Reputation and Surviving a Small Business

2826 Words6 Pages

Small businesses are now using online sites and social media for promoting their businesses. This makes it easier to reach more consumers and is cheaper, but at the same time exposes them immediately if someone has something bad to say. Some small businesses have failed from reputations, and some have saved their business from a bad reputation. There are many things that contribute to this such as social media, a recall on a product, or a bad online review. In today's society with access to small businesses online and a wealth of information, it is easy for a bad reputation to flood the web.

There are many sites on the web that can hurt and help you. One of these sites is called Yelp. This is a popular online review for businesses. If you search for a business, these reviews pop up under your related topics. One bad review can hurt you small business. There is a lot of discussion on how valid these reviews are. There have been studies that show how small businesses revenue change with the Yelp reviews. If a business is getting a lot of negative reviews, small businesses have seen their business suffer. Although Yelp is a good source of Internet marketing, it can lead a business into shambles. Any online source can be used, but understanding the ramifications of outside source meaning other influences such as saboteurs, rumors, or personal gain to destroy ones reputation by malice. Negative reviews are a business killer due to the fact that people can put their opinion on something so minor that it can misconstrue the business. With websites like Yelp, the small business owner has no way to defend itself from the negative reviews.

With small businesses any negative review can hurt you. You must respond righ...

... middle of paper ...

...ew. (2010) 2nd Street Baking Company Against Mayhem. Retrieved from http://mrpublicrelations.blogspot.com/2010/11/2nd-street-bakery-co-against- mayhem.html.

Showbizspy. (2014) Why Paula Deen Closed Uncle Bubba's Oyster House. Retrieved from http://www.showbizspy.com/article/270745/why-paula-deen-closed-uncle-bubbas- oyster-house.html.

Weber, Larry. (2010), Sticks and Stones: How Digital Business Reputations Are Created Over Time and Lost in a Click. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=ozW7vgkQiiwC&oi=fnd&pg=PR11& dq=small+business+not+surviving+damaged+reputation&ots=QGIYRDBGXw&sig=s 1lcIqluJfO4WNLo5DdI64XsO68#v=onepage&q&f=false.

Zarokian, Pierre. (2013) How Reputation Management Drives Small Business. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylsnappconner/2013/07/07/how-reputation- management-drives-small-business/.

More about Reputation and Surviving a Small Business

Open Document