Running my own venture, I’ve come to realize that it takes a great deal of effort to scale a business and maintain growth. So, I know just how difficult it can be. On top of it all, there is never any guarantee that a business will succeed. Overnight successes don’t exist and to grow your venture it takes time and determination. There are however some key strategies which can help you grow more efficiently. Here’s a quick look at what you need to do:
1. Stick to what you’re good at
Don’t try too many things at a time. Stick to what you do well and don’t go trying to develop products out of your comfort zone in a bid to offer variety. You can’t cater to every kind of customer, but whoever you do cater to, do it well. Focus on being really good at one thing. This will allow you to concentrate on your strengths without creating unnecessary pressures and will help you establish your brand faster.
2. Know your customer well
You must know exactly what your customers need, to be able to satisfy and keep them loyal. Attention to what your customer wants is inevitable for growth. Your products should satisfy the current market demands. A good way to find out is to conduct research and surveys. Get feedback and reviews for your products even if they’re not complimentary. Let prospective customers try out your product and tell you what they honestly think. This will give you insight into what kind of a market you face and will help you improve on your products for better acceptance and sales.
3. Plan well and follow up
You need a good plan to grow. Setting long term marketing goals and breaking them down into short term weekly and daily goals is an effective way of achieving them. Remember to closely follow up on a day to day basis so that you can nip the problem in the bud before you get stuck. Rely on team meetings to keep track of your goals and targets. This is the easiest way to measure and make sure that you’re going in the right direction. Good planning and goal setting help to give clarity to the entire team and facilitates faster growth.
4. Look after your team and let them get you customers
I don’t know anyone who has grown without looking after their team. It is almost common knowledge that if you don’t look after the people who work for you, you’re going to find it very difficult to sustain or grow your business. Make sure the work culture and benefits in your company are worthwhile and convey appreciation to your employees. Celebrate the team’s successes, reward consistent achievers and make your team members enjoy working for your company. Long term employees are one of the factors that have a positive effect on the company’s growth.
5. Make sure what you’re offering is quality
You can’t survive; forget about growing if you aren’t looking after the quality of your products. When it comes to quality, DON’T CUT COSTS, you could lose your customers in the bargain. Continue to take honest feedback from your clients to keep improving your product. Similarly, your customer service needs to keep getting better. You may have a great product, but you can’t bank on keeping your customers unless you’re giving them excellent customer service too. They need to feel valued and special and the efficiency with which you solve their questions/problems counts too. This is one of the most effective ways to get referrals. Rely on market surveys and customer interactions to get proper feedback and then act on them.
6. Keep your customers loyal
Loyal customers just don’t happen; you have to work for them. Apart from all of the above you need something special which will discourage your customers from leaving. Introduce loyalty programs that will help keep your existing clientele and attract new ones. Give your prospective customers the incentive to spend with you. Loyalty rewards and gifts, discounts, promotions/ coupons not only encourage customers to choose your products, but they also make it attractive for them to stay with you. This is one area where you should never get complacent; make sure you regularly introduce attractive offers to keep your customers coming back every time.
7. Stay visible on social media
If you want to reach out to thousands then you can’t ignore social media. Make sure to be visible on social media at all times. Stay engaged with prospective customers, read and respond to their comments, help them out when you can and make them feel you care. The interaction will also give you an idea of the needs of the market. You can offer to speak on local media and give your expert opinion in your field of expertise. Don’t forget to be active on social accounts and send out press releases to relevant sites at regular intervals. Frequent online forums where you think you have a market for your products and become an advisor. Webinars are a good way to promote a business to a target audience.
8. Networking, networking and networking
Like I’ve said before, nothing beats networking. Building relationships help get you thousands of referrals and consequently grow your business. It is a great way to find investors, employees and of course, customers. Networking helps you reach more clients and give your company exposure. The more people you connect with the more will know about your company and products. Try hosting your own events to get to know people better and build lasting relationships to the mutual benefit of you and your prospective customers. Join business associations, attend community events or participate at trade shows /fairs to do specific networking with people who are interested in your products.
9. Give back to the community
Your image is important and an effective way to let people know what you are passionate about is by actually doing something about it. Give a little back from what you earn, and you will succeed in establishing a bond with your customers that nothing else will accomplish. The Makomas Foundation is my small effort in that direction. Almost everyone wants to contribute to or support a social cause and this is one of the easiest ways of giving your customers the opportunity to do so, just by buying your products. In my experience, it also helps build brand awareness and to attract business. You can consider sponsoring or participating in events on a local level to promote your business and brand.
10. Learn as you go
Some of the above may work for you, some may not. As you go along you will realize which ones to focus on more and which ones are a waste of money and time for you. Keep track of the returns you get from each and discard the ones that don’t give you results. Monitor where your customers are coming from and where they are going when they leave you. This will help you better to attract and retain customers. To grow the company, stay relevant and keep refining your strategy as you go.
