When you’re running a small business, it can be difficult to find the time and resources to grow your business, but taking steps to boost business growth is essential if you want to be successful. Utilizing things like online software and tools can help you streamline processes and free up more time for you to focus on furthering your business’s growth. Here are some tips from the Seattle Southside Chamber of Commerce on the best next steps when you're trying to grow your business.

Refocus Your Marketing Plan

Your marketing plan should be tailored to target potential new customers, engage current ones, and increase brand loyalty. Figure out where your target audience is spending their time online (social media platforms, forums, websites, etc.), then focus your efforts on those areas. Consider utilizing paid advertising channels such as Facebook Ads or Google Adwords to get in front of even more people who may not know about your product/service yet.

Reach Out To Potential Partners

Partnerships are one of the best ways for businesses of all sizes to get exposure quickly, both from an awareness standpoint and from a financial perspective. Think about companies that align with your values and goals, then reach out and see if they would be interested in partnering up with you or referring customers over. You can also consider working with an influencer.

Add On Products or Services

Offering similar products or services that complement each other can help attract new customers while also increasing revenues by expanding into new markets. Even if the goal isn’t necessarily to create a full-blown product line right away, adding something simple like an additional service package may be enough to get started with diversifying what you offer as a small business owner. Do some research on the market to find out whether there are gaps that can be filled.

Hire New Employees

Hiring employees comes with its own set of challenges, but having qualified individuals on board is key if you want to grow effectively as a small business owner. Consider outsourcing tasks such as accounting or customer service so that the burden isn’t solely on you as the sole proprietor responsible for every aspect of the company's success. This will free up more time for higher-level tasks such as networking and finding new partners for collaborations/joint venture opportunities.

Get Comfortable With Networking

Networking events provide great opportunities for entrepreneurs looking for mentorships or partnerships. Not only that, they provide valuable insight into how other businesses operate, which can help shape ideas into tangible solutions when growing one's enterprise. Connecting with your local Chamber of Commerce is also beneficial since they provide access to local events specifically tailored towards helping small businesses grow successfully within their community.

Research Helpful Online Software

There are many online software options available today that can help speed up day-to-day operations, such as PDF editing tools. These allow users to easily manipulate digital documents without needing expensive software suites installed on their computers. Researching options like this will free up more time while still being able to complete necessary tasks efficiently throughout the workday. Use this option when you need to rotate a page within a file.

Growing a small business is hard work, but it doesn't have to be stressful. With so many tools at your fingertips, you can do everything from editing PDFs to refreshing your marketing strategy with ease. Read reviews before trying any new online tools, and consider partnering with other small business owners who can create mutually beneficial relationships with you.

The Seattle Southside Chamber of Commerce can help you stay on track with your growth goals. Check out all the resources we have to offer.

With global economies moving closer to a recession, it's more important than ever for small business owners to know how to recession-proof their companies. There are a number of things you can do to protect your business from an economic downturn, and the Seattle Southside Chamber of Commerce outlined some of the most important ones below.

Don't Let People Go

One of the worst things you can do during a recession is to let go of your employees. Not only does this cause hardship for those who are out of work, but it also makes it harder for your company to rebound when the economy improves. If you need to cut costs, look first at non-essential expenses like travel and entertainment. You may also want to reduce salaries across the board rather than laying people off.

On the other end of the spectrum, look for ways to keep your staff happy. If you can't afford raises or bonuses this year, offer extra time off, gift cards or provide lunch from time to time.

Cut Expenses and Limit Your Debt

National Business Capital recommends taking a close look at your operating expenses and seeing where you can cut back. This is also a good time to renegotiate loans and leases so that you have lower monthly payments. Reducing your overhead will make it easier for your business to weather a recession. If you're in a position to pay down debts, do it now. Easy ways to reduce costs in the office include being careful with office supplies, watching energy and water consumption, and even providing remote work opportunities to your staff.

This can also be a great time to organize your files so you have - and can maintain - a more accurate picture of your financial situation. Instead of relying on paper receipts and invoices, go digital. Not only do digital files take up less space, but they are searchable which makes things much easier if you need to find something specific. And if you need to split a PDF into smaller files to file them in a more specific way, there are free online tools for that. Simply use the divider lines to mark what you want extracted, and save the new file.

