As a small business that’s managed to get quite a bit bigger, at SimplyPayMe we understand the difficulties faced by SMEs on a daily basis. As we’ve grown, we’ve learnt a lot along the way. Thanks, partly, to trial and error. But mainly due to the experience and knowledge of the incredible people we’ve worked with.
The role of SimplyPayMe has always been to help make business easier for our clients. That’s why, every week, we post our top business tips on Instagram, to help share the expertise that helped us to grow. But we know that you’re busy. You might not have time for social media. So, this is a round up of all of our tips from October.
SimplyPayMe’s October Business Tips – All in One Place
Ria Waila – SimplyPayMe’s Head of Social Media
Get creative with content tools
I’m in charge of social media here at SimplyPayMe. The SimplySunday campaign is my responsibility. And today I would like to share a couple of my tips on creating content for social media with you. The best tool I’ve found so far is Canva. It’s what I use to create my content. I also occasionally use the app Later to schedule my posts. And the best thing about both of these applications is that they are free to use. Simple. Cost-free. Perfect.
Dr Leda Glyptis – SimplyPayMe Director
The way you do anything is the way you do everything.
I’ve set up and run a number of small businesses and I’ve learned so very much. But if I have to pick one tip to give, it’s actually the advice my friend gave me: the way you do anything is the way you do everything. And when things are hard and when things are easy and when things are busy and when things are urgent, making the choices that match up to the business you want to be when you’re fully grown, to the business you want to be when you will have the time to think about the hard things, the strategic things, the cultural things… that’s the day when making the right choice is the most important. Because the way you do anything is the way you do everything.
Ed Ashton – Channel Development Expert!
Why feedback matters – and why you shouldn’t rely on family for it!
When starting a small business, you’re probably getting the majority of your feedback from friends and family. The thing is, close friends and family are probably going to give you very positive encouraging reinforcement. Where this is great, the downside is that you’re not getting real honest feedback around potential flaws. And this is important because without critical feedback, you can’t get your business to where you need it to be. So, stress the need for honesty.
And when it comes to customer feedback, you need to be proactive. It’s not as simple as just adding a feedback form at the end of an email after someone has made an order. You might not always feel confident doing it, but the best feedback you can actually get is if you personally call some customers. Find a customer who has purchased from you regularly for the last few months. Call them, ask them why they keep repeat purchasing. Find a customer that’s bought once or abandoned their cart, ask them why they ditched their order. By doing this over the phone, you can build a direct relationship and possibly foster an ongoing conversation that will really help you dive into the detail of what can be improved in your business.
Sophie Mirza – SimplyPayMe Operations Manager
Communication is always king.
My top tip for SimplySunday is a very basic one, but super important all the same. I wanted to talk about communication when running a business. Good communication is a vital part of any business, whether it be between you and your customers/clients, or within your own team.
- Team –Making sure you listen to your team’s needs is very important. A happy team will create a much more positive impression on your customers. Be clear and precise when passing on information. And pay attention.
- Customers – Communicating with customers is every bit as important as communication within the workplace. Making sure you have excellent customer service in place and not taking too long to get back to customers will keep them happy and create brilliant feedback.
If you struggle with time or communication, there are so many different systems and softwares available to help online. It’s the best way to keep your team in the loop, and your customers happy.
Mona Skisland – Founder & CEO of EquiConnector and friend of SimplyPayMe
Team vision.
My top tip for making life easier as an entrepreneur is to build a team that truly believes in your vision. For example, our vision is to make horse riding accessible for everybody through our airbnb like, sharing platform for horses. Our team consists of dedicated equestrians that are always willing to go the extra mile for us to reach that goal because horses are personal to them. It gives us something to communicate about and bond about, and it really makes the whole process a lot easier.
So, there you go, those were our words of business wisdom for October. We hope you found them useful. If you can’t wait for more, be sure to check out our #SimplySunday tips on Instagram every week.
