Delivering Enterprise Quality in Your Small Business
Small businesses like yours have a number of advantages over huge multinational brands. You can deliver a higher standard of individualized customer service. You can enjoy much more personal relationships with your clientele. And you have the luxury of focusing on the quality of your product rather than needing to rely on volume. When you’re working in the fashion and beauty space, however, the prestige behind your name counts for a lot. Your name needs to stand for more than a great product. It needs to represent an experience that makes the customer feel special and valued.
Because they have more money and resources, people tend to assume that larger, enterprise level companies are inherently more reliable and prestigious. However, you can deliver enterprise level quality and consistency in your small business. You don’t even need to spend a fortune on delivering it, either. Let’s take a look...
Stand by your brand
Because they have small armies of marketing executives handling every aspect of their branding, you may assume that bigger businesses have the upper hand. But a smaller brand like yours can gain just as much traction, and develop a base of dedicated advocates. It’s simply a matter of believing in your brand and having confidence in what it represents. Of course, that doesn’t mean that your branding needs to stay static. All the best brands embrace evolution. But stand by your brand. It should be more than just a logo sewn into a collar or printed on a bottle. It should be a promise to the customer. A promise that you’ll always be able to keep.
Don’t be afraid to outsource
You’re a gutsy young startup with a great product and, above all, something to say. You’re very particular about doing things your way. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to do everything yourself. Indeed, it’s often much cheaper to outsource certain functions of your business to third parties. Like upgrading and maintaining your IT infrastructure with Managed IT Services for businesses, or entrusting your marketing to an agency that specializes in fashion and beauty. Reaching out for a helping hand doesn’t mean that you’re compromising your brand. If anything, outsourcing can enhance your brand by taking the burden of some operations off your shoulders so you can get back to what you’re best at.
Be consistent in your social media and content marketing
Social media is a great way to keep in touch with your growing customer base. Moreover, content marketing through blogs, vlogs, infographics etc. can allow your customers to get to know you better and peek behind the curtain to see the care, effort and attention that goes into every one of your products. But while these tools can be extremely useful in establishing and growing your brand, you need to be consistent in when and how often you post. If your flow of content is highly sporadic, people may think of you as an amateur outlet rather than the world-dominating brand that you are.
Wear your ethics on your sleeve
Finally, many of the big fashion brands are very keen to show their newfound Corporate Social Responsibility and emphasis on sustainability. But your business has an ethical focus baked into it from the start. Just make sure that everyone who encounters your brand knows what you’re doing to make the world a better place, one product at a time.
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Running a successful business can feel like walking on a tightrope while juggling multiple swords at once, both high adrenaline and exhausting. Success requires knowing when and what aspects of business require precision planning versus those you can leave to chance, whether that be startup superstardom or veteran CEOship.