Of factors deemed critical to success, retaining customers ranked highest with 214 respondents. Other high-ranked issues were understanding and using technology (165 respondents), understanding finances (154) and managing cashflow (148).
Darren McGarvie is owner, with wife Rachael, of the Rotorua-based Flair Group of companies, which includes two-year-old marketing and communications business Flair Marketing, a co-working space called Flair Space and McGarvie's recently established business coaching brand.
McGarvie held senior roles in banking in the Bay of Plenty before branching out on his own a couple of years ago and says keeping customers happy and loyal has been vital in growing their young businesses.
"Our businesses are relationship-based and we might work with our customers intensely for three months, six months, 12 months. So it's really important to have those customers happy and engaged with what we're doing for them," he says.
One of the key ways McGarvie says he's been keeping tabs on customer engagement with his new coaching business is through referrals. If someone's willing to recommend you, it's a good indication they like what you're doing, he says.
"You can get a snowball effect from that, because if one person tells five others about the great experience they're having, things can build quickly from there," he says. "I've gone from having one business coaching client when I began, to 20 in six months, and that's purely been through word of mouth."
McGarvie's also an advocate for sharing valuable information and insights with customers as a way to keep them engaged. There are more channels than ever for doing this - such as social media, blogs and email - but there's also a balance to be struck, he says, so you're not just adding to the deluge of information clients receive.
More formal surveys can also be useful to get a greater understanding of how well you're serving customers' needs. Such tools are used every day in the corporate world, he says, but online tools have now made them also much more accessible to small and medium-sized enterprises.
Behind retaining customers, understanding and using technology was the second factor cited by most respondents as critical to success. McGarvie's experience highlights how the two factors can work in synergy to good effect.
He's adopted a number of cloud-based technologies to automate business processes, freeing up more of his time to focus on servicing existing clients and growing their customer base.
Flair Group uses online booking and appointment system Timely for clients using its co-working space, for example. McGarvie's since adopted it for scheduling his coaching appointments. Online tool MinuteDock now tracks his time and integrates with Xero to help streamline invoicing.
"Some of these tools are so accessible, so easy to use and so affordable, you're almost doing yourself a disservice not to use them," he says.
"I think it's probably the single biggest issue when you're a small business owner - how to free up your time so you can think strategically about where you're going.
"There are plenty of things you can get stuck doing that don't add any value to your customer relationships, but at the end of the day that's what it's all about."
