It is a bitter truth that scaling your company is not easy and takes great effort. It means dealing with so many things-sales and marketing, your customers and your people. To grow your startup business fast, you often have to shift your priorities and take the challenge head-on. The earliest stages of your businesses’ growth will be the hardest financially. A problem that you might face is that you will have no prior data. What you must do is keep a close watch on expenses, and try to increase profitability.
When you first launch your business, your main goal is to establish your brand and start growing. Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen overnight. Growth is an ongoing process that requires hard work, patience, and dedication. There’s no special step or secret way to surpass other businesses in the industry or achieve immediate success. There are, however, proven ways to reach growth milestones that can catapult a business to success. We asked small business leaders to share their tips for accelerating growth.
- DO A THOROUGH RESEARCH
When you’re looking into how to grow your small business, you need to do market research. This not only lets you better understand your existing customers, but also your potential customers. It’s important to gain insight into your target market and know what their needs are. That way, you can see how your business can grow and change to meet those needs. Don’t forget to research your competitors, too. Knowing what their strengths and weaknesses are can help drive your decisions on how to appropriately scale your small business.
While this might not elicit immediate growth, researching your competitors is one of the most important first steps in launching your business. Ask yourself who your competitors are, what they’re doing (that you’re not doing) that works for them, and how you can differentiate your business from theirs. The answers to these questions will help you form a more productive business strategy, defining the areas of your business that require more attention to flourish.
- HIRE THE RIGHT PEOPLE.
Before you can even think about your company’s growth trajectory, you need to have a solid staff to help you achieve your goals.
“Hiring the absolute best people you can be is a surefire way to ensure fast growth. It’s all about having the right team.,” said Christian Lanng, CEO and co-founder of business software provider Tradeshift.
With hardworking employees dedicated to your company’s success, your business will be better equipped for continued growth. In addition, delegating tasks to focus on important work will free up your time and energy, allowing you to perform at your best and cultivate a collaborative work culture.
- BUILD A SALES FUNNEL
One of the most effective expansion strategies for your business is by building a sales funnel system. It is the path that your prospects take on the way to buy your products or services and become a customer. Think of a sales funnel as a customer’s journey. When they enter your business or visit your website, they’re at the top of the funnel. When they buy something or sign up for a service, they’ve successfully gone through the funnel.
Carefully conceptualize the different sales funnels. If you can increase the number of people that go from one stage of the funnel to the next, it can have an important effect on your business. Your sales funnel could exist as a retail store, sales team, a website, or personal consultation. Building a sales funnel will enable you to accurately predict sales numbers and improve them fast.
- FOCUS ON ESTABLISHED REVENUE SOURCES BY CUSTOMER RETENTION
Rather than trying to acquire new customers, direct your attention to the core customers you already have, suggested Bill Reilly, a Wisconsin-based auto repair entrepreneur,
“You can do this by implementing a referral or customer loyalty program or trying out marketing strategies based on previous purchasing behaviors to encourage repeat business”
It’s not enough to just get new customers for your business. You also need to keep your existing customers coming back. When you increase customer retention, you’re building customer loyalty, which can increase sales. Considering it costs five times as much to get a new customer as it does to keep a current one, focusing on retaining customers means your business won’t spend money on something that isn’t a guaranteed investment. You can do it by:
- Prioritizing customer service
- Using a customer relations management (CRM) system
- Creating a customer loyalty program
- Launching an email campaign
- Engaging with customers on social media
- Keep your promises
- PRACTICE CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Many customers want to do business with a company that matches their own values. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) means you recognize the impact your business has on all aspects of the community. Letting the public see what your business is doing to have a positive impact can help your business’s bottom line.
- Going Green, it shows the public you’re serious about reducing your business’ impact on the environment. Go green and make changes to reduce your carbon footprint, such as getting Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification or pursuing energy-efficient projects.
- Giving back to the community: Encourage your employees to volunteer in the communities they live and work in. Whether it’s working at a food bank or cleaning up open spaces, these kinds of activities show that your business is serious about investing in the area and people.
- Producing sustainable products: Find out ways to create more environmentally-friendly products.
Check out: Top 10 Startup Sustainable Growth Strategies for Success
- EXPAND YOUR PRODUCT BASE
Expanding a businesses’ product base depends a lot on the existing user base and what they want. You also have to plan for the company’s facilities and productivity. When building a strategy on product expansion, you have to first understand your customers. You’ve had success selling your main product or service to customers. After all, that’s what made you think of growing your small business. Now, offering different products or services can help you get new customers. You can do this by:
- Identifying opportunities for new products or services
- Finding different ways to offer your existing products
Try to diversify your product offering. But before doing this you have to conduct thorough market research to find out what new products the customers are looking for. Also, study whether you can make these products cost-effectively. Generate some new ideas and pitch them to your target customers. You can receive some valuable feedback this way.
- FORM STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS
Entering a strategic partnership with another business can give you the chance to reach a broader network of customers or align growth with strategic goals in your business plan. One example of a successful strategic partnership is between Starbucks and other national stores, like Barnes & Noble or Target. The partnership puts the coffee chain into many retail stores across the country, which increases its reach and revenue.
You may even form a strategic partnership with a vendor to help expand your business. Whatever type of partnership you form, it’s important you manage business relationships and maintain effective vendor relationships.
- REACH YOUR AUDIENCE
Listen to your customers and be involved in their buying experiences. Try to find out who your target audience is and how you can reach your message to them. Another way to connect is to find the target audience’s wants and satisfy them. You can increase your advertising spend to get your brand in front of buyers.
One of the best ways to grow your sales is to build an email list. You should only send emails to those consumers who have volunteered to receive them. One of the best ways to create email lists is by giving customers several Calls To Action to sign up for your promotions.
- EXPAND YOUR BUSINESS ONLINE
As India is in the early stages of digital growth with a massive potential consumer base, it is one of the most sought-after regions in Asia for e-commerce sellers. More and more people are shifting to online shopping because of the ease. To increase online sales, you have to consider the following factors:
- Knowledge of the e-commerce market.
- Data about specific buying patterns and preferences of customers.
- Human resources to handle the online orders.
Your digital ‘storefront’ should entice and engage customers in a meaningful way. Take steps, like SEO, to drive traffic to your digital platform.
Check out: 5 Ways A Digital Marketing Agency Can Help Business Growth
- INTRODUCE A CUSTOMER MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Manually tracking orders is difficult and inefficient. If you want your business to grow quickly, you have to go in for a customer management system. It can be a cloud-based one. When you are small and growing fast, saving time is very crucial. One way to pass on the leads to your sales team in the shortest possible time is to connect all your marketing efforts like email and social through a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) program.
Customer loyalty programs are also a great way to increase sales. Research says that it costs at least three times more money to acquire a new customer than it does to sell to an old one. So, you should always try to retain your old customers.
Growing your small business means you’ll have to take calculated risks. You should look at your business plan and make realistic and accurate forecasts of how you think certain strategies can affect your business. Regularly monitoring your progress and making updates are key to having a successful business.
