Small business secrets...

Many small businesses are unaware of alternative forms of financing, according to new research.

There’s no denying the popularity of Facebook - and by now we all know that it’s important for businesses too. In fact, there are more than 13 million local business pages on Facebook, which accumulate 150 million visitors daily. But I am surprised at the number of small businesses which seem to think a Facebook page is all they need.

The year has got off to a bad start for the High Street, with a number of large brands calling in the administrators. If nobody steps in to save them we’ll have to say goodbye to Jessops, Blockbuster and HMV - all staples of the High Street.

When you start up a business there is so much to consider - concerns about financing, building up your team and fine-tuning your products/services can take up all of your time. But to make all of this hard work count you will need customers. This is where marketing comes in, and a great way to start is with building your business website.

With the festive season well in swing, now is the time that people look back on the past 12 months. For many small business owners, 2012 was a tough year. Even some of the big boys didn’t survive - this year we lost electronics giant Comet, with other brands like Clintons, La Senza and JJB barely hanging on after calling in administrators and closing many of their stores. But it seems there is a glimmer of hope in 2013, especially for small businesses or those hoping to start up.

I have always been an advocate of online review sites, so read with interest this week the story of a customer who was sued $750,000 for leaving a negative review about a company. The customer had wrongly accused a contractor of stealing from her home, in a review that apparently cost the company $300,000 in lost revenue. It just goes to show how visible online reviews are and the impact they can have on sales.

When I started up Euroffice and XLN Telecom, talent acquisition wasn’t my top priority. Over the years I’ve realised that small businesses in particular cannot afford not to have top quality team from day one. Successful companies are no different than sports teams, where the team with more A players is more likely to win.

For businesses, the ultimate goal is not just gaining a large amount of customers, but a large amount of customers who are loyal. Last week I wrote about loyalty, and how I believe it should be rewarded. Unfortunately, in some cases customers are actually being punished for their loyalty, and there are many ways this can happen - including what I believe is a scam based on a common practice among many including utility, telecoms and card processing providers.

As a business owner, it’s all too often that I notice companies losing touch with their customers. Unfortunately I was on the receiving end of this recently with Addison Lee, a taxi company I have been loyal to for around seven years.

Over the last few months, controversy has slowly been building around the amount of tax paid by large corporations operating in the UK. It all came to a head yesterday when three of the main offenders (Starbucks, Amazon and Google) were questioned by the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee. As taxpayers, we all feel a little cheated by some of our favourite household names. But I can’t help but think that, yet again, it’s the small businesses that are taking the burden.