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If you’ve just started your own small business, you may have found yourself running into a fair few issues. The majority of these are just teething problems as your business gets off the ground. For example, sorting out your own tax, or having some technical issues with your spreadsheets or website. Most of these issues can be easily rectified and your business won’t come to any harm because of them. However, if you are a few months in and trade is still slow, you may need to consider what you might be doing wrong. Running a business doesn’t work if you don’t have any customers – so sit back and look at your business as an outsider, and think about whether it’s really consumer friendly. If not, you may need to work on making your service more accessible.


Having a clean-cut website



A messy, overly-busy website isn’t going to get you anywhere. You might think that it is vital to get as much information as possible about your company on your web page. But, in reality, this can confuse and overwhelm customers. You clients should be able to see what your business is about from the very first page. If you need to, print out your web pages onto paper and cross out everything you think you don’t need, then redesign it based on this new edit. Using a landing page instead of a traditional website is also a great way to grab your reader’s attention on a page that is easy to navigate. Landing pages also allow you to create a page that is visually enticing, with high definition imagery and even a moving, video background. Decide on a colour scheme and stick to it – don’t have anything too garish, or difficult to read. For example, yellow text on a cyan background will only cause your consumer to strain their eyes and eventually, move on to a competitor.



Having a memorable phone number



It can be hugely beneficial to have an official phone number for your business, rather than just your mobile number. This looks much more professional for the consumer, and it also relieves you of mixing your work life with your personal life quite so much. When choosing your phone number, it can be useful to speak to a company such as Planet Numbers, who will be able to advise what number is best for you. There are more to choose from than you may think. For example, Alpha Dial phone numbers are when the letters on a phone keypad are used to spell out your business’s name. This helps make your contact details much more relevant for the customer.



Having a FAQ section (with links)
You may be contacted nearly every day by customers asking the same questions. This is convoluted for both parties and ultimately means that a lot of time is wasted on relatively simple things. To avoid this, create a ‘FAQ’ page on your business website. Make sure you include plenty of link backs to other relevant pages, so all you customer has to do is essentially follow the instructions.