In the United States alone, 99% of all businesses are considered small businesses but within the category itself, businesses can range in size. Many small businesses require teams of employees to perform job related tasks and some form of leadership is necessary to manage performance and attain established metrics. Small business owners understand how important quality leadership is and depend on skilled managers and supervisors to bring teams together to run and grow the business. In 2025, small business leadership teams can focus on certain areas of the operation to improve performance and accuracy to control costs and drive revenue generation. As optimism increases among small business owners, the priority will shift to maximizing each customer interaction while driving efficiency and productivity with existing resources and human assets.

Increasing Individual Abilities

The mere size of small businesses is somewhat of a disadvantage in that operational inefficiency has a greater impact than larger businesses. Increasing operational costs such as rent, utilities and cost of goods can add to the negative impacts if day to day operations do not run smoothly and efficiently. Small businesses have always ‘done more with less’ and that adage applies to the human assets of the business. For the new year, priorities for small business leadership will be to highlight individual abilities and address training and skills gaps that could potentially negatively impact business productivity and profitability. Upskilling and reskilling are cost effective ways to increase the capabilities of individuals on the team and will drive productivity and accuracy in day to day operations. Developing advanced organizational habits and communication skills along with learning new business processes will expand employee ability and improve work related accuracy and output. Focusing on individual development yields benefits in morale and worker experiences in addition to the positive impacts on costs related to hiring and turnover, revenue generation and overall profitability.

The Pulse of the Business

Successful small businesses start with success oriented ‘cultures’. Some questions that owner and managers can ask are:

Does my team understand how important customer service is to this business?

Does my team understand how important it is to openly communicate?

Does my team understand how important cost controls are?

Building a positive and focused culture is an uphill climb that takes time to reach its intended audience. Defining policies and processes for areas that are important to the particular business is the starting point to building culture. The second and most important part is leading by example to visualize and illustrate the importance of the idea and practical applications. Owners and managers can employ advanced communication skills to ‘take the pulse’ of the business to fully understand where individuals are in their mindset. Constant and consistent application of processes and ‘culture points’ are essential to get individuals on board with the desired direction of the business.

Managing Brand Presence

Marketing and brand presence are key priorities for small business owners and leadership. As more consumers turn to the internet for product and service research, small business brands are utilizing different channels to market their goods and services. Mobile device usage continues to ramp up and consumers are using smartphones more frequently for common daily tasks such as purchases, product research and public recommendations / reviews. Small businesses can gain greater brand presence by engaging social media platforms and their users on a consistent basis. Many small businesses utilize social media platforms as a customer service channel and it is critical to monitor and manage these interactions. Organization of time and efforts are key factors in the success of outward marketing campaigns and social media engagement.

The Bottom Line

While most small businesses have only 1 owner / employee, many organizations maintain multi-person teams for day to day operations. Skilled and capable managers and supervisors are critical for managing team and individual performance as well as driving productivity and efficiency. Small business leadership has much more impact on business performance and can affect profitability and revenue generation. Supervisors and managers inside small businesses can also wear many hats akin to owners and may work directly on facets such as training, development, goal setting and strategy, marketing and customer service. For the new year, small business leadership can focus on specific areas that maximize customer interactions, increase marketing presence and control costs associated with day to day operations.