Like all other things in life, to succeed you need to put in effort and time and ride the waves bravely when they come. Don’t give up, get up every time you fall and try again. The formula to success is as simple as that.
Do you think you need help with growing your business? I’ll be glad to help you with this. Here’s what Adjoa said about my business coaching services:
“I would highly recommend Magbè if you are looking into entrepreneurship. I promise you, you will be lucky to have her on your side as your business blossoms. I always looked forward to meeting with her as she has such an easy to get along with personality and her sessions were always informative.”
You can read other testimonials but why not see for yourself by reaching out to me here?
Napoleon Hill says it all when he says, “Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.”
Stay consistent and focused and growth will come.
Magbè
Great tips! It does take courage to start a business and tons of patience and hard work to make it grow.
Yes, it is all about patience. Else, one might be frustrated.
Awesome advice! It does take so much time and effort to grow a business, and I am definitely learning as I go along!
Hopefully these this work for your business. Cheers to more sales.
All good tips to maintain a healthy business. I think a lot of these can apply to bloggers as well just in general.
Yes, it applies to anyone whose goal is to provide others with a service or product.
You are so brave to go ahead and start a business. I certainly wouldn’t have the patience, mind or strength to do this. Thank you for sharing these wonderful tips 🙂
– Nyxie
http://www.nyxiesnook.com
You’d be surprised by the energy you carry. But it’s good to do what one knows how to do best.
My Lifeless business really feels like the description of my business. I am busy busy busy working that I don’t work as hard to grow it,
You can get it working again like you want it to.
Thank you for this amazing advice! Growing a business can be super hard and it is always great to read posts from people who have experience in business.
It’s always a pleasure to share my experiences.
I always wanted to start a business but I’m always surrounded with dout. Thanks for sharing, I’ll be sure to keep your advices in mind!!
Good to read you want to start your business. You don’t have to be scared nor filled with doubts. Enjoy the process of learning as well success. So start now.
These are some great tips and couldn’t agree more! They’re all important and would work hard one without the other but I think #6 is something special. If you know how to keep your customers loyal, you win in the long term!
I have loyal customers of my fruit business and it’s because I know what they want and how they want to be treated. So, you’re right.
You have so many great tips! I especially like the one about giving back to your community. I know that I’m more likely to choose a company that sponsors a little league team or donates to local charities.
Great. Hopefully, other entrepreneurs see this and up their marketing game.
It can be hard when business is slow, but these are great reminders to keep pushing. I need to get better at networking with others for my business.
I trust you’ll do a free job if you haven’t given up on your business since.
All really solid tips. It can be hard to grow when business is slow but this is solid advice!
Great to read you find it helpful.
Understanding the customers needs are the building block of any business. No business can survive without it.
True. Thanks for reading.
I love the bit about keeping customers loyal and returning. That is something I think a lot of small business owners overlook as we constantly try to drum up more numbers. I’ve been thinking of a loyalty/rewards program for my business to aide with getting my customers to stick around!
I have that myself and I can testify it works. Want to shoot me a mail at info@magbesavane.com to brainstorm with you?
Totally agree! Quality is so important for sure! Amazing tips.
Thanks for reading, Adriana
Good tips. Worth revisiting every once in a while to keep the eye on the ball. Another good tip I try and follow is to spend more time ON your business than IN your business, when scaling up.
Hmmmm. Spending more time on business sounds like what everyone should do. Thanks for the reminder.
What great advice. This really helps to those people who want to start their business and also patience and hard work are the main keys to become a successful business.
I agree with you, Maysz. Thanks for reading.
My favorite tip is learn as you go…there are so many resources available to us if we are looking for them
Just Djebe
Indeed, Djebe. So many out there. This why I’m dedicated to helping small businesses find it without searching that far.
I absolutely love these tips. Starting my business has been such a learning experience. Like you said, you really do learn as you go, and I learn so much through other blogs like these that share wonderful tips!
Thank you for reading and wishing you all the best in your business.
Such great tips here. Slow business could be frustrating. But we have to keep going. Love all your solid advice here. Hope that someone who really needs it could read this.
Thank you for reading.
Great tips here and I am all about staying visible on social media. I think it’s defintely the place to be these days, most of my friends tell me that they usually choose their main purchases via social media or discover new businesses that way.
Yes. Social media isn’t just for putting pressure on others with what we have. It’s for business networking too.
I don’t run a business but I can say your tips are definitely something might push me to choose this particular business over any other. Nicely put!
Thank you, Lyosha.
Interesting post – some great tips and advice here! I will definitely have to take some of this on board when I think about growing my business x
Hoping it works for you, Becca
nice tips, a must ready for those having hard time with their business.
Thanks for your contribution.
I agree that giving back to the community is a great way to grow your business!
That way, the world can be a better place for those who don’t have enough resources.
These are great tips for anyone who is in business. I still struggle with a lot of this things.
Hoping you find the system that works best for you.
