The first year of business is an exhilarating time. However, the obstacles and failures during that first year can be overwhelming, and many times, unforeseen. Certain dilemmas are more serious than others, and depending on your course of action, can have devastating effects on your business.

In the case of Kitchen Cabinet Kings, an online distributor of kitchen and bathroom cabinets nationwide, our biggest obstacle took the form of making customers comfortable enough with the idea of placing large purchases with our young and relatively unknown company. We had been smart with our online marketing, so our web traffic was excellent, but for some reason, sales were lagging behind. After a few focus groups we quickly discovered that customers were hesitant to purchase from our company because we did not have an established reputation in the home improvement industry.

Here's the five-step action plan we implemented to improve customer confidence and increase sales, and how you can too:

1. Establish industry expertise. We needed to begin establishing Kitchen Cabinet Kings as an industry leader, so we added a kitchen and bathroom remodeling blog to our website. Today, our blog is one of the most active and informative blogs in the kitchen and bathroom industry, geared toward educating consumers on all aspects of renovations.
2. Join the right associations. The next step we took was joining national organizations widely recognized by consumers in the kitchen and bath industry. The NKBA (National Kitchen and Bath Association) and the KCMA (Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturer's Association) were the perfect fits for us. Once we were accredited, we quickly displayed their badges on our website. These field specific administrations demonstrate to our customers our commitment to the industry and the upholding of quality standards.
3. Provide outstanding customer service. We looked internally to ensure we provided superior customer service across all mediums. Our live support instant chat messaging system is a huge success, allowing customers to get their questions answered in real time by qualified professionals. Whether our customers preferred traditional methods of communication such as phone or fax, or new wave communication via email and through various social medial outlets, our company mission is to respond quickly and attentively.
4. Get active in forums. In an effort to engage our target market, we located home improvement forums and industry blogs. On the forums, we post informational articles and answer questions to help individuals on specific home improvement projects. On the industry blogs, we were able to make arrangements with website administrators to post guest blogs on various topics within our industry and communicate with our target market via blog comments. These efforts increase our brand awareness and help establish our company as a thought leader in the industry.
5. Collect testimonials. Consumers often feel more comfortable purchasing from a company if they see positive reviews from other satisfied customers. We contacted our customer base and asked them if they would provide honest feedback of their experience with our company. We asked them to provide pictures of finished kitchens along with a short 2-3 sentence testimonial of their experience. We were even able to obtain video testimonials from some of our more tech savvy customers.

Gaining credibility in such an ever growing field like the home improvement industry is definitely no easy feat; we work around the clock to establish a reputation that makes our customers feel not only comfortable, but excited to work with us. The reputation and credibility building process is critical for any business, across all industries. We learned that it is imperative to start this process from day one and continue to evolve the plan of action throughout the lifespan of your business.

Founded by Scott Gerber, The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of the country's most promising young entrepreneurs. The YEC promotes entrepreneurship as a solution to youth unemployment and underemployment and provides its members with access to tools, mentorship, and resources that support each stage of a business's development and growth.