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THE SHAPE OF WORK TO COME

Career & Workplace Sponsored Content by Principal Financial Group


GROW YOUR SMALL BUSINESS WITH THESE 5 STRATEGIES




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Enlarge

Small businesses are often borne of enthusiasm, but growth carries risk and can
lead to failure, too.


IN THIS ARTICLE



 * 




By Principal Financial Group®
Oct 6, 2022

You’ve launched your first (or tenth) small business: How do you make sure you
succeed?



By all accounts, there’s no way that Rachel Hunter’s floral business A Florae
should have survived — much less thrived — in 2020. But thrive it did: Hunter
managed to keep her floral design studio and shop open, even when 80% of her
events cancelled. She even expanded her retail store to include clothing and
added employees, too.

In doing so, Hunter dodged the cascade of hundreds of thousands of permanent
small business closures in 2020 and 2021. More importantly, she strategically
strengthened and broadened A Florae’s original purpose.



“You learn so much about yourself when you’re knocked down,” Hunter says.

Small businesses are often borne of enthusiasm, but growth carries risk and can
lead to failure, too. These insights can help you stay on a course for stability
and expansion — for years and decades to come.

1. Get the expert help you need when you need it.

More and more people are turning to entrepreneurship to fulfill their career
goals: 5 million new businesses were launched in the first 11 months of 2021,
according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That’s an increase of 55% from 2019, and
about one-third of those business owners are new to the world of
entrepreneurship.

But does a mechanic launch a repair shop because they love human resources or
website design? Probably not. “A lot of people didn’t start out as small
business owners — they started doing something they love,” says Nate Schelhaas,
senior vice president and head of life protection solutions at Principal®.
“Typically, they’re not primarily businesspeople. The running of the business is
secondary.”

In hindsight, Hunter wishes she would have brought on an administrative
assistant from the get-go. “I hired the people it took to run the retail and
events side, but I didn’t make smart decisions when it came to supporting myself
as CEO,” she says.

A team of reliable professionals can help at every stage of your business plan.
Those include a financial professional (financial and succession planning), tax
professional (paperwork and tax payments throughout the year), lawyer (contracts
and succession planning) and human resources representative (hiring and benefits
administration).

2. Use your purpose as a guide.

Hunter initially added a small retail component to her operation because events
on her calendar ebb and flow during the year. Expanding that during the 2020
shutdowns — when people needed cozy sweatshirts more than special-occasion
bouquets — served as a proactive way to recoup lost revenue.

The strategy worked, mostly because the goods she was selling — clothing, home,
a little bit of thrift — were a natural outgrowth of her original business
model. Shifting it to a permanent part of her business plan made equal sense.


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“When you think about expansion, always come back to your original business
purpose,” Schelhaas says. “Are you overextending yourself and losing sight of
that, or cushioning the lane you’ve chosen? Ask yourself, what markets you
should be tapping into that you’re not?”

3. Actively manage financials.

Preparation remains an essential tool, even if the economic outlook is steady,
stresses Schelhaas. “Think back to the 2008 recession: it happened so quickly
that if a business wasn’t prepared financially for a downturn, they may not have
had the time to set up what they needed,” he says.

Always-on tools include an established business line of credit and monthly
financial reviews of cash flow, profit margins and accounts receivable and
payable. “Have all that in place now so you have it whether or not there’s a
recession on the horizon," says Schelhaas. "What would it take for you to keep
your doors open at your busiest time and at your slowest time?”

4. Continuously recruit and retain.

If you’re not in active hiring mode, you can identify and nurture key employees,
Schelhaas says: “Those folks often have a unique skill set that’s essential for
you — perhaps one you don’t have but rely on.”

Those retention efforts may also include ongoing training and regular, honest
communications with every employee — when times are good and you may need some
to work overtime, for example, or when there’s a downturn so no one feels
blindsided. “Sharing information is important,” Schelhaas says. “You can get an
understanding of what employees like about work and what’s valuable to them.”

When you are in growth mode, resist the urge to hire just anyone, Schelhaas
says. “Focus on the skill set you need.” he says.

That includes distinguishing between over- or under-hiring. “You don’t want to
hire two people when you need five, or hire five when you need two,” he says.



5. Plan for ups and downs in growth.

Growth is exciting; the reverse can be scary. As a small business owner or
manager, you’ll have to dig deep to learn more not just about what you’re doing,
but also about the signs of an economic shift on the horizon and what steps you
can take to adjust, says Schelhaas.

“It’s a balance — you don’t want to grow so fast you can’t keep up,” he says.
“You also don’t want to overextend yourself that you can’t survive if things
slow down.”

In the midst of uncertain times in November 2020, Hunter signed a two-year lease
on a bigger space, and filled it with items she knew from customer surveys would
be popular.

In addition to surveys, you can watch when customers are pulling back or ramping
up. Talking to other business owners — inside and outside your industry — helps,
too.

“A huge piece of running a business comes by building your competence and
trusting others,” Hunter says.

Discover tools to create and meet your short- and long-term business goals.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclosures:

A Florae is not an affiliate of any member company of the Principal Financial
Group®

This article is intended to be educational in nature and is not intended to be
taken as a recommendation.

Insurance products issued by Principal National Life Insurance Co (except in NY)
and Principal Life Insurance Company®. Plan administrative services offered by
Principal Life. Principal Funds, Inc. is distributed by Principal Funds
Distributor, Inc. Securities offered through Principal Securities, Inc., member
SIPC and/or independent broker/dealers. Referenced companies are members of the
Principal Financial Group®, Des Moines, IA 50392. ©2022 Principal Financial
Services, Inc.



2436809-092022






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