Sponsored by The UPS Store
It’s no secret that running a small business is challenging. Small business owners are involved in every part of their business, and they give 110% in everything they do.
To celebrate these hardworking small business owners, The UPS Store is launching its annual Small Biz Salute to bring together small business owners to make connections in their communities and provide valuable advice from business experts. Throughout the month of May, you can share your favorite small businesses on social media using the hashtag #SmallBizSalute to recognize and celebrate them for all the hard work they do.
Saluting Small Businesses
The first small business owner I’d like to #SmallBizSalute is Sarah Titus. It was her quick path to blogging success that got my attention, but after learning about her personal life and the struggles she overcame, I was totally blown away by her strength and perseverance. Just four short years ago, Sarah went through a divorce and was living in a homeless shelter with her two kids. Even though her situation was bleak, she never gave up; she kept pushing forward. She found ways to live frugally so she could stay-at-home with her kids. Today, Sarah earns six-figures annually blogging, and she coaches other bloggers so they too can have the option to stay-at-home with their children. You can find out more about Sarah here.
Another woman who deserves a mention is Amanda Goldman-Petri. By the age of 22, Amanda had created a six-figure virtual assistant business—pretty impressive! But what’s even more impressive is that Amanda overcame an abusive childhood and post-traumatic stress from a car accident that almost killed her. Because of these events, she decided to ditch her six-figure virtual assistant business that didn’t give her joy and launch a coaching business which was her real passion. Today, Amanda teaches other entrepreneurs how to work smarter, not harder. If you need a dose of inspiration, check out her full story here.
Providing Resources Small Business Owners Need
In addition to saluting small businesses, The UPS Store is helping small business owners gain access to a resource they want most: marketing their business.
A recent survey by The UPS Store found that one-third of small business owners find marketing to be their biggest business challenge, surpassing time, finances, and people management. And with all of the other responsibilities that come with running a small business, marketing can be last on the to-do list. Marketing often is low on the budgetary totem pole, too, with the majority of respondents (77 percent) only able to spend a quarter of their budget or less on marketing.
Despite this, marketing is a challenge that small business owners know they need to take on to succeed. In the same survey, 75 percent reported that they want to expand their marketing efforts, and more than half said marketing was high on their list of business priorities.
So what’s a small business owner to do?
The UPS Store Can Help
The UPS Store is, which is owned and operated by independent franchisees around the country, solves challenges for busy small business owners every day. There are many services offered by The UPS Store that can help small business owners market their business, including:
1. Marketing services.
The UPS Store provides tools and resources to help small business owners promote and market their business with email marketing, website design, social media, and more.
2. Print services.
Business cards and print materials are a common tool amongst small business owners. Three-fourths of all respondents (75 percent) use business cards to promote their business, along with brochures (27 percent), flyers (22 percent), or direct mail pieces (22 percent). The UPS Store offers online and print services.
3. Mentoring and business management.
Each UPS Store location is locally owned and operated, and franchisees often take an innovative approach to providing unique customer consulting and solutions. The UPS Store also works with SCORE to help build awareness of business mentoring opportunities for small business owners across the country.
For more information on The UPS Store and Small Biz Salute, visit www.theupsstore.com/smallbizsalute.
This is a sponsored post. Please be aware that we can only promote advertising from companies that we feel we can legitimately recommend to our readers.
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