SMALL BUSINESS Small business varies widely around the world.

Small businesses are normally privately owned corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships. What constitutes "small" in terms of government support and tax policy varies by country and by industry, ranging from fewer than 15 employees under the Australian Fair Work Act 2009, 50 employees according to the definition used by the European Union, and fewer than 500 employees to qualify for many U.S. Small Business Administration programs, although in 2006 there were over 18,000 "small businesses" with over 500 employees that accounted for half of all the employees employed by all "small business". Small businesses can also be classified according to other methods such as sales, assets, or net profits. Examples Small businesses are common in many countries, depending on the economic system in operation. Typical examples include: convenience stores, other small shops (such as a bakery or delicatessen), hairdressers, tradesmen, lawyers, accountants, restaurants, guest houses, photographers, small-scale manufacturing, and online business, such as web design and programming, etc. STRATEGIES FOR SMALL BUSINESS The term strategy means a well planned, deliberate and overall course of action to achieve specific objectives. According to chandler, strategy is the determination of the basic long term goals and objectives of an enterprise and the adoption of courses of action and the allocation of resources necessary to carry out these objectives. The concept of strategy has been derived from military administration wherein it implies Grand military plan designed to defeat the enemy. As applied to business, strategy is a firms planned course of action to fight competition and to increase its market share

HOW TO GET STARTED? Starting a business is actually easy. You can get business cards and an address at Mailboxes, etc. But youre not really in business until you sell something, and that isnt easy. Success comes with education, careful planning and adequate cash flow, specialists say. And it has never been easier to lay the groundwork for starting a small business. Many tools are available on the Internet and at libraries to aid aspiring entrepreneurs. Whole magazines are devoted to the subject. First, you need to get details on characteristics important to run a business to information on writing a business plan to links to local centers offering assistance to start-ups.

3 BIG BRAND SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIES FOR SMALL BUSINESS Social Media expert, Rick Mulready says If you want to be successful, find someone who has achieved the results you want and copy what they do and youll achieve the same results. With so many different options available it can be downright overwhelming for small business owners. People tell them they need to be on Facebook or Twitter so they sign-up and dabble in posting. Theyre not sure what theyre doing or even why theyre doing it, but they figure its where theyre supposed to be. The social media efforts dont impact their business revenue and it all results in a waste of time and resources, neither of which small business owners have much of. So, they give up and move onto something else. But what if they took a step back and looked at how the big brands in their industry are using social media? After all, understanding and modeling how the most successful big brands in the world use social media can offer we entrepreneurs powerful insights that we can use to strengthen and grow our own businesses.

Strategy #1: Find Where Your Customers Are And Go Deep Pepsi does this really well. With so many brands, they couldnt possibly be on every social media channel so they align their brand strategies with the social platform that has the most relevant audience, positioning and strategy. For example, Diet Pepsis primary customers are Generation X women. So, they tend to focus their social media efforts on Pinterest. Or, with their Brisk iced tea brand, they tend to go for more of an edgy feel so when Instagram first came out, they focused their efforts there. They felt that the early users of Instagram aligned with the same people they were targeting as drinkers of Brisk. They pick the most relevant platform and focus deeply with it versus spreading themselves thinly across multiple channels. With what you know about your own customers or the customers youre trying to attract, which one or two social media platforms could you focus on that aligns with your audience? Heres a quick reference to help: Facebook: tends to be an older audience but with all kinds of interests. Great for word-of-mouth promotion for your brand. Visual and videos work well. Twitter: great for searching and finding people talking about your industry (i.e. customers or potential customers). conversations. Google+: tends to be where deep conversations are happening about a very specific topic. Pinterest: primarily (but not all) female GenX audience. Great if your business is visual. Instagram: tends to be younger, ages 18-34, and more cutting edge. Also great if your business is visually based. Vine: create content in a 6-second video format. You can then share it on platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Its about the conversations going on and being part of those

Strategy #2: Create Content that People Want to Talk About Unfortunately, many businesses only use social media to sell their products or services. It becomes their virtual soapbox, yelling out messages that they want to talk about. A better strategy is to create great content about whatever industry youre in and then engage in the conversations going on around you. Give people a reason to talk about you. Many people call this building your own media coverage for the space that you serve. A big brand that has done this really well is the NBAs Brooklyn Nets. When they moved from New Jersey to Brooklyn, they needed to get people in Brooklyn to care about them, to buy tickets to come see them play. Rather than trying to just outright sell tickets through their social media channels, they first gave tons of great content to people like funny videos, cool basketball cards and fun stats about the players. They also engaged with people asking them questions like, Whos going to score the most points in tonights game? The person who guessed right would then win a ticket to a game. The Nets gave people a reason to care about them before trying to sell them tickets. What kind of content can you create about your industry, that offers value to people, before selling to them?

