Being a small business owner is one of the toughest balancing acts in business.

In many ways, you are the business. Clients choose your specific company because of you and your background. You do much of the work to keep the business running and you are responsible for the success of your team.

The business world is filled with posturing.

Nowadays, with the media constantly glorifying powerful entrepreneurs who now run massive empires, it’s easy to get the wrong idea. Oftentimes these images give a false expectation of what it means to be a business owner. And it can cause small business owners to try to be something they're not.

It’s no lie that the COVID-19 pandemic has turned lives upside down. Everyone has had to learn how to adjust to this new normal. But for all of the emotional, physical, and financial pain that COVID-19 has brought on, there are valuable lessons to be learned from a business standpoint. For small business owners, these lessons are crucial.

When running a small business, you’re constantly told to “go big or go home.” You start to go all-out because it’s easy to believe that this will give your company the momentum it needs. But what people fail to mention is that you’re going to get burnt out fast. You can’t just jump into “going big.” First, you need to make everything less overwhelming.

Running a small business is extremely difficult. It takes a lot of time, money, and energy to be successful and grow into the business you want it to become. It's easy to get bogged down by the day to day. In that routine, it’s tempting to just hold your breath, wait, and hope things will change.

Your company’s growth depends on sales, but it takes a considerable amount of time and resources to do it right. Small business owners don’t have the luxury of the type of time and resources that larger businesses enjoy. Many small businesses have begun to outsource their sales to take advantage of the benefits of using third-party sales experts.

As they are trying to grow their small businesses, many entrepreneurs find that they don’t have the time or the money they need to really do the job right. And that’s ok.

Marketing is critical for any small business that wants to succeed. Today more than ever, customers are judging you based on your web presence, social media activity, and overall “brand voice.” But for a small business, marketing can be intimidating.

Project-based work such as consulting, custom software development, and agency/creative work are in this seemingly never ending cycle all the time. When a client comes in, your hours are taken up by a new business that you want to give all of your attention to. You end up being heads down, all in for this project (as you should). You're doing a lot of work and billing for a lot of hours (the feast).

As a small business, you might dream of landing that big whale of an account that is going to change your business drastically overnight. But should you go for that opportunity? Will it really benefit your company?

We've already covered the importance of sales and sales skills for small businesses and business owners in previous posts. Now let's talk about the be-all and end-all goal when it comes to sales: consistency.

Running a small business is tough. It comes with many hurdles, not to mention that persistent day to day grind. So when you have a good month, it’s easy to believe that this is a permanent trend. It feels like your hard work is finally paying off. And you want to believe that this trend is here to stay.

For owners who are not trained or experienced sales people, they often see sales as an aggressive pursuit to strong-arm potential customers into signing a contract. This tactic ultimately hurts your business and is far from what sales should be.

As a small business owner, it’s common to never feel secure. You’re constantly worried about where your next client, your next product, or your next source of revenue is coming from. And it can feel like the whole company depends on you to do the heavy lifting. In fact, for many small business owners, they are the whole company.

It’s easy to get comfortable when your business is doing well. But if things have been consistent for a long time, your ears should go up. Many small business owners don't have partners. You alone are the one responsible for growth, innovation, and future proofing your business. You might not have a sounding board to bounce new ideas off of. And you can get stuck in your own focused world.

When business is going well as a small business owner, you feel great. You’re working hard and you have a steady stream of revenue coming in. You have a pep in your step and you forget about the dark days when business was slow. You tell yourself that the good times will keep going. So, what do you do when you feel this way?

It’s no secret that COVID-19 has turned the world upside down. Small businesses have had to learn how to quickly adapt while also realizing things they could have done better in the past. Although this pandemic could not have been predicted, there are certain tips and tricks to improve your company going forward.

Everyone knows that time is money. As a consultant, this old saying is especially true. Your time- and the knowledge, experience and insight that’s provided to clients during that time - is your product. Consultants bill by the hour and every hour spent doing things other than billable work carries an opportunity cost. Yet to have a successful business, you also need to spend your valuable time generating new clients. This need to choose where their time goes puts many boutique consultants in a bind.

As a successful small business owner, you’ve created something that clients need and want. But are you actually good at sales? Many business owners think they are great salespeople and remain confident in both themselves and their product. However, it’s often because they only pitch referrals.

Referrals feel great. There is no better compliment than knowing that a client is so pleased with your work that they send their contacts and even their friends to you. You know you’ve done quality work and this type of growth proves it.

The key to growing a small business is knowing when to invest. There is a common misconception that many small business owners have: they only want to invest when revenue is flowing. It seems like the ideal time to add new employees and expand their company. However, once they have a full book, they forget the pain of not having business, so they no longer see the need to grow (even though they should). They end up mistaking a hot streak for consistency.

Growth is an essential and important part of a small business. You want your company to thrive and succeed and in order to do that, you eventually will have to start thinking about hiring. Hiring someone new is a big step for a small business but can be the nudge you need to expand even further in other aspects of your company.

Are you doing everything from payroll to sales to client services?

If that sounds like you, you’re likely spread too thin. Your business won’t grow at the rate you want it to (or at all) and the stress may carry over into your home life. At some point, you need to ask yourself which tasks must be completed by you and which can be done by others.

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