertise and acknowledging this has ensured they feel involved and committed to the business. They are involved in decision making, trusted and given autonomy to deliver their work. We have strengthened our management team over time, ensuring full leadership accountability via weekly level 10 meetings.
I trust the team we have built to do the job and do it well, we aren’t about to babysit our people while they do their work and this has resulted in a workforce who believe in and are committed to making inurface the best it can be.
Josh Bunce. Founder and CEO of inurface Group
Small gestures mean everything
I own a very small ladies boutique in Emsworth, Hampshire. I have two part-time colleagues (notice I call them colleagues and not staff!)
We work together, I ask their opinion and include them in decisions about merchandising and buying. My success is their success – we all want to be busy and I know they want to please me. I trust them completely and I know it is reciprocated.
I spoil them at Christmas, usually with a hamper and a meal out, they get to buy stock at cost which works both ways – if they wear it, it’s my advert – they know that and love it!
Whilst I had to put them on furlough I made up the 20% – small gestures mean everything. We cover each other for holidays and sickness – I’m very flexible.
No pressure selling incentives, they do it because they want to. It’s a nice atmosphere and the enjoyment at work seems to be the motivation – they are genuinely excited to tell me if it’s been a good day!
Above all, I don’t take advantage – look after them and be kind, you get what you give in all walks of life!
Karen Hall, Owner of Karen George
The 5 hows
In my opinion, one of the key things to remember when we’re talking about driving the best from people is effective problem resolution. A real test of the team/leader relationship is what happens when there are challenges which must be overcome and problems that need to be resolved.
Asking “why” doesn’t work as well as we think it does. People refer to the concept of “5 whys” – asking why 5 times to get the root cause of an issue.
When we use the word “why” it is loaded with blame. It starts when we’re children – “why did the milk get spilt?”, “why are you late?”, “why is there rubbish everywhere?”. The list goes on. As soon as you use the word “why”, deep-seated synapses in our brains get to work and we are on guard. Deep down why equals blame.
To get the best of people even amidst mounting challenges, we should use the “5 hows”. That way we begin to get real value, clarity and refinement from the questions.
The 5 hows reveal the truth faster, more effectively, and leads us to a root cause we can overcome. Leave the blame at the door and solve the problem.
Jamie Hinton, CEO at Razor
Conclusion
Maintaining the motivation in the workplace on a constant high directly results in better results for the entire company. Every team is different on its own and you need to discover what will inspire them the most. For some it’s a bonus at the end of the year, for others it’s a paid day-off every month.
Open communication makes the biggest difference in the leader/team relationship. Speak clearly and listen carefully. A satisfied worker is as precious as a gold mine.
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by Irina Georgieva | Jan 2, 2025
Stress is the ultimate killer for productivity and apparently for business meetings. Is there a way to shield yourself from it in such important business moments? Yes, there is – meeting meditation. A practice to clear your mind of stress, anger, and other negative emotions that might arise.
Before you laugh and brush the idea aside, do you even know what is a meeting meditation? Simply put, it’s a way of meditation to open a meeting.
The perks of meeting meditation
No matter if you’re having a staff meeting or a meeting with the board, meditation before meeting is slowly working its way to becoming the new normal. Here is why:
A meeting meditation is quick
It will not interfere with your working schedule. You can choose different lengths of meditation for meetings that last from 1 minute to 10 minutes. So, having no time can’t be your excuse.
A vast array of meditation techniques to choose from
Everything isn’t for everyone and that’s okay. Depending on your company’s culture and what you want to achieve with meditation you can try out anything from these types of meditation. Remember that every type is applicable to meditation for staff meeting. A safe choice is guided meditation to start a meeting, but is entirely up to you.
Gives you calm in the storm
Meditation is proven not only to reduce stress levels, but to give a sense of calm throughout the day. And if you need something in a business meeting, that’s definitely calm and cool heads.
It helps with increasing patience and tolerance and also it is the leader in reducing anxiety. And we all know how nerves can get in the way of everything.