Strategy #3: Use Social Media to Listen to Your Customers If youre not using social media to listen to your customers, to what is going on in your industry or niche, youre missing the point of social media. The most successful brands use social media to listen to what their customers are saying about them and to what their customers think about their competitors. They listen so they can learn more about their consumers aspirations, challenges and concerns.

Here are a few other benefits of using social media to listen to your customers: It allows you to learn where your customers are hanging out online. Are your customers on Facebook? Twitter? You should be there too. Listening can help improve your business by informing your own product cycle or your own service philosophy. In other words, how might you change your product offering or a service you provide based on the feedback youre hearing? Look at the content your customers, leaders in your industry and competitors are engaging with and sharing and then use that intelligence to develop your own content strategy like we discussed in strategy #2. JetBlue is a great example of a big brand that uses social media to listen to their customers. They monitor Twitter, for example, and have people who respond to travelers who are tweeting them about issues theyre encountering. For instance, a passenger arrived in Denver for a connecting flight only to find that there were no gate agents anywhere in site. Frustrated, he tweeted this to JetBlue and they responded within minutes apologizing and explaining why there was no one at the gate. This showed the man that JetBlue cared and was listening. To sum it up: as small business owners, were all starved for time. So, we need to make the most out of our social media efforts. The easiest way to learn how to do that is to look no further than how the most successful brands in your industry are using social media and model it.

GROWTH STRATEGIES FO SMALL BUSINESS The following are the main growth strategies available to firms: 1. Intensive Growth Strategy (Expansion) 2. Diversification 3. Modernization 4. External Growth Strategy

a) Mergers b) Joint Ventures

Intensive growth strategy Intensive growth strategy or expansion involves raising the market share, sales revenue and profit of the present product or services. The firm slowly increases its production and so it is called internal growth strategy. It is a good strategy for firms with a smaller share of the market. Three alternative strategies are available in this regard. These are: Market Penetration This strategy aims at increasing the sale of \present product in the presented market through aggressive promotion. The firm penetrates deeper into the market to capture a larger share of the market. For example, promoting the idea of cold coffee during the summer season, also the idea of instant coffee, instant tea and tea bags. Market Development It implies increasing sales by selling present products in the new markets. For example selling electronic goods in rural areas or sale of chocolates to middle aged and old persons. Market development leads to increase in sale of existing products in unexplained markets. Product Development: In this, the firm tries to grow by developing improved products for the present market. For example, A.C. with remote control, Refrigerator with automatic defreezing and flexible shelves. Advantages of Intensive Growth Strategy (1) Growth is slow and natural. Therefore, it can be handled easily. (2) Capital required for expansion can be taken from the firm's own funds. (3) Existing resources can be better utilized (4) The growing firm is in a better position to face competition in the market. (5) Only a few changes are required in the organisation and management systems of business

Diversification Beyond a certain point, it is no longer possible for a firm to expand in the basic product market. So the firm seeks increased sales by developing new products for new markets. This strategy towards growth is called diversification. The diversification does not simply involve adding variety in a product but adding entirely different types of products. Products added may be 145 complementary. Diversification is a much talked about and widely used strategy for growth. Many companies have opted for this. Modernisation A firm may use the strategy of modernization to achieve growth. Modernization basically involves upgradation of technology to increase production, to improve quality and to reduce wastages and cost of production. The worn-out and obsolete machines and equipment are replaced by the modern machines and equipment. Merger Merger is an external growth strategy. When different companies combine together into new corporate organizations, such a process is known as mergers. Merger can occur in two ways: Acquisition of takeover and amalgamation.

Takeover or acquisition takes place when a company offers cash or securities in exchange for the majority shares of another company. It involves one company taking over control of another. Amalgamation takes place when two or more companies of equal size or strength formally submerge their corporate identities into a single one in a friendly atmosphere. Joint venture When two or more firms mutually decide to establish a new enterprise by participating in equity capital and in business operations, it is known as joint venture. A joint venture is a business partnership between two or more companies for a specific business operation.

