If you pay attention to any of the stories of entrepreneurs and business founders, then their earliest years are almost always depicted as the most difficult. Getting a small business up and running is a challenge that cannot be underestimated.
One of the aspects of a fledgling business, especially a home business, that can make it more difficult is the stigma that still comes with running such an operation.
Even as running a small business, and a business from home, becomes easier and more reliable, there is still an expectation that you will not be able to deliver as effectively as a bigger and more established organization.
Aside from proving the opposite, one way to ensure that you’re able to engage your market, as well as potential business partners, is to wear the prestige of a bigger and older business. Here, we’re going to look at a few ways that you can make your small business look bigger.
Get specific with your marketing
You may not be able to match the marketing budgets of your bigger competitors. However, you can make sure that you’re able to hone down on a niche with more focus than others in your industry.
Put time and budget towards digital marketing and branding to ensure that you have a clear value proposition and a clear audience, focusing on a niche that’s sizeable, but does not have as much focus from your competitors as you might be able to deliver. This is a sure-fire way to make your small business look bigger.
Don’t let your business look small
One of the key factors to making your small business look bigger is ensuring that your audience doesn’t have any reason to consider that it’s overly small. If you’re running a solo venture, don’t describe what your business offers as “what I offer” but “what we offer.” Be careful with your pronouns.
Similarly, don’t let your personal and business points of contact be the same. With sites like https://www.physicaladdress.com, you can make sure that your business looks like it has a working office address in a more commercially busy area.
Unfortunately, the stigma against smaller businesses can even work against you in so far as your location.
Run your communications well
How people get in touch with you is going to reflect how they see your business. For one, make sure that you have a business number. Toll-free numbers like 800, 888, or 877 numbers carry a little more weight.
You can also work with either a virtual phone system or even a virtual assistant like https://www.zirtual.com to field calls and communication for you.
Moreover, if you’re hiring a virtual assistant, they might be able to take care of more general admin, thereby enabling you to focus on the money-making side of the business.
Work towards thought leadership
Even a small business owner can cast a very large shadow with the right moves to establish their personal brand. One of the ways to look like a more influential and forward thinker is to spend real time in conversation with other business owners, finding areas where you can apply your insight and experience to find new things to say.
Becoming an industry speaker, contributing to columns, and making yourself generally more available as a spokesperson for your industry can see your business growing more prestigious for being attached to you.
But until then, downplay your role
While you’re working towards a more impressive personal brand, you should try to keep some ambiguity about the size of the business and your role in it. Don’t position yourself as the founder or president, especially when you’re first meeting new clients.
A lot of small business owners put the most impressive and senior title they can on their business cards, but this can have the opposite effect of what they’re intending.
Make sure your website stands up to snuff
One of the most consistent issues making smaller businesses look inflexible and unprofessional, by comparison, is a lack of focus on the web presence.
Nowadays, your website is likely to be where you make your first impressions on your customer and, as such, a well-branded, modern-looking website may be crucial for helping you set the right tone.
It’s a lot easier to create contemporary, clean websites with the help of tools like Squarespace.
It’s not easy to make your small business look bigger and more established than it is. However, it can be hugely beneficial for your sales and growth if you can pull it off.
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