As a business owner, you will eventually face some sort of setback…
No matter how awesome you are.
Just as you will reach exciting business milestones, there will be moments when not everything goes as planned. The following are very real situations that could happen to your small business:
- A large business moves into the neighborhood
- A bad Google review
- Hiring someone that you thought would be great, but isn’t
- Not making sales goals
How do you handle such business adversities?
Though you may want to, ignoring the problem will not make it magically disappear. You should have a plan in place to deal with each scenario.
Bounce Back from a Business Setback
Big Competition Needn’t Be Bad for Business
If a large business moves into the neighborhood, remind your customers about the importance of shopping local, and the benefits to them as the consumer. When people support their small business owner, they are supporting their community. You end up putting more money back into the neighborhood, instead of in the hands of already wealthy CEOs.
Bad Reviews Can Be Good
A bad Google (or social media) review may be the most common setback you will face. Not everyone is going to be 100% happy with your services, and people reading the review are going to accept whatever they say as truth if that’s all they know about your business. You have several choices with a bad review. You can leave a reply, depending on the platform, and explain your side of the story. Maybe a discount or free items to make up for their bad experience will help.
If you decide to do that ask for a new review. For example, “I’m sorry you were disappointed with our french fries. Please come in and try them on the house. We’re so confident you’ll love them that we’re staking this review on it. Try them and let us know of your experience on this site.
Do not ignore bad reviews, as you don’t know how many customers you may be losing because of them. Responding in a respectful way and acknowledging the problem will go a long way with individuals reading the reviews.
If they are irrational or erroneous reviews (like the person is a troll, not a customer) you can report them to the site.
Don’t Let an Under-performing Employee Take Up Space
Hiring someone who is not performing to your standards is also something you may experience several times as an entrepreneur. If you hire someone who is subpar, you probably won’t see their shortcomings right away. A lot of people do not like confrontation, but it is a part of being the owner.
Don’t ignore the issues, because they will build up. Small issues will become big problems. It is better to address the problem right away, talk to the employee about what they can do to improve, and work with them to help build their skills in that area. But, if it truly is not working out, you need to do what is best for your business and let the employee go. Their strengths just may not be right for your type of business.
Keeping an underperforming employee on is bad for customers and the moral of your company. plus, the longer the work for you, the longer you’re keeping your next employee rock star from working for you.
Disappointing Sales Needn’t Disappoint
Not making sales goals is frustrating. Let yourself feel that frustration, but then figure out why sales were not what you wanted them to be. Ask yourself questions to determine what went wrong. Did you not have enough customers? Are your prices too low? Are your prices too high? What can your margins be to make sure you are still profitable, but affordable for consumers? Is your customer acquisition cost too high? Do you need to try a new marketing tactic? Whatever the reason, focus on what you can do differently next month. It also helps to reflect back on successful months, and think about what made them so successful.
In a perfect world, we would not have to prepare for these sorts of problems. But, it is better to be aware of what may happen and come up with a plan beforehand. These are only a few minor setbacks that you may encounter in your business career, but staying positive and taking every opportunity to learn from business obstacles will help you move forward and be prepared if it ever happens again. Remember, it may seem like a big problem at the time, but these are only small issues in the big picture of your business. Focus on everything going well and it will help you put these minor setbacks into perspective. How you move on and improve for the future is much more important than the setback itself.
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