How small businesses can reach the 2.6 billion customers online

Often forced to wear many different hats, small business owners not only have to create and sell their product or service but also juggle admin-heavy processes such as scheduling and managing appointments, tracking finances, customer support and building an online presence. 

But don’t worry, the juggling act can be streamlined — there are ways you can work smarter, not harder as an entrepreneur and reach the 2.6 billion shoppers who are online! Even if your business doesn’t cater to a global market, establishing a strong online presence presents a huge opportunity. Today, there are many new and unique ways to diversify your business and create additional income streams online, helping your business grow to be even more successful.

At Squarespace, we are laser-focused on helping entrepreneurs succeed online. As small businesses start thinking about the year ahead, here are five ways you can elevate your business to stand out:

Analyse and understand your ideal customers

Have a lot of ideas, but don’t know which one to start with? The best way is to understand what your audience wants and go from there. You’ll attract first-time visitors and keep them coming back to your website by making your product unique or positioning yourself differently amongst competitors. 

If your business is already up and running, the people who have bought from you offer the most reliable evidence as to the characteristics and behaviours of your target audience. As long as those customers have consented to you collecting and using their data in this way, analysing your existing customers is an important early step in growing your audience.

Elevate your brand identity

Brand identity involves establishing guidelines for how your brand communicates to customers, encompassing aspects like the tone of voice, colour scheme and imagery. It plays a crucial role in distinguishing your brand from competitors, fostering recognition and building trust for your brand.

A previous study we’ve conducted showed that particularly among gen Z and millennials, 60% prioritise online presentation over in-person appearance. Remarkably, almost 60% of gen Zers believe it’s easier to remember the colour of a website than the colour of a person’s eyes! This underscores the impact of a well-designed online brand identity. Look for all-in-one e-commerce platforms that enable consistent brand styling across various touchpoints, from such as from your website to your customer emails.

Decide where and how your brand shows up 

There are a lot of websites and social media channels to choose from but I’m here with good news — you don’t have to be on all of them! It goes back to understanding your customer which will help you focus on key channels that your brand should show up on. For example, a writer might focus their website on sharing regular newsletters and blogs, whereas a photographer will want their website to show off their portfolio and integrate with social media.

As a small business owner, prioritise setting up your website as a central hub for your brand. It will serve as a single source of truth, offering a detailed overview of your products or services. You can then use different communication channels depending on where your audience plays to adapt and amplify the content on your website and reach.

Leverage the right tools to help you work smarter, not harder

With AI hitting the mainstream, small business owners and entrepreneurs can leverage it to enhance efficiency and spark creativity. There’s now an influx of user-friendly tools on the market that facilitate the automation of tasks such as content generation, workflow management and financial transactions.

To stay ahead, small business owners should assess their pain points and automate processes wherever feasible. For instance, platforms like Squarespace offer all-in-one solutions enabling automated product descriptions, streamlined payments and financial tracking. You’ll save time and get some peace of mind if you find ways to automate your accounting and bookkeeping workflows, versus logging every transaction manually.

If you’re a company that provides services such as in-person appointments, virtual consultations, classes or workshops, you can eliminate unnecessary scheduling back and forth by using automated booking software like Acuity Scheduling. You can save time by allowing clients to book, reschedule or cancel on their own, all while protecting your time by collecting payments or deposits upfront.

Look for other monetisation opportunities

Most business owners don’t think about the business inside their business. Once you’ve built your brand, you can diversify and increase your revenue streams. 

Online courses are a great way to turn your expertise into income and use your skills to connect with people who are passionate and curious about what you do. For example, if you’re a beautician, you could create a course on building a skincare routine and how to shop for new products, chefs and hospitality folks can sell online cooking lessons or at-home cooking kits, while wellness instructors can create workout videos. There’s a growing movement of entrepreneurs who are moving beyond selling physical products and services to now monetising their expertise! 

While it’s been a bumpy few years for small businesses in Australia, there have never been more tools to help entrepreneurs scale and streamline their operations — from marketing to content creation, scheduling to payments which make for an exciting time to creatively grow your businesses.

Dan Chandre is the Squarespace senior vice president, commercial.