Small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are fundamental to modern life, providing goods and services that people use every day. They often give customers more personal attention and specialize in a select range of goods or services. 

But what is considered a small business? And how do they differ from an enterprise company? Let’s look closely at SMBs and enterprises to understand their distinctions better. 

What Is a Small Business?

Depending on the industry, a small business refers to companies with fewer than 1,500 employees and typically less than $50 million in annual revenue. Examples of small businesses include small retail stores, restaurants, plumbers, electricians, service providers, independent contractors, consultants, and freelancers.  

Small businesses are often B2C (business-to-consumer) operations that sell products directly to consumers or B2B (business-to-business) operations that provide services to other businesses. Smaller companies may also have few staff members or only one employee, the owner. 

Many small-to-medium businesses are incredibly adaptable in their operations, from the home office to renting out space and having a physical presence. The wide selection of resources available provides SMBs with everything they need to take an idea and make it into something truly successful.

SMB vs. Enterprise  

The most recognizable difference between SMBs and enterprise companies is their size. Enterprise organizations often establish global reach with annual revenue surpassing $50 million, multiple locations worldwide, and an average of 500 or more employees. 

In addition to physical size, market focus also separates SMBs from enterprises. While SMBs may focus on a single sector or industry, enterprise companies typically operate in several markets simultaneously, providing their customers with a wide range of services and products with the capability to invest in research that leads to groundbreaking developments.

Small businesses might have the disadvantage of being smaller than large corporations, but their size can be their greatest asset. Smaller companies have quite a few advantages that larger enterprises do not.

1. 1. 1. 1. Small businesses can be more agile when enacting changes and reacting to new trends in the business market. 
         2. Small companies are also better equipped to personalize their product or services because staffing is often more streamlined. 
         3. Small business owners also tend to be more involved on a daily basis with the operations of their company compared to large corporate counterparts, who could quickly lose track of critical, pivotal decisions being made on lower levels within their organization. 
         4. Because they’re less accountable to shareholders and other stakeholders, small business owners have far greater autonomy when it comes to decision-making, allowing them to focus on serving their clients or customers better than big companies. 
         5. Additionally, because workforces may be smaller at a small business, staff at all levels have the opportunity to learn a wide range of skills, allowing them to expand their horizons beyond what is normally expected from an employee of a massive company. 

Small businesses may appear to have the odds stacked against them, but they can quickly turn this adversity into an advantage. These smaller organizations often make more with less through a sharp focus on agility and cost efficiency. However, they are still prone to day-to-day challenges.

Small Business Pain Points

Small businesses face significant hurdles when competing with large enterprise companies. From having access to resources and capital to sheer size and influence in the market, larger companies often hold an edge. 

Many small businesses face an uphill battle against huge corporations that often dominate their niches. It is hard for the smaller players to make a name for themselves, but if they can find creative ways to market their services and stand out from the competition, success is definitely possible.

Other difficulties include establishing and maintaining trust with consumers; customers tend to lean towards more prominent brands due to their perceived reliability and eye-catching advertising. However, small businesses can utilize technology to create advertising campaigns and a unique customer experience. 

Additionally, smaller companies frequently struggle to attract top talent since they only sometimes have the means to offer high salaries or benefits packages that can match what big businesses provide. But leveraging data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) are ways to work more effectively and efficiently with a small team. 

These obstacles make it difficult for small businesses to sustain a profitable operation and compete on an even footing with large enterprise companies. But overall, this gap is getting smaller.

Closer Than Ever

In the past, small businesses found themselves at a significant disadvantage to larger enterprises when it came to staying competitive. SMBs lacked the resources, technology, and sophisticated systems that large companies could access, making it challenging to keep up with their bigger rivals. Consequently, there was a wide gap between SMBs and enterprise companies in terms of security, accounting, and financial management, cloud technology, customer service, and many other areas. 

Today, thanks to technological advancements such as cloud computing and DXPs, the gap between SMBs and enterprise companies has narrowed significantly. Now more than ever, small businesses have the same access to sophisticated technology as larger companies without investing in expensive infrastructure or specialized staff. This means SMBs now have greater control over their operations while reducing costs. 

As SMBs become more competitively positioned with their larger counterparts, they must take cyber security more seriously than ever before. Using tools such as managed firewalls and encryption services, they can protect their sensitive data from malicious actors while protecting customers’ personal information in compliance with industry regulations. 

