The world of business has never been easy in terms of finding success and whilst we do live in a world where it is easier than ever to set up your very own business, the stats on this that succeed are worryingly low. It is said that 56% of businesses will fail within their first 3 years, and of those that survive the 3 years, 44% will fail in the following 2 years. That means that if 100 businesses get set up this year, by 2023, just 24 will still remain.
The reason I mention these negative statistics, is to reinforce the point that businesses must do all that they can to find success, in any way, shape or form. This brings me to the internet and the worrying number of businesses who are not active at all online. Even if you have a small shop on the high street and don’t plan to sell online, the internet is still an essential tool in terms of you finding success, and here is why.
New High Street
In each of the last 5 years, the amount of consumers who will look online not only to shop, but also to find recommendations for places, has risen an incredible amount. With more and more customers shunning the high street for the internet, it is fair to say that the online world is the best place for you to position your business.
Marketing
The ROI on traditional marketing techniques such as posters, billboards, newspaper and radio ads, absolutely pales in comparison to the ROI which you can find with an online marketing campaign. You may be thinking that you don’t have enough money to invest in marketing, which is all the more reason why you should look to the internet. Social media for example, is one of the easiest ways in which you can market your business to a huge number of people, and it is absolutely free.
Recruitment
If you are looking to recruit more people, the internet is your friend and you can upload your vacancy to job sites and to social media. You can utilize social media channels like LinkedIn which is specifically for professionals, and can help you find the person that you want. Many small businesses rely on shift workers to fill gaps and through the use of social media application ShiftPixy, you can be put in direct contact with workers that are available.
Competition
In terms of beating your competition, you need to be doing all that you can to claim as much market share as possible, the internet included. If you are not online and your competition is, you will be losing market share ad you need to level the playing field. If your competition is not online and you are, you will already be miles ahead of them in terms of bringing in customers and promoting your brand.