Keeping Up With the Start-Ups

Scott W. Ventrella

Starts ups are changing the world. These amazing companies of innovation not only drive the economy but also our society’s culture. More traditional companies need to keep up with changes and advancements start-up companies create. Here are some tips to keep up:

• Social Media. Social media is definitely the right forum to get the word out about your small business, especially since people today spend so much time online.
• Word of mouth is huge. That and using social media to spread your word (and encouraging others to like your page) advances your name in today’s media climate. Every time your page is liked, it is put on your follower’s page and reaches all of their friends, creating an exponential reach. Creating a #hashtag opens you up to other social platforms. You become easily searchable, recognizable, and sharable.
• When starting your own small business, it’s extremely important to know what is the unique value of your company, what mission will bring to its customers and what talents and skills do you possess that will make your business successful?

Besides keeping up with these points, it is also crucial to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses. It’s important to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses in being the CEO of your own small business. On a 5-tier scale from Very Strong to Very Weak, rate yourself in the following categories:

• Entrepreneurial “Personality” – do you have a creative spirit with the ability to invent projects and see them through to fruition?
• Business Acumen – how do you rate your basic business intelligence and fundamentals of subjects like accounting
• Financial Savvy – are you able to create budgets and hold yourself to them, in order to have an economically successful company?
• Marketing Expertise – do you have the acumen to promote your small business in a unique way using social media and new technologies?
• Customer Service – what level of expertise do you have in making your customers happy, to ensure that they return to use your services repeatedly?
• Communication Skills – are you able to effectively communicate to your target audience, as well as any community and employees that you have?
• Funding – do you have the skillset to establish funding and maintain that its used correctly?
• Support – do you have friends and family will support you in any way, be it economically or simply as a shoulder to lean on?

It is important to shift with the times so you don’t get left behind. But no matter what, do not lose sight of the passion and originality that got you here from the beginning.