If the thought of “tracking KPIs” makes your eyes glaze over, you’re not alone. For many small business owners, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) sound like something reserved for corporations with big budgets, bigger teams, and even bigger Excel spreadsheets. Who wants the hassle?

But here’s the truth: KPIs are just numbers that tell a story and if you’re not paying attention to them, you’re running your business with the lights off.

The good news? You don’t need 47 dashboards or a data analyst to track the KPIs that matter. You just need to choose a few that tell you whether you’re growing, stalling, or unknowingly throwing money out the window. Consider this article a crash course on basic KPIs.

When you’re building a small business, it’s easy to focus on the day-to-day grind—inventory, customer service, cash flow, and that never-ending inbox. But if you don’t know where you’re going, how will you know if you’re getting there?

That’s where a vision statement comes in. Some businesses think it’s “too corporate” or “too pretentious,” something people do to impress investors. But it’s more than a buzz phrase or a corporate checkbox.

A clear, inspiring vision is your business’s North Star—and one of the most underused tools in small business marketing. Yes, small business marketing. You don’t need to be a giant organization with stockholders to realize the power behind a well-crafted vision statement.

Attracting new customers is important, but building loyalty is where long-term success happens. Loyal customers spend more, visit more often, and refer others. According to business.com, they spend 67% more than first-time customers. Cultivating that loyalty takes more than just great service. It takes creativity, consistency, and value-driven engagement. Whether you run a retail store, restaurant, gym, salon, or professional service firm, there are many inventive ways to reward loyal customers and turn them into your best advocates.

Has this happened to you? Whether online or in-person, there’s a customer who lingers, hesitates. They’re eyeing your item or menu. They’re asking questions about it. You think they’re going to buy and then they walk away or abandon their online cart without making a decision. They don’t say no, they just don’t say yes.

Small businesses everywhere are realizing that success isn’t just about how good your product is—it’s about how connected your customers feel to you and each other. The new growth model that’s gaining serious traction? Community-led growth.

You don’t need a name tag and a stack of business cards to make powerful connections. In fact, some of the best networking happens outside of formal events (even though our events are lots of fun and you should check them out for yourself). As a business owner, every week is different and sometimes you just can’t get it all done. But while event attendance may not always be possible, networking is.

Let’s be real. Elevator pitches can feel like a late-night infomercial–a robotic recitation of what your business does with an added exclamation point at the end. But for business owners and sales professionals, every interaction is an opportunity. A truly effective elevator pitch transcends mere information delivery.

Let’s face it, our daily habits often run on autopilot. We grab coffee from the same place, click the same websites when we shop, and call the same service providers without a second thought. Loyalty is great but what if, just for a moment, we paused and considered the impact of those everyday purchases?

You know the old adage, “It takes money to make money”? While that may be true, marketing and advertising don’t have to cost a fortune. In fact, some of the most effective ways to get your business noticed are either free or surprisingly affordable (especially with the technology available). Whether you’re just getting started or trying to grow on a tight budget, here are 15 creative and cost-effective ideas to boost your visibility and draw in customers.

Since this is Small Business Month, we thought it would be the ideal time to call attention to some of the resources out there for the small business. With an increase in awareness of how important small businesses are to the local and national economies, large businesses are getting into the groove and pledging their support to help small businesses too.

What do Han Solo (Star Wars et al), Walter White (Breaking Bad), and Katniss Everdeen (The Hunger Games) have in common? They’re terribly flawed and we love them for it.

Imperfection can also be a powerful asset for businesses when approached with the right mindset. So stop trying your best to be perfect and embrace imperfection as a way to connect with your customers.

First it was pet insurance and foosball tables. Then it was Friday kegs in the office and goat yoga. While those benefits seemed like frivolous ways to bring fun to the office, the current benefit trend that everyone is talking about actually improves productivity and employee well-being (at least as reported by the employees).

The new year often brings a renewed focus on fresh starts and improved efficiency. Many of us are wondering how we might earn more, be more productive, and enjoy a better work/life balance. But as you’re committing to goals for the new year, consider that what your business may need is some decluttering. It’s time to channel your inner Marie Kondo and tackle not just physical spaces, but also digital files, outdated processes, and even stagnant strategies.

Just like a cluttered home can lead to stress and lost productivity, a cluttered business environment can hinder growth and innovation. 

Here's how you can embrace decluttering for a more successful year.

The new year is the perfect time for beginnings and setting goals. It also makes for good marketing campaigns and changes to your business. There are so many things you can do to provide value for customers and potential customers. If you don’t use this time to try something new, you're leaving money on the table.

If you want more views on your business content, you don’t have to be a celebrity (although that makes things a lot easier). All you have to do is help your audience get to know you, and by doing so, humanize your business.

If you’re the typical small business owner, you began your business with an exciting idea, a passion. No one goes into business thinking, “I can’t wait to work on cash flow challenges.” And yet, cash flow is one of the top reasons businesses close their doors. It’s not that they aren’t making money. It’s that managing it is not everyone’s skill set.

Money management challenges are one of the most critical areas you need to master to be successful.

If you have a small business, you should look at gift cards as a strategic tool—not just for boosting holiday revenue. Gift cards can also help you foster long-term customer relationships and assist you in increasing revenue for today for services rendered or goods purchased in the future.

You have a great business. You offer items/services everyone needs, yet you’re struggling to get people in the door. What can you do?

The market is volatile. No, we’re not talking about stocks. The needs and desires of your audience are evolving, and your business marketing needs to follow suit. If you’re not practicing agile marketing, you’re going to fall behind.

Agile marketing is one of the most crucial aspects of marketing for businesses today. It offers significant advantages in an ever-changing marketplace. And the public’s expectations surrounding it (bet you didn’t know they already expect agility in marketing) can mean a potentially costly mistake for businesses that aren’t implementing it.

If you’re like most businesspeople, finding ways to get names on your emailing list can be exhausting. We all want tons of fans and followers. There’s value behind a list of people who are interested in what you offer. Most businesses start their list with people they know. But if you want to turn your email list into marketing gold, you need to get strangers (who will become potential customers) interested in you. That’s no easy task.

It’s the kind of activity that most of us avoid because the thought of it seems so overwhelming.