If owning and operating a small business successfully was easy, everyone would be doing it.  So many entrepreneurs dive into the small business pool with little or no research or preparation under their belt.  That approach causes some entrepreneurs to sink to the bottom right away, or just tread water.  Either way will leave them in one place with no movement in a positive direction.  Somehow, they think they can do it – often alone – then find themselves struggling to survive.  Small business pain points can take you down if not addressed.

small biz systems and proceduresWithout pre-planning and setting up business processes, you can be sure you will be dealing with small business pain points and challenges from Day One.  It is sort of like walking the plank.  One minute you are on a firm surface.  A few steps later you are plunging downward into the dark.  It changes so quickly, you aren’t really sure what happened.

It doesn’t take long to figure out how much work is needed to start and grow a small business.  There are so many ‘pieces-parts’ that make it all happen and each piece needs attention; attention at the right time by the right person.  Pre-planning and setting up processes and systems are key to moving a small business forward, focused on growth and success.  This article on 9 powerful principles of small business success is a good place to start.

Small Businesses Share Their Pain

small business pain pointsI was in touch with a client and posed a couple of questions to her about how she views her career and business.  I won’t identify her by name or location, but her issues were like so many others I have worked with.  She was a bit down on her long term career and business experience.  I assured her that her small business pain points are like so many others’.

These are the questions I asked my interior design client and her responses.  Do they sound at all familiar to you in your own small business experiences?

Question 1:  What did you think your business would look like?

Answer:  “I don’t think I thought about what it would be like…”  “I thought getting clients would be easy.  It was never easy. I learned that you have to wear many hats.  You must be the marketing/business development person as well as the problem solver of design needs.”

Question 2:  What is or isn’t working for you?

Answer:  “I have not found social media to be all that effective.  In tracking where business has come from, it has been referrals from past clients, the Houzz website and memberships in Chambers of Commerce and Toastmasters.”

Question 3:  What would make you feel great about your business?

Answer:  “A continual stream of referrals and client inquiries would be good. Overall I don’t think interior design is a business I would recommend to anyone. If I would have known all I know now, I would never have gone to school and got the degree(s) in design or pursued the profession.”

 

An article by Investopedia reminds us that the Small Business Administration (SBA) states that 30% of small business startups fail in their first two years.  Only about half of all employer establishments survive for five years.  Even then, something like 66% will fail by their tenth year.  Think of those graduating college in their early- to mid-20s with visions of owning their own successful small business.  If this is their long-term dream, the odds of success don’t seem to be in their favor.  Surely, there must be ways we can improve the chances of our small business’s success.

Business Pain Points Have to Be Analyzed and Diagnosed

Where do we begin?  Of course, the question “Why?” comes to mind.  Why aren’t more small businesses successful?   Why is it so difficult to set up a business that you can grow to success in a short – or at least reasonable – period of time?   Why do so many small businesses fail so quickly while others manage to stay afloat for five, or ten, or more years?  There are myriad reasons for business failures. Clearly, those who are successful must be doing something different.

Why Some Small Businesses Succeed When Others Fail

Why do some small businesses make it while others fail?  Some reasons for failure vs. success are pretty simple in nature.  Others are complex and more difficult to deal with.  After some research into small business pain points and problems, I identified more than one hundred common issues small business founders and owners encounter.  Of course, not every small business will face the same issues.  However, we do seem to run into some variation of each one at some point along our journey to business growth and success.

6 Categories of Small Business Pain Points and Challenges

After creating my 100+ list of small business pain points and challenges, I organized them in specific categories of business operations.  Sorting the list for commonalities, I was able to identify six different areas of small business operations that contribute to ‘overwhelm’ for most small business owners.

Some issues cross lines and can fall into more than one of the six categories.  For instance, issues related to finance might also relate to management or administrative challenges and decisions.  The financial issue of having insufficient capital to cover a year of expenses related to start-up and building the business is on every list I found of reasons that businesses fail.  But, how you deal with those types of issues might also be a Management or Administration challenge as well.  My six small business pain point categories are as follows:

  • Financial Issues
  • Management/Administration Issues
  • Customers/Sales Issues
  • Marketing/Competition Issues
  • Human Resources/Employees Issues
  • Government/Laws and Regulations

Most Common Pain Points for Small Business Owners

Starting with insufficient Funds

One of the most reported pain points for small businesses falls into the Financial Issues realm.  Starting out with insufficient funds – or easy access to funds when you need them – seems to top the list of pain points for entrepreneurs.  It is imperative to invest time to work through a pre-startup business plan,  One important step is to determine how much available money or credit you will need to get your through your first year of operation.

downward sales direction

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Two words: “What if… ” used repetitively during this planning stage can be your best friends.  What if customers – ideal customers – don’t come quickly to start buying your products or services?  How can you set a price point that will bring in sufficient funds to run your operation? What happens if you don’t charge enough?  What happens if customers are slow to pay? What will you do if you can’t get credit from suppliers and they demand cash up front?