Meeting meditation is like love – it don’t cost a thing
There’s nothing to lose by trying meeting meditation. You and your staff can only benefit from it. And even if you don’t, what’s the harm of trying things free of charge? From all of the ways to implement free or cheap business changes, meditation before meeting is one of the most innovative.
Yes, there are professionals you can hire for guided meditation to start a meeting. That being said, we live in the age of accessible knowledge at any time so all you need is some tips on how to do a meeting mediation.
In a world running towards the future – it keeps you in the present
That’s right – meetings are often set for enhancing efficiency in business, deciding on the next move, or to see what went wrong in the past. So, the mindset of everyone in the meeting shifts from the future to the past on a daily basis.
It is well known that we shape the future with the decisions we make in the present and being present in the moment is what meeting meditation is all about. It makes a person aware of where he/she is in the now and keeps them grounded.
Focusing on the present will take you to a better version of your future.
Open up locked away creativity with meeting meditation
How can a person be creative if he/she is not relaxed? When it comes to business, you want to extract every bit of imagination and creativity from everyone in the room. It’s what will guide you to fresh ideas, out of the box thinking and better solutions to problems.
Scientifically it’s proven that if a person is relaxed, the creative juices start to flow immediately. Meeting meditation will relax everyone.
Improves the working relationship strength
Whether you are in a meeting with clients, colleagues, or employees – doing something out of the borders of professionalism, can bring you together. Think of it as a small team-building exercise that you can do at a moment’s notice.
How to start implementing meeting meditation if you haven’t tried it before
It’s common practice not to try something simply because you haven’t tried it before. But, meditation for meetings is so easy – trust us.
Firstly, put the idea out there so it doesn’t come as a shock. Speak about meeting meditation in a previous meeting before you try it or simply write an email or a memo. Be sure to explain the details of why you are doing this.
Once everyone knows, start off the next meeting by informing everyone that they have to close their eyes and start taking deep breaths (nose-in, mouth-out). Then, tell them to simply put all the focus on their breathing and to let pass any thought that comes to mind freely. Kindly ask them to stay quiet and keep doing what they are doing. You don’t need to set up an alarm or anything, trust your inner clock. Once is over, go ahead with your meeting.
Conclusion
It is safe to say that meditation before meeting has become a standard practice for a lot of companies of different sizes. Trends become trends for a reason. A fresh and spiritual practice that leads to more achievements and success was bound to become a trend. Try it or not, its benefits are indisputable. And because of that, we strongly recommend it.
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by Irina Georgieva | Jan 2, 2025
Making mistakes in business is often regarded as something negative. However, the mistakes entrepreneurs make are just opportunities to learn and grow. Yes, business mistakes can be costly and fatal for a company, but we can confidently say that there never existed an entrepreneur who hasn’t done at least one of the biggest business mistakes.
The important thing about the mistakes entrepreneurs make is to rise above them and not fall into desperation. Drowning in shame and guilt after making serious or even trivial business mistakes is unallowed in entrepreneurship.
Moreover, you must deal with the fear of making decisions. Of course, there is always the possibility of making the wrong choice but that shouldn’t scare you. In fact, it should inspire you and make you bolder.
The important thing about the mistakes entrepreneurs make is to rise above them and not fall in desperation. Drowning in shame and guilt after making serious or even trivial business mistakes is unallowed in entrepreneurship. Moreover, you must deal with the fear of making decisions. Of course, there is always the possibility to make the wrong choice but that shouldn’t scare you. In fact, it should inspire you and make you bolder.
The most common mistakes entrepreneurs make
Take the number of businesses in the world and multiply it by a million. The number you get is the number of possible business mistakes you can make throughout your entrepreneurial journey.
Nevertheless, there are several small business mistakes that almost every entrepreneur has made. Play it smart and learn how to avoid the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make before committing them.
Not having professionally drafted contracts
When I started running my business, I undertook various projects after a verbal go-ahead – one of the biggest business mistakes I could’ve made if you ask me. I would execute my design and branding work and send off my designs to the clients. When it came to paying my invoice, some clients did not pay!
