Millions of small businesses across the country may be looking for new ways to reach both current and prospective customers, and often they believe the best way to do that is to lean more heavily on social media platforms popular among most consumers. However, there also seems to be a gap between that belief and the actual practice among owners in general.
Today, more than half of all small business owners say that emerging technology can be used to enhance their companies and industries, rather than provide a disruption, but at the same time, about one-third also say that social media is not part of the ways in which they market themselves to people in their areas, according to a new survey from Cox Business. Only 37 percent say that they are able to constantly evolve their policies so that they can regularly keep up with the latest trends, while nearly as many – 32 percent – say they're trying to do so but cannot.
Interestingly, while many may not be concentrating on social media when it comes to reaching customers, about two in five say that email is the most critical way for them to find success in their daily business, the report said. Only 5 percent of those polled said that social medial is the biggest asset in this regard, behind both cellphones and personnel.
And when it comes to how their companies are run, most owners seem to clearly value being able to make their own decisions and blaze a new trail, the report said. Slightly less than two-thirds say that their motivation to own a business came because they wanted to build something and be their own bosses, and more than one-fifth said that their entrepreneurial role model was Steve Jobs, who was obviously something of a trailblazer himself.
However, building a business is a task which has a number of moving parts, and most are dependent upon other factors to be successful. For instance, having the resources to reach customers in a number of ways is vital, but so too is doing so affordably. One way in which companies may be able to reduce their costs is to look into more affordable small business insurance policies, including those for general liability insurance, as these can increase substantially as enterprises grow.
