Sooner or later, the owners and managers of small growing businesses usually muse on the question: “when should I start doing some PR?”  They know it plays a role in the marketing of most businesses and assume they will have to integrate it at some time – but are very hazy on when that should be.  This is partly because many people have only a vague idea of what PR actually is – aside from knowing that it is something to do with talking to the press, sending out press releases, “spinning” stories or something similar (it isn’t of course – but that’s a whole other post). The real question we would like business leaders to ask should be: “when should I start communicating?” because PR is overall a communications process.  For anyone wondering if they should, consider these questions ... Have you made any change in your business recently? Have you introduced any new product, service or idea to your customers and prospects? Have you hit a milestone of any kind – such as number of customers, length of time in business or similar? Have you achieved anything as a business? Have you started working with any new partners or associates? Has anyone joined you at a senior level? Have you recruited anyone/grown? Have you given anyone advice recently? Do you have hard won knowledge at your fingertips? Have you won a customer at all? Have you been proud of anything you’ve done? Have you solved a problem for any customer? If you can say ‘No’ to all these then perhaps you should reconsider being in business – but I bet you said yes to quite a few.   If so then you should and could be communicating and using PR ideas to build your business.  Whether it is press releases to get things you are proud of ‘on the record’, telling your customer success stories, helping you with media visibility or to start to get real value from the web and social media, there are communications options within your grasp no matter how large or small you are as a company. If nothing else, the last recession proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the businesses that survive do so by keeping their attention on marketing, communicating with their customers to keep those customers and fighting hard in the market for all the new ones.  Communicating is vital – to your market, your customers, your employees and to the wider world.  There are many ways to start, and it doesn’t need to be expensive. Good PR consultants will work with your budget, not try to persuade you to spend thousands of pounds. They will ask searching questions about your business and your aims, and make sure that you understand how PR can help your business grow.