The COVID-19 crisis has shaken different businesses from various industries since it first broke out in March of last year. Apparently, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have become the most vulnerable during this pandemic. In fact, SMEs that temporarily shut down had to close for good.
It’s great that some small businesses have managed to reopen this year. While some have survived, a few others have even thrived. These thriving businesses belong to flourishing industries, as they have something valuable to offer during this pandemic. These include the grocery, delivery, cleaning, home construction, and outdoor landscaping sectors.
But as we navigate through another year, entrepreneurs must have proper planning for the new year. That said, here are plans and resolutions every small business owner should consider for 2022:
1. Have a forecast of your industry
The first thing to do is to take a look at your industry. Be sure to study your market and predict how it will most likely be next year. It takes carrying out research and due diligence to forecast your industry. In some cases, you need to work with business experts to predict the direction and momentum of your industry. By doing so, you’ll better prepare your small business for what lies ahead. You can implement effective strategies to boost your business next year.
2. Study your target consumers
Apart from studying your industry, be sure to focus on your target consumers. Why? They are the very reasons your small business exists. They are the ones who will patronize your business as well as buy your products or hire your services. As such, you must deeply understand your consumer needs and evaluate the changing consumer behavior. That way, you can keep up with these changes and truly cater to their needs. Ultimately, you’ll come up with valuable products or services that resonate with your target market.
3. Recalibrate your business processes and reinvent your offers
After doing your homework, you can now create new year’s plans and resolutions for your small business. Be sure to consider the data and information you gather about the industry and your target market. To begin with, consider improving your business processes by focusing on productivity, efficiency, accuracy, and quality. From there, you can reinvent your products or services. Make sure that your small business offers must be valuable and relevant to your target market.
4. Implement digital marketing campaigns
If you haven’t thought about implementing or taking your digital marketing to the next level, it’s about time to do so. As you can see, digital marketing has never been this important. It can be instrumental to your overall business success. There are a handful of online marketing campaigns you can implement. These include search engine optimization (SEO) for online visibility, pay-per-click (PPC) for website traffic, content marketing for customer engagement, email marketing for product or service promotion, and social media management.
5. Invest in digital tools and technologies
Did you know that many businesses have gone through a digital transformation during this pandemic? They’ve realized the importance of ‘going digital’ in business. As such, they have invested in digital tools and technologies that can make their business processes more seamless, accurate, efficient, and productive. For this reason, you should also consider investing in these come the year 2022. Some digital tools and technologies you can incorporate into your small business include automation, artificial intelligence (AI), extended realities (ER), robotics, 3D printing, and customer relationship management (CRM) tools.
6. Consider business growth and expansion
Every entrepreneur aspires for their small business to grow and expand in the long run. So as early as next year, consider implementing some effective strategies for your business growth and expansion. There are a handful of ways to do so. You can apply for a small business administration (SBA) loan to fund your business expansion. If you’re looking to merge with another small business or consolidate your business assets with other parties, consider hiring M&A consulting services.
7. Push for business sustainability
If you’re looking to grow your small business, consider employing sustainability strategies as early as 2022. The idea is to sustain your business for the long term without harming the environment. Some sustainability tactics to implement include recycling waste products, repurposing used materials, investing in energy-efficient equipment, utilizing renewable energy sources, and partnering with green agencies. By doing so, you can better prepare your business for the future to keep it running!
At this point, we’ve tackled some valuable business tips for 2022. Consider the new year’s plans and resolutions for small businesses recommended above, from forecasting your industry to implementing digital marketing to pushing for sustainability. Be sure to sit down and plan for various aspects of your business to ensure its growth and profitability next year. With all these in place, you’ll kick your business up a notch come 2022.
