Running or starting a small business in today’s climate certainly presents its challenges.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, between July 2020 and June 2021, Australian businesses reported a decrease in revenue in all but two months (November and December) of the period. But that doesn’t mean your practice should be contributing to the trend in revenue decline for the remainder of 2021.
So, we’ve outlined the four most prevalent challenges in the conveyancing industry that small businesses face every day, and how to overcome them.
1. Reluctant Business Progression
One of the biggest problems small business owners face, is getting stuck in the comfort zone.
Perhaps your practice has used the same searching tools since it’s inception and you aren’t open or willing to book demonstrations with new and innovative products. Maybe your software is too heavily reliant with manual labour and you’re storing printed files in bulky space sucking boxes.
Taking the lead to business automation and completing a paperless workplace is easier than you think. It may only take 20 minutes of your time searching the market for leading low-cost products which exist today.
Or to consider a few easy steps for turning the office paperless by: using online invoicing to handle client payments; taking digital notes; using a paperless filing system; embracing electronic signatures; and getting your team onboard with becoming a paperless office.
2. Growing Competition
Market research indicates the housing boom of Australia is still well and truly here. Unfortunately, the increase in home buyers is causing one of the biggest challenges small businesses face, growing competition between practices.
While the obvious solution to retaining business may be to satisfy the client, there are many small decisions you and your team can make throughout the conveyancing process to ensure the end result leads to return customers and additional referrals.
Communication and transparency is an easy strategy businesses can take to ensuring the customer is being kept informed at each stage of the matter, and is being sent clear billing information.
3. Poor Web Presence
Web browsing is one of the most popular search tools available and is likely one of the most used avenues for visiting your website. However, poor Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) can seriously impact where your business appears in a web browser.
SEO is the process of making your web content easier to find for help search engines like Google or Bing when it is ranked against similar websites.
This is an ongoing challenge which small business owners will need to overcome if their practice is to compete against larger businesses. Fortunately, there are five easy steps you can follow to improve your SEO.
These include understanding your online customers, using keywords on your website, refreshing your web page content often, gaining links from other websites and including a meta description tag.
4. Time Constraints
Is there ever enough hours in the day to get your work done?
Having time constraints is another small business owner’s nightmare. Especially where satisfying each client in a timely manner is crucial to improving the bottom line.
Fortunately, there are simple strategies to combat time constraints placed on your business that go beyond preaching the idiom ‘work smarter, not harder’.
One effective element to improving your time management is using a platform like triSearch which has developed relationships with external stakeholders to ensure you receive fast turn-around times on documents, especially if they consistently beat industry standard return times.
Another strategy is to ensure your business is using the latest in e-conveyancing tools like triSettle, to ensure every minute is spent productively and not wasted in filling out tedious amounts of text.
Small business owners no doubt face an increasing list of challenges on a day-to-day basis. However, taking simple steps like the ones discussed can help you and your business on the road to success.
For more strategies to overcome your business challenges, property-market updates, CPD opportunities and more, subscribe to The Conveyancer Digest Newsletter today.
