Free Marketing Ideas for Small Business

Being a small business owner today is fraught with perils and opportunities. It may be one of the strangest times to start a small business but as many owners will attest to in this time of high unemployment and high costs; combined with credit difficulties, there are still opportunities around if you can assess them correctly.

Most small businesses start with an idea. This idea needs to be very carefully assessed with a comprehensive due diligence assessment. This can be expensive if you hire someone to help but if you have the time, it is much better, and cheaper, to do it yourself. The reason I say it is a better idea if you do your own due diligence assessment is because you will get a better ‘feel’ for the potential of the business as well as new ideas will come to you to add or subtract from your original thoughts.

Free Due Diligence Assessment:  

This due diligence needs to be an initial part of your marketing plan for your business.  By doing your own due diligence it will be free. In this assessment you will be able to estimate the amount of potential traffic to your proposed location, traffic and parking problems (if any) and the type of clientele who visit the area or shop there.

There is little point in starting a high end business in a low socio-economic area. Conversely, there is no point in starting a low-end business (by that, I mean a dollar-and-cent) store in an area where the car-park is full of Mercedes and Volvos.  But sometimes - just occasionally- this will be a surprisingly profitable enterprise.  Once you have noted the car park, then it is time to sit and watch inside the mall or outside a shop to see if the shoppers are buying at those stores.

Retail stores are having a hard time everywhere and there are many “window shoppers” so you will need to observe the number of parcels leaving a shop. This will be an indicator as to whether people are buyers or just looking.

Marketing a Newly Opened Business for Free:

So you have spent the time and energy and have decided that the business opportunity is worth the risk.  And there is risk associated with every new business enterprise – this is the challenge most entrepreneurs enjoy! I trust you have had legal representation before signing the rental lease on your premises to make sure there are no surprises.

So now you need to tell everyone about it.

Start by doing the following for free:

• Have business cards made up and be sure to check all the details are correct. You can get free business cards from the Internet.
• Visit every store around you. Introduce yourself, leave a business card with them and tell them what you do and offer them a discount if they want to buy anything from your store.  If it is a big department store, then see if you can make contact with dept. managers.

• If you aren’t in the retail industry but in an industrial estate, visit other businesses and see if there can be an opportunity for you to help their business in some way to grow. Every business owner is always on the lookout for new opportunities.

There are many free marketing ideas for small business but they vary depending on which industry your new business is in.

Small Business today can be a rocky road to success. Free Marketing ideas help allay some costs.