6 Biggest Challenges Facing Small Businesses in the United States and Western Europe
Small businesses face a number of challenges in the United States and Western Europe. Whether you're just starting out or have been operating for decades, there are always new hurdles to overcome. In this article we'll look at 5 of the biggest business challenges facing small businesses today as well as tips on how to overcome them.
Overcoming Business Challenges in the United States
When it comes to complying with regulations, most small businesses have to hire professionals who are experienced with navigating red tape.
The US government has also created different policies that have made it more difficult for new companies to enter the marketplace. Taxes are another big challenge for small businesses in the USA. These taxes can include payroll taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, inventory taxes, etc.; you have to collect all of these taxes if you want your company to survive.
In recent years, there's been a huge increase in the number of people who are starting their own businesses. Some start out with a fresh idea or new way to do things that they hope will give them an edge over competitors. Others have a skill they want to turn into profit by starting their own company. And still others want independence from working for someone else and prefer to strike out on their own as entrepreneurs.
What these new entrepreneurs all have in common is the need to work hard at setting up and running their companies, which can be challenging enough on its own without having any other issues come up along the way. But some problems are so big that it's difficult for small business owners not to feel overwhelmed by them – even those who have been in business for years may have to learn how to overcome them all over again.
Manuel D was a small business owner in the United States and he had one of the most difficult jobs. He needed to deliver his goods, but there were so many obstacles on his way. There were bridges that led nowhere, roads that ended abruptly, and people with strange habits who would only buy from him for ridiculous prices. It seemed like everything was against him. These challenges were rather smaller compared to the majors yet unfolded
The biggest challenges facing small businesses today include:
Poor Money Management Skills
Even if you have money to start your business, how do you know what to spend it on? How much should go towards overhead expenses like rent and utilities, advertising, inventory, payroll & benefits? And how much can be spent on developing new products or services before the venture becomes unprofitable? No matter which of these categories your budget falls into – or whether there are more than one in some cases – making sure that all of this is carefully planned out beforehand will help avoid financial setbacks later.
Having a great idea for a product or service doesn't mean anything unless someone agrees to buy it from you. The best way to bring customers in and keep them coming back is by creating an effective marketing strategy and sticking with it until it starts to pay off.
Dependency on Founder
Some small businesses are started by their founders, who usually work alone or with one other person at first, which means they have complete control over the direction of the business and tend to make all of their own decisions without input from anyone else.
As a company grows bigger however – especially if it becomes successful enough that you decide to expand into new markets or hire additional staff members – this approach can become problematic because not everyone shares your vision for where things need to go next.
When this happens, some entrepreneurs find themselves dealing with employees who don't agree with them about what needs done in order for the company to keep growing successfully.
The Economy
The economy is another important factor, both because it affects how much money people have to spend on goods and services, as well as what kinds of products are likely to sell or remain popular during any given season. Forecasting these trends accurately can help small businesses stay afloat when times get hard by adjusting their product lines accordingly so that there's something available for everyone at all price points throughout the year.
Whether we like it or not as entrepreneurs, our businesses are affected by the general state of economic affairs around us. There may come a time when yours needs a boost from government assistance programs in order to survive downturns in consumer spending power; this often happens during recessions that last longer than expected due largely to
Tax Compliance
Over the past few decades there have been lots of changes to tax laws in both Western Europe and North America.
These changes can include everything from new deductions or credits for businesses that meet certain criteria, to increases in rates on income taxes, sales & property taxes as well as payroll-related levies like CPP/EI premiums.
Small business owners who are unaware of all these changes may find themselves running afoul of authorities because they haven't kept up with what's required going forward.
They might file their returns incorrectly which could lead to penalties later on if a mistake is detected by a government agency down the road.
Or worse still – depending on how much was reported incorrectly and whether it involved evasion rather than just an honest mistake – they could face criminal charges that will need to be dealt with in the future.
The Government Policy
In addition to the challenges faced by small businesses in Western Europe and North America, you will want to consider how much influence your government has on your business.
Some governments require that all local businesses hire a certain percentage of their workforce from within the country or region they operate in; this can create problems if there is an insufficient number of qualified workers available locally at any given time, which means companies may have trouble filling vacant positions when necessary. The Government Policy
In addition to changes related to taxation mentioned above, it's important for entrepreneurs everywhere to keep up with current legislation being introduced because these policies have been known come into force without warning – leading some owners who fail to take notice lose out on potential opportunities due mainly lack not knowing what they need to do in order to remain compliant.
Client Dependency
The last thing you want is for your business be dependent on any one client or customer, because then the entire company's future success becomes hostage to their whims and possible decisions.
Even if you're lucky enough that this scenario never happens with anyone, there are still certain types of customers who can cause problems like suddenly finding themselves facing an economic crisis which leads them stop buying from everyone else as well – including your small business. That being said, it's important not become too paranoid about the possibility of losing a key client when building out new products or services; even giants like Apple have found themselves scrambling when former partners decided to cut ties with them unexpectedly!
Conclusion
What can you do to protect yourself and your business from these challenges?
The first step is knowing the risks that exist, which we've outlined for you in this article.
Once you're aware of what they are, it's easier to plan how best to deal with them as a small business owner. We hope reading through our insights has made things clearer and now armed with knowledge about what could happen next – good or bad – your imagination should be running wild on ways you'll want to start preparing for any possible scenario.
Whether it's diversifying your product lines so there's something available at all price points throughout the year, keeping up-to-date on changes being introduced by governments near and far, or developing contingency plans just in case an important client goes belly up, the more you do right now to keep your business's future a bright one!
