You probably have considered your business as a small business before now. But what truly is a small business? Does it have to do with how much land is occupied by your business, or how strong your online presence is? Does it even have anything to do with the level of technology you employ in your business?

Generally, in Nigeria, small businesses are businesses that have only between 1-10 employees, total assets not exceeding N400,000, and annual sales revenue not exceeding N5 million.  

How are Sales important to me as a Small Business Owner?

• Making constant and consistent sales is your main purpose in establishing a business in the first place. When you don’t make sales, you invariably will make no profit and your business will be forced to shut down.
• Making sales is how you showcase your product or service to the market and customers. 
• Increased and regular sales to customers with ultimately help in cultivating the trust and loyalty of the customers to your product/service.

  We have seen that making sales is crucial to the survival of your business. However, making these sales is not always an easy feat as there are always issues that tend to prevent you from making these sales.

Why am I not making high sales as a Small Business Owner?

This section of this article shows you the possible challenges and reasons why you have not been making that level of sales you desire.

• Undeveloped trust online from potential customers

 Before customers would patronize your small business, they need to trust that your product can satisfy their needs. Building such a level of trust online is not always so easy to do. Most times it may be expensive.

• Little to low level of interaction with customers after-sales

This would reflect that you have no regard for the customers well being.

•  Avoiding discounting and other promotional offers

Almost all the time, customers will always patronize the product or service that they believe is the most affordable and least expensive. When your product or service appears to be overpriced, with no promotions or discounts available, customers become reluctant to patronize your business.

What then can I do to increase my sales? 

These 10 tips are sure to boost and increase your sales as a small business owner, no matter the industry you are in:

1. Build customer service

Quality customer service will always attract customers to patronize your business. This would encourage customers to give positive reviews of your business online and to other potential customers.

2. Consider introducing a complimentary product or service to your business

This will provide a broader range of products and/or services for your customers and clients. For this to be successful, you would need to have extensively researched the market to find out what sort of complimentary product or service your potential clients/customers need.

3. Consider changing your price

To some or most of your customers, your price may seem outrageous. You may need to reduce your price to secure more customers in the market.

4. Restructure your marketing activities

Study your prospective clients to know how best to reach them and tailor your marketing activities towards what you discover.

5. Disengage from non-profitable services

Whenever you notice that the sales of a particular product or service you render start declining, it may be a wise option to disengage from such a service. This option can be considered reasonable when you have seen that spending further to develop the product will result in a less than proportionate increase in sales. 

6. Consider expanding your product/service markets

This will enable your business to gain awareness and attention in other market regions and invariably secure some customers/clients.

7.  Actively engage your customers/clients in promotions and discounts

This is part of a customer-retention strategy, seeking to retain new and existing customers which patronize your business. Engage your customers in promotions. This draws them to you even when they were initially reluctant to patronize you.

8. Improve your sales channels 

You can achieve this by hiring a trained sales representative or by implementing a strategy for e-business to improve your online presence.

9. Develop public relations

This would entail sponsoring certain social events and speaking at recognized formal gatherings to improve your public image and the image of your business in the community.

10. Stay motivated and consistent

Good things take time to build, and so also does your business. Your business cannot grow overnight. Be motivated to continue, be patient, and stay consistent with the plan that has always worked out for you. 

Conclusion

Your business will always need sales to continue to survive. You would likely face many challenges making sales when you have not tackled certain other areas of your business. 

We at SmartSMSSolutions are here to help you actively engage with all your customers and clients through Bulk SMS. This will enable you to reach your large customer base instantly.

To register with us:

• Visit smartsmssolutions.com and click on create a free account. You may also sign up here.
• Fill in the required fields and follow the prompts as indicated by the page to complete your registration.
• You may then proceed to log into your account here.

If you enjoyed reading this article, do check out our other articles on our blog page.