Issue 22 - Winter 2025

Tips to Make Your Small Business a Success in 2025

When starting out, knowing where to focus to make your small business a success can be difficult. 

At Essendon, we work with businesses of all sizes as their business godparent, providing help and advice and being a great accounting partner. 

Throughout 2024 and into 2025, everyone is feeling the pinch. What are the best ways to invest your budget? And where can you rely on third parties? To help you out, we have provided our top tips on how to make your small business a success in 2025

7 Top Tips to Make Your Small Business a Success in 2025

Throughout our time working with different businesses, we have gained insight into different industries and business types. With this in mind – here are our 7 top tips for a successful small business.

1. Buying from you needs to be easy

In 2025, everyone is busy – and that includes your customers. One of the biggest steps to success is ensuring that buying from your business is easy. Don’t make your customers jump through hoops to complete their purchase. 

If your sales can be completed online, ask for only the information you require; don’t make the forms longer than they have to be. You should also offer as many different ways to pay as possible. PayPal, ShopPay, Stripe, Klarna, etc., are great options. 

You should also make sure that your “Buy,” “Book,” and “Proceed to Checkout” buttons are all easy to see and within the perimeters of your website screen—sometimes, a scroll is all that separates someone from making a purchase.  

If your small business relies on in-person sales, make sure you are doing all you can to make it easy for your buyer. Choose an accessible location, think about parking or travel, and make sure you are set up to take card payments as well as cash. 

All of these elements will encourage your users to buy from you, and the easier you make it, the more successful your business will be.  

2. Analyse your Spending 

You don’t have to be a qualified accountant to analyse your spending. Make sure you’re keeping tabs on where your money is going, and cut out the things you no longer need. This could include subscription packages for software, shipping costs, wholesale rather than retail, etc. 

At Essendon, we can help you categorise your spending to determine what is required and what could be cut. 

3. Stay on Top of the Latest Marketing Trends

The most successful businesses grow with the world around them. You need to know who your audience is and where they are. To do this, you need to stay on top of the latest marketing trends. That way, you can maximise your marketing efforts on the channels they are using and avoid wasting time trying to boost yourself on the wrong platform. 

It’s also important to consider each trend, space and platform and make sure that it fits with your brand values. Yes, your audience might be there, but if your brand occupies that space, then are you going to be giving the right impression. 

To keep up with marketing trends in your industry, you could partner with a marketing agency. They will often know what is coming before it hits the business space. You could also join communities and follow industry leaders on LinkedIn and other social channels. 

We would advise proceeding with caution when it comes to marketing trends. Make sure you do your research thoroughly to increase your success. 

4. Don’t be Afraid to Delegate  

When you’re running a small business, it can often feel like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. It’s important to remember that there are other people who can help you out – you don’t have to do everything yourself. 

There are several elements of business that you can delegate – whether that’s in-house or to an agency. At Essendon, we can help with all areas of your Accounts and Tax. So tasks like bookkeeping, payroll, management accounts, tax returns, etc, are all things we can do for you. 

You could also work with marketing agencies, business consultants, and sales experts, hire a personal assistant, etc. When you feel overwhelmed and need some support, the best place to start is – what tasks can be delegated. 

5. Customer Service is Key

Although this may seem like an obvious way to make your business a success, it is still one of the most effective points to keep at the forefront of your business. Providing great customer service not only enhances the experience but also encourages retention and repeated use of your business. 

Ways to provide great customer service include:

• Always consider your customers 
• Respond to queries promptly
• Don’t ignore negative comments – try to fix them instead
• Take time to know your customers and clients 
• Engaging in friendly conversation is always an added bonus

6. Look into Automation  

Don’t forget the huge advancements there have been in technology and automation in the last 12 months. You can use this to your advantage and automate some of your business tasks. 

AI is becoming more and more used within business, so make sure your business isn’t left behind. 

7. Understand Cash Flow

Understanding cash flow is an underrated business skill. But the reality is that if you don’t have enough cash coming in, you won’t be able to keep on top of your outgoings. This is one of the biggest pitfalls of businesses and can be why they fail in their first year. 

Make sure you are tracking your income and expenses in real-time. You can invest in some accounting software to help you with this – Xero is a great choice. You can then use this information to understand where your peaks and troughs are throughout the year and use forecasting to ensure you have cash in the bank to cover your lower business months. 

This is another service that Essendon can help you out with. Contact us today, we can handle the cash flow so you have more time to focus on your business.

Work with Essendon 

If you’re running a small business and would like to know more about any of the points in this article, then contact our team today.