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The 8 Problems:<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Managing cash flow<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hiring and retaining staff<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Dealing with customer complaints<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Marketing your business online<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Rising costs & competition<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Protecting ideas and commercial assets<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Dealing with regulation and staying up-to-date<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Time management<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Most small or medium-sized enterprise are characterised by<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1) lean teams (hence, little resources) and<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2) slim margins (hence, tight finances), and as a result, face a host of challenges.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, we lay out the <\/span>top 8 problems small businesses face or pain points that small or medium-sized enterprises most commonly face<\/b>, and point to some resources that may make this entrepreneurial journey easier for you:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n It is one of the biggest <\/span>business pain points. <\/span>With slim margins and limited resources, small or medium-sized enterprise owners are always concerned with <\/span>‘balancing their balance sheet’.<\/span><\/i> SMEs need to have a thorough understanding of their sales margin in order to ensure that their revenue covers not only the cost of goods but also overheads as well as the costs of financing. It is no surprise that one of the key challenges hindering efficient cash flow in SMEs is the problem of late payments by customers and is small business pain points. This poses a headache especially for small businesses with low cash reserves. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Things are looking up. Banks in Singapore are looking to<\/span> grow their SME lending \u2013 Maybank Singapore is targeting retail SMEs with revenues of up to S$20 million while DBS announced a loan structure to help SMEs cope with restructuring costs. SPRING Singapore also launched a S$2 billion<\/span> SME Working Capital Loan Programme<\/span><\/a>, under which SPRING Singapore will co-share 50% of loan default risks with participating financial institutions and SMEs can apply for unsecured term loans of up to S$ 300,000.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n On a day-to-day level, SME owners can also take things into their own hands by drafting legal documents that set out favourable payment terms in order to obtain timely payment and optimise cash flow.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Related reading:<\/i><\/b> The 6 Singapore government grants for small businesses you need to know<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hiring and retaining staff is an ongoing challenge for SMEs and is a <\/span>problem small businesses face as business pain points.<\/span> A survey by DP Information Group revealed difficulty in hiring staff and high manpower costs as the top two business concerns in both 2014 and 2015. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n While you may not be able to offer the best remuneration packages for your employees, there are<\/span> other creative (and non-monetary) means to keep your employees happy and motivated<\/span><\/a>. You may also wish to consider hiring freelance consultants instead of taking on a full-time employee for fixed-term projects with once-off deliverables \u2013 such as building a website or designing a brand identity for an event. In that case, make sure you know the <\/span>key differences between independent contractors and employees<\/b> and the relevant legal rights and obligations:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Statistics from the Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE)<\/span><\/a> in 2015 revealed the 3 industries that received the most complaints to be motorcars, electrical and electronics, and the beauty industry.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s important to keep your customers happy but that becomes small business pain points many times. After all, they keep your business going! Inspired by <\/span>Small Business BC<\/span><\/a>, here are 10 tips for dealing with customer complaints to keep them on your side:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/span>1. Managing cash flow<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Here are 5 major tips for managing your cash flow to handle your business pain points.<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>2.Hiring and retaining staff<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>Major tips for retaining your staff:<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>3<\/strong>.<\/span>Dealing with customer complaints<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/span>10 tips for offering good customer service<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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