As well as spurning a whole plethora of new types of businesses related to technology, the internet has also changed the face of more traditional businesses, giving them the opportunity to expand their markets and boost their potential profits.
As a small high street haberdasher selling wool to local knitting enthusiasts, or a metal merchant supplying a steel box section to local fabricators, their target audience would previously have been limited to potential customers within a certain geographical area. Breaking new location markets would have involved a significant investment in advertising costs which would have required longer lead times in terms of seeing any kind of ROI Return on Investment.
Today, the market for small local businesses similar to our haberdasher and metal merchant is literally global. Let’s break this down to understand how and why, and explore how this can give you and your business some amazing opportunities.
The limitations of yesteryear
As discussed, local businesses were previously confined to geographically limited areas because of the astronomical costs of reaching out to a wider audience. Now that a website is de rigueur for all business, no matter how large or small, a potential customer from the other side of the world has the ability to access your product range and, provided delivery options are viable, order and receive that product in a matter of days.
How powerful is that? And knowing that there are some simple steps that you can take to build up your online presence could have a remarkable impact on the way you begin to think about your business and what you could do with it.
Creating an international community of fans through social media
Think about it in terms of how you interact with your local customers. A haberdasher on a typical UK high street will probably have a small but loyal number of customers who come in every week for their supply of wool or sewing paraphernalia. As a traditional British business you could build on your legacy and weave it into an online presence that would appeal to women in America who love that sense of tradition and all things ‘British’. This gives you the opportunity to build a community of lie minded women from different cultures who all share a common passion – knitting or sewing.
Social media will allow you to do this for very little financial investment. It just needs time and commitment, and patience to curate a following that will position you on the international haberdashery stage.
24-7 opening hours means you make money while you sleep
While the traditional 9-5 opening hours limited the period of time during which you were actually earning money, creating an adjacent online shop means that you can remain open 24 hours a day, whether you were behind the counter or not. The evolution of Ai technology, email automation and chatbots means that most issues can be dealt with quickly and automatically without you even needing to be present.
Embracing newer technologies gives you competitive advantage
Just because you’re running a small, traditional business does not necessarily mean that you are stuck in the old ways. If you’re running scared of new technology, you’re potentially missing out on making significant additional profits. Make the decision to change your mindset and explore the opportunities that new technology can offer. If necessary rope in the help and support of the younger generation in your family – their knowledge and skills combined with your expertise and experience can actually combine to be a really powerful force when thinking about expanding your business. This is your chance to take a business you love, and turn it into a lasting legacy for the generations to come.