April 30- May 6 has been designated as National Small Business Week. Since 1963, the U.S. Small Business Administration has designated a week each year to highlight the impact of outstanding entrepreneurs and small business owners. This week, celebrate your status as a small business owner, and/or support small businesses in your area.
Here are 12 ways to celebrate National Small Business Week. Don’t forget– you can work on these initiatives all year.
1. Join a Chamber of Commerce or Other Business Club
Growing a business is all about who you know. You want to become the go-to accountant or architect that everyone recommends. To do it, you have to get involved. Joining a Chamber or other business club is a great way to get involved in your community. Membership will help you become a go-to connection.
Why do it: People trust people they know more than people they don’t. Get to know more people.
2. Partner With Another Business
Get in front of a new audience by leveraging partnerships. Find another business who caters to the same people as you do, and dream up a way to collaborate. You might co-host an event, co-write an eBook, or do a contest where you give away their products.
Why do it: Other businesses have huge audiences. Dipping into those audiences is a huge opportunity for you.
3. Find a New Way to Get the Word Out
We all get stuck in our routines, doing what we know, but we might be missing out on a great promotional channel, one that brings in more customers than ever before. Get out of your comfort zone and find a new way to get the word out to prospective customers.
Why do it: You might have an untapped source of customers waiting to be discovered. That means $$$ for you.
4. Get Your Accounting in Order
Are your finances disorganized? Are you stumbling through the books each month? This week, get your accounting in order. Maybe that means finding a bookkeeper, re-doing your budgets, or reading a book on personal finance. Whatever it is, do it this week!
Why do it: You can’t scale a business if any aspect of your accounting is out of whack.
5. Find and Listen to a New Podcasts or Read a Helpful Book
Podcasts and books are great sources of information. Podcast are a great way to gain knowledge while you’re in the car, on a plane, or commuting.
Why do it: Knowledge is power, and the information can help you grow your business and yourself.
6. Automate Your Marketing
Ever have one of those days where you feel like you need to clone yourself? One of the best ways to fix this is to automate your marketing efforts. You might be worried that “set-it-and-forget-it” means not adding your personal touch, but automation can be natural and free up tons of time for you.
Why do it: Today’s buyers are much more informed, and they’re making decisions long before you talk to them face-to-face. If you don’t have things automated, you’re bound to let your marketing slip through the cracks.
7. Try a New Small Business Tool
When it comes to running a small business, time and effort are precious resources, and the last thing you want to do is waste them. Thankfully, there are tools available to make your life much easier. From marketing to accounting, communicating, and more – there’s a tool for that!
Why do it: You’re a busy person, and it’s hard to stay organized. A tool can’t make or break a business, but it can take a load off so that you can focus on more important things.
8. Do Some Spring Cleaning
As a small business owner, you’re faced with a constant stream of things to do. Harry Potter isn’t going to wiggle his wand and organize your life, so you’ve got to adopt some basic strategies that work for you.
Why do it: Being disorganized is the pits. You can’t concentrate on important things if you can’t keep it together.
9. Draft a Summertime Marketing Plan
Sometimes, it seems like summertime motivation—or lack thereof—is a kind of “seasonal affective disorder.” The kids are home, the weather is beautiful, hotel rooms are booked, and it seems like we’ve got everything on our minds except work. But if you neglect your efforts just because it’s summer, you’ll pay for it. Stay motivated.
Why do it: Summer can be a slow season for some industries and a peak season for others, but you don’t have to experience the dreaded “summertime slump.”
10. Brush up Your SEO
Getting Google to recognize you may seem harder than climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, but being a top search result can position your brand above the rest (literally). Plus, traffic that comes in (and buys!) via organic search is free. Instead of paying for each click, you simply reap the benefit of appearing when someone is looking for your products or services.
Why do it: The world is online searching for products and services. If you’re not appearing, you’re missing out on gobs of business.
11. Make a Resolution
National Small Business Week is a great time to create a new goal. Yes, we’re all familiar with the routine: Everything heads downhill after you make your resolution, right? But before you let out a collective sigh, think about how you could set some realistic resolutions for your business– and really stick to them.
Why do it: We all need a resolution or goal to get ourselves working hard for what we want.
12. Attend an Event
Check out communityvoiceks.com or other community calendars for events. These tools make it easy to find great events. The hard part comes when deciding which ones to go to.
Why do it: Plain and simple: it’s good to get out of the office and talk to people. A quick chat with a new person could result in a new idea, a new customer, a fresh perspective or even the connection of a lifetime. But you’ll never know if you don’t go!
BONUS IDEA. Find a Mentor
If you don’t already have one, make it a priority to add a mentor to your arsenal of friends, partners and advisers. A mentor is someone who can help you navigate the challenges of running a business, make connections, and help guide you starting and growing a successful business.
Why do it: Mentors can be an invaluable asset to your business thanks to their knowledge, connections and skills. Having someone you trust to bounce ideas off of or talk you off the ledge might be just the help you need to take your business from good to great.