Furthermore, keeping up with accounting and financial management is crucial for smaller businesses as they seek to remain agile in an ever-changing landscape. By automating standard processes such as invoicing, payroll, and bill payments, SMBs can save time while freeing up resources for other projects. 

In addition to focusing on security and financial management, it’s also vital for small businesses of today to understand the customer journey if they want to stay ahead of the competition with larger firms. The ability to track customer activity across all channels, from website visits to app downloads, is essential for gaining insights into customers’ behavior to improve marketing campaigns or overall company initiatives. 

 

Helping small businesses is our core mission at FINSYNC. Centralize your accounting, payroll, and cash flow management on our all-in-one platform.

Tap into the hidden power behind your marketing agency’s success! Get a comprehensive knowledge of how to calculate profits, allowing you to make smart investments that will maximize returns. Now is the time to uncover profitable opportunities and grow your business like never before.

This article reveals the challenges within the digital marketing industry, keeping up with technology and pricing changes and calculating the key metrics you should be tracking to determine your business’s profitability.  

Challenges

Calculating the profitability of a digital marketing agency is no small feat. With multiple interconnected income streams from different services and clients, measuring a real return on investment can be very complex. 

Add to this the dynamic nature of a digital agency, in which new product offerings, changing advertising strategies, and rapidly evolving trends can lead to unpredictable fluctuations in income and costs. 

Despite the complexity of the task, it’s still crucial for agencies to gather this data periodically so they can plan appropriately and make knowledgeable decisions that help them sustainably grow their business. 

Pricing Switch

As technology continues to impact many industries, the digital industry has been particularly affected in recent years. Many businesses are moving away from time-based billing and opting for flat-rate pricing models. 

• • • • Time-based billing measures progress by answering the question, “How long did this project take?”
      • Value-based pricing recognizes that particular work may require more or less time, depending on individual variables, and places a greater focus on the perceived benefits of a job. 
      • Flat rate pricing goes one step further by lumping deliverables into established packages with fixed prices. 

Moving away from charging for specific hours produces a win-win situation for both customers and vendors. Customers will know how much they will consistently pay, while agencies can predict revenue and more easily set competitive prices without worrying about chasing hours for payment. 

As businesses become more creative about how they charge for their services, these new models will drive innovation in the digital industry for some time. 

However, your agency’s success depends directly on your profitability. Let’s explore the steps needed for this essential process.

Gross Profit Margin (GPM) 

The first metric to consider is gross profit margin or GPM. Gross profit margin is a great way to gain insight into the efficiency of your business operations. By subtracting costs directly related to production from total revenue, you can get an accurate representation of efficiency; if the GPM percentage increases, then your processes become more profitable.

Project Scope 

Determining gross profitability at the client or project level can be a valuable tool for understanding the financial performance of your business. Accounting software programs like FINSYNC offer an easy way to track this data, providing insightful metrics that allow you to assess better how much value each customer is bringing in and how cost-efficiently you are running your operations. 

As part of your analytics inventory, this knowledge will provide you with a clear roadmap to success. Understanding gross profitability and overall project scope, a process that helps determine the overall project goals, can empower you to refine your budgeting measures and make decisions that drive increased profit and return on investment (ROI).

Marketing Agency Rule of Thirds

What is a successful marketing agency’s gross profit margin? Here we coin an old photography phrase, the rule of thirds, which has adapted to several different industries. This simple concept suggests that your business income should be divided into thirds. One-third is directly transferred to your employee wages, one-third to overhead, and the final third is your desired profit margin. 

The rule of thirds permits businesses to make enough profit while still having the resources to build their agencies in other areas. It also encourages reinvestment so agencies can continually improve while still having room for revenue growth. Finally, this method allows you to adapt quickly if market conditions change. 

Knowing what ideal profit margin you would like to achieve before determining expenses can be instrumental in setting yourself up for long-term success in the digital marketing space. Overall, marketing agencies often succeed with net profit margins ranging from 6-10%, with digital firms pushing the envelope even further, achieving 20% net profit or higher.

Conclusion 

At the end of the day, your business boils down to one thing – profit. Gross Profitability and strategic project scope give us a vivid reflection of how well your efforts are performing. This information can then be used to target resources, drive decision-making, and inform future projects in a way that keeps the company running efficiently and successfully. 