FINANCIAL STRATEGIES Financial strategies for any small business are included in the financial section of the plan. The financial section includes the income statement, cash flow statement and balance sheet. For new businesses, these financial statements will be projections, whereas for an existing the business the section will contain several years of history as well as projections. In addition to statements, the plan should include the financial strategies of the business in how finances will be handled. Cash Flow Management The income statement and balance sheet of a business may look great on paper, but if the cash is not properly managed, the small business can quickly go under. Part of the financial strategy of the business plan will detail how cash will be used in the business. This includes identifying an amount that will always be in reserves as well as how major expenses will be paid. By laying out the financial cash strategy ahead of time, it will make financial decisions easier about when to write a check and when to access a line of credit during normal business practice. Purchases Any purchases made through the business, particularly large purchases, should have detailed guidelines in the business plan. This will determine which purchases will be made with cash, a line of credit and with a credit card. This strategy will also outline taking advantage of the terms of suppliers. For instance, if a supplier offers 45-day terms, the business will wait until the end of the term to make a payment. In addition, the purchasing strategy should specify if approval is needed by a manager or board for purchases over a certain amount. Collections If the business is not properly managing its own receivable, it can be devastating to the financial health of the business. The financial strategy should detail the collections plan. This may include dedicating in-house staff to following up with overdue customers or turning them over to an outside agency. It will also specify late fees and if deposits are due before products and services are delivered for new customers.

Investments Although a specific investment strategy may not be able to be detailed in a written plan, general guidance should be given to management. This includes a percentage of money invested in highrisk portfolios vs. lower-risk portfolios. The investment section of the plan will also include guidelines of when approval is needed to make changes to current investments or to liquidate investments to cover business necessities. Considerations The financial strategy of a business plan should be a general guide. While some specifics, such as approval authorities can be outlined, it will be difficult to account for every possible financial scenario that may arise in the business. However, the financial strategy should be enough of a guideline to direct the basic staff of the business in conducting the financial aspects of the business from paying for purchases to making payroll.

EFFICIENT MARKETING STRATEGIES FOR SMES Planning Research your competitors and your market, but try to think about the market as physical people. How do they use the internet? When are they online? What are they looking for there? Develop a thorough understanding of the people you want to trade with and the issues they face. Econsultancy is a fantastic resource for marketing data, such as reports on how different consumers behave online, meaning you can direct your marketing efforts in the right areas. To work out which social networks you should concentrate on, Cube Social is great for finding out where your potential prospects may "hang out" online. Set objectives This isn't a one-off job. Set objectives for every bit of marketing you do, and give very specific timings and measurements of success. For example, your website's success may be measured by how it generates inquiries or sales. Give your printed work specific objectives, too, such as driving traffic to your website through a specific "search for" call to action. Don't be shy about

rapidly assessing and amending things in order to keep on track for your objectives measure, tweak and measure again. Tools such as the free Google Analytics work fantastically, while Hootsuite is perfect for social media metrics. Before spending, determine what you need: don't kneejerk spend on the usual things like website, printed materials and tools such as SEO. Instead, take heed of what has been learned from your research and setting objectives, and map out the materials that you need and how they will tie together to form a cohesive structure to your marketing. Always be clear about purpose. What is the aim of, for example, leaflets or business cards? Are you looking for awareness generation, a sales tool or merely a contact card full of personality?

Get to know some local suppliers Local businesses might be able to service you much better. And they'll always know other people who can help you, too. Don't be afraid of asking penetrating questions about their services either. You need to know you're spending money with reputable companies that can prove their results, quality and delivery times. Consider your spending carefully and map each bit of spend to a specific outcome, which in turn directly serves one of your overall business objectives. Become an expert Social networking is perfect for establishing yourself as an expert in your field. Give high value content and advice away to help your ascension to "expert" status. Create a strategy for releasing content and set up a blog as a medium for this release. A branded blog is typically better and can be directly integrated into your website platforms such as Wordpress and mojoPortal work very well, at a low cost. For a more personal approach, try Tumblr. Overall, remember that marketing is one of the more fun aspects of running a business ultimately it's about telling people how great your business is but don't try to do everything at once. By putting in the necessary research and planning, tapping into affordable expertise and utilising free online tools and help, you can make sure you're seeing that all important return on investment from your marketing right from day one.

CONCLUSION In the modern world people can no longer expect large enterprises to guarantee them jobs for life. Individuals are increasingly expected to seek out their own opportunities, actively create value and behave ethically, rather than faithfully follow rules and routines set by others. In particular, today's young people need to learn to be enterprising, both when working for others and when setting up their own businesses. Being enterprising involves taking responsibility for decision making, becoming increasingly self reliant, pioneering, adventurous, daring, dynamic, progressive, opportunist, ambitious and holding your values, as well as being able to initiate ideas and see them through into action.