Once they had the work they needed, they did not respond to my demand for payment. They even ignored my emails and calls. I quickly learned to have a professionally drafted contract in place and ask for a 50% payment upfront and the 50% balance before handing over my files and artwork. These agreements need to be in place to avoid nasty surprises.
Vaishali Shah, Owner of Creative-ID & Ananya Cards
Not having your own niche/path
I spent almost the first 4 years of my business agreeing to everything and marketing to everyone. Ultimately, I ended up taking on cakes that I didn’t like, didn’t charge appropriately for, and resented. However, I realized this was one of the worst and biggest business mistakes entrepreneurs make.
Hence over the last 12-18 months, I have worked hard on finding my niche, the designs that really make me feel happy. The result has been I am now attracting my ideal clients who love my designs and am becoming known for my particular style. I suppose it was a right of passage but I wish I had found my niche sooner.
Debbie Gillespie, Owner of Debbie Gillespie Cake Design
Not seeking professional employment advice
In the early days of business, I hired my first member of the team and failed to consider looking into the necessary paperwork and contract in order to protect myself and my business if in the future I needed to make any changes to their position in the company.
Having learned the hard way that this was not ideal and caused much stress, I’d say of all the small business mistakes I’ve made this is one of the worst.
But the outcome is now I am very vigilant when it comes to entering into partnerships or agreements with anyone and I always have the correct paperwork. If I am unclear in an area that I know needs a contract, I know to consult a legal expert to ask for guidance.
Bernadette Chapman, Owner of Bernadette Chapman Consultancy
Doubting myself and my abilities
Over the years I have wasted far too much time double guessing myself, doubting my abilities, and comparing myself to other business owners. I would say this is mainly due to the significant rise we have seen over the past decade on social media where imposter syndrome really does sneak in.
I have worked a lot on my mindset as a result and whilst I still have times where I wobble, I can now confidently tell myself. “I am good at what I do, I have nearly two decades of experience, a fantastic reputation, a leader in my field, and that I will no longer allow others to make me doubt myself”.
Bernadette Chapman
Not being a good communicator
I am a self-confessed control freak, so it has taken me a while to learn that I cannot do it all, I need to delegate in my business in order to grow. But with delegation comes the need to be able to communicate with those you are delegating to, what you expect, what you need doing, and when you need it done.
So I found for a while that the tasks being completed by those I was delegating to were not being completed in a way I had hoped. After a bit of reflection and looking back at situations, I can see it wasn’t necessarily anyone’s fault, it was more the fact I hadn’t communicated exactly what my expectations were.
I am excellent at communicating with my clients but when it came to communicating with my team, I noticed the ‘niggles’ were actually due to my inability to accurately communicate.
Having worked on this with a consultant, I can see that actually, the fear of not being in control was affecting my communication skills! If you need to communicate tasks with your team members, make sure you really are asking them what you truly are expecting in return!
Nicola Russill-Roy, Founder of Propose PR
Not getting a mentor as soon as I can
Most start-up business owners underestimate the importance of business mentors. Like me before, I didn’t see the value of someone guiding me or telling me what to do. I became too dependent on business courses, books, and a few entrepreneur friends assuming I got it all under control until I realized I didn’t.
Business mentors serve as another pair of eyes that looks after you and your business. They offer invaluable skills, wisdom, and experience that no secondary or tertiary sources could provide. They could identify pain points and suggest solutions that only seasoned business owners can navigate.
You can get endless benefits in getting a mentor, but one must be teachable and humble enough to admit that you need help and guidance. Once you do, they will be your vessels to success!
Ewen Finser, CEO of The Digital Merchant
Micromanaging teams
As an entrepreneur, your company is frequently referred to as your baby. It’s difficult to relinquish control when the time comes to recruit a team since you’ve spent so much time and money on it.
This can lead to entrepreneurs micromanaging their staff or attempting to keep too much control. Both are difficult to break and considered poor leadership qualities. Because you’re so invested in the company, you still have a lot of issues to deal with. You’re also the one who sets the tone and establishes a culture since anything you do will be followed by others.