What if…., What if….   Make time to address these questions to position your firm miles ahead of competitors.  These practices can prepare you address pain points and problems before they occur.  They may eventually happen, but if you’ve thought about how to address them ahead of time, you will be ready to act.

Lack of Customers

Whatever you offer for sale from your business, you will need customers willing and able to buy. Buyers make the financial wheels of business go around. How will you attract them?  Which ones will be ideal for what you are offer?  How will you define those ideal customers and where will you locate them?  Starting a small business is a pretty simple process.  You can do it in a few hours time.  But, once you are ‘official’ in your local area, what comes next is HUGE and those steps take a lot of time to set up.

To get cash flow going, you need products or services to sell.  Do you plan to manufacture your own products or buy them from someone else?  Either choice takes time and money.  How will you spread the word about your company?  People need to learn about your brand and product offerings.  Potential customers need enticed to buy what you are selling.  Just because you think you offer the be-all and end-all of products or services, potential customers may not agree.  How will you convince them?

Lack of the Right Customers

Ideal Customers Wanted Identify customers who will love what you offer, determine how to find them and develop a killer sales message. These steps represent the beginning of a Sales System.   Take care of those three important elements.  They are critical for your success.

Next, develop your Sales System Strategy to deliver those three critical pieces of your marketing plan.  Someone needs to be the right customer with money to spend on what you are selling.  You have to know where to find them, and need to convince them that you have the solution to their challenges.

Follow up with a marketing plan to get those messages to those right customers.  It is time to convert those prospects’ names in your database into paying customers.  Then it happens:  Yea!  You make a sale.  Whether it’s a one time product sale or a longer term service, it’s just their first experience with your company.  Luckily, it is your first chance to make a good impression on them. Your chance to prove you have the solution for their problem(s).  Next, comes a process for keeping that customer coming back.   And, don’t forget that you want them telling their friends and colleagues about you.

Making It on Your Own Can Be an Effort in Futility

Admit it, you think that doing everything as a solo-preneur is the easiest way to go. No man in shorts juggling fire torchesemployees to deal with, no payroll to make, no paid benefits, no tax withholding, no Workman’s Compensation.  Maybe that’s a good thing.  It’s only a good thing until ‘Overwhelm’ hits.  That is, trying to wear too many hats while juggling with too many balls in the air at once hits. Bam!

To successfully grow your business, you need to control all facets that come with starting and running a business.  Sooner or later, important things begin to drop by the wayside or just pile up and not get done. Trying to manage business operations, find ideal customers, do marketing and sales, fill and ship orders and completing projects will suffer.  There just isn’t sufficient time for one person to manage everything and handle it all well.

I Need Help But Can’t Afford It!

All those hats small business owners wear eventually become horribly cumbersome.   Or, all those balls, bowling pins, (knives or flames if you are brave – or crazy) you are juggling will start crashing down around you.  To provide the necessary time necessary to grow your small business into a successful enterprise will take help.  But, with little or no money to spend on staff or to outsource some of the workload, how can you improve your situation?

The smaller your business remains, the more important it is to bring on not just ‘OK’, not just ‘good enough,’ but GREAT help.  Whether you seek part-time or full-time employees, or alternative outsourcing options, you need the best available.  Have a clear picture of your specific needs and the best way to achieve results.  If you aren’t sure, find someone to help you lay out a detailed plan for finding the very best assistance available.  Think of additions in staff in the long term, not short term band-aid solutions to long term problems.  Working through a short term problem by adding someone with limited skills – who works cheap – is not the way to go.

Conclusion

As you might expect, things won’t improve for the long term with short term solutions. Likewise, the pain won’t just go away overnight.  You need systems and procedures in place to eliminate many of the problems that push small businesses to failure.  Look to the future. What do you want your business to look like in a year, three years or five years? Put plans in place now to make it become what you envision.

SHARE your own small business pain points and challenges in the Comment section below.  I will try to address as many of them as possible in future articles.