What are some of the biggest marketing concerns for small business?

[my2cents]

As a small business owner, what would say are some of the biggest concerns or obstacles small businesses face when marketing?

[got it]

Let me give you an example by looking at a restaurant. More to think of then just marketing, but marketing is important. I hope these thoughts help you. You can take out food related items and insert your business, the process is what i want you to think of.

I have opened many restaurants. Here are some things to really think about.
What kind of experience do you have?
What will your menu look like?
What do you think your food cost will be?
How will you train your staff?
Where will you hire them from?
Where is the stores location?
What if the traffic like in that area?
What will the equipment package cost?
What willl your intial inventory cost?
What level of operating captial will you need?
What vendors will you purchase your supplies from?
What will be their payment terms?
What is your marketing plan?
Will you take credit cards?
Who will process those transactions and what are the associated cost?
Where are your proforma income and expense statements?
What will be your average check?
What are you projecting as your customer count?
What type of contigency plan will you have if your average check and customer count are not met?
Who will get certified as a sanatarian so you are in compliance with health department?
Have you thought about the insurances you need? ie customer falls, get sick, store burns down?
What will you sinage package look like?
What will be the hours of operation?
What systems will you use to control labor cost?
What systems will you use to control food cost?
What will be your breakeven sales cost?
Who will fix your equipment?
Now, i have not gotten into if you can cook or train people to cook, or if you know anything about even operating a restaurant. There is a lot to think of and this is no where near complete. now you see why so many fail - people failed to plan. my advice, go work in one at every station, manage one - learn from someone who has done it, copy the good toss the bad. I hope this helps, sorry i did not spell check

[mlb217]

Well, I would say that most small businesses face the obstacle of getting their advertising messages out to their target audiences while still being able to keep within a budget.

Traditional media outlets like TV, radio, and print can be costly and may not give you the return on investment that you need to stay successful.

However, choosing to invest in online marketing efforts like a quality web site, search engine optimization, social media optimization, e-mail marketing, and pay-per-click advertising could be a better option for small businesses looking to compete and get their messages out there without going over their budgets.

[kkpalmtree]

For the small business today, the selling environment is tough, and it gets tougher every day. Marketing strategies that once worked don't work anymore and the economy is making it that much more difficult for the small business. Most small business should start implementing new marketing and sales strategies.