The Top Things That Small Businesses Can Learn from Charities

Listen in! Pick up some expert advice to a reader's question that we selected from CyberSchmooz.

When you start your own small business, a lot of the process of growing and improving is very much a learning experience. In your first few years, you will meet individuals and companies who can provide you with a plethora of information on how you can effectively grow your business and how you can operate in a better way. Surprisingly, charitable organizations have a lot of knowledge that they can pass on to small businesses that is very much going to help with progression in those first few years. This article will go into detail about what those specific lessons are.

Encourage Monthly Subscriptions

This step is very much going to depend on what service or product your business offers. However, if you are able to offer a monthly subscription as part of your organization, then it is certainly something worth considering. There are a few ways that your business could try to introduce this. For instance, many charities choose to use organizations such as Woods Valldata for their Charity Lottery Services. This means that they have a steady income every month that they can work with. It is good for a small business to have something similar in place so that the anxiety surrounding profit and revenue is lessened. Of course, you will need to offer something that pertains more to your actual business.

Be Sure to Take Time to Focus on the Positives

There is no doubt that running your own business can be an incredibly stressful endeavor, and as the owner, it is likely you are going to carry a lot of that stress around with you and focus a lot on the negatives. The fact of the matter is that there is no getting around the fact there will be stress, but you cannot just focus on that. You need to ensure that you are acknowledging your business accomplishments as and when they occur.

This is something that non-profits need to do on a frequent basis. There is a lot of frustration with running a charity, and as such, when enough money is raised to make a genuine difference, they make sure that difference is acknowledged and celebrated so that staff do not get too bogged down with the frustration of running the business.

Keep In Contact with Customers and Business Partners

It is important for charities to keep in touch with businesses and customers that they have in order to continue to work with them and hopefully continue to raise money for their cause. One of the best ways to do this is to keep in contact with customers and business partners. A lot of charities will do this via their social media or by sending newsletters that detail news within the charity. Either way, this constant communication reminds customers that they are still there and still doing good. Businesses should stay in touch with customers for the same reason because if you are doing so, you are a lot more likely to retain customers and gain sales that way.

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