Small businesses have had a rough time recently. After two years of COVID-19 restrictions, SMEs must now contend with inflation rates not seen for over a decade.

And with rising energy and fuel costs, this winter will likely to be challenging for a lot of companies leaving the future seeming uncertain.

With the media spouting doom and gloom, it can sometimes feel like there is no safe harbour in the storm – and the waves just keep getting bigger!

That is why we have compiled this post packed with ideas on how you can not only look to budget, but also to look to invest in and potentially grow your business.

Government Business Finance Support

Small businesses like yours are the back-bone of the British economy. According to the FSB, SMEs account for three fifths of UK employment and generate 52% half of turnover for the private sector.

The government recognises just how important SMEs truly are and offer a vast range of grants, schemes and business advice and support. You can search for applicable programmes that are local to you or relate to your business here: https://www.gov.uk/business-finance-support

• How to apply for a government grant

Adapt digitally

Now more than ever, a hard-working website is the ideal marketing vehicle for any small business. Your slice of online real estate has the potential to reach thousands of new prospects if designed, built and marketed correctly.

Long gone are the days of getting out the Yellow Pages to look for a local business – your customers are reaching for their phones and asking Google.

It’s important to state that just having “a website” is not the answer here. What matters is the thought and understanding behind the design of the website – who is this website for? Where will it be marketed? Looks aren’t everything (although a stunning website design does help).

Look at how you can diversify your services – maybe start selling products online, or look at offering video consultations or take online bookings.

When it comes to purchasing a website, you tend to get what you pay for. Don’t settle for a templated website with a cheap price tag – it won’t generate much business and in the long run you will be charged more for “additional services”.

Our advice? Always do your research. Look at reviews, look at examples and then look at the true value being offered.

Adjust your pricing

We talk to clients just like you every day about adjusting the pricing they advertise on their websites. Occasionally, there’s a sense of guilt and/or fear in those phone calls. But you have to be realistic. If your supply chain costs have increased, so to eventually must your service or products. With inflation rising, you have to rise (within reason) to match it – it’s to be expected and you are not alone.

A good rule to follow is to never expect your customers to pay more for the same service they’ve been receiving for a long time – if you can find a cost-effective but impactful benefit to offer your customer base, they will be much more forgiving.

Promote yourself locally

For many DotGO customers, a large amount of their business is generated locally. Your website will already be optimised to be found locally, but there are a number of great tools you can use to increase your local visibility, such as a Google Business Profile.

The British public are big believers in supporting local business – in fact during the pandemic alone UK consumers spent over £7.2 billion supporting local and independent businesses, opting to work with local tradesmen, shop on their local high street and support independent companies they found online.

We’ve created some handy guides on the importance of marketing your website locally, as well as how you can set-up and make the most of free tools to help your neighbours discover your business.

• How to set up a Google Business Profile and get found on Google Maps 
• How do I expand my website to cover new locations 

Don’t let a lead go

The biggest problem that many online businesses face is not being found, it’s converting.

If you look at your websites analytics you will be surprised to find that your website is probably getting a lot more traffic than expected – which then begs the question “why are they not calling me?”

More so than ever before, converting a website visitor into a potential customer is vital. A great looking website helps, professional website copy can relay fantastic calls to action but the giving your website visitors an easy way to contact you is key.

DotGO have compiled some amazing engagement and customer conversion tools that you can find here:

• Why your website NEEDS this lead-grabber tool (it’s free and we will install it for you!) 
• How to make more meaningful engagement with your customers

Expand your revenue streams

As consumers start to think carefully about where to spend their hard-earned cash, their will be a re-evaluation of priorities. Where some businesses could be called ‘evergreen’ – offering services that will always be required, others might be seen as a luxury and feel a tighter squeeze.

Adding new revenue streams don’t have to involve vast market research or large expense. SMEs can achieve this by taking existing services or products and offer them in a new and way, such as:

• Selling through social media
• Starting an online shop
• Offer a subscription service
• Offer a click and collect service
• Create gift cards

By offering new incentives and new ways for your customers to buy your goods and services, you can experiment with new ways to sell and engage with your buyers.

We plan to keep updating this post - and post accompanying posts - over the course of the next few months, so stay tuned.

Discover more marketing advice from the big brains at DotGO

How to use Google Search Console for your DotGO website

How to verify your Google Business Profile (2024)

Working in Tandem - Social Media and Websites

Why you shouldn’t wait until January to start that business