Strategy Archives - Strategic Thinktank, Inc. | Your SMB Experts | Consulting services for small and mid-sized businesses https://strategicthinktank.com/category/strategy/ Pivoting... | Stabilizing... | Scaling... your Business - Your SMB Experts Thu, 03 Jul 2025 00:33:49 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://strategicthinktank.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/stglow-trans-favicon2.gif Strategy Archives - Strategic Thinktank, Inc. | Your SMB Experts | Consulting services for small and mid-sized businesses https://strategicthinktank.com/category/strategy/ 32 32 The Great Small Business Paradox: More Entrepreneurs, Fewer Employees https://strategicthinktank.com/the-great-small-business-paradox-more-entrepreneurs-fewer-employees/ Thu, 03 Jul 2025 13:00:00 +0000 https://strategicthinktank.com/?p=25243 The post The Great Small Business Paradox: More Entrepreneurs, Fewer Employees appeared first on Strategic Thinktank, Inc. | Your SMB Experts | Consulting services for small and mid-sized businesses.

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Recent economic data shows: more people are starting businesses, but small business employment declined. According to the SBA’s General Economic Bulletin for First Quarter 2025, self-employment reached 17 million people by late 2024—a record high. Yet small business employment dropped in Q2 2024, marking the first decline since Q3 2023.

What could be driving this? Maybe new entrepreneurs are starting solo and haven’t reached the hiring stage yet. Or perhaps established businesses are pausing hiring due to economic uncertainty. Could be both, or something entirely different. The truth is—we don’t know yet, but the pattern is worth watching. 

Why This Matters

For business owners, this trend could raise questions about growth strategies. If you’re planning to expand, it might be worth considering whether to hire employees or explore ways to scale without adding payroll. The data suggests many entrepreneurs may be finding success staying lean.

From an economic perspective, this pattern might signal a shift toward more capital-efficient business models—or it could reflect broader business uncertainty causing both new entrepreneurs to start cautiously and established businesses to pause hiring. If small businesses continue this pattern, we might see implications for job creation and wage growth.

Strategic Considerations

Near term, consider whether your growth strategy requires immediate hiring or if you can leverage technology, outsourcing, or partnerships to scale first. Monitor your industry—are competitors staying lean or investing in talent? This environment may continue to favor those who can grow efficiently.

 What are you seeing? More solo entrepreneurs or businesses being cautious about hiring? Your real-world observations help make sense of these numbers.

 

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]]> Top 5 Ways to Monitor Your Business Competition https://strategicthinktank.com/top-5-ways-to-monitor-your-business-competition/ Mon, 01 Aug 2022 11:37:51 +0000 https://brickworkindiademo.com/Lola/?p=1027 The post Top 5 Ways to Monitor Your Business Competition appeared first on Strategic Thinktank, Inc. | Your SMB Experts | Consulting services for small and mid-sized businesses.

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In our modern competitive world, it is a good idea to keep track of your competitors. Such activity allows you to take proper measures to keep your business relevant to your market. But what are the best ways to monitor what your competitors are doing? Here are few methods you can use to keep an eye on them.

Mystery Shopping

Purchase an item from your competitor to better understand their customer experience. You can go into a physical store to purchase a product, and assess the seller’s behavior and the general sales process. For online competitors, order an item and examine how you click through the steps, how the product is shipped, and the time taken and how the seller responds to queries. This will give you insights into how your competitor operates and in which areas you may need to improve your service.

Social Media Presence

Most businesses have a social media profile and it can be useful for you to monitor your competitor’s profile. This will provide you with information on how the businesses interact with their customers. Many times businesses share exclusive deals with their followers; this can be a way for you to monitor their marketing strategy.

Google Alerts

You can use Google Alerts to track mentions of your competitor around the web. Google’s system allows you to set up an RSS feed or email notifications to track every time your competitor’s business or brand is mentioned online. This can be a good way to find out what people are saying about the competition and help you to develop appropriate strategies. Don’t forget to set up alerts for your own business as well.

Customer Reviews

Find out how your competitors are doing in their online reviews. Some studies suggest a difference of a single star in a five-star online rating can lead to a 9% change in revenue. Make sure you visit review sites regularly to keep an eye on what customers are saying about both your business and the competition.

Ask Questions

Send your competitor’s support service an email inquiry or make a phone call to ask questions about their products or services. Testing their response and knowledge will give your insight into how good their customer service is, and how long they take to respond. This can be a way to benchmark your own customer service against your competitors.

If you want your business to succeed in this increasingly competitive world, it is important that you keep an eye on your competition. Doing so will help you to maintain an advantage over other businesses.

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