Starting a new business, no matter where you are in the world or what scale you’re starting at, needs a few key things above all else. You need to have a solid concept and a clear plan forward, but beyond those two things, what you’ll be looking to build up most quickly is your reputation. With that said, building a strong reputation in a sea of other entrepreneurs is easier said than done, so here are a few important points you should be looking at.
Certification
It is one thing to boast to customers how strong your product or service is, but it’s an entirely different situation when you have an external group able to back you up on it. Certification can come in many forms, from showing food products are Fair Trade to proving your games of chance are fair and unbiased. On that last point, industries like casino are built on certification, particularly from independent groups. When a provider like Betfair lists the best RTP slots to play, having the numbers and assessments to back that up is one of the core qualities that their customers look for.
No matter what industry your business is, it is always a great idea to get a 3rd-party group or official assessment behind you as soon as possible. Even basic certification can set you above the large portion of your competitors who didn’t put that much importance on it.
Dedicated Customer Service
Customer service is a given aspect of all businesses and few startups wouldn’t cover it in some way. However, those companies with a particularly small staff list often hand it off to whoever is available rather than have a dedicated staff member on it. The reason this is so critical is that, of all the aspects of your business’s reputation, the perception of how you treat customers is the hardest one to fix if it ever becomes negative.
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On the other hand, starting out and building your reputation around customer service can create incredible opportunities. The general buying public have a long memory both for negative and positive experiences, and starting out strong can cement you as a positive force.
Happy Employees
A relatively new trend in business has seen companies being more and more critically judged on how they treat their employees. Customers are more frequently choosing to send their business towards companies with excellent records on employee job quality, and with employees now more able than ever to talk about their experiences, keeping things open and transparent is much preferred.
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Of course, there is no single answer to improving employee experiences and that is a topic of extensive research and ongoing debate. However, things like wages, work hours, and flexibility are all greatly appreciated as a starting point. Keep in mind that the opposite is equally true as well; recent news has shown how much of a backlash negative experiences can produce.
It should be mentioned that there are always elements of both luck and charisma involved in reputation building, but the above points that you can actively control are all worth looking into if you haven’t already.
