How Your Business Should Act Like A Pufferfish

We all know that with the right application of knowledge, hard work and innovation, any small business can achieve great things. However, there’s a certain degree of professionalism and prestige that people associate with larger firms, which may be inaccessible in your business’s early stages.

To make sure your customers place enough confidence in your company, you sometimes have to work like a pufferfish, making yourself look bigger than you really are. Here are a few ways to achieve this…

Hone in on a Niche

 

By narrowing all your marketing efforts down on one niche, you’ll be able to free up time and flexibility to appear at all the big industry events, even if your corporate team is you and you alone. Furthermore, by keeping your focus narrow, you’ll run into networking opportunities with the same people again and again.

The more these people see you and your team, the more they’ll be convinced that you’re everywhere, and the representative of a major player in your given industry. Furthermore, your marketing will naturally start to become much more focused and efficient.

Invest in your Premises

 

Or more accurately, the appearance of one.

These days, having professional business premises is less important than it has been in the past, mainly due to the modern accessibility of the internet, and the sheer number of successful companies that are now relying on a network of remote workers.

Having said that, having professional business premises, or at least the appearance of one can inject a massive amount of professionalism into your brand, especially when it comes to liaising with prospective partners and investors. There are many places which rent out office spaces to small businesses, such as the Guardian Business Center.

If you’re not quite ready to move into your own physical premises, for financial or any other reasons, a good alternative would be paying for a physical address in an area that’s known to be a lively hub for business and using this in all your direct mail correspondence. Having a professional office isn’t exactly essential, but it’s certainly something to consider.

Spruce up Your Website

 

These days, a business’s website is one of the biggest factors in how it’s perceived. Many marketers have taken to calling it the “modern-day storefront”. With this in mind, you need to constantly be keeping a close eye on the state of your website, and making any necessary tweaks as and when the need arises.

An in-house job will give you more control, but if you want to be absolutely sure that the site will come out professional and functional, it’s best to outsource the work to a web design company such as The Web Kitchen. Often, a good website is all you need to convince prospects of your size and professionalism, even if you’re one person running the company from your bedroom!

 

If you were worried about how the size of your business was affecting people’s opinion of it, take this advice and turn it around!