Grow Your Small Business Foundation
Updated: 20 August 2019
Do you need to grow your small business? As business owners, we dream of growing our businesses to greater heights. While it’s a good idea to be proactive about your small business’s growth, each step forward should be thoroughly planned. Being aggressive, without proper planning, is not usually a smart move and can break your business. Below are 5 essential tips to grow your small business.
Like any improvement attempt, growing your small business requires you to realize what your company has right now and where it intends to go. Before planning to expand, you need to take a look at the core of your business and make sure you’ve laid out a good foundation. Look closely at your business process; are your actions aligned with your mission?
We have outlined essential tips to grow your small business. You should read before making a bold decision.
Know Your Business
First and foremost, know what your business is all about. Know how your business operates and why. Understand every aspect of your company process and properly align it with your goals.
Creating a business plan sounds like an obvious tip. However, not many small business owners have one. It’s easy just to dive in right away. Scrutinizing your business structure is critical for success. You don’t need a fully documented business plan, but you need to understand the how’s, and the why’s of your process and to ensure that each step is towards your goal.
Back everything with data and respond accordingly.
Know Your Customers
Use analytics to improve your business processes. Apply the analytics to your current and potential customers. The concept remains the same, but instead of learning more about your business strengths and weaknesses, you will lean towards assessing your clients. What they like, what they don’t like, when they purchase, what method they use for purchases, and the number of purchases they make.
Market analysis, especially for online businesses, is easier than ever with today’s technology. Accurate information logging will provide a gold mine of data you can harness to improve your relationship with your customers. Information logging will also improve your position for potential clients, and penetrate enough market to spur your small business growth and keep it sustained throughout the period until you’re ready to take it a notch higher.
Stand out
With the help of tips about knowing your business and your customers, you have a potent combination designed to ensure continued sales and continued growth.
But as a small business owner poised to grow, it’s not enough rest on your laurels while the competitors are racing to outperform each other. You have to differentiate yourself to keep your business in the forefront of your target market’s mind. You have to stand out.
To stand out has a different meaning to a lot of small businesses. Basically, to stand out means to innovate while keeping in touch with your target consumers.
- Brainstorm with your small business team.
- Have your clients participate in a survey or a focus group.
Find that one thing that will help you set your business apart from the pack.
A dedicated small business owner understands the necessity of finding the time to come up with a sustainable, distinct feature that will help the company grow over time.
What makes your business stand out?
Refurbish your brand
One sign that a small business is ramping up for growth is when it comes up with a new approach for its brand, an approach designed to take on bigger challenges and a more significant market.
You know where your small business?s strengths and weaknesses lie, you know the quirks of your customers and the habits of your target market, and you also understand how you stand out from the rest. Now you need to to shuffle and mix these factors and come up with one encompassing theme. This theme would completely refurbish your small business brand and be something that can withstand various purchasing trends, competitors, and even the economy.
Let everyone know that you’re ready to take it a step higher. Commit yourself to the growth of your business. Refurbish your brand. I usually refresh my brand every 2 to 3 years.
Offer new products and services
While most small business owners will jump into the creation of a new product or service, it’s important that you effectively carry out the first four growth foundations beforehand. A haphazard attempt at growth coupled by inferior quantitative-based decisions is a sure-fire way to put your small business at risk.
Offering new products and services delivers a strong message that you’re at the edge of growth. To have the first four tips as foundations allows an accurate set of offerings with a sustainable market ready to purchase. But this would be hard to carry out when you lack significant capital.
Some business owners hesitate to invest in developing a new product and avoid spending more. What they are not realizing is the potential to grow and to earn more. This shouldn’t be a problem since there are convenient ways to secure small business loans.
Lending Resources
A recent LinkedIn contact made me aware of LendEDU. They have free tools and resources that make it easy for you to manage your money. This blog post from LendEDU explains how personal loans can be used for business funding, lists the best lenders that provide this type of financing for business expenses, discuss the pros and cons of this type of business financing strategy, and more.
I have a client which swears by Kabbage. Kabbage assures quick and easy ways to take loans, pay bills, and keep track of your transactions. Easy payment terms also make it less intimidating to help you take action.
With these solid growth foundation tips, your business is clearly ready and poised for the next level. It’s not about being able to grow fast, but being able to grow consistently and effectively.
Tell us: What’s your favorite growth tip? Let’s discuss in the comments section below!