Increasing Small Business Sales and Revenue

Sometimes when we listen to the news and pundits that interpret reports and statistics, our hope or determination can get clouded. This is also true in business, but especially for small business owners. If we watch the news we could get a sense that everything was going wrong and all businesses are in trouble. Unfortunately, this is true for a lot of the big corporations that we all know well, but is it really the same state for increasing small business revenue?

Small Business Revenue Increasing

The fact is that for the most part small business is striding forward with sales and revenue, even in our current economy, and a Constant Contact study shows this has been true since last year. The report comprised of surveys of over 1,000 small business operators shows that last year, 61% of small businesses exceeded their revenue numbers over 2014. The study further states that 62% of small business owners are either meeting or exceeding their revenue expectations so far this year. Those are not small numbers whatsoever, and seem to contradict the messages we are getting about the economy in general.

What these numbers don’t contradict is the focus on sales and revenue small business through marketing. Currently 80% of small businesses rank increasing sales and attracting new customers as a top marketing goal. This is coincides with the results that small business is currently achieving and should provide some inspiration for you in your local business!

Growth Of Small Business Escalating

Now that you are feeling a little better about outlook for your small business, we want you to know that you are not out there on your own either. There are more than “just a few” small businesses that are striving for success just like you and the U.S. Small Business Administration confirms it.

• There are some 28 million small businesses in America.
• These small businesses account for 54% of all U.S. sales.
• 55% of all jobs in the United States are with Small businesses.
• Small business accounts for 66% of all net new jobs since the 1970s.
• There are more than 600,000 franchised small businesses in the U.S. and they account for 40% of all retail sales.
• Small business franchises employ some 8 million people in the U.S.
• Small businesses occupy 30-50% of all commercial space in the U.S.

The data gets even more encouraging when you consider that small business growth is on the rise. The number of new small businesses is growing, even as larger corporations are downsizing. And the best news? The rate of small business failures is declining. But wait, there’s more!

• The number of small businesses in the U.S. has increased 49% since 1982.
• As big business eliminated 4 million jobs since 1990, small business new jobs has increased by 8 million .

Increased Small Business Sales Requires Other Increases

If you had to count, how many times do you think you have heard the phrase “It takes money to make money”? We’d guess the number is probably in the hundreds, but regardless the saying holds true for small businesses. In fact, 53% of small business owners say they have allocated more money for marketing this year and 40% say they have not.

Invest To Extend Small Business Growth

For those local businesses that have a desire to continue to grow their sales and revenue, it will be important that you invest in expanding your marketing budget and tactics. Being wise during good times are what can help small business when times are not as good, and effective marketing can enable you to not only do that, but also increase small business revenue success while times are good.

Evaluate your marketing spend to uncover opportunities to cut spending on the things that used to work in the past, but aren’t working any longer. Seek to understand current digital marketing trends for small business that represent areas where your current small business marketing is weak. Then exploit those areas where your digital marketing is weak by investing in expertise and resources that can strengthen your current marketing position and increase small business sales and revenue.

As consumers shift to a substantially more online and mobile driven discovery and purchase path, small business is positioned extremely well to capture consumers when and how they buy. However it is important to understand that it doesn’t happen by accident and that small business can only capitalize on this trend if they have a digital marketing strategy and flawless marketing execution that will facilitate what and how the consumer shops. Your small business marketing has to reflect the purchasing journey your prospective customer takes, using digital assets that enable you to be there when they are looking. This isn’t accidental, it is highly technical, strategic and requires expertise and resources.

Small business needs to take an honest look at both the positive and more challenging aspects of current small business market conditions. That assessment should excite and motivate small business owners due to the positive insights we have covered within this article, but it should also light a fire in your belly that drives you to take advantage of this time. Use it to make adjustments to your small business digital marketing efforts that will increase revenue now and provide assurance of the opportunities that are in your future.

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