In tough economic times, most small businesses have a hard time posting a profit. Since they do not have the huge cash reserves of their much larger competitors, there is no room for error, nothing to fall back on. It is no surprise then that small businesses were among the first casualties of the Great Recession. According the U.S. Census Bureau, more than 200,000 of them were lost between 2008 and 2010, taking over 3 million American jobs with them.
The good news is that the downturn in the economy hasn’t stopped people from starting small businesses. An estimated 552,600 new employer firms opened for business in the last year on record (2009). The bad news is that many of these new businesses are cutting costs in all the wrong places, which often dooms them to slow growth and eventual closure.
What are they doing wrong?
A recent survey from Wells Fargo/Gallup sheds some light on the dilemma most small business owners face in uncertain economic times. The survey found that only about half of them were able to hire as many employees as they needed last year. The other half remained understaffed and did not have the workers they required to complete current assignments.
You don’t have to be Adam Smith to know that when a company cannot fulfill its current workload, it simply will not succeed, it will not grow. The best it can do is to simply tread water and hope it weathers the storm. In most cases, these small, understaffed businesses go the way of the dodo.
Is there anything they can do?
Absolutely! But they have to be smart about it. They have to remember why they opened for business in the first place. Odds are each and every one of them had big dreams that involved expansion, franchising, and financial security. But you don’t get there by being timorous. New owners must have confidence in their people, products, and services. And they must occasionally take risks.
There is no gamble that is more likely to pay off than investing in human capital. New workers will increase your ability to take on additional clients, which will bring in more revenues and grow the bottom line. Of course, you still have to cut costs somewhere.
Help desk support
If properly applied, technology can be a godsend. It can transform any small firm into a lean, mean, efficient machine. One simple and affordable system that can help cut costs in no time is an online service desk. Utilized by companies of all sizes, help desk support is vastly superior to the old, superannuated systems that rely on physical hardware and software that must be updated and maintained on a regular basis.
At the end of the day, no small business can afford to throw money away on IT expenses. They should not be spending hundreds, even thousands of dollars for the IT guy (or girl) to adjust or update their antiquated systems. Instead, they can invest a fraction of that money in an online service desk.
What is it?
No matter the size of your small business, you must have an effective and efficient way to respond to the questions, complaints, and inquires of your clients and customers. Most virtual help desk support software relies on ticket systems that give guests on your website an additional communication tool. All they have to do is fill out a form and submit it to your customer service department. The question or concern can then be answered or addressed in a timely manner by the appropriate employee. It really is that easy!
