Small business problems and solutions
Fees paid to apps, customers lost to missed calls and search, hours lost to admin, and what fixes each.
Start a projectFees you pay others
Commissions, lead charges and monthly software bills taken out of every sale.
- Delivery app feesA commission on every app order.
- Marketplace seller feesWhat eBay, TCGplayer and Etsy keep from each sale.
- Lead platform feesPaying per lead, whether or not the job happens.
- Platform fees comparedEight platforms' published rates side by side, each with its source.
- Too many subscriptionsA monthly bill for every tool, and none connect.
Customers you lose
The calls, searches, reviews, pages and ads that send buyers elsewhere.
- Missed callsCalls missed mid-job, at rush hour or after closing.
- Not found on GoogleA listing or site Google cannot match to your services.
- More Google reviewsToo few reviews, and complaints left without a reply.
- Website not getting leadsVisitors who leave without calling, booking or ordering.
- Ads not convertingAd spend with no calls or forms to show for it.
Time you lose
Scheduling, quoting, vetting and taking payment by hand.
- Back-and-forth schedulingSettling one appointment through a string of calls and texts.
- Instant quotesThe price shown on the page before anyone calls.
- Screening customersChecking customers against your rules before they book.
- Online orders and paymentsTaking money on your own site, at the moment customers commit.
Agencies that let you down
When the people you paid hold your site or show nothing for it.
Small business growth questions.
What are common problems for small businesses?
The common ones are app and platform fees, unanswered calls, a Google listing that does not show, and hours lost to scheduling. None of them appears on the books as a single line, which is why they last. Each has its own page in the list above, with what it costs and what we build for it. Cash flow and hiring matter as much, but no website fixes those.
How do I get more customers for my business?
Win the buyers who are already searching before you chase new ones. That means a Google listing with the right categories and current hours, a page for each service you sell, a phone that gets answered, and a way to book or order without calling. Fix whichever of those is weakest first; the problem pages above show how to check each one.
How do I grow my small business online?
Move the steps a customer takes onto your own site, then make sure search can find them. Growth online mostly comes from removing detours: a phone call just to learn a price, an app that keeps the customer, a booking that takes a string of messages. Every detour you replace with a page of your own keeps the buyer, and the next sale, with you.
Why is my small business not growing?
Growth usually stalls at one step: buyers never find the business, find it but cannot reach anyone, or reach it but cannot buy easily. Check each step yourself. Search Google for your service without your name, count last week's unanswered calls, and try booking or ordering on your phone without calling. The step that fails is where the growth went, and the matching page above covers the fix.
How do I find customers online?
Be found where buyers already search: your Google Business Profile, and a website with a page for each thing you sell. Those two answer the searches that name your service. Paid ads buy a place in the searches you do not show up for yet. After that, speed decides it: reply to every message and call the same day, because a buyer who waits keeps looking.
How do I get more foot traffic to my store?
Make the visit easy to decide on from a phone: correct hours on Google, what you sell online, and directions one tap away. Then give people a reason to come now, such as ordering ahead or booking a time. A listing that says closed when you are open loses the visit before anyone leaves home. Answered reviews and current photos give a nearby shopper one more reason to pick you.