eBusiness
Small businesses are an essential component of local economies. To ensure their success, these enterprises need to be properly funded, regularly maintained, and set up for optimal success.
To achieve success, small business owners and start-ups need to understand all available avenues of expansion. This is particularly pertinent to new entrants to the market.
1. Focus on Repeat Customers
Most businesses focus their resources on acquiring new customers as part of their growth plan, but it is equally essential to focus on customer retention and repeat sales. Acquiring new customers costs 16 times more than retaining one, and their average order value is 300% higher.
Repeat customers are highly likely to buy from you again and are an invaluable source of referrals, plus they tend to show more loyalty toward your brand than first-time customers, often spending more on products or services from you overall. Therefore, it is vitally important that your focus your customer experience by providing outstanding service; one way of doing this may include creating loyalty programs with discounts and rewards, or creating personalized shopping experiences tailored specifically towards each of your customer groups.
Your customers who remain loyal are more likely to promote your brand for you and increase its exposure. Loyal customers are also likely to leave reviews of your product or service on social media and recommend it to their friends and family, leading them to expand and grow your business further.
Attaining business growth takes patience, diligence and planning – but with proper execution you may uncover new growth opportunities. Therefore it is vitally important that you develop and follow an actionable business development plan carefully in order to meet your goals and take your business to new heights as well as avoid unnecessary risks while making sound decisions that benefit both yourself and the enterprise.
2. Diversify Your Products
Diversification is an established development strategy that can help your small business achieve its growth objectives. Diversifying by entering new markets or industries expands customer bases while mitigating risk should sales of core products decline. Diversification can be an invaluable way of driving business expansion – no matter if your venture is an IT consultancy looking into cybersecurity or an upscale dining cafe that explores what its offerings could bring about growth.
Diversifying typically entails expanding what your existing customers already receive from you. For instance, Charles Tyrwhitt first sold quality work shirts online but has since expanded their offering with ties, cufflinks, women’s clothing and other accessories – an inexpensive strategy with great potential to increase brand recognition and strengthen customer relationships.
Other methods of diversification require greater effort, and could involve making your company an authority in its industry. This typically requires creating an authoritative platform on which the business can share its knowledge through blogs, articles, or interviews – this may take more time but has the potential of reaching wide audiences that organically discover your products or services and expand reach exponentially. It is key that products/services diversified are compatible with your existing business model in order for this method of diversification to work successfully; otherwise your efforts could prove more detrimental than beneficial.
3. Develop a Strategic Plan
Strategic plans aim to define and communicate the direction in which your business is heading. A comprehensive strategic plan should encompass your vision, mission and focus areas as well as goals and objectives designed to help achieve long-term objectives. Strategic goals differ from business plans in that they must be specific, measurable, action oriented, realistic and timely (SMART).
Step one of creating a strategic plan is assessing your business’s current position. This will give you a good picture of where your company currently stands and its projected growth within three to five years, as well as helping employees understand where the company is heading; increasing engagement and productivity for everyone involved.
After this step is completed, it’s essential that you identify both your company’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as any external influences that could impede its growth. When doing this, be honest in describing both areas – this allows both you and your employees to work collaboratively towards solutions to address them effectively.
Once you have a clear understanding of where your company currently stands and where you want it to be in the future, it is time to develop your strategic plan. Be sure to include details on when and who will review and update the document, as well as sharing this plan with employees through project management software or sharing documents such as PowerPoint files to increase accountability among employees working towards similar goals.
4. Hire the Right People
Hiring the appropriate people is crucial when it comes to small business growth. Your team must work efficiently together, adapt quickly to new challenges as they arise, and take on board any suggestions from management that arise. An incorrect hire can hinder productivity, cost you both time and money, and keep you from focusing on growing your company.
Attracting employees who fit with your company culture is also of utmost importance, since a poor hiring decision can damage morale and performance across your workplace. To avoid hiring the wrong employees, ensure you implement thorough screening processes including background checks, reference checks, verification checks and skills tests; interview candidates carefully with questions designed to assess their professional abilities, personality traits and ability to quickly adapt.
One way to ensure you hire the appropriate people early on in your business’s lifespan is through aggressive recruitment efforts. Without being actively searching, great hires may never surface; so, make it a point to scour your community for people that might make great additions to your team – such as volunteering, taking evening classes or networking with acquaintances in social circles.
Though there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to small business growth, numerous strategies have proven their efficacy in helping ensure its long-term success. By making smart choices and setting clear vision for your enterprise, you could become an industry leader – so why not start implementing some of these tips now? James Webster, Founder & CEO of ROK Financial has almost two decades of experience within financial services industry, having secured over a $1 Billion financing for small businesses nationwide.
5. Find the Right Partners
Establishing the appropriate partnerships can make all of the difference when it comes to expanding a small business. From accountants and suppliers, finding partners who share your goals allows you to focus on expanding the company while leaving daily operations to professionals.
When searching for partners, begin by considering their values and culture – do their beliefs align with yours? Consider their ideal customers – do any overlap? If not, perhaps it’s time to move on to other potential partnerships.
Strategic partnerships come in various forms, from joint ventures and product or service referrals, to marketing and sales support, community or neighborhood partnerships, mentorship relationships and SCORE mentoring programs. By taking the time to select suitable partners for your venture, it will increase its chance of success.
