Four Ways to Bust Through the Success Barrier

Skye Leist
May 07, 2011

For many small business owners and “solopreneurs”, winning new business and growing a company can feel like acting out David vs. Goliath. These tips from Bill Grodnik, CEO of Davinci Virtual can help small companies with limited resources compete with the million dollar budgets and pervasive mind share of big businesses.

Your website is the first interaction that many people will have with your business – and first impressions are lasting ones. Please allocate some budget, to development of a first-class website, with compelling graphics and valuable content. To maximize your web traffic, treat your site as if it were a high-end retail store – use interactive content and web chat tools to greet and engage the visitor in conversation, and make sure that all of your contact information is served up along with clear calls to action, so potential customers easily can navigate your site and can continue the conversation offline if need be. Always have contact submission forms available and incent visitors to provide contact info – you want to be able to follow up with them.

Beyond the visuals, make sure that you build in ample SEO components so that the search engines will recognize your site properly. Use analytics tools (such as Google analytics) to learn what people are searching for frequently, then build front facing copy and SEO compliant items such as a site map, meta information and proper linking into your site so that when your customers/potential customers are searching, they are finding you on search engines.

So many small business owners get in their own way by trying to “wear many hats”. But while you’re working on fixing your phone system/being your own IT department/filing your taxes, you’re not focused on your core business goals. Outsource the tasks that are not essential to the core of your business to best of breed professionals and spend your valuable time focused on what matters most.

The “solopreneur” doesn’t need to pay for fancy office space or hire a receptionist to give customers/potential customers better service. There are companies that offer up rental office space, virtual office solutions and live receptionist services that can save you time and money, enabling you to grow your business the smart way. The key is to spend wisely, pay for what you need when you need it, and not to bite off more than you can chew in order to make a “big” impression.

It is critical for any new business to get out of the gate quickly. Don’t spend 18 months trying to raise funds based on your business plan, but execute with what you have today! Do not worry about how to grow for the next 5 years, but make sure you actually start your business no matter how small now. Many people plan and plan and plan, few people actually execute.

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