Make Your Business Better This Year: New Year Business Ideas

So, the New Year is coming – bringing along with it new opportunities for your small business to be successful. Starting the New Year off right is critical, especially when it comes to increasing profits and your customer base.

Well, this year certainly went by fast! If you have a small business and are wondering where the time went, you aren’t alone.

Resolve to make 2008 your best year yet. And we’re here to help with some hot ideas that will help you to kick-start your new year and get your small business the attention it deserves!

Get a Theme

If you have a retail or online shop, try implementing a theme in your business. These days, everyone is selling something, so you need to find a way to make your products and services stand out and get noticed.

If you’re selling hats, you could try implementing a movie-star theme. If you sell video games, try grouping games with similar themes together and advertise them to your target market.

The idea is to differentiate your products from the thousands of others on the market.

Advertise on the ‘Net

If you are a small traditional business, and have not yet advertised on the Internet, the coming year is the right time to get started.

It is inexpensive to advertise on the ‘Net, it does not take much time, and your company description can be displayed quite creatively in cyberspace. This way, potential customers coming to your store through the search engines already have a good idea about your company background and your products.

You should also start to build an email database of your customers, so that you can send them information about new products or discounts. Take the time to create a good brochure that you can post on your website for your customers to browse or download.

Introduce Background Music

If your small business has a physical location, install a decent sound system and play soft and pleasing music at a low volume in the background. It should fit into the scheme of your store and should not interfere when making conversation with your customers.

Introduce New Services

Along with your products, you could introduce new complementary services to attract more customers. For example, if you have an auto parts store, offer customers a free car wash while they shop around in your store. Likewise, if you have an online store and sell greeting cards, try selling flower bouquets, balloons or other gift products.

You might find that customers spend more time in your store or on your website shopping – and may also spend more money while they are there.

Publicly Acknowledge Customers

If you have regular customers or customers that spend more money than others, then arrange to have them publicly acknowledged. This will increase your bond with your VIP clients, and make them feel appreciated.

In addition, they will feel good about their long association with your business and are more likely to continue it.

Make a Business New Year’s Resolution

Make a business resolution which could be something that you thought about, but didn’t put into action previously.

This could be anything from introducing a new product line, to finding more affordable suppliers.

Start the New Year with a Good Deed

To be successful, you have to give back to the community. Try hosting a toy drive for less fortunate children, or donate your time (and that of your employees) to the neighborhood soup kitchen.

If you have a retail store, donate old, unused or dead stock to people who might need it. This will help clear your store of unwanted merchandise, and you’ll be doing the community a service at the same time.

January is not the time to start thinking about ways to make 2008 successful. The time is NOW.

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