Therefore, when it comes to recruiting people, I adopt a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, I hire individuals who can take over my monotonous duties, which I can easily delegate and oversee, and on the other hand, I attempt to hire people who have the expertise and experience to assist me in areas where I am weak.
This gives me more time to focus on the vital things while still providing me with the knowledge I need to build the firm.
Gerrid Smith, Founder of Corporate Investigation Consulting
Taking funding out of desperation
Don’t take funding out of desperation. The best time to find investors is when you don’t need it. If you’re desperate you are much more likely to take a bad deal and sign with partners who aren’t a good fit. It is critical that you take the time to vet investors and find one that shares your vision and values. A bad investor can ruin a good company.
Ben Hodson, Co-founder, and CEO of JobNimbus
Lack of long term planning
Another one of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is not building a business with the next owner in mind. This oversight and lack of long-term planning leave them with an asset that has little to no value after their retirement.
Basic planning is almost free to create and just takes some time and planning. Things like written agreements with key stakeholders can be very low-cost to create and can help clarify each important relationship. Making sure none of the relationships are dependent solely on the business owner is also a big part of making the business saleable in the future.
This can involve working with customers as a team rather than one on one. An organized and clean set of tax returns along with professionally prepared financial statements will also be needed to properly value the business and make it saleable in the future.
David Jacobs, Business Broker with David Jacobs Business Broker
Failing to conduct adequate research
Typical mistakes business owners make are failing to conduct adequate research about the industry in which they operate. Not conducting sufficient research to determine the viability of the business’s location and the company itself is detrimental.
Numerous start-ups fail to conduct adequate market research, and much more than that fail to survive. Market research can provide critical information on a product’s demand and pricing.
Emma Williams, Chief Research Officer at HIGH5
Thinking your product is so good it’ll sell itself
One of the most common mistakes entrepreneurs make is thinking a physical shop is the best way to start. We did that. Our organic spice company started as a store in a high-traffic area. We quickly learned that high traffic doesn’t instantly equate to people walking in and shopping and that the location is not good for our business. Hence, we closed the store after 2 years.
We needed to start smaller, take time to understand the market, and prove why our spices were superior. We shifted to farmer’s markets to talk to people about spices and cooking. We listened, learned, and then went 100% into online sales, which has proven to be very lucrative.
We get local requests to open a store, but knowing the industry now, we won’t do that. Instead, we made a custom spice vending machine to sit outside our factory so we offer in-person shopping (without expensive overhead) while we run our online operation at the same time.
Meaghan Thomas, Co-Owner and President at Pinch Spice Market
Underestimating how long a task will take
The biggest mistake I’ve made is underestimating how long a task will take, and then bringing that estimation to the team. It’s often said that everything will take twice as long and cost twice as much as you expect it to. Turns out, that’s right.
So when it comes to managing expectations and the motivation of your team, you never want to promise something you can’t guarantee. For example, don’t promise a reward on X date when a task is completed.
Instead, promise a reward when the task is completed, as long as it’s done before X date + X date. In other words, double your timeline and don’t promise your people things you can’t guarantee.
Alex Lefkowitz, Founder of Tasty Edits
Not creating a brand from the start and merely setting up a business
I believe there is a big difference between ‘creating a brand’ and ‘setting up a business’ – the latter is what I did initially and saw me attracting the wrong client.
When I set up I merely set up a blog, a company name, and documented my floristry work. I didn’t give too much thought to a brand, a sustainable business model or narrow down exactly who my ideal client was. As a result, early on I was attracting the wrong sort of clients.
I re-branded a couple of years later and this is when my business truly elevated and I now get work from my dream ideal clients and I am getting the recognition I know I deserve and that I had hoped to achieve.
My lesson learned is to not rush into setting up a business, it’s not just about coming up with a cool business name, throwing up a website and randomly posting content, and hoping for the best.