For me, networking and doing boost exchanges with other bloggers works really well. It helps me and them.
This is really important as a business winner and blogger. Refusing to network is like denying your business sweets and desserts.
Great article. This is a topic I know I need to learn more about and you really helped me understand some good ways to get started. Thank you.
Hoping your business booms. Thanks for reading!
love these tips! every single one of them is important. Thanks so much for sharing
I’m glad I shared it. Thanks for reading.
I’ve learned that I can rely on your posts for timely, relevant, USEFUL information with practical applications. Thank you.
Thank you, Helen and thanks for reading.
I love these articles, always gives me little bit of sense what I need to do and be prepared for Thanks!
Good to read your comment Preet. I cant also wait to hear that you are starting your business soon.
Great tips and I think working on these points will surely bring in improved results. I think people who are having hard time in business will find this post encouraging and helpful.
Hopefully, it gets to many struggling business owners. Kindly share it with your friends too. Thanks for reading.
Learning as you grow is such an essential aspect of growing your business. It gets difficult at times but you do always need to be adaptable to whatever is going on around you.
Business growth comes with its dynamics and the only way to stay on top of the game is to put oneself in a position of learning.
For those looking to grow their business will surely love these fabulous tips.
Thanks for reading, Kalyan.
Running a biz is so hard, but you’ve got some great tips! Planning, Quality and exposure are so important!
I agree with you, Steph. Thanks for taking your time to read.
THe world changes so fast that we, as business owners, should always keep learning and keep up with the newest trends in our industries. No matter how good we are at what we do, if we don’t adapt and embrace the new, we will fall behind.
I totally agree with you, Joanna.
Growing your business is no joke! Definitely great tips that will be super helpful for those who have started or are about to start their business!
Thanks for stopping by, Nati.
Knowing your customers is definitely key. I think this is something people forget too often.
I agree with you Holly. Thanks for reading.
These are such great tips! if you don’t have your business on social media, you’re shooting yourself in the foot.
Social media is the best platform to keep up with the rest of the world and let them see your business.
These are so great tips.I believe that focus, determination and quality these are the key to any successful business
Yes, Sudipa. Thank you for reading.
AMAZING TIPS!
Thank you!
I totally needed these tips today! I know that I have been struggling lately.
Make use of them and if you still need help in your business, I’ll be glad to be your guide.
So true about quality. Not just in your product but in customer service. So important
Thank you, Jeff, for validating some of these points.
Really good tips and I totally agree with the point “stick to what you are good at”. This is so important and be focus on the topic and content.
Good to read you enjoyed reading the post. Thank you.
Excellent tips. I fail on follow up, and time management. For me they are interrelated.
This should serve as a reminder. Thanks for taking out the time to read.
Definitely important to stick with what you’re good at and to maintain a presence on social media (not that I’m really doing the second one)
Social media is essential to any business. You can outsource that part and focus on the big things.
Awesome advise! As you mentioned it’s important not to try too many things at a time and stick to what we do well and don’t go trying to develop products out of our comfort zone in a bid to offer variety.
That’s 100% true. Such a mindset will not last.
I agree with everything you said here. Especially the first tio that you should focus on the product that you are good at rather trying something that is out of your comfort zone.
Thanks for reading.
Such great advices.. It was really tough to grow and maintain business, but that is why businessmans are rich, because they do what is hard.
I love that line, businessmen are rich because they do what’s hard. Thanks for stopping by.
This post is a great reminder to always go for it. it might be hard but you can grow any business if you really want it to
Yes, Lyosha. Go for it.
These are all really great tips and great reminders for those who have been running a business for a while or who are just getting started.
I’m glad you find this post helpful to business owners.
I always wanted to start a business but I’m always surrounded with dout. Thanks for sharing, I’ll be sure to keep your advices in mind!!
I always wanted to start my own business but I’ve hesitated too much. Well, i guess being creative and brave is the key. Thanks for sharing, I’ll be sure to keep your advices in mind!!
Great article. This is a topic I know I need to learn more about and you really helped me understand some good ways. Thank you.
Running a business is no way an easy task! As I am planning to start my own business soon, these tips will come handy and helpful ☺☺ bookmarked it!
Those are such great advice you shared. Business always needs more time and effort. You really have to wait and work patiently
I love these articles, always gives me little bit of sense what I need to do and be prepared for Thanks!
these are excellent! often business owners don’t know the best course to take and it’s discouraging
This is a lot of great information, thanks for sharing it with us
These are all great tips! I am currently working to grow my new business as well so any little tips I can get is much appreciated.
And you are absolutely right! As women, we have to support each other in business and at home. If we all help each other, we all succeed.
These are great tips! It’s definitely hard to be motivated to grow your business when you’ve owned one for a long time. It never hurts to refresh your perspective!
I love the first one here. It’s true that you have to have the passion in order for you to grow and become successful not only in business but in other aspects of life as well.