Good enough just not good enough

SMALL businesses using a lack of resources as an excuse not to aim high will struggle, says small business dynamo Naomi Simson.

SMALL businesses using a lack of resources as an excuse not to aim high will struggle to prosper.

That's the message from small business dynamo Naomi Simson.

Ms Simson, the owner of the RedBalloon gift voucher business, said too often people gave up before they even began, citing lack of resources for not being innovative.

Ms Simson, who now employs 56 people in the gift voucher business which began in her Sydney home, said her business was all about the customer.

Ms Simson said the way people spoke about your business and the consistency of how you executed your work was essential to its success.

"I wish I had a dollar for every time someone said that they wished they had started RedBalloon," she said.

Anyone, she said, could have started RedBalloon but the key to its success was in the way the business operated.

She said every contact with the customer, whether it was a phone call or email, could make or break the relationship.

"Good enough is not good enough," she said.

Ms Simson is one of the keynote speakers at next Thursday's Small Business BIG Marketing event.

A feature of the Victorian Small Business Festival, the marketing event was added to the program after feedback from small business operators who were hungry for information about marketing.

It will be at the Melbourne Park Function Centre.