Effective steps to help keep up with your competitors as an SME

As a business owner, more so an SME, you know the challenges you face when running your business – from struggling to get assets to fund your business to growing your business network and, more importantly, competing with a business that has been around for years and has a strong customer relationship that continues to serve them over the years. 

However, while those challenges are never changing, this does not mean that you can’t succeed, nor does it mean you can’t be the chosen business your target market turns to. 

This article will give you informative small business tips for success and business growth.

Focus on service delivery 

As a small business owner, you need to always work with the benefits you have. For example, a known benefit of having a small business is the advantage of being able to fulfil customer needs easier. In comparison to a bigger business with different sources of revenue, some customer needs may fall through the cracks. This is where your business comes in. Focus on ensuring that your business service or product delivery is on par. Ensure you pay attention to detail and study your customer needs, persona and journey to ensure that you make it as easy and seamless as possible. This will get customers to notice your business and be more likely to return to you than a business that fails or doesn’t deliver exactly what they had promised. 

Invest in equipment and technology

While obtaining SME financing may prove to be challenging, we all know the importance of why SMEs need financing. It can help you acquire assets and the latest technology to improve your productivity while also helping you compete with your competitors. Yes, there is a connotation that financing for SMEs is scarce or difficult to obtain; however,  there are lenders who have business asset finance for small businesses. This tailored finance plan allows you to purchase equipment, commercial vehicles, machinery, fleets, and various equipment and funding for different sectors. Lastly, always remember that any asset you purchase is an investment towards your business. It can help cut processes and ensure that you continue to give your customers impeccable products and services that will turn them into loyal customers. 

Focus on social media awareness

Marketing is key for any business. It builds brand awareness that can help customers connect with you. With the online space continuing to grow, using that to your advantage through social media is the ideal marketing strategy. Not only is it affordable, but it can help your customers learn more about your business, keep them entertained and influence where they spend their money. 

Understand your competitors

Understanding your competitors is fundamental to ensuring business growth for your SME. It is pointless to improve your social media marketing, purchase assets or even specialise in your niche if you don’t fully understand what your competitors are offering and why they have the relationship they have with your potential customers. Find out the following:

• Who are your actual competitors?
• What are they offering that your potential customers want or need?
• How are they marketing their products and services?
• Where can they do better? Define their weakness, strengths and opportunities they have missed.

This will help you understand them, but this isn’t for you to do a copy and paste of your competitor, but to allow you to think outside the box and understand what you need to improve or do differently to attract customers. This will help you differentiate yourself and set your business apart from the rest. 

Understand your customers’ pain points

One thing that can always sway customers no matter how loyal they have been to a company is understanding them, their needs and their pain points. Ask yourself the following questions: 

• What obstacles do my customers face? (this can be from your business perspective but also in terms of what they need). 
• What matters the most to my customers? 
• What process or task interferes with what matters the most to my customer? 
• What ongoing complaints have we had? 
• What could potentially be a reason we are losing customers? 

For example, the product or service you offer may be in a remote area, Or because people prefer online shopping, they don’t particularly enjoy going into the store unless they have to. This can be a pain point for them as your competitors may either not have a user-friendly e-commerce site or their delivery is slow and unreliable. You can use that to your advantage and ensure that you have a user-friendly website on desktop and mobile where your customer can easily navigate to purchase what they need. On top of this, you can have faster delivery no matter where they are in the area or country. While this may mean that they will need to pay more, customers are more inclined to do so when getting quality service that makes their lives easier. So, after you have studied your competitor and have seen their weakness, missed opportunity and your customer’s pain point, you can work on how you can ease that.  

Set compelling prices 

The cost of living in South Africa continues to increase while people’s salaries are stagnant. This means that people have to cut back or potentially find ways to save money while also buying what they need. While your competitors may not be interested in cutting back on their product or service cost, you can find a way to set compelling prices while ensuring you don’t lose business revenue. For instance, if you know that purchasing a piece of specific equipment will ensure you work faster, or you realise some things you used in the past may become redundant, you can use the opportunity to save there and cut back on costs. It isn’t always about cutting back to save more money for your business, but rather giving your business leeway to adjust your prices to fit your customers’ needs. 

Final thoughts 

Starting a business isn’t easy, and gaining loyal customers that contribute to business success won’t happen overnight. However, it’s always important to remain positive and take note of those who have started a small and big business; they will help you identify where you can do better. And while there are many different ways for your business to keep up with its competitors, these tips are a great place to start. We hope that these helpful tips will ensure your SME’s success and help you keep up with your competitors and continue to see profitable business growth.