Small business is truly the backbone of the United States. According to the Small Business Administration (SBA), there are over 31.7 million small businesses operating in the U.S. as of 2021. Of those 31.7 million over 25.7 million of those businesses are considered “non-employer” meaning 1, 2 & up to 5 person businesses. Why do I mention these statistics? Small Businesses drive economic prosperity in this country and are truly needed. These non-employer businesses provide a huge proportion of the goods and services that we seek out everyday, from Restaurants to Electricians to Plumbers to Real Estate agents to Handyman services. Small Retail Stores to Movers to Lawn Care Companies, they are what make our economy so vibrant.
Here are a few statistics that you might find interesting: Customer Acquisition is the #2 pain point of small business owners in the U.S, only behind lack of cash flow. When the customers come, the cash flow issue is typically resolved. Why this is so important is because these small businesses bring so much more to the economy. They provide tax revenues, commerce to underserved areas and create a sense of community. The focus of this blog is Customer Referrals and Customer Acquisition. The aforementioned are the most affordable and effective way to help small businesses succeed. Customer Referrals are the most affordable tool for small business owners because it can be done efficiently, cheaply and create a higher value and more loyal customer for the business.
What else you might not know is that as of 2021, according to Nielsen, over 85% of the U.S. population has a smartphone and over 92% of smartphone users in the U.S. use social media to stay connected with friends and family. You might ask yourself, how are these thing related to customer acquisition and customer referral? Social Commerce is in its infancy but is becoming more and more popular because we are taking what are already mainstays in society and repurposing it to help small businesses succeed. Using social media to generate new business for small business owners will be a disruptive innovation. Although still in the beta testing stage, Virely is a new Social Commerce platform that will take all that has been mentioned and create viral brand awareness and brand exposure for small businesses. The Virely platform helps small businesses and consumers find one another quickly and efficiently and that is what supporting small business is all about.
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