Top 5 Challenges Small Business Owners Face

As many small businesses are experiencing exceptional rates of growth, there are still a number of businesses that are likely to face several challenges.

Running a business is not for the faint of heart; entrepreneurship is inherently risky. Successful business owners must possess the ability to mitigate company-specific risks while simultaneously bringing and keeping products or services on the market at a price point that meets consumer demand levels.

To safeguard a new or established business, it is necessary to understand what can lead to business failure and how each obstacle can be managed or avoided altogether.

Here are five of the most common challenges you may encounter and Lean Business support for each of them:

1. Financial struggles

Running out of money (cash-flow) is a small business’s biggest risk. Owners often know what funds are needed day to day but are unclear as to how much revenue is being generated, and the disconnect can be disastrous.

Another few reasons why small businesses have financial issues are:

- Inefficient funding management: funding payroll, paying fixed and variable overhead expenses (rent and utilities) and ensuring that outside vendors are paid on time.

- Business owners who miss the mark on pricing products and services (products or services far lower than similar offerings, or too low for too long).

- Rising costs and reduced revenue: inflation, cost of raw materials, insurance costs, low demand for products and services, and other general business costs.

How Lean Business can help:

In our experience, we concluded that almost all money related struggles can be improved and even avoided if the Small Business Enterprise has a correct and suitable running management system.

Do you rigorously follow a KPI (key performance indicator) system? Do you keep a close look on your cash-flow or market? Are you triggering correction actions in time?

As a business owner you don’t have to do everything by yourself. Let’s start working together so we can help your business.

2. Internal Process

Are you working on the business or in the business? For small business owners, the answer is often both. You are the one responsible for executing business plans and winning new business, but you might also be answering the phones, filing the paperwork, and dealing with vendors. The smaller your business, the more tasks you’re likely to have. This time crunch can be difficult to manage and can cause important matters to fall through the cracks.

When we refer to internal processes, we can mention the efficient or inefficient way of running the business related to a whole chain of processes management: materials, staff, technological processes, sales, finance, etc.

How Lean Business can help:

We can discuss a case of a Coffee shop, an agency, a restaurant, or any other small business, we guarantee that your internal structure and processes can be optimized. The waste of time, materials or inventory can be reduced thought our extended experience team knowledges in tools as: 5S, VSM (Value Stream Mapping), Kaizen events and process flow optimizations.

3. Marketing

Poorly planned or executed marketing campaigns, or a lack of adequate marketing and publicity, are among the other issues that drag down small businesses.

Caution!!! Marketing doesn’t mean just web presence (Facebook, Instagram, etc.), it’s a bit / lot more: it’s how you present yourself to a new client, what marketing materials you present, how you speak and approach customers any many more small but significant topics. Marketing represents your image !

Your products or services should be in the spotlight with all your marketing strategies, but are you using any different and outside the box ideas so you really make a difference ?

How Lean Business can help:

Our team has offered creative and personalized ideas for more than 10 years and for many of the key sectors of SME: hospitality, manufacturing and processing, travel agencies and local services.

A personalized business card, a new display location, an innovative handout, a small treat alongside your coffee, a good advice for dining tonight, an honest smile, etc. those are just a few of extra miles that we can bring over to your team and business.

We take each and every business as a new challenge for ourselves and we overdeliver with every client. We accept your challenge!

4. Development / Growth

It’s a common story: one day you’re celebrating landing a big client, and the next day you’re struggling to keep up with the new client’s needs. For small businesses, growth often comes with growing pains. In many instances, you have to make the choice between working long hours—and asking your staff to do the same—or finding ways to cut corners. Neither is a great solution, meaning that, ultimately, you will have to find a way to grow your business without hurting your business.

Small businesses growth isn’t a matter of ’’if it happens’’ but rather ’’when it happens’’ and it should be driven by each owner in their own timing. The owner must see the benefits of expansion and work smart and efficiently for this development.

How Lean Business can help:

Development is our strength along with creativity, so we are able to guide your development path to ensure a smooth journey up to your desired final goal.

As each business is unique and has particular characteristics, Lean Business has vast experience with personalized development plans, each one custom made on your business profile and needs.

Our team of hands-on specialists are able to come up with tailored solutions and present proven results.

5. Staff

While large businesses can hire people for one specific task, you may need employees who can handle multiple tasks. You’re also likely to need people who have the personality necessary to succeed in a small business environment, where change is common. All of these factors can make finding the right employees challenging.

So, how do you retain your staff? How do you show care? If you invest in training, education, employee engagement, and technologies that optimize processes and make your people’s lives easier.

How Lean Business can help:

Lean Business can only reinforce all of the points mentioned above with in depth trainings that would help your business: Team development, Safety awareness, Project management, 5S, Visual Management and any other requested materials.

Smart business owners outsource the activities they do not perform well or have little time to successfully carry through. A strong development plan is one of the first value-adding initiatives a small business needs to continue operations well into the future.