Small Businesses, Value Your Time!
Small businesses need to be able to compete. One tactic that might seem suitable to owners is offering products or services at a discounted price. It makes sense, right? In theory, it sounds like a great way to attract more customers, undercut competition, and shows to a potential audience that your abilities are first rate. The customers will come for the price and they’ll stay for the quality of service.
Don’t give in to this thinking!
What sounds good in theory often doesn’t work in practice. Small businesses usually have razor-thin profit margins to begin with, and when you offer a discount on your product or service, something has to go. It’s not just the loss you’ll have to take for offering the slash in price; some of the quality will also dip, raising the risk of not doing your best work and putting off the customer.
It’s more than just looking more affordable to customers. There’s the possibility of undercutting by competitors who can afford to do so. Discounting, especially in small business, shows everyone that there’s the potential for economic weakness and a lack of confidence in what’s being sold. Image-wise, it’s not great, especially if your business is just getting started.
Let your work speak for itself!
It’s true that small businesses are put at an inherent disadvantage compared to larger companies, but the way to beat this disadvantage is to focus on what you’re selling, not for how much. Be confident in what you’re putting out there and value the time it takes to do good work! Put the full weight of your energy behind the quality, integrity, and message of the product or service. It’s important to show that your product or service is as good as or better than anything offered by the competition, and to earn customer’s trust by letting the work speak for itself.
Having confidence and valuing your time is so incredibly crucial to small businesses. Opening and operating already dominates the life of any business owner, there shouldn’t be any cuts on the time and sweat that’s been put into setting up the shop. Giving the product or service life via good messaging and advertising is key.
Guarantee!
One way to overcome the early small business challenges is to ingrain your business and message in the local community, building on mutual trust and support for local working people. Offer warranties or guarantees on the work that will ensure the customer knows they can trust your business. Often times, it’s not about a super low price, but how well a customer can trust the company from whom they are buying. There are many ways to show trust that don’t involve a devaluing of your time.
Choose a better way to convince customers that your service is top-notch. Discounts are not worth the loss of money, the disregarding of your time, and the potential small errors that come with cutbacks. Show confidence in your small business, and value your time and energy.