Furthermore, state-of-the-art accounting software helps businesses go beyond simple revenue and cost analyses to drill down into the details of their performance. Utilizing gross profit metrics and project or client costing insights gives business owners invaluable information on what’s leading them toward greater success.

 

FINSYNC continues to assist businesses in staying ahead of their competitors. Don’t miss out on future tips and tricks. Sign up for our small business blog. 

 

Managing a small business is no easy feat. From managing cash flow and employees to keeping customers satisfied, entrepreneurs must juggle multiple tasks to keep their businesses up and running. Whether it be a point solution or a platform-based foundation, organization is critical, and a consistent process must be utilized. 

With the vast array of tools available, modernizing your operations with technology can be overwhelming. Finding what fits best for you amidst all this noise is key to effortlessly optimizing business processes and increasing efficiency.

Do you need a platform or point solution? What’s the difference between the two, and which is right for your business? Keep reading to learn more.

What is a Point Solution?  

A point solution is a single software application that serves a specific purpose, such as Skype or Slack. These software solutions are typically easy to set up and self-contained, with no additional programs required to run and use, but have little customizability or scalability. Point solutions might be right for businesses with very specific needs that can be met by one particular application. 

Point Solution Pros and Cons

Point solutions have a few advantages over platforms regarding running your business. First, point software is designed for specific tasks, so it tends to be simpler to use than platforms, even for people with little technical expertise. 

However, some disadvantages are associated with using point solutions compared to platforms for your business needs. 

Initially, software presents a convenient approach to completing specific tasks, yet its lack of flexibility can prevent it from having the extensive capabilities that platforms provide. 

Also, while most software programs offer regular updates and security patches free of charge, some older programs may no longer receive these updates. This older, outdated software can sometimes leave your business vulnerable if you continue using them. 

A great example of this is running an old, out-of-date accounting software like Quickbooks Desktop that is not cloud-based or even online. It is imperative to resolve this situation by switching to newer versions or an alternative program if you are currently in this situation. 

Platform Solution

A platform is a type of software that provides a foundation on which other applications can be built. Developers often use platforms to create new applications or house existing applications in one place. However, businesses can also use them to develop internal tools, APIs, or integrations with other systems. Popular examples of platforms include SalesForce, HubSpot, and Google’s Android operating system.

Advantages of Using a Platform

There are several advantages to using a platform over traditional software for your business:

1. 1. 1. 1. Platforms tend to be more flexible than software. This means that you can often customize them to fit your unique needs.
         2. Because platforms are designed to support multiple applications, they offer greater functionality than most software programs.
         3. Platforms are often easier to use than software because they provide users with a consistent interface across all applications.

Many businesses have begun to rely on platforms for their operations instead of traditional software. This shift has provided more benefits, including cost savings, improved performance, and better customer experience.

Scalability

With a platform solution, you can easily scale up or down as needed to meet the demands of your changing business needs. For example, suppose you need additional users or employees or have access to new features such as payroll. A platform solution allows you to purchase these without buying an entirely new system or worrying about compatibility issues with existing systems. 

This built-in flexibility helps ensure that your business remains agile, allowing you to pivot quickly when faced with changes, demand shifts, or other outside influences. Platform solutions can provide an excellent foundation for businesses looking for agility and flexibility in the ever-changing market.

Time Savings & Security 

Protecting your data is paramount, and platform solutions are designed to keep it secure. They’re hosted on highly guarded servers with built-in firewalls and safeguards against cyber security threats like malicious software or data breaches, giving you the utmost peace of mind that your information stays safe.

Additionally, because everything is under one roof with platform solution providers, including customer service, this removes the need for managing multiple vendors who offer point solution services which can save time in the long run.

Conclusion

When looking for an accounting service that is easy to use and offers all the benefits of point solutions and platform integration, look no further. FINSYNC’s business platform gives you the best of both worlds. You get user-friendly software with an all-in-one convenience explicitly designed for small businesses like yours. 

We know firsthand how challenging it can be to start your own business, especially on a tight budget. That’s why we offer a powerful platform with affordable packages that will fit any size company regardless of their financial situation. 

 

FINSYNC is the only all-in-one platform that helps businesses sync all their finances, centralize cash flow control, and automate payments and payroll for your organization.