There is much in the way of incentives to attract small business owners. For example, the dream of one way being the head honcho of a major corporation drives many forays into the business world, while a passion for a given craft may be more than enough for some. However, taking the plunge and opening your news is only the beginning. While reaching your grand opening will inevitably take a lot of work, it will pale in comparison to the amount of work it will take to keep everything running smoothly to create a sufficient profit. Here’s what you need to know to improve your company’s odds of survival.

Marketing

Of all the factors that impact a business’s chances of success or failure, marketing is easily one of the most foundational. To make a profit, you’ll need to make sales, and word of mouth and a prime location will only get you so far. Therefore, you’ll need to get your name out there somehow, and marketing will serve as your primary method for doing so. It’s important to note that homebrewed marketing attempts are prone to failure, because the lower production quality will turn customers off 9 times out of 10, resulting in little to no new customers. It’s also important to understand the needs of a business in your industry. For example, court reporters Phoenix will have very different marketing needs than a restaurant, and understanding those needs will require some market research that can paint a picture of what your audience looks like and what it is that they want. The crux of all modern marketing is the concept of branding. A company’s brand is all of the aesthetic signifiers associated with that company, and that means it serves as the face of the company, so to speak. Choosing the right palette and logo, while they may seem superfluous, are actually some of the most essential things a new company can do to increase its odds of success.

Public Relations

Managing the image of your company will be important not only in marketing, but also in public relations. While both of these fields focus on the reputation management of companies, they approach that goal from entirely different perspectives and, therefore, to different ends. For example, the market research that informs business and marketing strategies come from PR representatives that use questionnaires as their primary tool for obtaining market data. PR also extends to spokespeople. Where mascots serve as a metaphorical, typically stylized face for a business, spokespeople fill a similar role with a different purpose in mind. Mascots are fun, making them better for marketing recreational services or children’s products, while spokespeople give a brand more credibility by providing a charismatic face and voice, not to mention some pertinent expertise in many cases. Perhaps most notably, PR representatives are deployed to provide damage control in the event of a scandal. They do so using press releases, formal statements made by a company and distributed to press outlets. However, press releases have much more utility than damage control and are often used to make announcements about promotions and new productions.

Accounting

While maintaining a good public image is crucial for attracting customers and maintaining brand loyalty, finances are king when it comes to commercial concerns. In order to ensure cash flow, let alone a profit, businesses will need to first understand how much money is being earned and spent, among other important monetary statistics. This is where hiring a professional accountant is non-negotiable, because immaculate financial records will provide you not only the peace of mind that comes with comprehensive understanding of your assets, but also the safety that comes with compliance to the federal regulations surrounding business finance. Businesses are on the hook for income taxes, not unlike private citizens, but they must also disclose their earnings each quarter. Making mistakes in either of these areas can create a lot of legal or financial trouble, and proper accounting will minimize that risk immensely. Likewise, the information provided by an accountant can be given to a financial advisor that can provide fiscal guidance that can prove invaluable when it comes to investing your profits back into your business.

Cash Flow

The failure state for any business is bankruptcy, and no business big or small is immune to that risk. Simply put, failing to provide enough working capital for your business to remain in operation will result in bankruptcy, and your company will have to close its doors if this comes to pass. Ensuring that your business has the necessary cash flow is a major conflict at the heart of any company, but it’s a problem that can be attacked from multiple angles. For starters, finding ways to reduce your operational costs is advised. While the “gotta spend money to make money” mantra is a universal truth and a necessary evil, there’s still plenty of room for flexibility that can save or cost your company a small fortune. For example, changing up your supply chain can provide you the same products and quality with lower prices or more reliable service. On the other hand, going paperless is an effective way to entirely eliminate the repeat costs associated with printing with little to nothing in the way of downsides. On the other end of the spectrum, increasing your net revenue necessarily provides more cash flow and a greater profit margin. Doing so falls primarily to marketing, but it can also depend on the training of your sales department, for example.

Employee Morale

Another important part of the long term stability of any company is the mental well-being of its workers. Employee morale is a fairly new concern among businesses, but the tough love style of management is falling out of favor when the evidence shows that making your workers feel good about their labor is better for productivity and employee retention. How does one go about fighting the stigma facing modern business owners? There are a variety of methods you can use, but monetary incentives prove to be among the most effective ways to change how workers feel about their jobs.