Automate Your Invoicing

When payments are slow, it can put a strain on your cash flow. Automated invoicing can help you get paid faster by sending customers reminders when their invoices are due. This will help ensure that you have the cash you need to keep your business running smoothly. Plus, automated invoicing often offers a "pay now" feature that allows clients to immediately submit payments. The added convenience will benefit your bottom line and help them remit payments faster.

Consider Moving

If you're paying rent for office or retail space, now might be the time to consider relocating to a cheaper location. You may also want to downsize your space so that you're not paying for square footage that you're not using. Again, remote work could be highly beneficial, especially if everyone can do their work from home.

You May Want to Switch to an LLC

If your business is organized as a sole proprietorship or partnership, you may want to consider changing to a limited liability company (LLC). This will protect your personal assets if your business is sued or goes bankrupt. You can make this change through an attorney or with an online formation service.

New Ways to Boost Income

If your business is heavily reliant on one source of income, diversify your revenues by adding new streams such as online sales, subscriptions, or consulting services. Having multiple sources of income will make it easier for your business to weather a downturn in any one area. And if you expand your product line or services, you can bring in new customers and even boost customer loyalty.

Strategize for Stability

Small business owners need to take action now if they want their businesses to survive the looming recession — and thrive in the recovery that follows. By taking steps like keeping employees, reorganizing their files to see where they can cut costs, and diversifying their revenue streams, they can protect their businesses from economic hardship, and set themselves up for success in the years ahead.

As a small business owner, you have a lot on your plate. From managing employees to tracking inventory and keeping up with customer demand, the list of tasks is seemingly never-ending. Investing in technology can help make your job easier and free up more time for you to focus on growing your business. Here are some of the best technologies small business owners should consider investing in.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is essential for any small business. Not only can it protect data from cyberattacks, but it can also be used to prevent fraud and identity theft. Investing in cybersecurity means using strong passwords and implementing full system monitoring. This will ensure that your company’s sensitive information remains safely protected at all times. 

Accounting Software with Payroll and Time Tracking

Accounting software provides an easy way to keep track of income, expenses, payroll, and employee hours. Knowing where all your money is going helps businesses stay organized and efficient. This makes investing in accounting software with payroll and time tracking capabilities incredibly beneficial for any small business owner.

Document Management

Effective document management is critical for businesses, as it improves productivity, enables efficient access to company information, ensures compliance with regulations, and reduces the risk of data loss or theft. Using PDFs for document management can ensure document fidelity, accessibility across different devices and platforms, and secure sharing and transmission, making it a reliable and efficient way to manage and share important documents for businesses. You can use Adobe Acrobat’s PDF tools to create and edit your PDFs to make managing your documents — and running your business — simpler.

Project Management Software

Project management software can help improve communication between team members by providing an easy way to manage tasks, deadlines, and goals in one central hub. It also makes it easier to track progress on projects while enabling team members to collaborate seamlessly over long distances or various time zones. The right project management software solution can help improve productivity while creating a more efficient workflow within any organization.

CRM Software

Customer relationship management (CRM) software helps businesses build relationships with customers by storing contact information like email addresses, phone numbers, and social media accounts. It also tracks customer interactions like sales inquiries and service requests so teams can better understand customer needs and provide the best possible experience when dealing with them during every interaction. This type of software is invaluable for any small business wanting to ensure their customers are happy every step of the way during their journey to becoming loyal customers and fans of your business.

Business Structure

It’s also worth taking a moment to reevaluate your business structure, if necessary. Often, entrepreneurs will choose to structure their business as a limited liability company so they can take advantage of the legal protections and tax benefits.

Setting Up a Home Office

If you plan on working from home at all, it’s a good idea to set up a home office that’s conducive to productivity and efficiency. Try to incorporate ergonomic furniture for comfort and as much natural sunlight as possible.