Emma Soulsby, Owner of Emma Soulsby Flowers
Conclusion
There’ll always be mistakes entrepreneurs make and that’s not the end of the world. What matters is to recognize these business mistakes and minimize damage. Furthermore, small business mistakes are crucial to developing important leadership skills that will later help you upscale your business.
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by Irina Georgieva | Jan 2, 2025
Macro-economic uncertainty is creating opportunities entrepreneurs have not seen in decades. Seize this extraordinary moment.
By Alex Gold October 3, 2020
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
“I am really concerned about starting a new company right now. I think the world is too unstable and it’s just too risky,” a very close friend of mine was relaying to me the other day. “I have a job. I don’t want to voluntarily quit, have my company fail and then struggle to find something on the other side.”
“You need to look at things differently,” I responded. “You need to look at the extraordinary opportunities and the lower barriers to entry for starting a company right now. You can have access to people and talent that you would not have had previously.”
“Yes, I know, but I am still worried,” my friend immediately responded. “I guess I want to have my cake and eat it.”
As technology futurist Kevin Kelly would say, right now is the best time to start a new business. Unfortunately, many potential founders, like my friend, are fearful. This is not anecdotal. Between 1978 and 2012, the number of new companies declined by nearly 44 percent, according to the Kauffman Foundation.
Paradoxically, recessions and unstable periods present the best opportunities to start new companies. During the 2008 Financial Crisis, billion dollar startups like Uber, Airbnb, and many others were founded partly as a response to changing market dynamics.
Related: What the Work-From-Home Boom Means for Your Future
The present day is no exception, offering once-in-a-lifetime opportunities and unfair advantages to potential entrepreneurs. Among these are increased access to people and talent at lower and negotiable costs, and an environment in which consumers are more willing to try new products and services — often out of necessity.
Increased Access to People and Talent
During boom periods, engineering, design, product and sales talent can be incredibly challenging to recruit and eventually close. Not only is the talent scarce on the market, but the best ones often command fees that can quickly bankrupt a nascent startup if they do not show value from their hires quickly.
Now, many established companies and even startups have laid off talent due to decreased marketplace demand. And due to larger market dynamics, overall salaries have also declined for once in-demand positions.
This has opened up people and talent-recruiting opportunities for entrepreneurs; with the ability to access talent that is critical to early stage growth that would otherwise be lured by larger salaries or more stable opportunities. Entrepreneurs can also rely more on alternative compensation schemes like equity to lure potential hires as the cash compensation and bonuses become more scarce.
Time to Negotiate “Fixed” Costs
Although the fixed costs to start a new company (i.e. servers, real estate, etc.) have come down considerably over the past 20 years, they are still relatively high for early stage entrepreneurs. For real estate leases, SaaS and other capital and operating expenditures, entrepreneurs are often faced with high initial upfront expenses before their business ever generates its first spate of revenue.
In leaner and meaner times, real estate costs often decline considerably and landlords are more than willing to provide attractive deal terms to close a deal, including office renovations and more flexible lease terms. Other cost centers like SaaS and independent-contracting services may be more open to negotiation and flexible business terms as well. All of this decreases the cost of starting a business and allows entrepreneurs to deploy precious capital resources into hiring and product rather than fee based services.
“Trysumers”
A foundational challenge to starting and growing a new business is acquiring customers. An expensive proposition, this will often involve persuading consumers to try a new product option or category or switch between brands. Many entrepreneurs often fail at this process, even when equipped with a significant capital war chest.
In the current environment, customer-acquisition costs may decrease considerably. First, due to economic necessity and changes in routine, consumers may be more willing to try new products and services or even switch brands from their normal selection. More importantly, as new behaviors and routines come to the fore, consumers may adopt different products and services. This provides ample new opportunities for acquisition.
Related: 2 Vital Things You Need to Do to Protect Your Business
Leaner and meaner times present a host of macro-economic challenges. Somewhat paradoxically, but also logically, this makes right now the best time to start a new business. Chiefly, this is because of greater access to people and talent, negotiable fees and a greater willingness amongst consumers to try new products — sometimes out of necessity.
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