Your Good Reputation - the Best Opportunity to Grow Your Small Business

A Home Business Article Contributed by Sharon Hill

The Opportunity to Grow Your Small Business Depends on Your Reputation

There's a line in any firm's financial statements, small business or large, that gives the company financial managers the opportunity to place a money figure on a term known as "goodwill." In other words, what the folks in your firm's community think of you and your company has value - translates into net profit for you.

The opportunity to cultivate a good reputation, or repair a bad one, for your small business, has several key ingredients. The first is honesty. If consumers can't trust your word, they will go elsewhere. Should you be confronted with a less than advantageous occurrence that has been made known to the press a "no comment, " while seen more negatively than just "fessing up" is still better than fibbing to get you or your firm off the hook. More often than not the truth will out and you won't easily overcome the lie.

Help the media do their job. Don't dodge reporters' calls just because you don't have the time or don't like the topic. The easier you make their job by your accessibility the happier they will be to approach you when the time comes that you want their attention. Remember, too, reporters know everyone - even your potential customers.

Networking is crucial. The more community members, especially the prominent ones, that you know, the more that positive word of mouth will grow your business.

Support local causes. Sponsor the local Little League team, make the pancakes for the Kiwanis fund raising breakfast, if you have children do become active in your school's PTA, advertise in the Police Benevolent Association newsletter. If you can afford it, offer a paid apprenticeship or internship, or scholarship for scholastic training in your firm's field.

The Opportunity to Salvage Your Small Business Reputation

Should your small business have established a poor reputation, or should you have purchased a company who has earned a bad reputation, you'll want to seize the first public opportunity to address the issue head on. Talk about what happened and why and how you're going about repairing the damage done and what you're doing to prevent anything negative from occurring again.

Happy Small Business Clients are Your Opportunity to Generate New Customers

Satisfied customers can grow your business faster than any other method. You can expect that each happy client will tell approximately twenty five other folks about your good service. That's a great opportunity to grow a good reputation for your small business - and a large clientele. To keep your clients happy put their needs first - listen to their complaints, don't quibble about pennies.

Unless their requests for adjustments are abusive, constant haggling, give in. Don't make promises you can't keep, deliver on your promises in a timely fashion and follow up your services with communications such as thank you notes, birthday cards, holiday greetings (always keeping religious preferences in mind, however.) Get to know your client - the more you know, the better you can anticipate their needs, and translate that into purchases from your firm.