Business Automation

Business automation has become increasingly popular among small businesses. This is due to its ability to streamline processes like invoicing or order fulfillment while reducing costs associated with manual labor. Automation tools allow companies to not only scale more quickly, but also increase efficiency while freeing up resources that could be used elsewhere — leading companies toward heightened success sooner than expected.

Ensuring You Have Adequate Customer Service

No piece of technology is perfect, and issues do arise from time to time when using various types of software and systems. That's why before investing in new hardware or software solutions, you must ensure it comes equipped not only with access point updates, but also customer support options. Since certain types of technology may require additional training prior to usage, this should always be taken into consideration beforehand, especially if you’re working remotely with teams spread around the world.

Making sure you invest wisely in technology is key for helping your small business thrive. Don’t forget that proper business management requires making sure all employees have access points to updates and customer support with any new technology you implement. Only then can you move confidently forward, secure in the knowledge that you're doing what's best for running your company when it comes to technological advances.

As the year comes to a close, it's time to start thinking about preparations for the next year. Whether you're a sole proprietor or have a team of employees, there are certain things that need to be done to ensure a smooth transition. From the Seattle Southside Chamber of Commerce, here's a rundown of what you need to do to prepare your small business for the new year:

1. Recap annual goals

The first step is to take some time to reflect on your accomplishments over the past year. What goals did you set and were you able to achieve them? This will give you a good starting point for setting goals for the new year.

2. Outline goals for the next year

Once you've taken stock of your achievements, it's time to start setting goals for the coming year. Be realistic in your goal setting and make sure that your goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).

3. Decide on Your Holiday Marketing and Promotions

As the holiday season approaches, now is the time to finalize your holiday marketing and promotions. If you haven't already done so, decide which holidays you want to target and what kind of promotions you want to run. Do you want to offer discounts on holiday-themed products? Or run a holiday-themed contest? Whatever you decide, make sure your holiday marketing is in line with your brand identity and will resonate with your target audience. Once you've decided on your holiday marketing strategy, start planning and implementing it so you can make the most of the holiday season.

For instance, you could start by creating an eye-catching gift guide in Word, including plenty of high quality product images, then use this free tool to convert Doc to PDF. From there, you can easily send out your PDF guide via email and make it downloadable through your website.

4. Make All Necessary Updates to Your Website and Social Media Profiles

As we head into a new year, it's important to make sure that all of your online information is up-to-date and seasonally appropriate. This includes updating your website with any new products or services, as well as refreshing your social media profiles with new photos and content.

5. Evaluate Inventory Needs

Take inventory of both your physical and digital products (if applicable) so that you can determine what needs to be reordered or replenished. This is also a good time to analyze which products are selling well and which ones may need to be discontinued.

6. Rethink your Business Structure and Change if Necessary

As your business grows and changes, it's important to reassess your business structure periodically. This may include things like changing from a sole proprietorship to an LLC or adding/removing employees from your team. Evaluate what makes sense for your business and make changes accordingly.

7. Reconcile your Bookkeeping

Now is a good time to go through all of your financial records and reconcile them with your bank statements. This will help you get a clear picture of where your business stands financially and will also help prepare you for tax season.  Businesses that use accrual accounting should also take this opportunity at the end of each year to record any revenue earned but not yet received (aka accrued revenue), as well as expenses incurred but not yet paid (aka accrued expenses).  This ensures that everything is accounted for come tax time. Consult with a professional if needed to reconcile bookkeeping entries correctly according to standards.   Understanding small business accrual accounting standards helps avoid common mistakes.

8. End-of-Year Tax Planning And Organization

Get ahead of next year’s taxes by doing some end-of-year planning now. Review last year’s return line by line with care so that you can get an idea about which items may be subject to change in the coming year. Stay abreast of any changes in tax law that could impact your return. Develop a system now for tracking receipts and other documentation throughout the year so that come tax time, everything is organized and readily available. 

Putting these preparations in place now will help your business run smoothly and set you up for a successful year ahead. Are there any other steps you take at the end of the year to get ready for the new one? Let us know in the comments!

Join the Seattle Southside Chamber of Commerce to connect with local entrepreneurs and resources that can help your business grow.