Meeting the SMB Challenge Ahead: A New Strategy
The US and especially the Canadian economy are not powering small businesses in 2025 and economic indicators are signalling trouble ahead.
Not to be dour here, but rather to suggest that business reorganization and marketing optimization are a practical adaptation to the reality of the deteriorating economy. In a volatile and changing small business landscape, there is opportunity, but likely not as your business stands now. You’ll need new arrangements.
I like how US SMB optimism was rising this year, however, Trump may not be handling the overall picture well. Right now, SMB owners are seeing the downside of his draconian tactics more clearly. The sharp up and down shift is concerning. No one invests in this climate. It’s too risky. I’m all for the US rejuvenation and repatriation, however, US SMB owners are likely staring straight into a Q3 recession with higher inflation.
Find the Opportunity and Reposition Your Company
It’s all about being the new business you need to become. Discover. Reposition. Reconstruct and Power up your Marketing. Delight current customers and new ones and focus on communications and sales conversion.
Optimism Opens the Mind
I live in the Toronto, Ontario region of Canada, and if I can find optimism somehow, then you can too. Trump’s targeted tariffs on Canada are crippling our economy and we’ve been in a recession for almost 2 years. I don’t want to belabor the bleak setting, because the situation is opening up a new pool of expert talent who you can hire — talent you would never have reached previously. This is significant talent who could give you an edge in the marketplace — whether it’s in travel, real estate, manufacturing, or technology software.
Other companies too are weakening, repositioning, and while the dust is settling, there is opportunity.
That’s the silver lining — hiring Canadian talent, with the extra affordability benefits, so the value proposition is very attractive. There are no employee benefits to pay and many freelancers are highly skilled and creative. Let’s review the advantage, if you find real talent:
- acquiring the specific skills and expertise you need right now
- lower salaries (consulting fees)
- no insurance costs
- no employment taxes
- no employee benefits to pay
- no 401k contributions
- no equipment or office rent to pay
- extra funds for PPC campaigns and creative content development
As part of a potential business reorganization, you’re getting plug-in talent with creative, production and execution skills you can’t find in your local market. And in the US, talent is expensive. The key benefit is more funds for improve and active promotion — creating new awareness to new audiences and proving your brand is alive and well.
Without getting into a lengthy Tony Robbins Seminar, let’s quickly review 5 areas of your business to re-evaluate as you head into tougher economic times.
- Your Market Opportunity: is it still there? If not, you need to find and begin branching out to new opportunity. It doesn’t necessarily mean abandoning your travel agency, Real estate business, or giving up on your software product opportunity. It’s about innovating and strategizing. It’s repositioning. You can do new research, ask questions and find out where demand is headed and why customers are making their purchase decisions. For instance, Canadian travelers are avoiding the USA now, and choosing Japan, Mexico, Thailand and Europe. Flexing your travel product selection, travel advisory services, and your brand and marketing to be the best at this new market demand is a good example of flexing and adapting. Absolutely do it!
- Your Company Brand: is your brand getting your value proposition across clearly? Is your brand trying to sell something that isn’t in demand anymore, or which you don’t really want to sell anymore? A likeable, invigorated new brand can give you a new focus and inspire your next phase of business growth. A new brand can give you and your staff a visible lift in spirit and rekindle their emotional drive.
- Your Skills and Talent: are your skills up to date? Have you hired the right people? Are your staff the ones who will take you through the next 5 years? Can your staff lead you and take you to success? Staff who have new key skills, knowledge and ambition are self-driving. You don’t have to motivate them or push them, and instead they pull you and your business into better profitability. Hire these kinds of people and you won’t have to work anymore!
- Your Marketing Commitment: Business is marketing. Marketing determines the need, understands customer intent, and puts funds, resources and time where it is most likely to generate new business. A great marketing plan develops the right brand image, mission, and lays out the marketing and adverting and promotional effort you need. But start with what you can afford to build new marketing content to get your company where the customer traffic is happening.
- Your Growth Plan: Visualize the reach, traffic, learning, leads, revenue and new customers to be generated with your adaptive new plan. Visualize your growth into new products, suppliers, marketing channels, marketing content and media, and building immersion into your new markets whether it’s geographic, user-intent, or new products and services.
Dreaming and Visualization are Powerful Business Tools
Just like with travel shoppers, it’s all about visualization. If your small business is stagnating, it’s likely because you’re not doing enough reading, viewing, dreaming and conversing to get the vision clarified. Imagination is the fountain of innovation. You need to dream more. Once you find your new opportunity positioning, you know there’s demand, and capturing it becomes much easier.
Right now, you’re outside the opportunity circle, trying to harvest meagre returns. Move the circles so there’s more overlap between the market and what you can offer.
Repositioning, rebuilding and marketing won’t happen overnight, which is why we need a strong vision, that can’t be wiped away by the prevailing negative winds out there. It’s a vision of your business on top of consumer and tech trends.
Start Exploring Now
If you’re a travel business owner, start by reviewing travel market demand, and new travel products including tours, trips, and experiences. Evaluate new travel management software and travel marketing software tools, and brush up on how to create great travel content.
If you’re a Realtor, study buyers and sellers separately, identifying the overlap, and reviewing what they want in a Realtor, and what their key home buying drivers are. Read lots and find out what young buyers want and what impresses them about homes.
If you’re a software entrepreneur, review the human user benefits of your software, and use research and analytics to find out why customers aren’t choosing your software. Get rid of the negatives. Power up your software marketing strategy with better content experiences and ultra-targeted PPC campaigns.
Stay focused on that view of your future, and it will pull you through. It’s really the only thing that will get you through the quicksand of negativity and limitation today.
Read more on how to improve your travel agency, and put it into gear with my travel marketing services!
