A surprising study by Intuit shows that small businesses are seeing up and down numbers – what do they mean for the future? Plus, if your sales are down, it may be time for some innovation. All this and more in our weekly round-up!
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Small Business News of the Week
Intuit released some strange findings the other day: while small business employment was up by .11% in January, actual revenue was down by .4% in December. The only sector to see an increase in revenue was construction.
The rise in employment may not be a total shocker, as it has been climbing ever since September. However, it was a little surprising to see the continued growth in the face of loss of revenue just the month before. It’s even further surprising since the average monthly pay for small business employees dropped to $2,676, though this may have more of an impact later on in the year.
There’s something to be said about the optimism of small business owners. However, can this trend sustain itself? Surely not, and hopefully we’ll see some better revenue numbers here in the near future.
Outright Community Speaks
Our users surprise us every day with questions and concerns. Here are some of the latest:
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If you need to get your CSV from PayPal, check out this how-to first.
Have more questions or concerns? Stop by our Outright Customer Care forum!
Outright Pro Tip: Innovation
Are you one of the business owners above who is faced with declining revenue? It may be time for some innovation! If you’ve consistently had poor numbers the past months, the problem might just be customers are looking for something more interesting from you.
No matter if you’re selling crafts, computer parts, or your expert freelance services, it’s always important to remember the customer is the ultimate decider if your business is successful. You might have the most important product known to man, but if nobody buys it, who cares?
Your task, then, is to figure out how to make customers need your product. Not want – need, as in they can’t live without it. And that need might come about with a little innovation on your part. Try to figure out exactly why sales are down – has your product had an update lately? Maybe people are just a little tired of it? Is your website outdated? Maybe nobody can find it and that’s the problem!
Ask a few colleagues or friends to give you an honest look at what you’re selling. Actually, try to include a mortal enemy in the mix – they’re more likely to give you an honest opinion on what they don’t like. Use the good advice to get back in the good graces of your customer base.
That’s it for this week’s Round-Up!
