Entrepreneurship is often touted as an easy way to make money without answering to anyone. While this might be a good reason to start your business, it may not be an effective way to keep your brand image for the long haul, and the current U.S. start-up fail rate can be a good example. As a general rule of thumb, maintaining a popular brand with happy customers to play the part is not an easy task. Here are some tips detailing how to thrive as a modern business owner.
Take a CPE course.
According to Forbes, about 10 percent of all start-ups fail in their founding years. Many more are likely to fail before their fifth year, especially considering the stiff competition in recent years. The business world is a hotspot for innovation, and upskilling can be a powerful tool to help modern business owners catch up. There are many different ways to obtain professional education courses today. Self-study CPE courses can help you learn at your own pace with minimal demands on your everyday life.
Self-study CPE courses are a go-to for business executives who want to pursue a field of study in their own time. Many online platforms deliver this course through live webinars and several other digital avenues.
Online CPE courses can equip you with insights and best practices to survive in an ever-changing business world. You can opt for all kinds of individual courses, including forensic accounting covering financial statements, audits, and several other tax topics. Most online CPE courses also offer unlimited access to workbook course materials, which can save you time, money, and all the hassle associated with classroom courses with live instructors.
Make your marketing speak.
Quite often, business owners want a new product to speak for itself and make few marketing efforts. But creating marketing campaigns as the next step after your product launch can be a great way to improve return on investment (ROI). Marketing entails a personal connection with customers. Creating a sense of community around your brand or product introduces you to half of your consumers even before any form of marketing begins.
Word-of-mouth marketing, such as influencer marketing, is a great way for brands to field customer engagement. Incorporating this as part of your digital marketing efforts will expose your business to millennials. Adding user-generated content (also known as UGC marketing) to your marketing strategy can help improve your conversation rate. Brands like Coca-Cola and Starbucks often curate visual UGC content to lobby the social channels of customers for marketing. The most common UGC types of social influencers are photos, customer reviews, and social posts created with augmented reality filters.
One key benefit of UGC is the authenticity of content consumption, which translates into brand credibility and reliability. About 75 percent of marketers believe user-generated content feels more authentic than other types of content. Likewise, 90 percent of consumers attest that user-generated content (UGC) influences their buying decisions more than promotional emails and search engine results. The future of user-generated content has endless benefits for businesses of all sizes. Business owners seeking scalability can leverage this type of content to generate more loyal customers and higher engagement with social feeds.
Don’t try to do everything yourself.
Productivity is an essential key performance indicator for thriving businesses. While it’s a given for a small business’s founder to field the majority of all its operations, it might not be a good idea for the long haul. Onboarding new individuals helps bring in more advocates to build brand awareness beyond your skills and ideas.
All in all, business success doesn’t come in a day. With time comes new things that may be alien to your brand. Ensuring your vision is well defined can be a surefire way of adapting to new realities. Also, nurturing a long-term relationship with customers is the best way to enjoy repeat purchases.
